England-Scotland Day 1 (Part 2) – Stonehenge

3 April 2010

Stonehenge is one of the most impressive prehistoric megalithic monuments in the world, located in England. A must-see for anyone interested in world history and mysteries.

Stonehenge was easy to find with the help of the brown colour road signs as we travelled towards it from Bath on the A36. The road signs led us to a big open car park opposite the Stonehenge site.  Parking was not free of charge, like most places in the UK.

After buying our entrance tickets, we crossed through a tunnel under the highway into the Stonehenge site. The picture below (source: brochure given at ticket booth)  provided a bird’s eye overview of this amazing place.

As casual visitors, we were not allowed to go close to the stones, but had to stay on the marked, circular footpath around the stones.

Sign at entrance to Stonehenge, next to the car park.

Stonehenge - stones arranged in a circle.

How did the ancient man did this? Move tons of rocks over many many miles, and stack them up like this? Why?

Stonehenge has always been intriguing for me. Was it built by ancient man or was it built by ancient aliens?

How was it done? Why was it built?

To see it first hand was just WOW. As I looked around the site, and saw the windy, open plains and sheep grazing, you just could not help wondering about this unsolved mystery.

Walking around the Stonehenge. Nothing but open plains on the countryside. Where did the stones came from?

Stonehenge – now home to the little birdies.

This place was windy, being an open plain. Besides the stones, there were other interesting sights for someone who lives in the city.

We saw a bird flying into the wind and hovering on the same spot. Looked like a kestrel hunting.



This video also shows the hovering bird and an overview of the farmland and plains surrounding the Stonehenge stone circle

As we were leaving the site, we saw a farmer with his sheepdog rounding up some sheep. Impromptu display of the sheepdog at work. Smart dog!

After seeing the Stonehenge, our next stop was to be the Avebury Stone Circle, located about twenty miles to the north of Stonehenge. The Avebury ring is the oldest stone ring that is known to be in existence anywhere in the world and is even older than Stonehenge. It is a larger stone circle too, as the stones forming the Avebury Circle actually goes round the Avebury village with people living in the village.

It started to rain again as we approached Avebury. Upon the reaching the car park near the Avebury village, where the Avebury Stone Circle is located, it was pouring cats and dogs. We would not be enjoying themselves, seeing the ancient stones in the pouring rain. So the plan was scrapped and we continued on our journey to the Cotswolds. So near and yet so far.