From Hadrian's wall to Stonehenge

Flew into Manchester and paid my respects to the Nine Ladies stone circle - a peaceful spot to contemplate the ancestors. Then to Swinside stone circle which was difficult to find as sat/nav doesn't quite recognise many of the places I'd like to visit - windswept and beautiful. Then headed west past Carlilse and onto Hadrian's wall.

Found my way to a section of Hadrian's Wall where I gazed out, looking for Picts or Scots, but saw none so had a bite to eat in the visitors center cafe. There I found, to my great surprise, a bottle of Dandilion and Burdock ( which I've dated to the early fifth century) - it's not a drink which many would recognise but I remember it from my childhood in Wales.

So I sat on Hadrian's Wall with a bottle of pop and looked out over the magnificent view. One of the guide ladies listened politely to my thoughts about Arthur 1 having ranged as far north as Carlilse and told me that local legend believes that to be true. It costs to visit places such as that area of the wall as it does to visit Stonehenge so I bought a nine day overseas visitor pass, the cost of which was covered by those two sites. For some unknown reason, this doesn't cover anything in Wales.

Ah - Stonehenge. I found a bridle path for the three and a half mile walk which took me along the King Barrow Ridge, complete with burial mounds, then over styles, through gates and across fields and there it was - miles away. Not to be put off, I continued and found that Stonehenge is fenced off with me on the wrong side of the fence. Followed said fence until I reached the end where a guide/security chap inspected my ticket and told me that I'd need to catch the shuttle bus to the visitors center to get it stamped. Ah - bureaucracy - After giving it a moment's thought and realising that I'd get no closer really than I already was ... no-one gets to touch the stones and 'following a path' is the best one can do, I took my photos, gave the stones a wry smile, and walked back across the golden fields, bridle paths and burial mounds stopping only to take a photo of some sheep who had numbers on their backs ... hmm ... 'must be teaching them how to count' thought I. It really tickled my fancy as a sheep gazed at me and went 'Baaa' .... 'Humbug' thought I.

Long walk, there and back but worth it of course.