Stonehenge marks winter solstice 2010 despite the snow

Snow and ice failed to stop people visiting Stonehenge to watch the sunrise on the winter solstice.

More than 2,000 people gathered at the stones which were surrounded by a thick blanket of snow.
As well as the traditional druid and pagan ceremonies, a spontaneous snowball fight erupted as people enjoyed the cold weather.

The winter morning mist obscured the actual sunrise which took place just after 0800 GMT.

Among the Druids, hippies and sun worshippers were those just curious to experience the spiritual event at the site, on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire.
'Peaceful atmosphere'
Serving soldier of 15 years Lance Corporal Paul Thomas, who fought in Iraq, was "knighted" with a sword by senior druid King Arthur Pendragon.
Formerly known as John Rothwell, King Arthur changed his name by deed poll.

He also performed a handfasting - a pagan marriage ceremony - inside the stones.


The shortest day of the year often falls on December 21, but this year the druid and pagan community marked the first day of winter on 22 December because the modern calendar of 365 days a year - with an extra day every four years - does not correspond exactly to the solar year of 365.2422 days.

During the winter solstice the sun is closer to the horizon than at any other time in the year, meaning shorter days and longer nights.
Peter Carson of English Heritage said: "Despite the cold weather, over 2,000 people attended and it was a cheerful and peaceful atmosphere.
"Stonehenge looked spectacular in the snow and it was a great way for people to start their festive season."
Mr Carson said this year saw an increase in families joining the celebration as well as the number of people coming from overseas.
"The popularity of the winter solstice has grown over the years as more is known about Stonehenge and the winter solstice and the whole celebration has grown in popularity," he said.

A good time was had by all........................

External links:
http://blog.stonehenge-stone-circle.co.uk/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-12061134
http://www.stonehengetours.com/

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Stonehenge 'an ancient sign of the times'

A South African grandmother has spent R300, 000 to publish her book, which she believes proves that Stonehenge in the UK was a prehistoric calendar

Booysen, 66, said this week she examined various ancient structures to prove her theory, including the Chichen Itza Pyramid in Mexico and the world's largest stone circle, The Great Circle at Avebury, in Wiltshire, England.

Booysen said the physical make-up of the various structures, whether the number of steps or the placement of rocks, all added up to 365, representing the number of days in a year.
Archeologists believe Stonehenge was built in three stages but, over the millenniums, the original structure suffered damage as a result of bad weather and pillaging.
Experts have theorised that Stonehenge, about 150km west of London, may be a calendar, a burial ground or a temple.
Booysen has long been fascinated by stone monuments.
"I love a mystery. I've always had an interest in Stonehenge and, for my 50th birthday, my husband sent me to England and I finally saw it. Booysen joined a 'special access' tour with the Stonehenge Tour Company
"It was wonderful. I just knew that it must have some significance. Why would those people drag those stones all the way there?"
Booysen said her interest in a book on Stonehenge peaked after watching a documentary in June 2006 in which it was reconstructed from polystyrene.
She said she hoped her book, available via her website as an e-book, would appeal to academics and those interested in Stonehenge.
She said the book was very technical and contained calculations and diagrams to explain her theory.
"I'd like people to understand that the people who built this monument were absolutely brilliant. It's not just a pile of rocks."

Stonehenge Tour Guide

Stonehenge and the 2012 Olympic deadline

In August 2008 HeritageAction wrote on The Modern Antiquarian that-


In the current edition of British Archaeology there is a two page article by Mike Pitts entitled The Stonehenge Olympics. The first page of the article contains a review of recent plans to improve the visitor facilities at Stonehenge and the second page is a summary of English Heritage’s latest Public Consultation initiative (see http://www.stonehengeconsultation.org/ for details). Mike Pitts makes an interesting point when he says -

“The government announced it was scraping the approved roads scheme on the grounds of cost last December. The day before, the DCMS said it was to give Tate Modern £50m towards its gallery extension, a gesture, it was hoped, that would ensure its opening in time for the Olympics. Now that seems unlikely, as fundraising gets tough, Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota is happy to say that his extension may not be ready till 2014.”
Note the word ‘happy’. Why is Serota happy? Couldn’t be could it that it gives the Tate the necessary time to get the extension right?

I’ve never been happy with tying in new visitor facilities at Stonehenge with the Olympic deadline of 2012 – it seems an impossible objective to achieve in only four years. English Heritage are expected to have their plans in for government scrutiny by the end of this year. The proposals then have to be approved by the government, and planning permission then has to be granted for the preferred site. Each of the sites proposed for the new facilities contain, or are close to, sites of archaeological importance; are these sites to be hurriedly excavated just to meet the government’s deadline for the 2012 Olympics?
Along with billions of other people I watched the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on television yesterday; pretty impressive, lots of people enjoying themselves – and why not. I couldn’t help thinking however that it was more than a bit ‘staged’ for world approval. While the Chinese authorities were claiming that this was a ‘green’ Olympics (hmm…) and the unfolding digital scroll showed the progress of the Olympic torch around the world, it somehow managed to omit displaying any of the ‘obstacles’ the torch had encountered along the way. This is nothing more than a selective interpretation of the truth.
What I’m getting at here is that the ongoing shenanigans at Stonehenge seem to have a similar, not to say uncomfortable, feel to them – re: the ‘manipulation’ of public approval. One idea after another for new Stonehenge visitor facilities, tossed out at the obscene expense of the British taxpayer, has achieved nothing to date. Nothing, that is, until now when reputations and personalities are coming under the national and international spotlight of the 2012 Olympic Games.
Stonehenge, perhaps our most important and iconic Neolithic monument, deserves a great deal more than the passing whim of the present (indeed of any) government, let alone the fleeting reputations of those in the political and sporting worlds. It certainly deserves far more than the timeframe dictated by the big Olympic party scheduled for 2012. Let’s take a leaf out of Nicholas Serota’s book and say we’d be happy not to have anything ready for Stonehenge for the Olympics in four years time, but what we will eventually have will be something which Stonehenge, and the people of Britain, deserve and can be rightfully proud of.
It gives me no pleasure to say, “I told you so” but if you read Mike Pitts blog here - http://mikepitts.wordpress.com/ that’s what it’s come to. Mike Pitts writes -
“Also in November English Heritage, having lost the £10m promised by the previous government for the proposed new visitor centre, regained it from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Hopefully now EH will be able to raise the rest of the money it needs: but Stonehenge won’t be ready for the 2012 Olympics, the politicians’ original claim, and instead if all goes well, at that time Stonehenge will be a bit of a building site.”

So, now that the Olympic pressure is off let’s do two things without further delay:

1) Secure finances for first class improvements at Stonehenge.

2) As there is no Olympic deadline to meet anymore let’s get it right. Right being the immediate closure of the A344. Right being a well-designed and aesthetically pleasing Visitor Centre. Right being a practical, and also an aesthetically pleasing, transport system from the Visitor Centre to the Monument.
There can be no more excuses and no more delays – the time has come this time to really get it Right!

Stonehenge Tour Guide