# Went to Stonehenge yesterday **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 31, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433 "2015-01-31T16:06:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/21 "2015-02-01T09:13:58Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Since the stones actually came from Wales… I ain’t so sure 'bout them whales… but I officially nominate this post as the prizewinner for the catergory " most appropriate username in a thread" 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/22 "2015-02-01T10:32:25Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I’ve driven past, but I must admit, I can’t get excited enough to pay the entrance fee. We are English Heritage members, and so it cost nothing but the time. And the, er, gift shop. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Trevi fountain? packed and tedious. Colliseum? again it was go here…go there…see that…hassle, hassle, hassle. The Pantheon on the other hand we could stroll in and amble around. It wasn’t busy at all on Friday. Maybe a couple of dozen people at the stones as we wandered around? Most of them were foreign tourists - I heard what I assume were a lot of different languages as we walked around, and even the English I heard was often tinged with an Australian accent. We declined the audio tour, and didn’t spend much time reading the boards and stuff - both me and the wife know a fair bit about the place already, really, so we just soaked up the atmosphere. > [@Baker](#): > > I wanna get you as an exchange partner!😛 And we should do this soon, so that I don’t lose the postcards 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/23 "2015-02-01T11:13:36Z")
I’ve been a number of times- always in winter- and even then the crowds have been overwhelming. About ten bus loads of students and car loads of other tourists. Also, there is a pig farm near by and that can be an experience if the wind blows the wrong way. I believe it is a place that you can’t not see, but equally it does seem a tad over marketed given the number of henges that survive. PS: I have never been able to establish the truth as to whether the stones were moved around in the 1920’s. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/24 "2015-02-01T17:19:42Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > PS: I have never been able to establish the truth as to whether the stones were moved around in the 1920’s. In 1920 six of the stones were straightened, which required the temporary removal of four of the lintels. Seven other stones were also straightened at other times during the twentieth century. As this [2001 English Heritage press release](http://old.britarch.ac.uk/stonehenge/stone23.html) pointed out, this has never been any sort of secret. The one time I’ve been to Stonehenge was many years ago when a club of which I was member had a day out to Stonehenge, Avebury, West Kennet etc. This was led by one of the other members, a postgraduate student and diehard Communist who is now a very eminent professional archaeologist. I don’t suppose there are many tour groups to Stonehenge who get a lecture on the implications of the Marxist interpretation of archaeology. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/25 "2015-02-01T17:20:22Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > PS: I have never been able to establish the truth as to whether the stones were moved around in the 1920’s. I’m not entirely sure what you mean by this. The stones have been shifted a little during the restoration works (the wiki mentions that one stone was moved half a metre), but I don’t think there’s any suggestion that their arrangement has shifted. The wiki has a photo from the 1870s, and one more recent from the same angle, which doesn’t show any misalignment that I can see. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/26 "2015-02-01T17:27:22Z")
> [@Teuton](#): > > Stonehenge is bigger, up close, that I thought it would be. The big central stones are _huge_. I’ve heard some of them are up to 18" high. I’ve never been to Stonehenge. I have been to Mount Rushmore and I was actually **more** impressed than I expected. The museum exhibits on its construction were interesting and the park rangers gave interesting talks on Borglum and Teddy Roosevelt. How is the new(ish) Stonehenge visitor’s centre? Interesting or not? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/27 "2015-02-01T18:22:50Z")
A friend of mine, who’s finishing up her doctorate in Limerick (not poetry, the town), visited it a few years ago and was able to touch them. One of the few perks of travelling while blind. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/28 "2015-02-01T18:25:13Z")
A common suggestion is that you should also see Avebury after seeing Stonehenge: > **[Avebury](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury)** > > Avebury (/ˈeɪvbəri/) is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans. > Constructed over several hundred years in the third millennium BC, during the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, the monument comprises a large heng... ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/29 "2015-02-01T21:12:14Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’ve heard some of them are up to 18" high. Is this a Lego version? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/30 "2015-02-01T21:54:32Z")
> [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Is this a Lego version? > > 😉 [I was thinking of a musical version.](http://vimeo.com/94459739) ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/31 "2015-02-01T22:14:04Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > Ha, you have obviously never tried to drive the A303 in Summer. Far more like 0.5 mph, as the traffic jams up all the way through from Amesbury to Mere. > > I liked visiting Old Sarum, personally. But Stonehenge is impressive. I enjoyed Edward Ruthurford’s book Sarum. I visited Stonehenge around 1990 when I was stationed in England. I was suitably impressed. Old Sarum was very interesting. Salisbury Cathedral was also worth a visit. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/32 "2015-02-02T10:14:52Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > A friend of mine, who’s finishing up her doctorate in Limerick (not poetry, the town), visited it a few years ago and was able to touch them. One of the few perks of travelling while blind. As in “Sorry, what signs?” ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/33 "2015-02-02T17:12:00Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > How is the new(ish) Stonehenge visitor’s centre? Interesting or not? I liked it. But there’s not much too it. I must admit, if I’d paid the £15 entrance fee for this (£30 for both of us), I’d have felt it was overpriced. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/34 "2015-02-02T17:42:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > …It’s even more amazing in person, as opposed to Mt. Rushmore, which is a joke. [Mt. Rushmore](http://imgur.com/gallery/KoMgvLh) from the Canadian side is impressive though. ---
**Author:** ![fierra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fierra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fierra)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/35 "2015-02-03T03:38:11Z")
I was disappointed in Stonehenge, but I have a pair of earrings from the visitors’ center… ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/36 "2015-02-03T03:51:44Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > [Mt. Rushmore](http://imgur.com/gallery/KoMgvLh) from the Canadian side is impressive though. As is the [solved mystery of Easter Island](http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/easter-island-mystery-solved.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/37 "2015-02-03T21:17:46Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > The latter two are awesome, and more satisfying to visit, I think. I kind of agree on both (Avebury and West Kennet) though it’s obv. not a contest. You can of course walk around the stones at Avebury. I suspect Stonehenge would be really awesome if it wasn’t such a big deal, as they aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/38 "2015-02-04T00:44:18Z")
I visited a looong time ago: took a train to a bus to a rural stop and walked - to a field with some giant stones, and not a building, or a fence, or a sign, or another human in sight for the hour I was there. Stonehenge looking much as it had for thousands of years. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/39 "2015-02-04T00:46:22Z")
> [@BOOM](#): > > I kind of agree on both (Avebury and West Kennet) though it’s obv. not a contest. You can of course walk around the stones at Avebury. Yeah, but you have to watch your feet or you’ll wind up stepping into sheep shit. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433/40 "2015-02-04T01:27:35Z")
I visited Stonehenge in 1987–took a bus from Salisbury. There were ropes around the perimeter, which wasn’t so bad–I hadn’t expected to be able to go right up and touch them. I was a little let down because there was a group of students or scientists on the other side of the ropes wandering amongst the stones. Not only did it cut down on the “magic” of the place, they had their backpacks and such scattered all over the place which made it almost impossible to get decent pictures. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-stonehenge-yesterday/711433.md?page=3)