Day 10 in England, Part 1: All the Giant Rocks

 

When I told you that this was actual footage of me planning our trip to England--

--well... well, I didn't lie. I have so many photos of this, my Day of Giant Rocks, that I literally have to make two blog posts. To be honest, I don't even know if Blogger would let me upload as many photos as I have of this day into a single post. I can't even imagine how long it would take for my country internet to process it. 

So let's just confine this first post to everything that we saw before we saw Stonehenge, shall we? Here's the first part of our day!

• Bishop's Waltham Palace
• West Kennet Avenue
• Avebury Stone Circle
• Silbury Hill

But first, breakfast!

The Robin Hood Inn was our first and most delicious full English breakfast of the trip. On later mornings, Matt would continually try to delete items from his full English when he ordered, meeting with varying levels of success, but I was super into it. I mean, the beans may be a bit of a stretch, but who am I to turn down a little more breakfast protein?

Even though this was officially Big Rocks Day, culminating in our special tour inside Stonehenge, about which I was already absolutely out of my mind with excitement, there just happened to be a lovely ruins right in our path to Avebury, so of COURSE we had to stop at the Bishop's Waltham Palace first. 

Until the English Civil War, this was a residence of the bishops of Winchester, although it looks like a lot of other royal people and fancy guests stayed there, too. 

You can tell it used to be super nice! This is also only a tiny part of what it used to be, because after it was destroyed everyone around scavenged the stones for their own buildings. 

I will never understand how these huge fragments of walls just... stay standing? It's probably magic, because it's palpably magical to wander around them. 

As we were finishing up our wandering, a few small-ish children and their moms were arriving for what was clearly a playdate. The kids barreled around the ruins, completely immersed in some imaginary game, while their moms followed at a leisurely pace and chatted. Even my teenagers were struck by the impossible enchantment of a childhood spent playing at the feet of these beautiful, massive structures. It reminds me of what I think it must be like to raise children by the ocean, or at the edge of a redwood forest, or in the center of New York City--what would a childhood be like, centered somewhere that most other people dream about visiting? Does it add a boost of wonder to one's life, or do you take it for granted? Does your adult life feel extra dull, when your childhood was spent at the foot of an ancient castle?

Anyway, it's pretty!

Okay, NOW let's go to Avebury!

We got as far as the southern end of the West Kennet Avenue standing stones before I flung myself out of the car, which Matt conveniently (legally?) parked at the side of the road.

In the below photo, I am... yes, fine, I am hugging a giant rock. I cannot overstate to you how absolutely beside myself with glee I was. 

We walked north between the stones, following the Avenue to the Avebury Stone Circle:

These stones mark where standing stones should be. 

We had much of the walk all to ourselves, which made it a little startling to reach the north end of the Avenue, cross the busy road, climb up a little hill, and find that on the other side of the hill, the southeast part of the Avebury Stone Circle was this well populated!

Also, there were sheep! Welcome to the largest standing stone circle in Britain!

I don't remember why, but at some point I clearly gave Matt my camera, and so he records this next embarrassing segment. We've just recrossed that dangerous road, and on the other side is another field with even more of the giant stone circle. So... yeah, here I am literally running to the giant standing stones:

I do remember this, because I remember thinking that the ground was weirdly springy, and it didn't feel like I was putting any effort into running. I know that sounds unhinged, but later, Matt sent the teenager over to collect me, and she ran over, too, and I swear that as soon as she reached me she was all, "What's up with the ground? I feel like I could run forever!"

Anyway, here I am, having arrived at the stones after bolting away from my family without a word:

Matt was like, "What is she DOING?!", so he zoomed in. 

Um... I'm just standing stock-still, doing this:

A few minutes later, at least I've moved to another stone?

Yeah, that was when he sent the teenager over to supervise me. 

After several more horrifying photos of me embracing standing stones--I can't even believe I'm even telling you this, but I was definitely crying I was so happy--Matt suggested that we move the car from its questionable parking scenario to the legitimate parking lot for Avebury. We even had our official English Heritage Overseas Visitor Passes in hand, so legal parking wouldn't even cost us extra money!

I was all, "Cool, cool. Sounds like a great plan. I'm not leaving here, though, sooo..."

Matt deputized both teenagers to keep an eye on me, and headed back down the West Kennet Avenue by himself. I don't remember him handing me back my camera, though, but he clearly must have, because my camera roll switches from photos of me acting like I'm one second away from murdering Avebury and wearing its skin to... well, okay, these photos also look a little like I'm one second away from murdering Avebury and wearing its skin:

Eventually, it occurred to me that, thus far, I had only walked HALF of the Avebury Stone Circle. I immediately set off across an even bigger road, through the little village, into the National Trust site, and up another little hill. The teenagers both reasonably and gently tried to persuade me that we were going really far from where poor Matt had last seen us, and he was going to have absolutely no idea where we were and an impossible time finding us again. As far as I can remember, I acknowledged that that did, indeed, feel like a big problem, but nevertheless I was going to see the rest of the Stone Circle and hug it.

