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SPRING EQUINOX 1998 Newsletter bits
ROMAN INVASION: In the last newsletter
we mentioned that there is to be a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
at the Stones on midsummer’s day (24th Jun, not the Solstice). English
Heritage pointed out that the £300 tickets were for a two day holiday
including the play, and that EH members would be offered some tickets at
£15. Two months later they were, together with another two day holiday/play
package for £250-300.
Some say, -yeah, I’d like to have seen that-, others are concerned
at the double standards operating around the time of the Solstice. The
play is part of a trend. More and more, English Heritage is using its sites
as venues for money-making historical theme events. Some of these seem
harmless enough; at the Stones there will be, at normal prices: ‘Aubrey
on Druids’ (May 16/17), ‘Stories and Mask Making’ (May 30/31), ‘Legends
of King Arthur’ (Jul 4/5), and ‘The History Man’ (Sep 5/6). Then there
are ‘opportunities’, at £12, to take photos in the Stones (been),
or have a ‘Sundowner’ drink (May 20).
Some sites, like Old Sarum a few miles away, are regularly
used as an all-purpose historical backdrop to sell displays of soldiers,
weapons and mock battles from Roman times to the First World War.
Now English Heritage are inviting the public to ‘Witness Roman
Invasions at EH properties around the country.’ At the Stones (Jun 27/28),
you can ‘Meet Imperial legionnaires and watch as they shoot a “catapulta”.’
The Roman connection with Stonehenge is not immediately obvious,
unless it is the fact that they are the most likely culprits for trashing
the place, or their pogrom to exterminate the Druids, or that the modern
survival of their methods of public control are more apparent here than
elsewhere.
We walked along the ancient droveway
To Ditchling Beacon
And Devil's Dyke
Where 'the devil tried to flood the land
By digging a trench through the Downs from the sea.
he nearly succeeded in his fiendish plan
when he was disturbed by an old woman
carrying a candle, which he mistook for the dawn:
since he could only operate in darkness
he had to keep the job unfinished.'
To Pycombe,
Where the old shepherd's crooks were made
Whyshe Lane where I made a wish
Up and down hills
and Past Jack and Jill windmills
The sea blinking in the distance
No pubs around to depress us
Good cooking too.
Julia, Brighton Walk '96
Hello there,
Here's my SAE for spring equinox newsletter. In the last newsletter,
I thought the letter from John Rety about building an eco-village style
visitor's centre at the Stones a very good idea. At least that would serve
a purpose as well -educational and interesting, not like the cheap + tacky
souvenir shop that's there now. Has the suggestion been made to whoever
pulls the strings?
Take care, love Sarah.
Children of hope and peace
A big thankyou and warm wishes
to you and all you speak for.
Stonehenge Campaign will bear fruit,
your work will help the fog lift
Releasing the Sun to shine once more.
Love and respect, Pablo
Dear Stonehengers,
First came the festival with food and drink and fires and drums and pipes
and singing and dancing, then came the idea to build Stonehenge.
So when at the Torriano met I heard that English Heriticage
were selling theatre tickets for Midsummer Night's Dream in Stonehenge
I thought yeah, and Thursday found their base in Oxford Street but they
said they'd sold out - there were only 200 tickets... hmmm, maybe it'll
be on telly one day.
And hitching past the Stones I noticed that the A344/A303 junction
is still open... (dice) george.
***************************
Ali Glastafari died suddenly. We'll be remembering him at the Glastonbury Assembly Rooms on Sunday 22nd March. See his writings on page 26 of the Stonehenge VE Day book on the Web.
Natty Druids ina Stonehenge Stylee! Crucial Rainbow Vibration!
Totally magical!
A beautiful sharing of voices in harmony, highly tuned exponents
of the Muse, attuning with the harmony of the Spheres, sharing sacred bread,
bananas, raisins, nuts, wine, benedictions, Holy Smoke!
It was thoroughly the Stones loved it to pieces. By the end
of the day they were glowing with joy and hugs.
Yeah, man!
I swear I saw the Stones HUGGING THEMSELVES!
Or did someone spike the applejuice?
It was a triumphant Rainbow One Love Vibration Across Creation!
And had to be done!
