Winterbourne Basset

I’d only planned a Saturday night picnic on Glastonbury Tor with Summer Garland, but before driving home Sunday, I bought a copy of the OS map Explorer 157 at a head shop in Town, and was intrigued to see a stone circle marked above Avebury, at Winterbourne Basset.
So, a detour later, and we were at a very impressive standing stone, opposite the field containing the circle.
I have a theory about visiting sites one has never been to or seen pictures of before. The disappointment factor is much lessened. There’s a thrill of the ‘finding’ – there’s no expectation. I loved Winterbourne Basset because it was new (to me), a sunny day, and it gave me the opportunity to visit Avebury again, for the third time this year.
Winterbourne Basset Circle is as destroyed as a circle can be. Five or six stones, buried in a field of cows. All you can see are the tops of the stones. You can’t discern a circle.
Oddly, the standing stone across the road is more impressive, despite not warranting a mention in the Explorer map.
It’s a very peaceful site, no cars passed in the half hour I was there. You can see the Hackpen White Horse yonder, and if you were in Avebury in a motor, you’d enjoy a visit – it’s literally a five-minute drive from the great circle.
Yet another curious delight in the Avebury landscape. . Now, where’s that bloody polisher?