Sean Williams's blog

This Saturday sees Stonehenge's inner circle opened to the public on one of only four occasions a year, at the Spring Equinox. Around four thousand people are expected to turn up, braving the bitter British weather to celebrate at Britain's best-known ancient landmark.

Some of you, like us, may be visiting Stonehenge for this Saturday's Spring Equinox celebrations (see event listing here). Yet I suspect a fair few more of you will be sinking pints of Guinness in homage to Saint Patrick tonight, staggering home wearing a green top hat which looked oh-so-cool a few hours ago.

But if you're going to be on the Emerald Isle this weekend, why not combine the two, by visiting Loughcrew, Ireland's best-known megalithic cairn. At the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, Loughcrew's cairn T is bathed in light, and the sun symbols on its back chamber can be seen in their full glory.

This Saturday marks the point at which the sun rises directly over the equator - the Spring Equinox. And while most of us will be wrapped up warm in bed at 5am, up to five thousand hardy souls will be braving the Wiltshire weather to welcome in the equinox at Stonehenge - including us.

Sam, Nicole and myself will be at the stone circle bright and early for two special Ancient World in London videos, speaking to Druids (including the inimitable King Arthur Pendragon), archaeologists and revellers as the sun rises over Britain's best-known ancient landmark.

What's 84 miles long, 1,888 years old and marked the edge of Roman rule in Britain? Hadrian's Wall of course - and the landmark got a spectacular makeover this weekend with a line of beacons stretching its entirety. The event, named 'Illuminating Hadrian's Wall', marked the 1,600th anniversary of the end of the Roman occupation in Britain, and needed no fewer than 1,100 hardy volunteers to brave the harsh winds of northern England to make it happen.

I'm sitting on the 15.49 to London Euston from Carlisle. It's boiling hot, the Cumbrian countryside is disappearing behind me and my jumper smells like yesterday's paper. But I'm happy, because we've just hah a hell of a week at the Hadrian's Wall illuminations. I've seen it on the news from my hotel, but I guarantee you it was even better in the flesh: and that's what we'll be recreating in our next Ancient World in London video.

First off, we're all well aware that Hadrian's Wall, just a few minutes from the Scottish border, is not very near London. At all. But there are a number of very good reasons, I think, that make this trip worthwhile for the series.

Boudicca massacred 80,000 people on her way to infamy, as she left Colchester, London and St Albans little more than smouldering husks in 60AD. And it's no surprise to learn that her appearance matched her bloodthirsty attitude. Boudicca was "a great big busty woman," says expert Mark Hassall, "with a blonde mass of hair falling down to her shoulders.

Boudicca is one of ancient Britain's biggest names: she's even got her own statue overlooking Parliament. (Click to watch the Boudicca video) But for all today's archaeological breakthroughs, we still don't know where she's buried right now. In fact, we don't even know where she and the Romans played out a bloody denouement to the rebellion at the Battle of Watling Street. Even Tacitus and Cassius Dio, the Roman historians who chronicled the event, can't agree whether she committed suicide or fell victim to illness.

Hadrian's Wall snakes its way through 84 miles of barren British countryside, the frostbitten tip of the Roman empire. Yet you needn't leave your PC to get a feel for this weekend's illuminations event, which promises to be a spectacular celebration of Roman prowess.

Nicole, Sam and myself will be heading up to the wall to watch the illuminations for an Ancient World in London video about the bits of Britain even Rome dared not tinker with. We'll be visiting some of the wall's best-known sites, and speaking to experts about its glorious past.

This week campaigners reached a £200,000 target in their fight to save Colchester's Roman circus. But it's just the tip of an iceberg of red tape the circus must dodge to survive as a tourist attraction. And while the city's leading archaeologist is thrilled the landmark figure has finally been made, he warns there's much more work to be done.

The future of Britain's only chariot racetrack is looking a lot brighter this week, as the public funding needed to save Colchester's Roman circus was reached yesterday. The £200,000 raised by Colchester Archaeological Trust and Destination Colchester will join £30,000 from the local council and £550,000 in loans and grants. The total will go towards buying the Sergeant's Mess, a Victorian building which stands upon the circus' gates. To see an in-depth blog on the campaign itself, click here.