Goal achieved!

In the below photo, I am not IN the ditch. There was a sign that said that you shouldn't do that, and anyway, the teenager who was supervising me told me not to:

I swear to you that the ground around here was so strange! My kids haven't played chase since they were quite small, and yet walking this path around the Stone Circle, they struck up a spontaneous game of chasing each other around the stones, snatching the teenager's hat back and forth from each other. Running just felt so pleasant!

We eventually happened upon Matt completely by accident... or rather, it was completely by accident on my part, because I didn't have a thought in my head about where he was or how he'd find us; the kids were probably keeping an eye out for him, ahem.

Anyway, it was a great time for me to insist that we go into the Alexander Keiller Museum. I think the museum must be pretty new, because there wasn't a lot of information about it online? It's also pretty small, so I think I might have balked at the admission price if it hadn't been covered by our English Heritage Overseas Visitor Passes (what with the Dover Castle admission plus Battle Abbey plus the parking and museum here, we were already coming out WAY ahead with those passes!). I'm glad we went in, though, because it was AMAZING.

All these artifacts were found locally!

Red deer antler picks! Amazingly, picks like these are what the Neolithic people used to do all the digging at these sites:

I didn't think I was too unhinged in here, but I also think I might have lost some time, as even my college student finished looking through the museum WAY before I did. Matt even came back inside the museum to check that I was still there and hadn't wandered off to hug the standing stones some more. But there were THINGS TO LOOK AT! And LABELS TO READ!

Eventually, we really did need to leave Avebury so we could make it to Stonehenge on time, so we bought sandwiches and cold drinks from the little village grocery, and went to experience the trauma that Matt had already sampled in the Avebury parking lot. 

Say what you will about illegal roadside parking, but at least Matt could pull out of that spot! I swear to god the narrowness and tightness of the English roads are rivalled only by the narrowness and tightness of the English parking lots. We could not for the life of us figure out how to get our rental car out of our parking spot. I was behind the car, in the process of trying to guide Matt through the intricacies of a thousand-point turn, not feeling confident that it was even possible with cars inches from us on all four sides, when thank god the couple from the car on one side of us also came back to their car. The driver saw me struggling, American tourist-style, and because British people are THE NICEST PEOPLE, she told us to pull back into our spot and let her pull out first.

This poor woman then proceeded to have exactly the same amount of difficulty that we were having, because this parking lot was so ridiculously tight! Her companion also got out and also guided her through a thousand-point turn that took approximately one million years, while we just sat in our car like dumbasses and ate crisps (these things are so freaking good!!!) and watched. Then when she finally gave in and sold her soul to the devil for sweet freedom, Matt used the space she'd freed up to pull out right behind her and follow her out of the lot.

Thank you, Good Samaritan! We'd still be there without your help!

Obviously, after all that, I proceeded to insist that we had time to just take a quick swing by Silbury Hill. I mean it was RIGHT THERE!

You guys. The Neolithic people BUILT THIS HILL. Like, it's a proper hill! A big hill! They used those red deer antler picks like the ones in the Alexander Keiller Museum. And we have no idea why!

Ugh, I just love the Neolithic peoples so much.

Next stop: Stonehenge!

• Day 1: We made it to England!
• Day 2: Westminster Abbey, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, and Six
• Day 3: British Museum and Buckingham Palace
• Day 4: Mudlarks and Southwark
• Day 5: Natural History Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum
• Day 6: Pax Lodge, the Tower of London, and Afternoon Tea
• Day 7: Back and Forth by Boat to Greenwich
• Day 8: We Careen Our Way to Canterbury Cathedral and Dover Beach
• Day 9: Dover, Hastings, and a Holloway
• Day 10, Part 1: All the Giant Rocks
• Day 10, Part 2: Stonehenge, At Last!
• Day 11: To Avalon with King Arthur
• Day 12: Tintagel
• Day 13: In the Footsteps of Mary Anning
• Day 14: Homewards!

The (First) Book That I Read about Stonehenge After Visiting Stonehenge

Here's my latest Goodreads review, with some blog-only bonus content!

Stonehenge: Making Sense of a Prehistoric Mystery by Mike Parker Pearson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked up this book after a visit to Stonehenge, wanting a deep dive that was also accessible to me with my novice, non-science background. I won’t say that absolutely none of the book was over my head, but overall it was exactly what I wanted. Pearson does go into a lot of depth, but he defines all his terms, provides a lot of background, includes numerous diagrams and other illustrations, and overall builds geographic, cultural, and historical context as he writes about the history, archaeology, and perceptions over time of Stonehenge.

