Monday 2 February 2015

stone circles in the west country

The most famous stone circle in the West of England is Stonehenge:



Stonehenge | English Heritage

It is heavily promoted as a 'must-see sight':
Stonehenge.co.uk - Your guide to Stonehenge, the World's Favourite Megalithic Stone Circle

The place is full of history:
5 facts about… Stonehenge | Facts | History Revealed
Early Britain | ESOL Nexus

Here's a history video-lesson:
Video lesson – Stonehenge « Chestnut ESL/EFL

And something from National Geographic:
ESLvideo.com :: Secrets of Stonehenge

Here's more video:


Stonehenge prehistoric monument - YouTube

The problem is that it doesn't look like this:



Stonehenge | English Heritage

It's more like this:



Foto de Stonehenge, Amesbury: Stonehenge - TripAdvisor
Google Image Result for http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/04/95/93/the-so-called-barrier.jpg



It was a bit disappointing that visitors can’t touch or even get close enough to the stones anymore. I wish I had that “WOW” moment when I first saw it but I didn’t.

Beyond the Circle of Rocks: Our Tour of Stonehenge - The World Is A Book

And in fact, many find it a 'disappointment':
Disappointing and expensive - Stonehenge, Amesbury Traveller Reviews - TripAdvisor
The world's most disappointing tourist destinations revealed by Reddit | Daily Mail Online

Here's a critique of the commercialisation and 'museumification' of Stonehenge:
Will Self: has English Heritage ruined Stonehenge? | Books | The Guardian

Many would prefer a site just up the road:
Avebury - Visitor information - National Trust
AVEBURY a present from the past

This is the village-in-the-stones view from the air:



Stonehenge-Avebury-Crop CircleDivine Light Tours

And these are the stones:



Avebury | English Heritage

You can walk through them:



Avebury Stone Circle

The stones are quite something:



Avebury Ring (C) Simon Barnes :: Geograph Britain and Ireland

In fact, the West Country is full of such places:
stone-circles.org.uk - the prehistoric sites of Great Britain
Neolithic and Bronze Age Sites in England - Photo Gallery
Silbury Hill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flying Past - The Historic Environment of Cornwall: Ceremony and Ritual
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