Summer Solstice 2008

Despite the rain... Visited Stonehenge for the Summer Solstice again this year; it was very wet. The whole family went for the experience but despite our misgivings with the weather before we set off, the kids were looking forward to it; so we went anyway.

It was very gloomy and very wet. At 8:30pm the stones were quiet so I was hopeful that a projected weekend contingent wasn’t going to turn up. At 4:30am it was apparent that they had. The Stones seemed busier than any other time, and they were definitely messier – the litter was appalling. I do wish some people would have a little more respect for others.

The rain fell for most of the night in some shape or form – came down very heavy just before sunrise. The sun was never visible through the clouds!

The kids spent most of the night asleep in the back of the Scenic; it was just a form of camping to them.

Biggest problem was the two hours it took us to get out of the car park. Normally only takes about 15 minutes. We spent a good hour thirty not actually moving!

It seems the car park was full; I have never seen the cars parked all the way to the back that’s for sure. And I think this created a problem when people started to leave – just nowhere to go. That combined with the little hill heading to the exit being a tad wet and the cars were started to wheel spin on it… I wonder how some of the later cars and vans would have got on…


Despite the rain... Umbrella... Umbrella... Umbrella... Umbrella...

Happy to be here... A Job to do... Just you and me...

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Messages from the stones…

I was at Stonehenge for the summer Solstice… anyway recently someone commented about one of my pictures on one of the photograph sites that I post to.

Here is the picture. You can click on it to get a bigger image.

Sunset at Stonehenge

And here is the comment.

Great image spoiled by the NO in the cloud formation obviously not a heavenly body!!!! apart from that nicely handled image…Bev.

I had to email Bev to find out what was meant… and only after much staring did I see that message sent to me during sunset before the summer solstice at stonehenge… boldy in the top middle of the picture, nestled among the clouds… “NO”… was someone trying to tell me something?

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Summer Solstice 2007

Sunset at Stonehenge I went to the Solstice celebrations at last night. I was up there for 9pm ready to see the sunset. I’ve not see the sunset at the stones before and to be honest they are not in the right position for it! 🙂
There was a small amount of cloud which cleared relatively quickly and the rest of the night was pretty clear and dry. It only rained for about 10 seconds at around 9:30pm.
The stones were busy, mainly I think because Glastonbury is upon us and many people will be en-route. I have to say that security seemed a bit edgy. I’m not sure if they were expecting trouble or that they were concerned about the numbers but there did seem to be something in the air. There seemed to be a lot more nobs than usual and there was an awful lot more rubbish left lying around. All in all I didn’t think it was the best solstice celebrations.
The sky was clear right through to 4am and the the dark storm clouds rolled in. By 4:30 the sky was pretty covered and the chance of seeing a decent sunrise looked very very remote. Also, the chance of getting soaked look very very high. So we cut our loses and head for home.


Sunset at Stonehenge Sunset at Stonehenge Sunset at Stonehenge Sunset at Stonehenge
Watching on... Solstice Kiss Security Stoking the fire

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The Longest Night – Winter Solstice

I went to the at this morning. It isn’t as widely visited as the Summer Solstice, I guess the cold puts most people off, so the reduced numbers make for a more personal moment. There is very little organisation compared to the Summer Solstice, no car parking facilities, no food, etc, but then you only get about a thousand people at the most compared to the twenty five thousand in the summer.

The fog was thick, as it has been for the past few days, so I didn’t actually see the sun until about 9:30am from the motorway on my way to work, but the atmosphere was fantastic and the fog added to the feeling of eerieness that one gets from the stones.


Stonehenge - Winter Solstice 2006 Stonehenge - Winter Solstice 2006 Stonehenge - Winter Solstice 2006 

Unlike the summer solstice, the winter solstice has a more defined ceremony for the people who welcome the sun back. I found myself caught between two thoughts for the people who take it seriously; One. You are grown men, get a grip of yourself… and Two. We should all let these people get on with it without our intrusion.

There is a large intrusion of photographers and camera men trying to get the close shot of anyone who remotely look like they take the process seriously. I found myself thinking that they should just be left alone with a small exclusion zone around them. Imagine all these cameras at the front of a church during communion or something.

I also found that you get people dressed up a tad silly to be taken seriously, and that these people detract from what everyone else is doing. A bloke dressed as Merlin springs to mind. Dressed in new modern costime shop atire, complete with jeans and white trainers! Unfortunatley, it is people like him that get the attention of the press, and therefore show a rather silly side of the whole process.

See Also: Summer Solstice 2006 | Summer Solstice 2005 | The Longest Day | Fergus’ Solstice Fotothing

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Stonehenge – Summer Solstice 2006

Well, I’ve just got back from where I was for the . That’s now the third year on the trot. It was a little different this year as it was cloudy and rainy. It was on off slow drizzle from about 0:00am and then absolutley tipped it down at around 2am. The sun should have appeared at about 4:50am but it didn’t really clear the clouds until 6am. But despite the clouds and the rain, it was still an enjoyable experience. I really want to get the in this year…

See Also: Summer Solstice 2005, The Longest Day.

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