Paul Devereux, who is the man behind the "ringing rocks" hypothesis.
Paul trying to convince the reporter that the "one that got away" at Carn Meini is a ringing rock, by making some dull thuds with his little hammerstone.....
Tim Darvill (centre) doing his best to be non-committal....
George Nash, who managed (sort of) to find something encouraging to say.... no doubt after listening to lots of dull thuds coming from the Stonehenge standing stones.
Go to the 18 min mark to watch this rather excruciating demonstration of how people can make a lot of fuss out of nothing at all. All rather embarrassing really...... Tim Darvill and George Nash put a brave face on it, but probably wished they had been somewhere else......
I hope my valuable taxpayers money was not used in this fantastical exercise -- but I suspect it was.......
Even the reporter looked embarrassed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03x0tx1/Inside_Out_West_03_03_2014/
I know Paul and Jon but I'm afraid I just don't buy into this theory at all. Sorry guys.
ReplyDeleteComing up next in the long line of Stonehenge Solved films is an offering from the History Channel which was broadcast in the USA on 1st March which explores the work of Gerald Hawkins and his Lunar/Solar theories.
I contributed photos and film to this and was a media consultant. I'll post a link when I can,
PeteG
Thanks Pete for your ongoing alertness re the media, and for your links. We await with interest the latest block-buster......
ReplyDeleteI thought the "music of the stones" piece was one of the least convincing things I have seen in a long time. But I suppose it keeps some people amused and other people occupied...
As I'm very sure Brian knows, Paul Devereux has been a part of the SPACES [Strumble and Preseli Ancient Communities Study], along with Tim Darvill, both of whom feature in this programme.
ReplyDeleteI do think we have to give some, GENERAL, consideration to matters acoustic. There is, for example,a village/ parish just south of the Preseli Hills, Maenclochog Ddu,
which, in translation, means ringing rocks. Such place-names associated with sound occur all over the U.K.
George Nash is famously a cave man, so I wonder how much credence he gives to Acoustics in his studying of the reasons why prehistoric man used caves?
I prefer "this rather excruciating demonstration" to the sound of the HGV's hurtling along the adjacent A303 (which, of course, is still there, although the A road next to the Heel Stone has at long last been closed and is being returned to grass). Silence is golden, golden.
ReplyDeleteThere are two villages -- Mynachlogddu (which means the black monastic grange) and Maenclochog (which does indeed mean a stone sounding like a bell.) There were reputed to be two stones near the church which rang when struck. So yes, nobody doubts that certain stones give a pleasant tone when they are struck -- it's just the rather absurd extension of that into the realms of fantasy. Taking a fantasy and trying to dress it up as somehow scientific? Something that those associated with the SPACES project have a tendency to do......
ReplyDeleteDid they mention Carn Alw (calling rocks)? Supposed to be good echoes from there.
ReplyDeleteDave
... and there are fairies at Carn Alw as well, as i discovered when doing my folktale research some years back...
ReplyDeleteAnd lovely echoes all over the place....
I agree that the SPACES boys have a tendency to sometimes get a little spaced out. However,on a much more scientific front, Paul Devereux has looked into the incidence of alleged UFO sitings across North America where there is also evidence of light effects etc which owe there origin to activities within the Earth's mountain faults etc or the Earth's atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt Brian and others are able to tell us about this much more clearly than myself! There was an hour - long BBC programme on his researches quite a while back.
http://uploaded.net/file/cxkvso3q/The.Universe.S08E01.Stonehenge.HDTV.XviD-AFG.avi
ReplyDeletefound a link to the video
PeteG
Since those Stones of the Rolling and Gyrating Variety, led by Keef Richard and Mick Judder, are constantly telling us through their Enormous Publicity Machine that they're The Biggest Rock & Roll Band In The Entire World since Its Creation/ Big Bang, I feel it is incumbent on these Boys to get their Act together and perform at The Biggest Stage available to them, in the fine tradition of Spinal Tap and The Beatles. For that, I'd certainly pay the extortionate new entranced fee for the new-fangled MPP - approved Visitor Centre. Are we all agreed on this?
ReplyDeleteThat raises an interesting point -- can't you go along the road from the visitor centre WITHOUT paying that exorbitant fee? Does nobody ever get to visit Stonehenge again without passing through the payment area? Can they and do they stop people going along the road? Is it a private one, or a public right of way? I am more than a little intrigued about human rights here.....
ReplyDeleteI tried that. Parked at the center and walked 1.5 miles but when we got there was told we needed to walk all the back to buy a ticket as without one we couldn't come in.
ReplyDeleteSecurity then followed us around the fenceline until I spotted a friendly face who called off security.
Even though 2 of my friends had EH/NT membership they still were not allowed in without walking the 1.5 back to the center to get their Free tickets.
Lots of wrinkles to iron out...
PeteG
This is rather interesting, Pete. What about public rights of way? have they suddenly been cancell4d? Is Stonehenge suddenly the only UK historic monument that you are not even allowed to get anywhere near, without paying £14 for the privilege? Can you walk across the fields towards Stonehenge, or is there now an "exclusion zone"enforced by fierce security guards?
ReplyDeleteyou can park on the byeway or walk from Larkhill but when you get to the stones you are now further away than before as the road is fenced off.
ReplyDeleteIt is no longer possible to get a Clean photo of Stonehenge as you used to be able to do from the road
PeteG
Hmm -- Wilts CC says it is possible to walk freely across the landscape around Stonehenge -- there is even an advertised walking trail that takes in the Cursus, Stonehenge and the Avenue....... are National Trust and EH conniving here to turn public access into a moneyspinning venture? I wonder what sort of legal instruments there might have been surrounding the closure and declassification of the A344?
ReplyDeleteyou can access the wider landscape (if you can find somewhere to park) but the triangle around Stonehenge has now got a bit bigger and security is heavily beefed up. No one is getting in for free!
ReplyDeletePeteG
Dear Brian,
ReplyDeleteDo you have a private email address? In order to correct your misinformation and slightly ad hominem prejudices, I need to send some attachments.
Paul Devereux
Hi Paul
ReplyDeleteI do not do ad hominem attacks -- I try to look at the issues, and if I do not see enough evidence to convince me about something, I say so. Sorry if you are upset about that -- but if you take a high media profile on something -- as you have done here -- you should expect close scrutiny and honest words from people like me. By all means send some info to me at brianjohn4ATmac.com. Alternatively, if you want stuff to be on the record, by all means give us another post on this blog. That's what it's for.
Best wishes
Brian
I'm not attacking you Paul, just saying I don't believe it.
ReplyDeleteI've read the papers published so far.
Put your arguements up on here and George will tell you why your wrong much more eloquently than I could,
PeteG
I see George has already replied about this subject elsewhere.
ReplyDeletePeteG
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Forum&file=viewtopic&topic=6034&forum=4&start=0