Based on what has been said, here's my draft reply to her. Is this in line with what we all think?
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Dear Anja,
Thankyou so much for giving us such a detailed and helpful reply. I have now shared it with the rest of the group.
We share your uncertainty about whether ropes were used, but are hoping to demonstrate several possibilities and perhaps gain some understanding about which method works best. We have made some engineering calculations and believe a force of 7 tons would be required for one of these methods (perhaps more to allow for error), and would assume we could use several ropes together for this. We would be interested to know if you are aware of the amount such ropes might tend to stretch.
Our feeling at present is that it is unlikely that we would obtain permission to use anything other than modern ropes for the hauling-up process, although we will make full enquiries about that once we have more details. Also, at present, we are unable to consider purchase of large quantities from yourselves because of finance. We are a group of people who have come together with an intention, and as yet we have no sponsors or grants. Nevertheless, we have hopes that this will change shortly. We are developing a website at http://stonehengineers.co.uk/ which should be available early next month (at present you can view some of our experimental logos!) and once this is completed we shall be able to explore the possibilities for sponsorship and broadcasting. Please visit the site when it is complete as it will be designed to show exactly what we propose to do. We intend to run a series of experiments on the means of transporting and erecting various sized stones, culminating with the erection of the trilithon just in time to greet the Sostice sunrise next year.
We do feel, as a minimum, we should like to purchase a small quantity of rope, Linden Bast and perhaps Hide for both testing and demonstration purposes. Even if we are forced to use modern ropes we should be very grateful for your help and would be very happy to give publicity to Hardanger Fartøyvernsenter. Perhaps you could come over in June and help us pull the ropes!
Best wishes from
The Stonehengeneers Team
Please reply to: [email protected]
