The Uffington Whitehorse

This beautiful hill carving, lying close to Uffington Hillfort in Oxfordshire is best viewed from a distance but can be accessed by walking uphill from the signposted carpark. The horse is 110m long and carved through the grass into chalk and has been dated to between 1400 and 600BC making it roughly 3,000 years old!… Continue reading The Uffington Whitehorse

Waylands Smithy – The neolithic monument which is home to a supernatural Elf!

Monday saw my post on the ancient Ridgeway road and I used that to visit another ancient place, Waylands Smithy. I’ve wanted to visit here for years but never got around to it as despite being not too far from London, it’s in a rather isolated spot and only accessible from the Ridgeway on foot,… Continue reading Waylands Smithy – The neolithic monument which is home to a supernatural Elf!

Walking The Ridgeway, one of the oldest roads in the world

On Saturday I had my first and likely only real day out all year went to Oxfordshire to visit various ancient and picturesque sites.  One of the places I was looking forward to travelling on was the Ridgeway which is one of the oldest continually used roads anywhere in the world For at least 5,000… Continue reading Walking The Ridgeway, one of the oldest roads in the world

The origins of Stonehenge are further revealed.

Stonehenge actually contains two different kinds of stones, erected thousands of years apart. The sarsens are the larger silica stones in Stonehenge’s outer ring and center, each about 13 feet high and seven feet wide. There are 52 on the site today, but experts believe that there were originally 80. For a few years now we… Continue reading The origins of Stonehenge are further revealed.

The Cerne Abbas Giant is masking up!

Many people around the world are aware that the chalky plains and hills of southern England are famous for neolithic stone-circles, burial mounds, barrows and chalk-horses but there are few monuments as enigmatic as the Cerne Abbas Giant. He stands at 180 feet tall and is the largest chalk hill figure in these islands.  His… Continue reading The Cerne Abbas Giant is masking up!

Putting the stone into Harrow Wealdstone – London’s Neolithic Standing Stone?

I was feeling pleased that I had managed to find the first two little known ancient and even neolithic spots with out any maps and so decided to see one more if I could find it.  I had considered  Grim’s Dyke which was both the boundary of Mercia (was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon… Continue reading Putting the stone into Harrow Wealdstone – London’s Neolithic Standing Stone?

Looking for a neolithic burial mound in my local (Cassiobury) Park

It’s reached the time of year that I’ve gone a bit doolally  and I mean more doolally than I generally am from the 1st of January until around the 31st December each year. I’ve not had a day off for years and been out on tour every day for months.  I also feel that I’ve… Continue reading Looking for a neolithic burial mound in my local (Cassiobury) Park

A visit to Clava Cairns

Everyone knows I like my history and the older it is the better.  I spend much of my time visiting prehistoric and neolithic monuments. Everyone knows of Stonehenge but there are hundreds of other stonecircles across Britain as well as countless other monuments.  In fact as I write, I am preparing to go to Avebury… Continue reading A visit to Clava Cairns

Christmas through the ages

It seems unavoidable, the big day has almost arrived.  Whereas last year I wrote a post on debunking myths surrounding Christmas and in 2015 on the history of Father Christmas and Santa Claus  this time around I thought I would write a little on what Christmas was like through the ages. I like Christmas but I… Continue reading Christmas through the ages