tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post2715979013319232031..comments2024-03-28T22:13:17.139+00:00Comments on Stonehenge and the Ice Age: From Russia with love.....BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-34303325244376997072011-05-20T19:34:21.212+01:002011-05-20T19:34:21.212+01:00You do indeed, Brian, you do indeed! And I have in...You do indeed, Brian, you do indeed! And I have in recent times been in contact with another Durham Graduate, Dr Simon Draper, who also studied with Brian Roberts, albeit at least 20 years after me. W.G.Hoskins was also a great influence, not least because I utilised his Devonshire studies whilst preparing my Undergraduate Dissertation. And I had only arrived in Devonshire at the same time as starting at Durham, so W.G. assisted me greatly as I began to explore my new County.Not quite Antarctica, but an exploration nonetheless!Tony Hinchliffenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-46308264387078777012011-05-20T16:01:17.852+01:002011-05-20T16:01:17.852+01:00I suppose we have all made mistakes -- I have some...I suppose we have all made mistakes -- I have sometimes had to stop and think after finding some spectacular erratic on a beach in Pembrokeshire, and have had to conclude (reluctantly!) that certain stones may well have come in as ballast in the holds of the little trading ships in the good old days........<br /><br />But I hope I have never made a mistake quite as spectacular as this!<br /><br />Ah yes -- Hoskins's book was one my bibles in the old days. Do I see the influence of my old friend Brian Roberts in the things you say?!!BRIAN JOHNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-42068796004422921052011-05-20T14:58:32.676+01:002011-05-20T14:58:32.676+01:00Reminds me considerably, Brian, of the tale I rece...Reminds me considerably, Brian, of the tale I recently recounted, comparing the Robin Heath/ Michell "Prehistoric" version of events with the Anglo Saxon Charter/ W.G.Hoskins account of the Sarsen Stone at Alton Priors, in the Vale of Pewsey. According to Robin Heath and Michell, this sarcen stone with its hole bored into it, has ALWAYS been located UNDER the nave of the Church, "and is surely the original mark-stone, a surveyor's point on the Stonehenge - Avebury axis".<br /><br />The renowned Local History Professor, W.G. Hoskins, by contrast, informs us that a similar stone with a hole in the middle is mentioned in King Edgar's Charter and could UNTIL RECENTLY still be seen in the specified location at Winding Combe. Hoskins makes no mention of any similar stone underneath the Church.<br /><br />I know which version of events I am inclined to believe. Heath, as I understand it, is by training an Engineer. By contrast, Hoskins was a deeply knowledgeable Local History academic. He wrote "The Making Of The English Landscape", which thousands of undergraduates of Geography and related subjects will be familiar with over the last 40-50 years. Engineers tend to work in straight lines and angles; local historians look for landscape features wherever they may be found and relate them to other landscape features, natural or man-made.Tony Hinchliffenoreply@blogger.com