My contribution to experimental archaeology...........

 

I found this historic photo in the file --- taken on the day I helped out with the haulage of the Millennium Stone, back ion the year 2000.  It was a haulage exercise, but note that we were pushing rather than pulling -- because an adviser to the project said that this would minimise the risk of injury.  It was a jolly occasion, with lots of cameraderie amongst the pullers.  Philip Bowen, the organizer of the project, stands on the right in his yellow jacket.

Here we are crossing the Slebech Estate bridge over the Eastern Cleddau, at Blackpool Mill.  In the good old days of the Neolithic, of course, there would not have been a bridge -- just another horrible muddy tidal river with impenetrable jungle along its banks.

A couple of days after this photo was taken, the stone was taken off its sledge and transferred to two curraghs, with the help of a heavy lift crane.  Unfortunately the technology was not quite up to it, and the stone slid onto the bottom of the river and had to be recovered before starting its ill-fated journey to the docks at Milford Haven.

And the rest is history........