Yesterday (Sunday), me and the family decided ti was a good time to go visit Stonehenge.
The site is only 95 miles away from were we live (Cardiff), and with the imminent move to Manchester, it will be much harder to visit it later on.
The drive there was excellent, after we travel 60 miles on I4 we then got into these beautiful country roads on the outskirts of Bath, that revealed some of the most amazing houses I have ever seen .. old and with character.
After about 1:50 on the road, we arrived (the return trip was only 1:35, helps when you know the road and not looking at a map every 5 minutes 😉 ).. the road leading to the site has a rises then dips on the last 1/2 mile or so before the site, so when your on the rising side you get the fist glance of the site, on the next rise ahead .. which makes it look very dramatic .. hard to explain really, you have to see it with you own eyes.
The thing that amazed me is, Stonehenge is virtually in the middle of nowhere, there is a small village a few miles form it, but when you are on the site, everywhere you look, you see nothing but fields of pasture .. it’s quite nice actually, if you disregard the nearby road it really gives the sense of the whole region being undisturbed for millennia.
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I was quite happy to be there, this is a place I have read allot about, and watched countless documentaries on .. for me it’s always a trill when you have the opportunity to see in person a worldwide renowned site such as Stonehenge .. makes me feel like I am scratching another item off the “to-see before I did” list 🙂
The whole site has a walkway that goes the circumference of the rocks, and you follow that pathway all around it .. quite nice, people are not allowed inside the rock circle, I believe there are ways to book a night viewing which allows you greater access, but i didn’t check into it, i was quite happy to see it from were I was .. simply magnificent .. a testament to how our ancestors had ways to deal with large objects that we cant even begin to understand.
After it, we decided to stop on “Woodhenge” .. I had never heard of it, later I read it was a new site found in 1999, were traces of a wood “stonehenge” was found, the places were the timber used to lay, were replaced with cement casts .. quite interesting to check out, it’s very surreal, and definitely something one should experience .. on this one you are allowed to walk all over the circles.
Almost in the middle of it, there is this agglomerate of rocks, that almost looks like a tomb .. I have no idea what it is, but seems people leave coins and other small gifts on it, not one to want to break with tradition, i left a few coins as well. 🙂
But more than anything, what really amazed me in Woodhenge (like in stonehenge) was the sheer beauty of the surroundings, it’s such a quiet and peaceful place, you feel you could just stare at the horizon for hours .. and get lost on your toughs .. such a serene place.
I took the time to take one last picture (above) of the beauty around us (and my car parked on the middle of it) before heading on back, I hope we get to do it again soon .. both places deserve more than one visit to truly take in their beauty and meaning.
