Celts

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.

So you've bagged a seat in your nearest Irish boozer, scrummed your way to the bar and ordered a pint of the black stuff, and your furry shamrock hat is firmly ensconced on the head: congratulations, you are officially ready to start celebrating St Patrick's Day. But who is St Patrick? We trace the history of the brewer's favourite saint back to ancient Roman Britain.

Irish or not, Catholic or not, and whether you actually like Guinness or not – these are small considerations now that the 17th of March is an international day of merry-making and general festivity.

It's an excuse to wear as much green as you like, even if you're blond. But before you go digging that pea-green jumper out of the back of the wardrobe, you might want to ask yourself what on earth you're going to all this trouble for.

Re-invented by the Victorians, under the name of Boadicea, Boudicca (starring in this Ancient World in London video) was presented as an idol of nationalism, of British warrior tradition and, somewhat incongruently, as a figurehead of imperialism, even though this was the thing she had fought against. Her statue sits directly opposite Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, overlooking the River Thames at the very heart of London. There she stands in her chariot looking over the city like some kind of fierce guardian angel for the British. But what is she doing there? Should we really be touting Boudicca as a hero?

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.