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Smarting from the criticism from such an illustrious travel writer, the National Trust hit back, and pointed out Mr Bryson was wrong about fleecing visitors. "It's a shame that he missed out on what many tens of thousands of visitors enjoy," said a spokesman, who said the Trust hands out free maps from its information trailer in the car park, manned by staff and volunteers. "If this is occasionally closed, the free map is available at many places across the site......"
"Bill Bryson says he felt the stone circle was 'awesome and entrancing' and we've made sure that the stones at this ancient site are allowed to speak for themselves, without signage or interpretation coming between the person and the place. Visitors can walk up to and touch each stone, and this is at the heart of any visit to Avebury. Indeed, people often tell us how special this is to them," she added.
