Debunked: Stonehenge fake?? [Patched with concrete in the 1950s]

I went there back in Sept/Oct time. The A344 has been grassed over.
we took a little gravel road turn off the A303 and parked up and got as close as we could for free :D
 
The A344 has been grassed over.


Sorry....I am in "airline-mode" and saw this....and thought ("Oh crap! Airbus has made YET a bigger jet??!!")....then I realised it was a reference to the road-system in the UK ("Whew"!! Wiping my brow!).

It's in here somewhere: (ACTUALLY, right at the beginning)...

 
he never mentioned the a303, although the A38 near Bridgewater goes fairly nearby, and the A358 actually joins up with it, although in the opposite direction to Minehead.

This post is in danger of becoming as convoluted as the beginning of this sketch so will stop now
 
damn !! shame I am working tonight.

The really weird thing is that when they were making Spinal tap, Black Sabbath were touring for the Born Again tour, and ended up with a Stonehenge monument that was too big to fit in the venues (like in Return of Spinal Tap). But they were unaware of each other at the time so it;s a bizarre coincidence. We won;t get into Jeff Porcaro dying in a "bizarre gardening accident" as it's OT.

edit: just seen it's on the iplayer, or at least will be

Sabbath even had a dwarf that sat on top of the stones laughing as the band came on. There is also a legend that Sabbaths Stonehenge monoliths were eventually abandoned, set up, in the Arizona desert somewhere, but I can find any hard evidence about this.

 
I went there as a child with my family in the late fifties, there were no barriers and nobody guarding them, one could walk around in the circle and touch the stones.
 
Mr. West, I registered so I could ask you this; getting away from facts and intellectual scientific observations, did you sense anything different, mystical, while you were there? Did it seem to be a special place, (other than the stones), a place that seemed more spiritual, supernatural, than the average spot on earth?
I know this site likes to keep it fact based, and you as one of the biggest skeptics, (maybe in the history of the world ;) ), I think your opinion on this would be a valid litmus test to the reports of it being a Holy place.
Sorry if this is out of line, but I had to ask.

Chris Hiscock
Toronto, Canada
 
Mr. West, I registered so I could ask you this; getting away from facts and intellectual scientific observations, did you sense anything different, mystical, while you were there? Did it seem to be a special place, (other than the stones), a place that seemed more spiritual, supernatural, than the average spot on earth?
I know this site likes to keep it fact based, and you as one of the biggest skeptics, (maybe in the history of the world ;) ), I think your opinion on this would be a valid litmus test to the reports of it being a Holy place.
Sorry if this is out of line, but I had to ask.

Chris Hiscock
Toronto, Canada

No, it just felt like a bunch of very large rocks. It was impressive, but really less so than large medieval cathedrals are impressive.

I touched the rocks. They felt like any other rocks. I've been to many impressive natural rock formations in the UK, and it simply reminded me of them.
 
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Mr. West, I registered so I could ask you this; getting away from facts and intellectual scientific observations, did you sense anything different, mystical, while you were there? Did it seem to be a special place, (other than the stones), a place that seemed more spiritual, supernatural, than the average spot on earth?
I know this site likes to keep it fact based, and you as one of the biggest skeptics, (maybe in the history of the world ;) ), I think your opinion on this would be a valid litmus test to the reports of it being a Holy place.
Sorry if this is out of line, but I had to ask.

Chris Hiscock
Toronto, Canada
I will be honest and say I did have an amazing almost 'spiritual' experience at Stonehenge. But that was at the 1984 Stonehenge Festival and was more likely due to the music (Hawkwind were amazing), the people and 'certain substances' rather than the monument itself. :cool:
 
I haven't been yet...but will. :)

I'm anticipating tingly feelings...so much has happened there. I don't expect anything "magic" or creepy or anything...
but simply because I know from experience that I just get a little full of the history of a place where big things have happened or legendary figures have walked.

Standing where George Washington, Brigham Young, Babe Ruth, Abraham Lincoln, John Brown, TR, Pocahontas, MLK
or the Tuskegee Airmen stood, always makes me take a deep breath, and savor the history. Is it just me? :p
 
I visited Stonehenge in 2009. It certainly got my heart racing, but that was because I was almost run over by a tour bus in the car park.

Apart from that, I thought it was too "touristy" and crowded to enjoy the majesty of the location. Would like to go back one day but in the early hours, before the rush of people (and busses).
 
I visited Stonehenge in 2009. It certainly got my heart racing, but that was because I was almost run over by a tour bus in the car park.

Apart from that, I thought it was too "touristy" and crowded to enjoy the majesty of the location. Would like to go back one day but in the early hours, before the rush of people (and busses).

That reminds me of being in Yellowstone a couple years ago. It was great until about 10:30am when the traffic got bad and I wanted nothing but out of there.
 
That reminds me of being in Yellowstone a couple years ago. It was great until about 10:30am when the traffic got bad and I wanted nothing but out of there.
It all depends where you are. I spend 90% of my time there in the legendary Lamar Valley, with the
wolves & bears, off the beaten path in the north-eastern corner...usually a lot less folk than around Old faithful, etc.
I also camp in Yellowstone in January...97% of folks won't even do a Yellowstone winter in a hotel,
never mind a tent...so I get the place to myself. Except a curious elk or bison. :p


Yellowstone winter.jpg

But yes, crowds can kill the coolest place.
I adore Yosemite, but haven't been since the '90s, because of all the tourists.
 
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Just a short serious note...

