-
Where did this all begin? As with archaeology, the best mysteries are revealed layer by layer. The topmost of which was obtaining a field journal, to record visits to ancient sites and capture my thoughts. The journal was for my own personal enjoyment, and a way to find my interest in writing again, having previously… Read more
-
20th June 2024 An evening as perfect as it could be. After weeks of grey and cold, the elements held and kept their promise of a spectacle for the summer solstice, reaffirming the beauty and spirit of the world. With celebrations taking place at sites such as Stonehenge and Avebury, where ceremony and observation has… Read more
-
It’s been a funny eight hours, for certain. About lunchtime today, just before the creeping dread of knowing you’ve much work to do and not much time left, came some news that added an additional spanner to the day. Let’s summarise it simply. Just Stop Oil paint Stonehenge orange. It’s outlandish to read or say… Read more
-
3rd February 2024 Treasures can be found in the most unlikely places. Arriving at a waste recycling centre at Stanton Harcourt, west of Oxford, I parked up near a battered drum container which had been designated as a fire assembly point for nearby workers. Surveying the post-apocalyptic scene with rusting cars and the industrious sound… Read more
-
23rd September 2023 There’s a certain sense of thrill in setting eyes on a site for the first time, especially one so iconic. A bipedal giant, seemingly frozen in time as it rambles across the Marlborough Downs. To see it rise over the brow of the hill was breathtaking and resulted in a surge of… Read more
-
28th August 2023 It’s the August bank holiday and a steady stream of pilgrims can be seen, slowly making their way uphill. At the brow, figures can be seen swarming the ancient and distinctive chalk figure of Uffington White Horse. Normally, such behaviour would be frowned upon by the custodians, the National Trust. But for two… Read more
-
23rd July 2023 The discovery of a stone circle close to home was certainly something worth investigating, although reports from other stone botherers set the expectation that compared to other sites, this would be an altogether different experience to that of which I was accustomed to. The stone circle is situated within the grounds of… Read more
-
27th May 2023 It was a true pilgrimage, if ever there was one. Awake at the unfeasible hour of 3am and in the car by 3.15am, hurtling down the road. By the time I joined the motorway, I was aware of dawn’s first light creeping steadily over the horizon, a race against time. While dawn… Read more
-
25th April 2023 “The inquisitive that prefer our own country antiquities to the vain tour of foreign, will find much of curious amusement there.” So said the antiquarian William Stukeley (1687-1765) of the Rollright Stones, on the borders of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. Stukeley is a personal hero of mine. The things he got wrong are… Read more
A field journal of ancient sites
Stone Diaries 