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Stonehenge & Pentre Efan

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
We really wanted to see both of these sites and were disappointed in both when we got to them. Bear in mind we are history buffs in our family, and based on some of the photos I've already posted you can tell we spent a huge amount of time walking through rubble, ruins and old buildings. These two sites are prehistoric, go back well before the druids, and are related in the fact that some of the bluestones at Stonehenge came from the same quarry as the blue stones used at Pentre Efan.

I've heard people say they felt some sort of spiritual force or other mumbo jumbo at these sites. Nothing. I felt nothing. Honestly I think if people feel anything it is the drugs taking effect that they do in the parking area at Stonehenge . . . no parking area at Pentre Efan, it is very remote and a hike through gated fields to get to. Not a common stop for tourists!!!

First, Pentre Efan in Wales . . .
 

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Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Now Stonehenge. It is MUCH bigger than Pentre Efan, but actually smaller than I thought it would be . . .
 

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EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
Bob, I've never heard of Pentre Ifan. How did you find out about it? When I lived in the UK I used to trek to see sites like that all the time. I've been to Stonehenge and also the standing stones at Callanish in the Western Isles. I used to love that stuff!!!!

Keep the stories and photos coming. They're bringing back lots of pleasant memories.

P.S. I see the weather hasn't changed a lot since I left. :)
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Bob, I've never heard of Pentre Ifan. How did you find out about it?
Most people have DVD collections of porn, Disney flicks and popular movies. . . the lovely Mrs B has a DVD collection of historical documentaries, archaeological digs, dead languages, lost worlds and esoteric dictators of yore. Why else would we take a pass on visiting the Queen at Buckingham Palace so that we could stumble around a pile of rocks in the rain?

There was another site we wanted to get up to in the Orkney Islands but never were able to get close to that area. Its a full dig of a village, possibly 5000 years old.
 

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
Bob, the first time we visited Stonehenge, I thought it was going to be this remote place in the middle of nowhere (which it is-sort of) and not a tourist trap (which it is).
The most surprising thing to me was the gift shop.
I really never expected anything like that at all on the grounds.
There was chain link fencing as well and it costs a pretty pound to get in, another surprise.
There are a lot of these ancient stone places scattered around.
Another one we visited down around the New Forest, but the name escapes me right now.
 

EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
There was another site we wanted to get up to in the Orkney Islands but never were able to get close to that area. Its a full dig of a village, possibly 5000 years old.

I think you must mean Skarra Brae. Been there too, it's magnificent. When you look at the settlement, the country around it, the sea, it gives you a whole new perspective and appreciation of the people who actually lived and prospered there all those years ago. Yup, there were no welfare recipients there, it must have been a hard life and a daily struggle just to survive.

P.S. I've never met your wife but I think I like the lady already.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Bob, the first time we visited Stonehenge, I thought it was going to be this remote place in the middle of nowhere (which it is-sort of) and not a tourist trap (which it is).
The most surprising thing to me was the gift shop.
I really never expected anything like that at all on the grounds.
There was chain link fencing as well and it costs a pretty pound to get in...
We purchased a "Heritage Pass" and it got us into every National Heritage site at no charge so I honestly didn't pay attention to the admission fees at each place we visited. Looking back at the trip, the Heritage Pass paid for itself before we ever got out of London, as much as I gripe about the prices for everything in the UK, the Heritage Pass saved us enough to send Melen to private school next year :blink:

I didn't notice any chain link fence around Stonehenge. We were lucky as we visited it on a rainy day and there were not a lot of people about, but the parking lot and gift shop probably would be very crowded on a nicer day. I do have to give them credit for burying the gift shop in the ground and putting a living grass roof on it so it blends with the surroundings.

I think you must mean Skarra Brae. Been there too, it's magnificent.
Yup. Since we missed it I wished you would have said it was disappointing! :censored:
 
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