There IS something special about Stonehenge, even if it is a bit of a tourist trap these days. But I don't think its anything mystical, magic or supernatural, rather the fact the place has been a gathering point for people for six thousand years. Recent archaeological finds in the surrounding landscape has found evidence of gatherings there since the earliest days of the site. Whats more the vast piles of butchered animal bones and other traces of foodstuffs found (including seeds and shell fish shells) found there point to the fact that these gatherings were massive 'jug ups', and the people attending came from right across the British Isles; if not even further afield, tests on the bones of the famous Aimsbury Archer found near the stones proved he came from what is now Southern Germany.

For thousands of years now people have been gathering there, from the Megalithic folks who built the place, via generations of sight seers to the festival goers of the 70's to the coach trippers of today, and its the shear fact your walking where hundreds of generations of your fellow humans have walked before that gives the place its special vibe.
 
Standing where George Washington, Brigham Young, Babe Ruth, Abraham Lincoln, John Brown, TR, Pocahontas, MLK
or the Tuskegee Airmen stood, always makes me take a deep breath, and savor the history. Is it just me? :p
Nope its me as well. I got those vibes at Thingvir in Iceland when I walked up the chieftains path and stood on Lawspeakers rock. I got it walking down the steps in Plymouth where the pilgrims walked to board the Mayflower, I got it on the deck of HMS Victory standing on the spot where Nelson fell.... loads of others as well. If you know your history, walking in the steps of those who have walked there many years before really connects you with the past.
 
I hear the English Heritage folks are gonna try out the new slogan:

"A bunch of very large rocks...Like any other rocks."


Tourists won't be able to resist. I'm quite jealous of Mick's pics, actually...the one leaning against the stone, especially...

 
Just a short serious note...

There IS something special about Stonehenge, even if it is a bit of a tourist trap these days. But I don't think its anything mystical, magic or supernatural, rather the fact the place has been a gathering point for people for six thousand years. Recent archaeological finds in the surrounding landscape has found evidence of gatherings there since the earliest days of the site. Whats more the vast piles of butchered animal bones and other traces of foodstuffs found (including seeds and shell fish shells) found there point to the fact that these gatherings were massive 'jug ups', and the people attending came from right across the British Isles; if not even further afield, tests on the bones of the famous Aimsbury Archer found near the stones proved he came from what is now Southern Germany.

For thousands of years now people have been gathering there, from the Megalithic folks who built the place, via generations of sight seers to the festival goers of the 70's to the coach trippers of today, and its the shear fact your walking where hundreds of generations of your fellow humans have walked before that gives the place its special vibe.
I have done a fair few solstices at Stonehenge or Avebury down the road. The thing with any sacred space is that it is the people that make it sacred. I have heard people describe spiritual moments at the Stone Circle and given that it is a "fake" I feel people just tune into the heady feel (although I just get annoyed with some of the pretentious pillocks)
 
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We went on the way home from Devon last year. There is a big visitor centre there now With a museum full of artifacts from the area and some replica houses with talks going on inside. You can take a bus or walk up to the stones. The only tour going on was Japanese so I couldnt tag along with that. I was loathed to pay for one of those radio tour things you can take round on top of the already hefty admission price. It was amazing but every time you find yourself imagining how or who or taking in the surrounding landscape (which is equally majestic), a tourist taps you on the shoulder and asks you to take a photo for them.
I have to confess I bought into the whole ley lines thing and still do to an extent, (drags children out armed with an OS landranger, dubiously plotted with circles and a compass, to make it feel authentic, no dowsing rods though ;) but I think they are just literally ancient trackways. I do know some who have taken it to a whole new level though, finding zodiac symbols in field boundaries etc.
I would be careful if you try to find an alternative viewpoint though, the military own alot of the surrounding land and not being a local I would be weary of trespassing.
 
I visited Stonehenge in 2009. It certainly got my heart racing, but that was because I was almost run over by a tour bus in the car park.

Apart from that, I thought it was too "touristy" and crowded to enjoy the majesty of the location. Would like to go back one day but in the early hours, before the rush of people (and busses).

Try Castlerigg instead. The stones aren't nearly as impressive but if it's majesty of location you're after...


CastleriggStoneCircle_GPS.jpg
 
I hear the English Heritage folks are gonna try out the new slogan:

"A bunch of very large rocks...Like any other rocks."


Tourists won't be able to resist. I'm quite jealous of Mick's pics, actually...the one leaning against the stone, especially...
but they aren't like ANY other bunch of rocks. They have actually been shaped and even arranged in an interesting way.
Imagine our dissapointment as kids to be dragged to Carnac. We lived near Stonehenge where they knew how to do it properly and at Carnac they just bunged a load in a field.
"Come on kids into this next field full of a bunch of menhirs" "But dad, can't we go and see that dolmen again? at least that was interesting."

Emotionally scarred I'm telling you
 
Try Castlerigg instead. The stones aren't nearly as impressive but if it's majesty of location you're after...


CastleriggStoneCircle_GPS.jpg
Yeah, I've been telling friends for years that I'd like to find a place like Stonehenge, but without impressive stones. :)




Sorry, Cloudy...I just couldn't resist the cheap joke. Actually, that pic looks marvelous...
and for someone like me who tends to avoid big crowds...I think I'll add Casterigg to my agenda...
 
Yeah, I've been telling friends for years that I'd like to find a place like Stonehenge, but without impressive stones. :)




Sorry, Cloudy...I just couldn't resist the cheap joke. Actually, that pic looks marvelous...
and for someone like me who tends to avoid big crowds...I think I'll add Casterigg to my agenda...


Oh yeah if you want showy then Stonehenge is for you ;)
 
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