I see now that Pearson has written several other books, all of which look more in-depth than this one, so I think I made a good choice for a first text on Stonehenge (other than The History of the Kings of Britain, of course, which clearly explains the origin of Stonehenge in its present location). I’m looking forward to reading Pearson’s other books and following the references that I flagged in this book. I’ve already followed up on one mention, Star Carr, and found myself signing up for a four-week MOOC about the site!

If you don't make a gingerbread model of something, do you even love it?!?

I found the writing about the construction of Stonehenge harder to wade through--so many cremations and pits and barrows and earthworks and putting the stones here and moving them there and adding some more and digging more holes, etc.!--but the conjecture about who made them, why they were made, and what else they were thinking and doing at those times was vivid and easier for me to follow. I was very interested in the brief reference Pearson made to possible execution burials from 400-800; I’ve just finished reading The Sutton Hoo Story: Encounters with Early England, in which he also discusses likely execution burials at the mounds. His theory is that the executed were deliberately buried there because it was an unconsecrated, “pagan” location, which would also make sense for Stonehenge.

Another interesting (to me) conversation between Sutton Hoo and Stonehenge is their different histories of excavation. Although Sutton Hoo had several robberies, resulting in the probable loss of most of its physical artifacts, it’s lucky that its first official excavation wasn’t until the 1800s, and most of the damage that excavation did was having all the ship rivets they uncovered melted down and turned into horseshoes. But Stonehenge, Pearson makes clear, has suffered endless excavations--the first official one was led by King James I!--and therefore who knows what potential discoveries have been lost.

I think I might most enjoy learning about historical depictions and ongoing cultural utilization of Stonehenge, so I’m very glad that Pearson included a history of these in his final chapter. His mention of the Lucas de Heere watercolor (there’s an excellent digital copy of this image on Wikipedia) led me down a rabbit hole of looking up other historical artworks that feature Stonehenge. Now I have quite a mental collection of Stonehenge and quasi-Stonehenge art!

Pearson’s single paragraph on the 1985 Battle of the Beanfield led me down another rabbit hole, and I highly recommend finding the short 1991 documentary, “Operation Solstice,” on YouTube to learn more about it. I was surprised to see how relatively raucous and populated current Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge are, compared to how careful and regimented typical English Heritage-run visits to the site are, and now I’m wondering if there’s a connection between these “New Age travellers” who made up the “Peace Convoy” and current attendees of the Solstice celebrations. Did the free festival people finally get to come back, or are these all-new hippies?

Pearson also covers the history of scientific interpretations of Stonehenge, and I think that these are also fascinating. The more probably wrong they are, the better! Good old Stukeley, theorizing that Stonehenge was a temple for Iron Age druids.

This probably could be the sole book that you read about Stonehenge, and you’d come away with enough understanding of it to make a trip there even more enjoyable, or to monopolize the conversation at your next party, but if you’re very interested in Stonehenge, I think you’re really going to like this as a jumping-off point. Thanks to Pearson’s bibliography and in-text references I’ve got several more books and articles on my reading list now!

View all my reviews

Day 8 in England: In Which We Draw the Dread Sigil Odegra, and Careen Our Way to Canterbury Cathedral and Dover Beach

Do you know Good Omens, the Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman joint?

If you haven't, spoiler alert! Also, you should really be consuming media more quickly, because the book is, like, 33 years old by now. Read the book, then watch the series, then read a bunch of Aziraphale/Crowley fanfic, then buy yourself some cute little fanart on etsy to celebrate your obsession. You're welcome!

Anyway, there's a running joke/semi-major plot point involving the M25 that circles London, mainly how it's terrifying and terrible because it was secretly designed by the demon Crowley to form an ancient sigil that reads, "Hail the Great Beast, devourer of worlds." Everyone who drives it empowers and becomes part of its low-grade evil emanations.

So guess what was the very first road we drove on after picking up our very first right-hand drive car and veering our way out of the Gatwick Airport parking garage, poor Matt with his hands at 10 and 2, knuckles white, me screaming, "Left side! Left side! Oh Sweet Jesus LEFT SIDE!" as a helpful reminder of England's left-hand traffic, and both teenagers actively having panic attacks in the back seat?

I think we have never been so collectively terrified in our lives.

Also, I cannot BELIEVE that they let us just... rent this car and drive away? Like, they slapped a sign by the exit that reminded us to drive on the left hand side of the highway, and then boom! There we were, zipping along in bumper-to-bumper traffic!

