Place With The Stones (v.2.0)

Did I say that it was hot last time? Well this time it must have been hot 2.0. A major new release of the sunshine product had been rolled out. I felt like my fur was turning into red goo and dripping off me. Not a nice thought when one is cursed with the encumbrance of not being able to shower.

Avebury, not far from the other place with the stones, is often thought of as being less impressive than its more famous cousin, when in actual fact the site is many times bigger than Stonehenge and just as fascinating.

We arrived whilst it was still morning and were gladdened to hear that our prudence in joining English Heritage had paid off; we would not have to pay the £5 parking fee levied to tourists upon their arrival. Bonus; say I.

The sun was beating down and all of the cars in the car park were slowly turning into the ovens they were soon to become as we headed along the footpath into Avebury village proper. We passed by a rather amusing sign by a cricket pitch which read “Beware of the Ball” rather than the more usual “Beware of the Bull” I saw more than one double-take at this subtle humour.

Upon arriving in the village we were presented with more thatched Tudor properties than any self-respecting dragon could have resisted torching back in the “Dark” times, when we dragons were feared and misunderstood by humans everywhere. I found them pretty myself, and didn’t have the slightest urge to see them razed to the ground.

It was still a little before lunchtime so we decided to go for a stroll around the stone circle which encompasses much of the ancient village of Avebury. And thus we negotiated the “Junction of Doom” and headed into the field which contains the famous “Devil’s Chair” or “Silla del Diablo” as Banshee taught us.

The construction of the stone circle was just as mind-boggling as that of Stonehenge. Considering when it was built, c.5000 years ago mankind were still torturing Dragons for fun, it is a miracle that they ever managed to erect anything so gargantuan. Add to this that they were working with little more in the way of tools than old animal bones, and more than a few Dragon brows would have been raised at the time.

We walked roundabout ¾ of the circumference of the outer circle and were quite in awe at the ditches and mounds that had been created so many millennia before. Again Undead Medic took a bunch of photos along the way and we saw many cute Dogs, and some sheep *licks lips*

We stopped for lunch, (No Sheep-B-Cue I was disappointed to find) and to gather our thoughts before heading into Avebury Manor, the shop and the two museums, prior to completing our circuit of the stones.

Avebury Manor was a strange house, in that it had obviously been recently inhabited and the modern kitchen appliances seemed strangely at odds with the opulent gardens and magisterial panelled rooms within. Couple that with a strange lack of furnishings and we were left with the feeling that we were being conducted around the most expensive prospective property acquisition on the market. We felt more like prospective buyers than paying visitors, weird.

Again I remember coming here in my youth, with some other Dragons of my acquaintance, but the old memory is dulled by Dragon-Wine and too many of those funny herbs that were going around *ahem* and I was glad of the chance to see the place again.

Avebury left me with a feeling that unlike Stonehenge the march of tourism that has crept up on the place has still left the site with a little dignity and the overall impression was one of a place that despite the commercial touches, hadn’t changed that much in centuries.

Banshee summed it up: the place still felt “Right.”