Just outside the city of Salisbury is the famous circle of rocks called Stonehenge. The archeologists have dated the structure back to about 3000 BC - almost exactly the same age as the Pyramids of Egypt. No one is certain what it was built for - but many theories include religious ceremonies and astronomical computers.
Having taught earth and space science for all those years - some of the ideas seem pretty contrived. There are several "henges" built throughout England - mostly during the stone age when tools consisted of deer antlers and hip bones as tools. Since the wheel was not invented yet - these 50 ton rocks had to be towed over many miles.
I taught the theory that Stonehenge was a giant astronomical calendar. It could be used to tell when seasons started - when it was time to plant crops - to get ready for rain - and the time to start soccer league. According to this theory - the heel rock lined up with the center of the henge on the Summer Solstice. Since grandson Jack was born on the Summer Solstice last year - June 20th - from now on I will refer to the heel rock as Jack's throne.
Having listened to other tourists about the attraction - I expected heavy crowds - big fences - and viewing the rocks from a football field away. Nothing was further from the truth. The amount of visitors was manageable - there was only a fence along the major highway - they allowed school groups in for free - and we walked to within maybe 40 feet of the inner circle of posts and lentils. The only thing separating me from the giant vertical rocks was a short rope fence about one foot high. If I wasn't with Lulu's school group - I probably would have vaulted the rope and had my picture taken atop the rocks like some crazed Colossus of Rhodes.
After Stonehenge - our private coach took us to downtown Salisbury to see the famous cathedral there. Built in 1220 - it is the largest cathedral in Europe. It is even more impressive sitting on a gigantic square of golf course quality grass. Although this church is 400 feet tall - it sits on a foundation just 18 inches deep. But even after almost 800 years - the steeple which is higher than a football field is long - only tilts 27 inches off center.
Lulu's class is really enjoying the field trips. With our guide and bus driver - we numbered 22. Due to traffic it took about 2 hours to get to Salisbury and we covered the 70 miles home in about the same time.
The entire Salisbury Plain is on top of a thick layer of the soft rock chalk. One can dig down through a couple inches of young soil to hit the superwhite rock. On the Mohs hardness scale of rocks - chalk comes in around 3 - on the scale of 1 - 10 - where talc is number 1 and diamond is number 10. A rock that soft can be easily carved with simple hand tools. In the area - it has been common to carve large figures into the ground - removing the soil to reveal bright white lines.
This 182 foot stick figure in the picture is the God of Fertility. It is still believed that any woman having difficulty getting pregnant will be successful after spending one night with him. This is not a place to take a first date.
Pictures -
Salisbury Cathedral
God of Fertility
Jack's Summer Solstice Throne
Stonehenge from Southeast Side
Lulu and her 5 Project LEAD Students
Harry and Lulu close on NW Side
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