Over recent years I have spent many hours exploring the Stonehenge landscape and the ever present hares are an integral element of that region of Salisbury Plain. They are recorded as being coursed on the Downs around Amesbury in the late 16th century and in the early 19th century, and the coursing was recorded as 'excellent.' Amesbury Coursing Club was formed in 1822, at which time the owner of the land allowed hares to be preserved on the downland near Stonehenge. Elsewhere in the parish was also regularly used for coursing. The Altcar (Lancs) Club held a seven day meet at Amesbury in 1864 and the South of England Club used to meet at Stonehenge. Immediately southeast of Stonehenge is Coneybury Hill, where Coneybury Henge once ... Read More

Over recent years I have spent many hours exploring the Stonehenge landscape and the ever present hares are an integral element of that region of Salisbury Plain. They are recorded as being coursed on the Downs around Amesbury in the late 16th century and in ... Read More

The sarsen stones of Stonehenge represent the principal building material used in the monument's construction, of which 53 stones remain, from around 85 in the original structure. Sarsen stone is a silicified sandstone found as scattered blocks on the chalk in southern England. There is no significant geological source of sarsen stone in the immediate vicinity of Amesbury, only  a few scattered single sarsens, such as the Cuckoo Stone and at Bulford, but no sarsen drifts. Interestingly, my friend Pete Glastonbury, the Wiltshire Antiquarian, has indicated that there is also a collection of sarsens at a long barrow near Robin Hood's Ball that must have originated from a local source. The lack of a local geological source for the main building material appears to have been ... Read More

The sarsen stones of Stonehenge represent the principal building material used in the monument's construction, of which 53 stones remain, from around 85 in the original structure. Sarsen stone is a silicified sandstone found as scattered blocks on the chalk in southern England. There is no ... Read More

Carol Druce recently kindly sent me the above image of one of the resident rooks of Stonehenge, adding, 'There are three that sit on my hand for food now -- one in particular. This one follows me around quietly and prefers to take food from my hand. (I work there).' The jackdaws have nested under the lintels for centuries. The real guardians of Stonehenge! In his Natural History & Antiquities of Selborne, a series of letters written following visits around the area, the famous ecologist, Gilbert White, recorded in 1788 that "Another very unlikely spot is made use of by daws as a place to breed in, and that is Stonehenge. These birds deposit their nests in the interstices between the upright and the impost stones ... Read More

Carol Druce recently kindly sent me the above image of one of the resident rooks of Stonehenge, adding, 'There are three that sit on my hand for food now -- one in particular. This one follows me around quietly and prefers to take food from ... Read More

On the morning of Monday 28 December I witnessed sunrise and moonset at Stonehenge, Amesbury, Wiltshire. I took the above photograph of an ethereal waning gibbous moon over Stonehenge setting to the west on arrival. This was a few days after the lunar minimum standstill point, which won't happen for another 18.61 years. The preceding days were typical of the often relentless mild grey gloom of what now forms much of an English winter here in southern England. Driving up in the dark from Bournemouth early that morning, as soon as I was north of Breamore I could see from the first inkling of light in a perfectly clear sky that the sunrise that morning might be something special. I arrived at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre ... Read More

On the morning of Monday 28 December I witnessed sunrise and moonset at Stonehenge, Amesbury, Wiltshire. I took the above photograph of an ethereal waning gibbous moon over Stonehenge setting to the west on arrival. This was a few days after the lunar minimum standstill point, ... Read More

English Heritage write Maiden Castle, Dorset is 'the finest Iron Age fort in Britain and was first laid out in 600 BC over the remains of a Neolithic settlement. During the following centuries the hill fort was extended and additional defences thrown up around it. In AD 43 it was taken by the Roman army and its inhabitants moved to the new town of Durnovaria, modern Dorchester'. A brief history of the hill fort is here. I visited the site on Friday 4 December 2015 on a mild sunny day interspersed with cloud and a persistent prevailing south-westerly wind. On first sight, as always, the sheer feat of construction of the fort left me in awe of the achievements of our prehistoric ancestors. The above ... Read More

English Heritage write Maiden Castle, Dorset is 'the finest Iron Age fort in Britain and was first laid out in 600 BC over the remains of a Neolithic settlement. During the following centuries the hill fort was extended and additional defences thrown up around it. ... Read More

