17 replies to this topic

[senua]

Came across this, might be of interest:

Leave our glimpse of Stonehenge alone
By Philip Johnston


It is a journey we have made many times; and the highlight of the long drive has always been the first glimpse of Stonehenge as the car crests the hill on the A303 just after the Amesbury roundabout, laying bare the panoramic Wiltshire landscape. As a child, I vaguely remember stopping for a picnic among the stones, something that seems astonishing when you consider that, today, they are fenced off and can be viewed close up only while walking around them in circular procession along a set path. It is strictly no touching.

We no longer stop. It has become, depressingly, the Stonehenge Experience, with the inevitable (if inadequate) visitor centre and opening hours. The idea that an ancient monument can have opening hours is bizarre. Stonehenge lies between two roads, the busy A303 and the A344, a more ancient route to the north. For almost as long as anyone can remember, there has been controversy over what, if anything, should be done to remove these roads both to ease the summer congestion and to allow the monument to stand in glorious isolation, to be gawped at by thousands of tourists without traffic in the background. We are, supposedly, approaching the moment of truth when the Government will make a decision after decades of dithering. Those who have followed this saga will believe it when they see it.

  http://www.telegraph...7/24/do2402.xml

[Tristan]

I think that if they want to keep those roads then they should tunnel them. This is just my opinion. I've been there too. It's great isn't it?   

Edited by Tristan, 24 July 2006 - 15:51.

[Jimit]

I've posted a reply. Good grief, aren't some of the other posters Phillistines!
Jim.

[Tybrind]

quote from the replies:
"The answer is to demolish Stonehenge and replace it with much-needed housing. This pointless mounument, which along with the surrounding countryside serves no practical function that I can see, could be comemmorated in new place names - Monolith Avenue, for example, or Druids Drive. Replacing a rather old-fashioned and untidy construction with neat acres of suburbia will certainly represent genuine progress in the effort to develop the countryside so it has a function other than to provide idle amusement for old-fashioned romantics. There are far too many wrecks like Stonehenge littering the landscape but with zeal, determination and a few bulldozers we can solve the problem."

beggars belief.

[Pete G]

Balloon over stonehenge
You don't see this everyday!
I have been given a place by English Heritage to go up in the balloon with the press pack next week,
PeteG

[mort]

somehow the mystery or magic is wasted on the busload of tourists visiting the place. if you go there thesedays you somehow get herded along with them all, last time i went i did not find it a very peaceful experience.

get rid of the road, let them walk a few miles to it so their minds can wonder about its meaning as they approach it from the distant.

any tips pete on when's the quiet period to go?

[Pete G]

wednesday evenings in September.
You get to see the sunset from inside the circle and the traffic isn't so bad.
Once the school hols have finished the visiter numbers drop off and the special access visits are less as the weather is unpredictable.
September 9th this year is a good time as a full lunar eclipse rises over the A303.
PeteG

[kevin.b]

Stonehenge, Stonehenge, Stonehenge,
So good, Tristam posted it thrice.
It is a magical place, please get rid of the road, the army camp they call a visitor centre, and let anybody that wants to see it walk, it will do them good?
Kevin

[kevin.b]

WOOPS, sorry, Senua posted it thrice.
How do I edit on here ?
Kevin

[senua]

Sorry about that, computer was playing up so wasn't even sure if it had posted.

Somebody on another site commented that the attitude expressed was of a drive through society.  Everything must be handed on a plate instantly.  
I've appreciated Stonehenge more by walking around the surrounding landscape too.  Gives you more of an over all picture.  Best to do this early in the morning though as the effect is spoiled once the coaches come in.
I get the feeling sometimes that Stonehenge to some people is just another place to visit on there list.  I wonder how many of them realise that they drive through one of the biggest henges at Durrington walls.

[BuckyE]

Phillip has a good point, if oddly expressed: what exactly is the point of "conserving" Stonehenge or any historic site? I've sked this before and there certainly is no consensus.

Stonehenge (particularly) has an immensely long history of rebuilding, modification, abuse, neglect and trivialization. There is no consensus about its original purpose or its place in the landscape. Our current "misuse" of it is as much in keeping with its history as would be any reconstruction of its "ancient" landscape.

[mullien]

BuckyE, on 26 July 2006, 14:23, said:

]Stonehenge (particularly) has an immensely long history of rebuilding, modification, abuse, neglect and trivialization. There is no consensus about its original purpose or its place in the landscape. Our current "misuse" of it is as much in keeping with its history as would be any reconstruction of its "ancient" landscape.

Why keep it ... for all the prehistory it represents, even if it has been rebuilt or modified. Landscape is burnt deep into our psyche, it appears in myth, poetry, painting, literature and even  new religion.  Humans are imaginative beings archaeology is a functional science,  the new Stonehenge if it gets built will just be a modern copy with no soul.

[Pete G]

Quote

the new Stonehenge if it gets built will just be a modern copy with no soul.

How can you say that? This is just your uninformed opinion.
You have no idea what the project is about.
It's not a Replica of the original Stonehenge it is a New project in its own right.

[Nigel]

BuckyE, on 26 July 2006, 13:23, said:

Phillip has a good point, if oddly expressed: what exactly is the point of "conserving" Stonehenge or any historic site? I've sked this before and there certainly is no consensus.

Stonehenge (particularly) has an immensely long history of rebuilding, modification, abuse, neglect and trivialization. There is no consensus about its original purpose or its place in the landscape. Our current "misuse" of it is as much in keeping with its history as would be any reconstruction of its "ancient" landscape.

Hi Bucky,
(and thanks Diego for getting me back on the forum - has anything happened lately?!)

I think I understand what you're saying. Sort of. But a couple of thoughts -

There is no current plan for "reconstruction of its "ancient" landscape", merely for getting rid of a couple of roads. I accept that the claim that this will "re-unite it with its landscape" is a bit dubious since, as you say, we don't know for certain whether the whole area was meant to be unified (probably not, in fact, since there appear to be zones of both the dead and the living) but surely, whatever our state of ignorance, the place would simply be "better" without the roads?

Also, "Our current "misuse" of it is as much in keeping with its history" almost sounds like we should keep up the tradition! Can't we validly call a halt to the misuse? The current plan to remove the roads and to substitute them with a short tunnel with brand new roads on each side of it strikes me as continuing the abuse but in the guise of rectifying it. For me, we should break with tradition, desist from misuse and leave the poor thing alone.

[Tybrind]

I have some sympathy with Bucky's views we're deluding ourselves if we imagine that stonehenge does not exist in the present and presumptuous to try and return it to a past state that may never have exisited and only represents one phase in a very long history. The question is about visitors being able to appreciate the monument- as it is our 'flag ship' monument. From this perspective it might be better to see the road go. Reminds me of the mess the US troops left at Babylon- I'm quite glad of this, future archaeologists will have a clear cultural horizon representing a foreign invasion with little respect for the heritage of the area   , another chapter in the history of the site.