OFF: Stonehenge Who Knows?

[M Holmes]

Neil Shilladay writes:

> Doug Pearson wrote :
> I'm surprised that none of the UK listmembers have mentioned this yet ...
> <stuff about Stonehenge 98 solstice>
>
> I don't know what news fitered across the pond Doug, but this year English
> Heritage, which runs 'Henge, permitted 100 'select' guests into the inner
> stones.

They did this in 1987 when I was there. Though I got in without a ticket
as our roving journalist reported:






Date:     Tue, 23 Jul 91 13:54:01 BST

 PEACE AND SHOVE by "A Friend of Fernando Poo"

On arrival at Amesbury we discovered a large number of hippies sitting
around on various grassy areas in the village.  In the bar I talked to a
local fire officer who was on emergency call that night, he reckoned
that the hippies were serious about getting to Stonehenge and that there
would be trouble.  We were informed that English Heritage had
distributed a thousand tickets for people to enter Stonehenge at dawn
and watch the Druids Ceremony.  A further five hundred tickets had been
offered to the hippies' leaders and duly refused (Stonehenge was ceded
to the British People in perpetuity, provided free access was maintained
and so the hippies' position was that English Heritage were breaking the
Law!).  The Fire Officer suggested that we visit the local nick and ask
for some of the tickets.

We tried and were advised that only English Heritage could disburse
tickets and that there would be trouble "up there" and our best policy
would be "to stay well away".  Decided to walk up to the barriers and
talk to the Police there.  Couple of miles walk uphill, funny scene of
lots of hippies and their horses camped on the main roundabout.  We were
told that the main part of the Peace Convoy and visitors were camped in
Cholderton Woods a couple of miles away.  The Police at the roadblock on
the A303 were friendly but advised us that there were no Trust people
there yet and to try later.

Back to the pub and tales from the Landlord of bygone days when they had
beer picnics in the Stones.  Much complaint about Police roadblocks and
helicopters making noise all night.  Seems that stopping the Rock
Festival had mainly resulted in the hippies hanging around town and
frightening off the tourists.  Resentment at having to pay for a large
Police operation every year.

About 1am and off up the hill, seemed a good plan to take the back road
and this worked for a while, mostly press and tourists, the hippies had
massed at the roundabout and were walking up the main road spotlighted
by the helicopters.  We reached the top of the back road and discovered
another small encampment of hippies' buses and vans.  The Police herded
us into the main hippy group on the main road.  A few thousand hippies
had concentrated there by this time.  Tried to persuade the press guys
to help us get in, no deal.

The Police let the group march up through the main roadblock onto the
A303 and started large numbers of Police walking in single file down the
hill behind us.  It looked very much like a trap, by the time we reached
the road by the Heel Stone, the whole group of around four thousand
hippies and tourists had barbed wire on both sides and a row three deep
of Policemen between us and the Stones as well as in front and behind.
There was by then a bunch of punks fairly drunk, by the Heel Stone
taunting the Police, it occured to me that the hippies hadn't brought
music equipment so I guessed they thought there might be trouble too.

Decided that I'd rather be inside the Stones than in the middle of a
battle so over the barbed wire and into the field next to the Police
compound.  Made it a fair way into it before a helicopter made a pass
and managed to reach the wire by the Police compound, the sound of dogs
and flashing of torches provided the impetus to get over the barbed
wire, got cut though.

Masses of Police vans with Police in them, I headed for the Druid's bus.
They were friendly and said I could try to follow them through the
compound and over the road later.  I talked to a few and they thought it
would be better just to let everyone in.  Five of us had made it to this
point and we managed to get over the road with the Druids, no problem.
Unfortunately I got nabbed and asked to produce a ticket.  The Welsh cop
that marched me back to the compound was a reasonable guy and I managed
to persuade him to help find a Heritage guy to see if we could be
permitted to stay.  He left us with the Police Press Officer who kept
asking difficult questions as to how we were in there in the first
place.  I answered several questions that he didn't ask, instead.  A
Heritage chap appeared with the Welsh cop and pronounced that we looked
harmless so we might as well stay.  I thanked the cop profusely for his
help.  We were in.

Things had started happening at the Heel Stone.  (I found out later that
the loonies had charged the Police and some hippies had inserted
themselves between the groups to no avail).  The fence got trampled down
and a couple of hundred Riot Police with shields and truncheons appeared
from the compound.  Three people managed to climb up on the Heel Stone
and somebody passed a pipe which they theatrically passed round much to
the enjoyment of the press.

The Druids Ceremony was mainly concerned with Peace and Enlightenment
and made a surreal contrast to the fighting yards away, and was
constantly drowned out by the helicopters making low passes and passing
orders to the hippies by megaphone.  The Druids looked defnitely annoyed
at all this and I was sure they put a few digs about freedom for ALL the
People.

The RP had driven everyone back down the road towards the roundabout and
I saw cavalry rounding up some who had jumped the fence into the fields.
The Ceremony over we headed down the hill.  About fifty Police vans and
a line of RP at the bottom.  Told them we were going to Amesbury and
they let us through, dumb to go through though, they had another line of
them at the other side of the roundabout.  The Officer in charge was
taking great delight in telling us, the ticket holders, and the press
that the road was closed.  We were in with the hippies again and the two
lines herded us to the roundabout which they ordered cleared.  Much
starting of buses and hitching of horses to wagons and they started
moving everyone out to Cholderton.

I realised that the RP were not to be reasoned with and had a hunt
around.  Found some local cops who let us by a path to Amedsbury.
Reached the Motel for about two hours sleep.  Met some of the press at
breakfast and got updated on what I'd missed.  The RP had walked
everyone out to Cholderton and then cleared the woods there.

We cycled out at around 10.30am and headed for Frome Station.  Came
across a RP roadblock.  Two local cops said bikes were OK.
Unfortunately the same press officer we'd come across earlier was there
and he said we'd have to go the long way round.  Took five hours instead
of two but I did get to see Longleat.

I had great fun on the night.  I reckon that the Police were prepared
for trouble and ensured that there was some by letting people up to the
Stones and then stopping them.  They were fairly restrained though and
all the local cops I met were reasonable.  The RP are probably trained
to be inflexible.

The locals want a Festival Site to keep the hippies out of town.  The
Druids would rather let them in than put up with the same carry on
again, and a mass Police action annoys the locals as much as the hippies
do.  The only sensible solution is to set aside a MOD field within ten
miles of Stonehenge and let anyone who walks it on the Solstice into the
Stones.  The fellow who owns the Glastonbury CND site has offered to buy
a field from the MOD and run a festival.  It's probably too much to hope
for that common sense will previl over Politics next year, but I suspect
that cost will eventually become a factor in the Police operation
whereas the hippies will pay their own costs and certainly won't give
up.  There may also be a point about Freedom of Worship here, though I
suppose these days Market Forces may be the correct Deity to invoke.

Afterthought: This all reminded me of a Quatermass film where the
standing stones were guarded by riot police.  Lots of hippies try to get
to them shouting "To The Planet".  A beam comes down and they all
disappear.  Quatermass discovers that the power spots the ancients built
the stones to mark are there to warn future generations that this is
where the young humans will be called at harvesting time.  The aliens
are really one-horned one-eyed purple people eaters!