How much do we know about Stonehenge? Less than we think. And what has Stonehenge got to do with the Ice Age? More than we might think. This blog is mostly devoted to the problems of where the Stonehenge bluestones came from, and how they got from their source areas to the monument. Now and then I will muse on related Stonehenge topics which have an Ice Age dimension...
THE BOOK Some of the ideas discussed in this blog are published in my new book called "The Stonehenge Bluestones" -- available by post and through good bookshops everywhere. Bad bookshops might not have it.... To order, click HERE
Thursday, 22 May 2025
The latest on the bluestones..........
Tonight, 7 pm, at Canolfan Bethlehem, Newport.....
10 comments:
Tony Hinchliffe
said...
I seem to recall you saying you have a genealogical connection with the wider Stonehenge landscape......is Shrewton area involved?
Yes, an uncle of mine lived in a thatched cottage in Shrewton for many years. We made many visits to Stonehenge. Another uncle lived in Salisbury, and yet another in Pewsey. Two of the uncles ran a big and successful dairy in Amesbury......
Very well thank you. A really good audience, including some archaeologists and geologists. Intelligent questions and a wide-ranging discussion. As usual, people were amazed that neither the MPP team nor EH are prepared to admit that their "official narrative" is disputed by anybody. Some who had watched the "Lost Circle" documentary were appalled by it, just as I was. Many of those present had seen MPP at least once at his Bluestonhe Brewery evenings, and had cottoned on to the fact that he has rowed back considerably from some of his more outrageous positions of a few years back. And not a single person in the audience was prepared to argue in favour of bluestone quarries, lost stone circles or human stone transport. The times they are a'changing............
Joshua Pollard said years and years ago at a local archaeological group meeting ( where he was guest speaker) that Mike PP tends towards over - imaginative claims. And I witnessed it first hand on a dig both of them were involved in on the edge of the Marlborough Downs [ Clatford]. But what worries me that he still is the senior lecturer in Prehistory at UCL. UCL, he ISN'T a Superior Being, he's an ordinary bloke with a tendency towards biased claims. Just read his recent book as I have: "Stonehenge - a Brief History".....
Josh Pollard is one of MPP's regular co-authors. He therefore shares responsibility for ALL of the outrageous claims made overr the years by the whole gang. If he does not like what is said he should get out of the team and dispute the things he does not agree with..
Brian, earlier in these comments on this Post you have mentioned various uncles living not that far from Stonehenge, and how you visited them in your younger days. Am I correct in speculating this is how your interest in Stonehenge and its rocks germinated? How young were you when you first became fascinated by Pembrokeshire geology? Were these uncles Welsh?
Yes, the 3 uncles were all Welsh, from the family farm at Llandyfaelog, near Kidwelly. They were all linked to the dairy trade, originally selling milk sent every day from the family farm on the overnight milk train from Carmarthen. My many visits to Stonehenge would have been when I was 10 - 13 years old. I suppose my interest ion the old ruin dates from that time......
I recommend you point out your early connections with South Wiltshire and that Pile of Rocks in a Field near the A303 when you are introducing your Talks and doing press interviews with sceptical journalists and English Heritage. My own early interaction with archaeological sites, by the way, included Bronze Age digs just down the road from the Longshaw Estate in the Peak District ( yet just outside Sheffield). This features on the current series of Springwatch.
10 comments:
I seem to recall you saying you have a genealogical connection with the wider Stonehenge landscape......is Shrewton area involved?
Yes, an uncle of mine lived in a thatched cottage in Shrewton for many years. We made many visits to Stonehenge. Another uncle lived in Salisbury, and yet another in Pewsey. Two of the uncles ran a big and successful dairy in Amesbury......
I chap named Tony Hinchliffe used to be very involved with Amesbury Football Club......
Let us know how this Talk went.
Very well thank you. A really good audience, including some archaeologists and geologists. Intelligent questions and a wide-ranging discussion.
As usual, people were amazed that neither the MPP team nor EH are prepared to admit that their "official narrative" is disputed by anybody. Some who had watched the "Lost Circle" documentary were appalled by it, just as I was. Many of those present had seen MPP at least once at his Bluestonhe Brewery evenings, and had cottoned on to the fact that he has rowed back considerably from some of his more outrageous positions of a few years back. And not a single person in the audience was prepared to argue in favour of bluestone quarries, lost stone circles or human stone transport. The times they are a'changing............
Joshua Pollard said years and years ago at a local archaeological group meeting ( where he was guest speaker) that Mike PP tends towards over - imaginative claims. And I witnessed it first hand on a dig both of them were involved in on the edge of the Marlborough Downs [ Clatford]. But what worries me that he still is the senior lecturer in Prehistory at UCL. UCL, he ISN'T a Superior Being, he's an ordinary bloke with a tendency towards biased claims. Just read his recent book as I have: "Stonehenge - a Brief History".....
Josh Pollard is one of MPP's regular co-authors. He therefore shares responsibility for ALL of the outrageous claims made overr the years by the whole gang. If he does not like what is said he should get out of the team and dispute the things he does not agree with..
Brian, earlier in these comments on this Post you have mentioned various uncles living not that far from Stonehenge, and how you visited them in your younger days. Am I correct in speculating this is how your interest in Stonehenge and its rocks germinated? How young were you when you first became fascinated by Pembrokeshire geology? Were these uncles Welsh?
Yes, the 3 uncles were all Welsh, from the family farm at Llandyfaelog, near Kidwelly. They were all linked to the dairy trade, originally selling milk sent every day from the family farm on the overnight milk train from Carmarthen. My many visits to Stonehenge would have been when I was 10 - 13 years old. I suppose my interest ion the old ruin dates from that time......
I recommend you point out your early connections with South Wiltshire and that Pile of Rocks in a Field near the A303 when you are introducing your Talks and doing press interviews with sceptical journalists and English Heritage. My own early interaction with archaeological sites, by the way, included Bronze Age digs just down the road from the Longshaw Estate in the Peak District ( yet just outside Sheffield). This features on the current series of Springwatch.
Post a Comment