I will go to my grave insisting that roundabouts are not better than traffic lights and why do they have so many lanes in them and how do you know which lane to be in, anyway? We never did figure that one out...

We had yet to experience how very narrow English roads could actually be, so after we'd careened our way to Canterbury and I was attempting to navigate us to a parking lot, I kept being all, "Turn here--OMG wait don't turn there that must be a sidewalk or something! Do the next--no, wait, that's surely another sidewalk. WHY IS GOOGLE TRYING TO GET US TO DRIVE OUR CAR INTO THESE TINY LITTLE CREVICES!?!"

I'm very glad we didn't reverse our touring plans and go to Lyme Regis first. Now THOSE were some narrow roads! 

Eventually we found a parking garage, left the car and kissed the concrete under our feet, thanked Thomas Becket for helping us arrive alive, and wandered through Canterbury to find the newly restored Christ Church Gate:

Zooming in on my photos at home so I can see all the little details is the next best thing to having binoculars!

We'd arrived a lot later than I'd planned, thanks to having no idea how to drive in England, so I dithered at first about actually going into Canterbury Cathedral, knowing I wouldn't have time to see everything. We wandered around a bit, checked out a couple of secondhand bookshops and vintage clothing stores, and then a shopkeeper gave us the tip that you could get a good view of Canterbury Cathedral through the second-floor window in the visitor's center:

The shopkeeper knew what she was doing, because as soon as I saw Canterbury Cathedral in real life, I said, "Yep, I've got to go there."

And thus my pilgrimage to Canterbury, begun four days earlier at Southwark Cathedral, is complete!

Even under construction scaffolding, Canterbury Cathedral is the most impressive building I've ever seen:

I kept craning my head to look at the super high ceilings:

Guess I wasn't the only person who walked into Canterbury Cathedral and stopped looking where I was going!

I was so busy goggling at the architecture that I barely got a single photo of the assassination site of Thomas Becket:

And I definitely almost fell down a giant flight of stairs in my desire to stand exactly centered beneath the Bell Harry Tower:

See the lovely fan vaulting! I don't know how tall this ceiling is, but the entire tower is over 250 feet tall.

It was honestly ridiculous how beautiful Canterbury Cathedral is. I was almost offended--like, how dare you just stand there and be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life?!?

And then, as if that wasn't more than enough, there was an exhibition in the crypt that had manuscript Bibles, pilgrim badges, more cool stuff owned by the Black Prince, and some excellent Gothic statuary:

And then as if THAT wasn't more than enough, we also found a library!

Here's some of us, wandering around in baffled amazement:

We really didn't have time to explore the rest of the Canterbury Cathedral site (until next time, then!), but some of us needed fuel and fortification before we got back into our Rental Car of Terror, so we popped into our first (but very much not last!) pub of the trip, The Old Buttermarket:

We even let the 17-year-old order her very first hard cider with our late lunch, thinking that a bit of a sedative before the upcoming drive wouldn't hurt, and might even keep her from having to breathe into a paper bag the entire time:

Another bit of a wander, definitely us procrastinating to avoid the upcoming ordeal because we really did need to get back on the road...

I LOVE how you can look down little streets and see the cathedral!

When I come back again one day, I'm DEFINITELY doing the Canterbury Tales live-action experience omg.

Then we bravely set forth like stalwart pilgrims and let Thomas Becket preserve us as we veered over to Dover Beach:

There was an open water swimming club practicing nearby, as well as the busy ferry port, but, as always, some of us were mainly interested in our Special Interests:

Contributing to the heft of her suitcase!

After a long walk along the beach, we all piled into one hotel room to eat Caribbean takeout and watch, in baffled fascination, this amazing 1969 British TV show about a ghost detective. At the time I thought that maybe I only thought it was so bizarre because I was soooo tired, but no. It really was that bizarre.

And apparently the TV only got more bizarre after I fell asleep, because Matt swears that he stayed up later and found a dating show in which the contestants were completely naked...

• Day 1: We made it to England!
• Day 2: Westminster Abbey, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, and Six
• Day 3: British Museum and Buckingham Palace
• Day 4: Mudlarks and Southwark
• Day 5: Natural History Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum
• Day 6: Pax Lodge, the Tower of London, and Afternoon Tea
• Day 7: Back and Forth by Boat to Greenwich
• Day 8: We Careen Our Way to Canterbury Cathedral and Dover Beach
• Day 9: Dover, Hastings, and a Holloway
• Day 10, Part 1: All the Giant Rocks
• Day 10, Part 2: Stonehenge, At Last!
• Day 11: To Avalon with King Arthur
• Day 12: Tintagel
• Day 13: In the Footsteps of Mary Anning
• Day 14: Homewards!