This year my interest in the prehistoric sites of Britain has opened up 'the view from above', more by chance than design. The result has been an ongoing  joint film project with Pete Glastonbury and a close working relationship with the aerial photography company CamAero based in Dorset  The photograph above is Badbury Rings Iron Age hill fort in east Dorset. During the Roman era, five Roman roads formed a complex junction on the north side of Badbury.  Aerial footage seems to further reveal the sheer scale of the achievements of our prehistoric ancestors.   Below are Bronze Age barrows at the northwestern approach to Badbury Rings:   [caption id="attachment_1853" align="aligncenter" width="743"] Bronze Age barrows Badbury Rings[/caption] The Badbury barrow carving in the British Museum, described by Aubrey Burl ... Read More

This year my interest in the prehistoric sites of Britain has opened up 'the view from above', more by chance than design. The result has been an ongoing  joint film project with Pete Glastonbury and a close working relationship with the aerial photography company CamAero based in ... Read More

The lure of Stonehenge is self-evident by the millions of annual visitors who gather daily from the four corners of the earth and take time out from their time poor modern day lives to cast their eyes upon the stones. My personal 'journey to the stones' began as a teenager living in Bournemouth on the central south coast of England. At that time, it was traditional for many of my peers and myself to spend a week or so camping at the 'Henge' prior to the summer solstice, and to experience the day with the longest period of daylight at the monument, after staying up all night to welcome in first light and the dawn. At the heart of the 'lure' for me, something impossible to ... Read More

The lure of Stonehenge is self-evident by the millions of annual visitors who gather daily from the four corners of the earth and take time out from their time poor modern day lives to cast their eyes upon the stones. My personal 'journey to the ... Read More

On Sunday, 27 September, 2015, 28 amateur and professional astronomers and photographers ranging from ages 5 to 65 descended upon the English countryside in Salisbury, UK, to the Stonehenge monument in Amesbury. The reason for this occasion that has been occurring for the past twelve years was to view the full moon rise amongst the stones. Since 2002, Pete Glastonbury has been organizing this special access event to view the full moon risings for the last 12 years. The first was a special commission for Stonehenge that included renowned archaeoastronomers Professor Gerald Hawkins, Professor Vance Tiede and Professor Hubert Allen. Fast-forward a dozen years and we have English Heritage's steward Simon Banton as unofficial guide and new generations of astronomers.     This year wasn't ... Read More

On Sunday, 27 September, 2015, 28 amateur and professional astronomers and photographers ranging from ages 5 to 65 descended upon the English countryside in Salisbury, UK, to the Stonehenge monument in Amesbury. The reason for this occasion that has been occurring for the past twelve ... Read More

A Silent Earth and Pete Glastonbury film project is underway, recording our own story of the prehistoric landscape of the British Isles and Ireland. The footage will be heavily illustrated with our own aerial photography, working in association with CamAero, revealing the landscape and associated celestial sphere above in a unique and previously unseen way. Pete Glastonbury was recently involved in the production of Ancient Skies, a documentary by Grant Wakefield, previously reviewed here.  His work has either been featured on, or he has worked with (in his own words), The Sky at Night, BBC News and Local Weather, ITV, and Al Jazeera. He has been published in National Geographic, Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine, Kindred Spirit, Fortean Times, as well as local newspapers, various books, and ... Read More

A Silent Earth and Pete Glastonbury film project is underway, recording our own story of the prehistoric landscape of the British Isles and Ireland. The footage will be heavily illustrated with our own aerial photography, working in association with CamAero, revealing the landscape and associated ... Read More

Above is a photograph of the final Stonehenge Avenue approach to the monument from the northeast. English Heritage states  'Recent excavations have shown that the line of the Avenue follows the line of natural geological features -- gullies and banks in the surface of the chalk, formed at the end of the last ice age, but which could have been visible as shallow ridges to the builders of Stonehenge. The Avenue was probably constructed in about 2300 BC, more than a century after the great central stone structures had been built. It is interpreted as a ceremonial approach to Stonehenge. Following the solstice alignment in its first straight section, the ditches and banks then curve off to the east before sweeping off down to the ... Read More

Above is a photograph of the final Stonehenge Avenue approach to the monument from the northeast. English Heritage states  'Recent excavations have shown that the line of the Avenue follows the line of natural geological features -- gullies and banks in the surface of the ... Read More