Category Archives: Neolithic

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Stonehenge, at last!

Despite loving all things neolithic, I had missed seeing Stonehenge for all these years that I’ve been visiting England (though I did see the Stonehenge exhibit at the British Museum a few years ago). I finally saw it for real today. (Thanks to a Google feature that has unfortunately since been discontinued, I was able to delete the people in these photos. In fact, people were everywhere but we never felt crowded.)

We took a bus from the train station, over gentle hills and plains, to the real thing, just standing there. They have staged your visit beautifully. First, you see the henge from the road,

then you walk along a path until you see the henge getting closer with every step. And then, there it is, silent and mysterious.

The exhibit inside expands your understanding of the site through artifacts and archaeological analyses. Some of these we saw at the Salisbury museum. Skeletons, pots, and other evidence of prehistoric life were everywhere.

I will end with this grooved pot, because I seem to have lost any notes I took about this day. But the main points were that we had a glorious day out and were fortunate to see the the henge the day before some climate activists were moved to sprinkle orange powder all over the site!

On to Salisbury

We bade farewell to our efficient little apartment, packed, tidied up and taxied to the train station. The trip to Salisbury was easy, highlighted by a view of one of the chalk horses found in this part of the world.

Googling discovered that this one is known as the Westbury white horse. It has been recut (into the turf) numerous times since 1778. A nice little bonus as we trained along.

We dropped our bags at Caboose (a left luggage operation inside a pub) and headed into town for a light lunch at a little outdoor cafe.

We walked down towards the Cathedral, which we’ll visit tomorrow, and went into the Salisbury Museum. They have a Rex Whistler exhibit on at the moment, and an enthusiastic docent made us pay more attention than we might have otherwise. I was vaguely aware of him, but discovered that he knew everyone in the arts and society at the time (1928 onward), until his death in the war in 1944. This is a jaunty self-portrait from 1933.

Perhaps we should indeed have included Wilton House (where he painted numerous portraits and decorations) on our itinerary, but you can only do so much.

The Stonehenge exhibit was good prep for our visit there tomorrow. Everything from skeletons to cooking utensils to pottery, like this neolithic Durrington Walls Grooved Ware pot,

was on display, some dug up by treasure seekers, others by early archaeologists, and eventually by modern diggers with better equipment, all displayed in reverse chronological order that actually made a good deal of sense. I don’t know which I like more, the artifacts themselves or the be-whiskered old men who wrote about what they found in the 18th century!

A quick stop at the food hall at Marks & Spencer for supplies, and we were soon enjoying a glass of wine on the terrace of our new digs for the next three days.

The flat is very thoughtfully designed, with notes of Morocco in some of the lighting and fabrics.

Another very steep staircase, but we’re getting used to hanging on to the balustrades as we go up and (especially) down.

Dinner tonight was at Baroushka, a Lebanese restaurant five minutes away. Alison had some most delicious lamb, and I had a roasted sea bream, and we were both happy. We might even come back again on Wednesday!

Many photos of Stonehenge

For all my interest in stones, menhirs, and other prehistoric sites, I had never been to Stonehenge. Time to fix that!

Our flat in Salisbury is just five minutes away from the train station, where the Stonehenge bus leaves on the hour. We hopped on and gazed upon the green landscape for the half-hour trip to the site. It is very well staged to allow everyone to visit without too many long lines: a shuttle to the site, a walk up a gentle hill, and there it was!

Who am I to “review” Stonehenge? But I will boldly give it five stars, if not more. It looked smaller than I had expected, but it was still quietly remarkable. The stones have been there for centuries, and they have nothing to prove! The sky was huge, with enormous clouds and lots of sunshine, the perfect backdrop.

We walked slowly around the site, noting the Heel stone (below) and the Slaughter stone,

and marveling at the fallen stones. Back in the visitor center, a well-designed exhibit led us through the history of the site and harkened us back to the Salisbury Museum, which has extensive materials from 18th and 19th century archaeologists.

Little did we know that the very next day, climate change protestors would show up and throw orange powder all over the stones.

I understand their concern, but I think they are simply annoying everyone. Nevertheless, the day after that, thousands of people congregated peacefully for the Solstice celebration, and all was well.

Dinner tonight was not at the local pub as we had hoped, because it is a “wet pub,” meaning that they don’t serve food. Who knew? Luckily, the Bishops Mill down the road was surprisingly good, especially their chips. A good finale to a great day out.

Category Archives: Neolithic

Stonehenge, at last!

On to Salisbury

Many photos of Stonehenge

Wildlife in the garden

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