I have been travelling and can't resist sharing some of the places I stopped at along the way. We drove to Salisbury and stopped to see Stonehenge as we drove past. It is difficult to describe just how awesome this place is, the stones are huge and it is oh so ancient. The large ditch and bank (the henge) were built over 5000 years ago. Originally there was a wooden structure in the centre but around 4500 years ago this was replaced with the stones. The circles use different coloured stone, the larger ones were brought from the Downs 19 miles away, but the smaller ones are bluestones and came from Wales 240 miles away! The blue specs in the stone sparkles where the light catches it.
See the tall stone in the centre of the pic, with the nobble on top? The lintels were held in place by these nobbles. The large stones are set a particular space apart so that the sun rises between two stones all through the year. There is another single large stone set around 100 yards apart and the sun rises over this one. How amazing were our ancestors!
Around the site are large humps in the earth, these were the burial mounds.
During the day there is a low barrier around the stones so I couldn't take close up photos, but I understand that if you camp overnight you can go right up and touch. There is a campagn to have the site totally open and free 24 hours a day, but I was perfectly happy to pay the small entrance fee. I can just imagine how long the stones would last once bits started to sell on ebay.
2 comments:
what a sad thought, to think of them being sold on ebay. but you're so right. what a tremendous place.
Those are great shots, love the first one with the shadows. Really incredible stuff - history - isn't it?
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