Then in one visit, I realise that I've been here a very short time in fact, something of a grain of sand in the beach that is the life of earth. Where did I go? What did I see? Well ok, I can claim never to be the average tourist in that I don't tend to do the obvious touristy things when I go on holiday, that's been almost instilled in me by my parents. They never did the tourist thing on a holiday, except once or twice. So with me being away last week, I spent most of the time touring around the South of England looking at villages with the name of Western Corbett, Liss and Marpledurwell, places that the average tourist probably wouldn't find. Then on one sunny, but blustery day I went to Sailsbury.
From that city I set off to find something that most people have seen on picture (well if you haven't before then you will do shortly), perhaps even seen tv programmes about. I'm talking about Stone Henge. This group of rocks or stones as they should be called, have stood in the place for well over 3000 years, it's inconceivable in many ways as to how they got to the point they are considering some of the stones came from around Wales, some 100 miles away. This in a time when the nearest things to cars would have been your feet.
I wasn't going to spend my money to go around the monument when I first got there, but the fact that to get a really good view of the thing, you needed to go in. I guess it was the mystical power that drew me to it, as it's supposed to be a mystical power base. With my money handed over, I took the audio tour of the circle and though most of the information given was stuff I knew, it brought home to me that this group of stones in front of my eyes should be considered one of the wonders of the world. Let's be honest for the people of 3000 years ago to be able to move stones of that size that far and then arrange them in a perfect circle with stones on top is beyond the everyday life of most today, let alone then without computers and modern tools.
30+ years on this planet seems to be so long for us, and yet for these stones it's a mere blip, they've been here at least 100 times longer than I have, and I dare say they'll be around for at least 100 times longer than I after my death.
Ok, so I cheated with the above picture in that it isn't sunrise or sunset, but the sepia mode on the camera enabled me to capture an image that gives the suggestion of what the place would be like on a very good morning/evenning. I guess that the engineer's that built this circle all them years ago were way ahead of there time, and should be applauded for the feats they achieved. One thing that should be noted, that the pyramids in both Egypt and Peru, are built on the same lay lines as Stone Henge. It's just astonishing considering how tribal most of the world was then.
I could go on for ages about this but I won't...... from the ancient stones I drove around to try and find some where to eat, and did I find somewhere? Well yes I did to be honest. After a while of driving towards nowhere really, I found a sign, which sent me down a road, or a track as some would call it. Well it could only fit 1 car in any direction at any given point. After turning into the village and a short drive I found The Ship Inn, Burcombe. I had a light lunch, well it was a huge door wedge of a sandwich, that filled my depleted stomach for many an hour. The setting was so stunning. The pub is set on the banks of the river which runs through the village, and the garden at the back was simply stunning in Spring, so in the summer it would be incredible. I have to say that the service and setting was wonderful, and compliments to them all. All in all it was a great day, enjoyable sights and tastes as well as making me feel 100 times younger than I did when I left.
Oh and what made it better? I managed to buy a mobile in Sailsbury before even getting to Stone Henge......
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