surreal sites

Stonehenge is far more impressive when you're actually there than it is in any picture. There's definitely something eerie about the place, and you can feel the weight of its 5000 years as surely as you can sense its massive weight. The stones are like the bones of the land.

Many legends tell of the stone ring's origin. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth (c.1100-c.1155), the stones were originally carried from Africa to Ireland by Giants. There, the Irish poured water over the stones, which they would use to fill baths in which they cured their sick. Some years later, the wizard Merlin magically whisked them away from Ireland and set them in their current location.

Being transported back in time via a wonder of the modern age - the audio tour.

The West Kennet Long Barrow, near Avebury, pre-dates Stonehenge by about 400 years. A local legend tells how this tomb is visited at Midsummer by a ghostly priest and a large white hound.

Looking into the barrow.

Simple fields of grain...or alien runways?!

This crop circle was in the field just next to the West Kennet Long Barrow. What does it all mean???!

Avebury is the site of a large henge and several stone circles which pre-date Stonehenge (about 20 miles to the south) by hundreds of years.

The stone circles, so large that they actually surround the village, take a bit of time to walk all the way around.

Surreal scenery from our ride north and east from Avebury, towards the Vale of the White Horse.

Wayland's Smithy, the oldest neolithic barrow we visited, definitely has an eerie and forlorn atmosphere about it. It's said to date from around 3700-3400 BC and has long been associated with a legend concerning the Norse and Saxon god of blacksmithing, Wayland (Volund). According to the legend, a traveler whose horse had lost a shoe could leave the animal and a small silver coin on the capstone of the barrow. When he returned the next morning he would find his horse re-shod and the money gone. It's too bad we had no idea how to go about arranging an exchange that would have resulted in our bikes running a bit more smoothly!

When we arrived at the site it was late afternoon and the golden light falling on the surrounding fields was filtered around the barrow by the broad green leaves of the large trees surrounding it, lending it a strange, almost magical glow. The place was desolate, save for one other soul, who emerged from behind the barrow as we approached. A man, dressed in a long, purple velvet coat and top hat, wearing round sunglasses and carrying a walking stick, stepped forward with a little dog. He smiled, nodded, then stepped off in the direction from which we had come. He was like Willy Wonka, Doctor Who and the Mad Hatter all in one. It was a truly surreal experience.

Near Wayland's Smithy is Whitehorse Hill, a long, grassy hill that has a prehistoric hill figure , known as the Uffington White Horse, cut into the turf of its upper slopes. It is 374 feet (110 m) long, and dates back some 3000 years.

It looks like this:

Next to the chalk of the White Horse. The Vale of the White Horse stretches to the north.

The flat mound in the center of this photo is known as Dragon Hill. Local legend says that St. George slew the dragon on this mound. Other legends say that Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur, is buried under the mound. However, his bones are also said to rest at several other famous and mysterious sites.

It was a steep hike to get to the top of this hill, but the views and surroundings were stunningly beautiful.

We crossed this field to get to the Rollright Stones, another group of ancient stones, near Chipping Norton.

This stone circle is called the King's Men. Numerous legends are associated with the stones, including the tale that a king was riding across the county with his army when he was stopped by a witch. He failed her challenge (as kings often do in stories like these) and she turned him and all his men to stone.

I touched the stones, which is said to be bad luck, and one of my legs grew about a foot longer than the other and sank into the ground.

Alien pods???!