Summer Solstice 2009 - Photographs from Stonehenge

( Looking or info onr the 2010 Summer Solstice at Stonehenge? go here! ) Despite my fears I might not make it to Stonehenge in time for the Solstice, I did it! Being one of the 36,500 people accessing the Stones on the night from Saturday to Sunday was surely an experience I won't easily forget, and near to utterly amazing ******* awesome.

Being inside the Stone Circle was impressive and breath taking, not only because being squished between the other visitors. I could not help but stare blank at random points, trying to imagine how this must have looked when only a few thousand people were present, gathered by camp fires, each tribe their own. Exchanging thoughts, knowledge and most likely also brides... . But I guess we'll never really know.

Nowadays it's mainly crowded, which frustrated quite a bit of 'druids' and other people visiting for spiritual reasons, as the extra crowd considered the gathering as a festival without music - but with more than enough booze -, rather than a moment of reflection and celebration of the change of seasons. I heard quite a bit of statements filled with nostalgia on 'how much better it was a few years ago, when the masses did not attend yet'. Ah well, as said before, even Stonehenge can't escape progress and the Facebook crowds attending. ;) (#stonehenge on Twitter really never did kick off)

But at least there was no real 'operation solstice' by the police, who really did keep low profile. I've seen no horses, and both the drone - pretty flashing lights! - and English drug dogs are so cute! (Belgian police dogs look grumpy, show their teeth, definitely not wiggle their tales constantly and are about 3 times the size of the UK ones.) Security was good enough, really crazy persons were picked out of the crowds, yet 6l of cider/person was allowed access to the site. I must ask though, do I look like a serial killer?! Or why else was I the only person chosen for a metal detector test?

The night itself was cold, until some friendly people shared their 'space blanket' - a brand of thermal blanket - with me. It saved my life, or at least made sure I was able to get into the office today. Only weighing a few grams, I definitely list this as a must-have to take to any upcoming solstice! But I gladly suffered - with the space blanket and numerous cups of coffee to keep me warm(er) - to be able to see the sun rise at 4.55 in the morning. Alas, when we finally got to that point, no sun was to be seen...  a multitude of clouds hiding it from us. (I've had an ongoing discussion about _where_ the sun would come up for the past 8 hours, so none of us being right, was quite the disappointment too.) But next solstice, we'll just try again! =)

Getting there using public transport was no problem at all, and even included a nice walk throughout farmland with a beautiful view down on Stonehenge as you get nearer. So definitely to be advised over getting their by car and enjoying the frustrations of enormous traffic jams. The total cost - about 100£ - of going to the Stonehenge Summer Solstice '09 was reasonable too:

• 31£ Train fare from London Waterloo to Salisbury
• 9£ Return ticket for the '333 Solstice' from Salisbury to the drop-off point at Stonehenge
• Free - Lovely walk with awesome sunset view.
• 7x 1.50£ - Warm drinks
• 31£ Train fare return

This totals at 101,1£, a reasonable amount if you compare it to spending Saturday on Sunday clubbing in London. :D So err, see you at Stonehenge Summer Solstice 2010!

More images - amongst others these - in my Flickr set 'Summer Solstice 2009' and in the Heritage Key Flickr Group. Feel free to submit your own, and of course, comments appreciated! (If you wish to see a Stonehenge sunrise, go here.)

PS. No, I did not have the honour of meeting King Arthur Pendragon, and I also failed to locate our very own Heritage Key featured druid. yet another reason to attend v2010.

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Ann Wuyts (follow me: e-mail or )

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Unique Iron Age Hoard goes on display at Ipswich Museum | Royal Artefacts - Including King Tut's Golden Trumpet - Returned to Egyptian Museum Cairo | SCA releases full list of treasures missing from the Cairo Museum

Ann 'Vint' Wuyts is looking after the Heritage Key community and avatar health & entertainment. She is slightly fascinated by everything to do with 3D technology and what's commonly defined as 'Web 2.0'. When she grows up, Ann - eventually - wants to be a mummy. Favourite game: Buzzword Bingo /…