A walk amongst the stones: Sacred Landscape

Showing posts with label Sacred Landscape. Show all posts

Monday, 6 February 2023

Avebury and Silbury Hill

within the henge

West Kennet Avenue

stone in hedgerow, north east of Avenue

hedgerow detail

Silbury Hill, from Waden Hill

Saturday, 22 October 2022

White Horse Hill and Wayland's Smithy

Uffington White Horse

I first visited these sites in the late 80's whilst a student at the University of Hull. During the summer recess, I took lodgings in Witney with P, a family friend of a fellow student. Throwing my vegetarian credentials to the wind I got a job at the local pork pie factory.

Iron Age hillfort

The position paid surprisingly well, and working the 2pm - 10pm shift, it also meant that the hours suited my student body-clock far better than any 9-5 employment. For the sake of 2hrs overtime, I could work until midnight and earn an extra half day's pay. Being both conscientious and efficient at my job overtime was regularly on offer.

The Ridgeway

Paid in cash, and with endless free production-line rejects at break times, I had access to more money and more calories in my diet, than I had ever enjoyed before in my life. That the abundance of calories came from saturated animal fats, and refined sugars was not an irony that I missed even then.

Wayland's Smithy

That summer also gave my inner musical magpie, the time and opportunity to collect shiny aural baubles. Exploring P’s vinyl collection – I harvested amongst others, Chet Baker, MC5, Sly and the Family Stone, Peter Tosh, Culture and Lee Scratch Perry – committing each album to the ferrous magnetic tracks of a hand-labelled cassette tape.

And now up to date. I visit these sites for only the second time, with A; and with A & Z, whose friendship was forged when I returned to formal study at Sparsholt College – as a mature student seeking and eventually fulfilling a successful change of career.

".. Nothing to see here .."

towards "The Manger"

Saturday, 9 April 2022

Stanton Drew, Stone Circles and The Cove

It is difficult for a camera to do justice to the Great Circle of the Stanton Drew complex given the scale of the site. So like us, you will just have to go there, and walk its 113m perimeter whilst taking in the 27 or so stones that comprise its visble remains.

The excellent on-site interpretation highlights the other less visible aspects of the sacred landscape - describing and illustrating the size of the henge monument within which the Great circle is placed, and the nine concentric circles of posts holes, within the stone circle, which would have originally held wooden posts.

the Great Circle looking towards Stanton Drew

To the north east of the Great Circle there is a second smaller circle, and the remains of two avenues - at least one of which is deemed to link to the River Chew.

This smaller circle has such a familiar warmth of feel to it - and reminded me of our visit to Calanais last year. Maybe it was just the quietness of both sites on the day, the sun in a Simpson sky, and the coolness of the breeze - which created a similar physical response in me? The emotional response was also more than familiar, a simple joy in the stones, and the feeling of wellness that presides when walking within a sacred landscape.

north east Stone circle, T-shirt by Julian Cope

The south west stone circle is located in a small field sitting above the great circle - both a short walk and a couple of stiles leading you ably to its location. Another difficult circle to photograph as the stones are all very low in the ground, some within only the top surface visible. I remember the advice of a landscape photographer who recommended standing on top of a step ladder to reduce the foreground and get on top of your subject, advice that would have held well for this circle.

south west circle, T-shirt by D.M.D.C.

Heading back into Stanton Drew village, we rocked up at The Druid's Arms for a quick cider and a photo opportunity with the three stones forming The Cove monument that can be found in the pubs garden.

The Cove, dry cider by Thatchers, served by The Druid's Arms

The Cove, and the church of St Mary the Virgin

We decided to leave a visit to the nearby Hautville's Quoit for another tour, and headed instead to our overnight lodgings at The Hunter Rest, Clutton.