Stonehenge Tour

Just completed a great tour of Stonehenge with a fantastic group of travellers (see image) We did a special access tour - beyond the fences after the crowds have gone home (the best way by far) Today we did my classic itinerary, see below.
Anyone eklse want to join me ? sightseeing@o2.co.uk

Visit the beautiful medieval city of Salisbury and explore the magnificent Cathedral crowned with the tallest spire in Britain and built by medieval craftsmen over 750 years ago. See one of the few surviving original texts of the Magna Carta and wander around the picturesque streets of this ancient market town.

Afterwards,we visit Old Sarum Castle (Old Salisbury), one of Britain's earliest settlements. First occupied over 5000 years ago, its been occupied and defended in turn by the Romans, Saxons and Normans and it was the site of the original city and cathedral. Explore the ruins of this once thriving city in their ancient and beautiful setting, and enjoy spectacular views over the sweeping landscape of Salisbury Plain.
A highlight of the day is a hearty lunch in a cosy country pub nestling in the beautiful Woodford Valley. Maybe sample the local ales before continuing our scenic drive to the awe - inspiring prehistoric monument of Stonehenge - Click here for /2009 Special Access Dates. Hear about the many myths, legends and mysteries of this World Heritage Site, built over 5000 years ago, and take time to reflect upon its powerful, mysterious presence. As we meander through the the countryside to Avebury, we pass famous white horses carved into the chalk hillsides and picturesque, tucked away villages. We explore the mysterious phenomena of crop circles and take a closer look at any which may be in the area (seasonal). Avebury, the largest stone circle in Britain and the product of over 500 years of effort by Neolithic man. Enjoy a walking tour of this ancient site and try your hand at the ancient art of dowsing. Prepare to be amazed !There's also time to explore the
charming village of Avebury with its thatched cottages, antiques and village church - and maybe enjoy a cream tea.We also see Silbury Hill, Europe's largest prehistoric man-made monument yet forever a mystery, before returning back to the present - London.



A truly legendary day out in the ancient Kingdom of Wessex !

I operate private tours all year round - please contact me if you want a 'proper' tour of Stonehenge.

New Druid Book Published: The Druids: A Comparative Study of Indo-European Pagan Practice

This is not an advert! (search online to buy a copy - Lulu.com or Amazon will sell it. I have just finished this book and can highly recommend it.
Even though the ancient Druids would seem as much an enigma today as they have ever been, this book very much sets the record straight. By firmly placing the Druids within the ancient Celtic socio-religious framework to which they so evidently belonged and, further, by comparing the pagan practices of the Celts with the other inhabitants of ancient Indo-Europe, much light is shed on the curious practices of this ancient priesthood.
This is very much a book of comparisons. By studying the pagan practices found elsewhere in ancient Europe, such as those of ancient Greece and Rome, ancient Persia and Germany, we find that in many respects the Druids were not that original but shared a common heritage, that of their Indo-European forebears. This book therefore is just as much about the ancient Indo-Europeans, formerly known as the Aryans, as it is about the Druids and the other inhabitants of pagan Europe.
The approach taken in this book reveals to us the true significance of the mighty oak of the Druids, the meaning of the elaborate ceremony of the cutting of the mistletoe detailed by Pliny, and even the original meaning of the Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece.
Also revealed in this book are the mythological origins of the custom of the contention to become Rex Nemorensis at Aricia in ancient Italy, the original meaning of the swastika, and the identity of the legendary Soma plant of the Vedas.

[FIRST LOOK] This blog can reveal the first official pictures of Denton Corker Marshall’s (DCM) new £20 million Stonehenge visitor centre in Wiltshire

The designs were unveiled as a planning application for the visitor centre on the Airman’s Corner plot – along with an application to close the A344 that runs next to the Stones – was made to Wiltshire Council.

The scheme features a perforated undulating canopy, supported by a forest of thin columns, which sits ‘lightly in the landscape above a pair of self-contained pods’ on a limestone pavement. The transparent, glazed box will house a shop and a café while the other solid ‘pod’ - clad in locally sourced chestnut wood - will be home to the exhibition space (click here to see early sketches).


DCM landed the contest to design the new facility back in February – effectively for a second time following the demise of its original £65 million proposals in 2007 – seeing off Bennetts Associates and Edward Cullinan Architects in the process.

Stephen Quinlan, director of architects’ Denton Corker Marshall, said: ‘Designing a visitor centre at a site of such importance is both a major challenge and a serious responsibility. Our proposal, above all, seeks not to compromise the solidity and timelessness of the Stones, but to satisfy the brief with a design which is universally accessible, environmentally sensitive, and at the same time appears almost transitory in nature.

He added: ‘If once back at home, a visitor can remember their visit to the stones but can’t remember the visitor centre they passed through on the way, we will be happy.


‘The biggest challenge has been the centre’s setting on open grassland. There is nowhere to hide unlike the previous scheme which was camouflaged.’

Speaking to the AJ, Quinlan admitted the practice, which has a six-strong team working on the scheme, almost didn’t enter the second contest. However the London-based director decided to have another crack partly to counter accusations of ‘sour grapes’ following the demise of the practice’s original, sub-terranean proposals [on a different plot to the North East of the Stones].

The long-running visitor centre project has been rumbling since 1986 and is set to be funded by English Heritage (EH), Highways Agency, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Transport and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

EH told the AJ that it had factored in the possibility of a public enquiry into its timescale but still hopes the centre will be open in time for London’s Olympic Games in 2012. The total budget for the scheme, including roadworks, is £27.5 million.