UK Road Trip Part VIII, iv: Stonehenge!
I still didn’t know what we were doing on our last day of Tim’s long weekend until that morning, when Tim told me we would “drive home the long way” and go to Stonehenge. When I first planned my trip, Tim had me make him a list of all the places I wanted to see and things I wanted to do, and Stonehenge was right there at the top of the list.
It was a pretty long drive from where we had been staying along the coast, but we soon found our way and spotted the big “Stonehenge” sign…then imagine our surprise when it was straight ahead!
Stonehenge is so surreal. It’s just there, in the middle of a field, with lots of sheep and rabbits wandering around near it. Not hyped up at all, no fancy museum, just the stone circle with a small gift shop/cafe across the street. They even offer “free” audio guided tours (which Tim and I declined, as I already knew the history of Stonehenge and Tim had been there before).
We took our time walking around the stone circle, taking lots of photographs and just being in awe of how long Stonehenge had been standing, and the role(s) it may have taken in early Druid life. I would love to go back during the Solstice, when they actually allow access down to the stones, but I doubt we’d have time to do it.
Tim and I timed our visit “just right”. We arrived with enough time to walk fully around the circle, then head back across to the shop to purchase a few souvenirs, and then walked back over to the circle to take some photos of the sun as it started to set. The grounds officially closed at four, but there was one other photographer standing with Tim and I, and fortunately, the workers allowed us an additional 20 minutes to take photos of the setting sun before they finally told us we had to leave.
I purchased a Christmas present for my friend Miss M while I was there, because I knew she’d appreciate having something from Stonehenge, and I bought myself a reusable shopping bag that has Stonehenge on the side, so whenever I do my shopping I’ll always remember my trip.
Collectively, Tim and I took over 200 photographs of Stonehenge and the surrounding area, and you can view them all in the gallery here, but here are some of my favourite photos from that day:
Tim and I
My current desktop wallpaper (comment if you want a full-size copy!)
Sheep!
By daylight
And, don’t forget my vlog if you haven’t seen it yet:
And, as I posted above, more photos can be found here: http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/uk-trip-2008/stonehenge/.
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6 Comments so far
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Hello Rebecca, great photos. Would you like me to link them from the site? Here is the reply I use for emails, which you may find useful…..
….Hello, you need to contact English Heritage, http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge, the custodians of the site.
For special access to the Stones, go to: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.878 or http://www.stonehenge.co.uk and click the ‘Private Viewing Tour’ button on the left.
The Avebury complex is a must on your itinerary and only a short journey, north, from Stonehenge. There is free, open access to the whole of this huge site. Go to http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/avebury.htm for more information.
There is a “Visitors Forum” on http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/ to record your visit or any other comments. Please e-mail visitorsforum@stonehenge.co.uk if you would like to do this.
Have a good trip. Kind regards, Alan
DON’T miss this… http://www.freedom.ws/alanconnett
http://www.1and1.co.uk/?k_id=3027331
http://www.wdbus.co.uk/ is the local bus company.
http://www.windowonbritain.co.uk
Lots of love, Alan
Hi Alan,
Thanks for replying. Sure, feel free to link to my photos and/or my blog post! 😀 I’m not sure if we’ll get back that far south or not before I leave, but I’ll keep Avebury in mind for a future trip!
~Rebecca
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HI Rebecca,
My name is Annie and I am writing from AREA Magazine, Bristol’s Premier Lifestyle Magazine.
I have been talking to ALan about aquiring one of your stonehenge images to run alongside a blurb we may be running on the summer Solstice as part of our ‘Events of the Year Diary’ for our magazine. We wouldnt be able to pay you but we would credit you with the image. If you could email me a High Res image (over 300 dpi) asap that would be briliant. I particularly like the ones with more light, rather than the sunset as i think they would print better.
Look foward to hearing from you
Annie