Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003 (Continued)
Surprisingly little production was made of the site; throughout we had seen only the small brown tourist boards indicating directions, and now, driving from the less-traveled Amesbury side, we saw but one small, discreet sign indicating the way.
Stonehenge is quite isolated, on the top of a gentle hillock, set among a series of such hillocks, with a road running past it. The tourist parking lot is on the other side of the road, and a subway emerges with a direct view of the stones after taking pedestrians safely underneath the road.
It was an overcast day with sudden gusts of cold wind, occasional spatterings of raindrops and a few very rare, all too brief glimpses of sunshine – in other words, a typical day in January in England.
Since the ground was soaking and the volume of visitors relatively low, most of the walkway was closed off, and we were not able to circle the stones; we had to be content with a cord cutting across the perimeter. It did take us quite close to the main circle, however, and showed us some of the most famous views.
We had paid for the audio sticks with information on the site, a guided tour if you will, but it was clearly paced for summer, when the throngs slow down progress to a crawl, and one would be standing next to each rock along the way for quite a while. In winter, this was far too much information for all but the most dedicated of zealots, and after a few (increasingly less enthusiastic) attempts with the wind miserably seeking every exposed or thinly covered body part, we basically abandoned the idea of listening to the commentary.
The wind and intermittent sprinkles quickly became too much for mpo after he had his initial look, and he returned to wait in the car. To be honest, if I had not been so obsessed with trying to capture it from every possible angle available to me, and waiting desperately for a magic moment of sunshine to illuminate the ancient monument, I probably would have felt the same.
The view of the surrounding countryside also warranted a few snaps while waiting for the sun to appear: the vantage point from the top of the hill afforded views of the rolling and undulating landscape encircling us, with meadows and copses of trees and livestock roaming in the distance.
As it was, when the sun found a crack in the clouds it was worth the wait and cold: the color of the stones, the rich green of the grass, the golden light - it was all I could have imagined, and more. What a pity then that my lens had a few stray droplets on it and that they distorted every picture I had taken in the sun!
::
Thawing out in the car afterwards, we set off for Salisbury as my fingers slowly returned to life – the fine controls on a camera are difficult to work while wearing gloves.
Surprisingly little production was made of the site; throughout we had seen only the small brown tourist boards indicating directions, and now, driving from the less-traveled Amesbury side, we saw but one small, discreet sign indicating the way.
Stonehenge is quite isolated, on the top of a gentle hillock, set among a series of such hillocks, with a road running past it. The tourist parking lot is on the other side of the road, and a subway emerges with a direct view of the stones after taking pedestrians safely underneath the road.
It was an overcast day with sudden gusts of cold wind, occasional spatterings of raindrops and a few very rare, all too brief glimpses of sunshine – in other words, a typical day in January in England.
Since the ground was soaking and the volume of visitors relatively low, most of the walkway was closed off, and we were not able to circle the stones; we had to be content with a cord cutting across the perimeter. It did take us quite close to the main circle, however, and showed us some of the most famous views.
We had paid for the audio sticks with information on the site, a guided tour if you will, but it was clearly paced for summer, when the throngs slow down progress to a crawl, and one would be standing next to each rock along the way for quite a while. In winter, this was far too much information for all but the most dedicated of zealots, and after a few (increasingly less enthusiastic) attempts with the wind miserably seeking every exposed or thinly covered body part, we basically abandoned the idea of listening to the commentary.
The wind and intermittent sprinkles quickly became too much for mpo after he had his initial look, and he returned to wait in the car. To be honest, if I had not been so obsessed with trying to capture it from every possible angle available to me, and waiting desperately for a magic moment of sunshine to illuminate the ancient monument, I probably would have felt the same.
The view of the surrounding countryside also warranted a few snaps while waiting for the sun to appear: the vantage point from the top of the hill afforded views of the rolling and undulating landscape encircling us, with meadows and copses of trees and livestock roaming in the distance.
As it was, when the sun found a crack in the clouds it was worth the wait and cold: the color of the stones, the rich green of the grass, the golden light - it was all I could have imagined, and more. What a pity then that my lens had a few stray droplets on it and that they distorted every picture I had taken in the sun!
::
Thawing out in the car afterwards, we set off for Salisbury as my fingers slowly returned to life – the fine controls on a camera are difficult to work while wearing gloves.
Comments (5)
Magnificent photos, and a professional-quality layout. Before following the link to the full images I had thought they were scans of travel brochures.
There's that scintillating UK winter green that I remember so well. Despite that cold wind, I think you chose the right time of year to go. A colleague of mine and I considered a trip to Stonehenge one weekend, but we decided on spending the two free days in London and environs instead. I enjoyed the stay but part of me wishes that we had ventured westward.
Posted by Chrysalis | January 6, 2005 8:33 AM
Posted on January 6, 2005 08:33
I just love your travelogues, being that I'm not fortunate enough to have traveled to the places you've been, but in some sense, your words and pictures take me there.
As usual, beautiful photos :)
Posted by Jin | January 6, 2005 11:54 AM
Posted on January 6, 2005 11:54
Beautiful photos! I visited Stonehenge when I was 14, long ago. From London we took a train and bus then a long walk. Cresting a hill the stones came into view, like frozen giants.
Posted by Amy | January 6, 2005 4:10 PM
Posted on January 6, 2005 16:10
Thanks for the compliments on the pictures - it makes the frozen fingers and the general windwhipping feel worthwhile.
Photographs do help us remember to some extent, but frequently they are an attempt to capture the special feel of a place to allow us to share it with others.
I keep thinking that there must be an ideal time of year to get to Britain - something like May or September, when the days are at least longer than in mid-winter, and the cold is not as severe; when the tourists are more plentiful than in January, but nowhere near the numbers of July and August.
Posted by Sivani | January 7, 2005 8:27 AM
Posted on January 7, 2005 08:27
I was in Essex one May, and come to think of it, it was sunny most of the trip. Seriously. No, I'm not making this up. Sunny. No joke.
Posted by Chrysalis | January 7, 2005 11:19 AM
Posted on January 7, 2005 11:19