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Stonehenge and its Environs

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Littlestone L
Littlestone Jul 10, 2006 20:51:53
Replying to moss

"Americans are much better at complaining"

which is true, probably because they have better manners than us...

Yes, contrary to what some might think Americans are, generally, very polite (loud perhaps but polite :-) Interrupting people when they are talking for example is a definite no no for most Americans, yet something you hear all the time on TV and radio here.

Sorry... what was the theme of this thread again? I forget, but you're right about bad behaviour at stones and a 'new' religion. People don't seem to have worked out the parameters of good behaviour for these places yet. So why don't people fall back on accepted parameters? Respect for ancient places and other people who visit them would be a starting point. Surely it doesn't require a degree in rocket science to know that climbing one of the stones in the Cove, for example, might not only be dangerous and damaging, but might also offend people who regard such places as sacred.

There's something else at work here, and selfish stupidity are just the first two words that come to mind.

N nigelswift
nigelswift Jul 10, 2006 21:14:29
Replying to Littlestone

"People don't seem to have worked out the parameters of good behaviour for these places yet."

I think that's the crux. The same people who let their kids climb on megaliths don't let them do the same on public statues.

So whose fault is this perception gap? Ours partly, and the education system for not stressing the cultural importance of prehistoric stuff. Mind you, a few more signs would help. No-one puts a toe on the lawn round Warwick Castle as they're requested not to every ten yards.

"We can't afford to put up a sign at every stone circle" whine the Quango. (For the cost of the Stonehenge Visitors Centre you could, £60,000 on each one, gold plated).

(You two are very grumpy. Me, I have senior passion.)