"I would like to add my thoughts to the debate about open access to the Stones at Solstice.I would prefer to be anonymous for professional reasons.
I have attended several of the summer Solstice events in a professional capacity as a senior officer in one of the statutory emergency services. I have witnessed first hand the heartbreak that the staff feel when they reclaim the area within the circle the morning after. I have seen guardians in tears at the insults wrought to the monument, the appalling stench, the rubbish, the vandalism, beer cans wedged into cracks in the stones, urine, vomit and faeces everywhere.
The majority seems to have little care for an ancient monument, and utterly disrespect it.
One member of staff (NT or EH, can’t remember), whilst starting to collect the detritus, in tears, muttered “364 days a year we protect and care for this place, 364 days a year, and then this happens in one night”. But they always manage to clear the rubbish up and get the site open again. The smell lingers, though, for days."
I was less than complimentary about 'King Arthur' yesterday mainly because I find his self proclaimed 'royal' persona irritating. Didn't want to do him an injustice though so read through the Wikipedia entry for him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Uther_Pendragon
It is impressive - he has done a lot and done it bravely. That doesn't make him always right though. To me it seems the entry fee to Stonehenge is over-priced. It should be kept under £10, people wanting to visit at Solstice should have to pay the same fee - with a limited number places available. Let the Druids have their rituals - after they've paid the entry fee like everyone else.
There is open access to the land around Stonehenge so any one who wants to can still see the sunrise only just a little bit further away - perhaps that's what the Cursus was meant for.