That on such a loaded day as VE Day that such a key power-centre
as Stonehenge received such energy was indeed a great blessing. As much
as all those folk out there who were similarly inspired, albeit by the
War Machine, by all the activities happening globally that day, so we were
linked up to that global heart-surge to celebrate such a day, and that's
what we were all doing. The Rainbow Tribe can see that because they have
the collective medicine of all the shamanic paths - it's the Rainbow Heritage
that we talk in different tongues, live in unity within a diversity of
paths. Love is the common ground.
William Blake, who is said to have druidic connections, once
wrote: "Where Mercy, Love and Pity dwell there God is dwelling too."
The A ????? l of Love descended upon the Stones this day, and you can bet
your boots Blake would have been there had he been in mortal form. He was
for sure in spirit!
From an hour before sunrise, until an hour after sunset it
was a long long day, so sweet it have melted the heart of granite, seduced
the very soul to sing. Yes thankyou Goddess, Jah, Radha-Krishna, sistren
& brethren.
IT'S TRUE - YES, WE ARE IN LOVE!
PEACE, SHANTI, SHALOM!
HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE & BEYOND.
EVOLUTION KICKS IN '96!
HANG ONTO YOUR SPACE BELTS!
ALI GLASTAFARI Peace, Shanti, Shalom!
Phil Harvey diedPhil Harvey white rabbit RIP-
Lord Crusty from Brixton Vicarage RIP
Phil woz long associated with the festival scene, having one of the first
customised transit vans on the circuit, and involved with Hawkwind etc.
And the last person to make a meal for Jimmy Hendrix (vegetarian rice and
peas)
Well known among early Stonehenge travellers etc Bon Voyage.
WX
Doug Read, an active supporter of the Campaign, died recently.
A well known local socialist councillor and friend of the Stonehenge festival,
he was always helpful as a representative of the older Wiltshire and Amesbury
community, countering the bias in the media.
While working for the MoD he used to walk the Plain with his dogs, reporting
any damage by the Army he found, - and took part in Cruisewatch actions.
In the grim summer of '88, when people gathered against all odds in the
safe haven of Cholderton woods, the bemused authorities asked 'How on earth
do these people find these out-of the-way places?' They should have asked
Doug. He was one of those arrested for being a procession during a Solstice
- on his own!
Respectfully missed by the friends of Stonehenge.
from Salisbury Journal Jun '96:-
TIME FOR A CHANGE OF HEART ON LAND USE BY MOD?
JUDY GREVILLE is right, it is "time for the whole
question of a Stonehenge Festival to be aired again"(Journal, June
13). There is no doubt that a large proportion of local people would favour
renewal of such a festival. Ten years ago, three different opinion polls
(those of the Festival '86 Campaign, Stonehenge School and the Journal)
showed significant majorities in support. The F'86 petition, from people
residing within 3 1/2 miles of Stonehenge, was presented to English Heritage
and National Trust representatives, during three meetings held with festival
representatives and other groups between October 1985 and January 1986.
This petition included signatures of Ameshury business people who felt
they were being denied the boost in trade, to which they had become accustomed
each June. Other local traders in support were those who did a lot of business
on the site, such as in dairy and food products, chips and burgers, hardware
etc. They had all benefited considerably from the huge increase in spending
money brought into the local economy. Most local people visited the festival
at some time or other (even if only to gaze from the roadway), and a not
inconsiderable number joined the campers on site for a free summer break,
some taking their young families along. For several years the event filled
a gap in Amesbury's entertainment caused by the temporary demise of its
annual carnival. The need was there before the festival got underway in
1974, and the Amesbury group Never Bend Over can rightly claim to be the
first to play amplified music on the site. In later years the festival
provided the only chance, without large expense, for many people to see
famous national groups playing. Today the overriding problem remains as
it was a decade ago: there is no site available. The National Trust and
English Heritage are adamant that a festival can not take place at Stonehenge
itself, so local farmland owners would have to he persuaded to be cooperative
to the idea of a festival. (In 1986, without exception, they indicated
that under no circumstances would they be prepared to provide land for
a site.) Now that Cruise missile units no longer exercise on the Plain,
perhaps the MoD could be pressed for a change of heart.
DOUGLAS READ
James Road Amesbury.
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