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Glen Michael Herbert, a woodcarver known as Herbie to his friends, summed up the draw of the summer solstice beautifully.
“It’s a spiritual thing that people of all faiths and none can embrace,” he said. “I think it’s about feeling the wheel of the year turning, enjoying the light, appreciating nature. Most of all, coming together.”
Herbert was one of the many thousands who had made their way to Wiltshire – he in his faithful van Radagast – to take in midsummer in and around Stonehenge.
This one may be the most well attended for years as the solstice dawn takes place on Saturday and the weather is set pretty much perfect to observe the sun rising behind the heel stone – the ancient entrance to the monument from the ceremonial avenue – and watch its rays channel into the centre of the stone circle.
There will be tedious practical challenges.
National Highways has said the A303 and other roads around the sites will be very busy and urged visitors to use public transport or car share if possible. While English Heritage, which manages the site and offers controlled, free “open access” to the stones for the solstice, said people would need to use an app to pay for parking.
There is a poignancy, too, as it is 40 years since the Battle of the Beanfield, the notorious clash between police and new age travellers. Four decades on, there are still calls for an inquiry into the actions of Wiltshire police as they halted a free solstice festival at Stonehenge.
Some still feel the anguish of the experience and do not like the way the “open access” is policed and limited.
Alan Lodge, who was there that day, said: “They want to put Stonehenge in a glass case but they wouldn’t do that with Salisbury Cathedral. People are allowed to go there in their thousands all year round.”
English Heritage argues that it needs to strike a balance between opening the site and preserving it, while Wiltshire police say they have learned from what happened in 1985 and are working hard to ensure the solstice celebrations at Stonehenge go smoothly.
The practicalities and lingering hurt aside, there was a great deal of joy in the air this week.
At the Stonehenge Inn in Durrington, the manager, Dan King, said the pub and the adjacent camping and glamping field were fully booked. “The combination of the weekend and this weather means it’s going to be a busy one,” he said.
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Hundreds of people had gathered at the Stonehenge Campsite at Winterbourne Stoke for Solsticefest 25, a four-day celebration involving music, crafts and healing. The site runs bus shuttles to Stonehenge for the solstice.
At the campsite, as at the circle on solstice morning, an eclectic mix of people had gathered.
Nicky Jasmine, from Manchester, a volunteer at the site, said everyone was welcome. “We don’t judge what people are wearing, we don’t judge their beliefs.”
There were pagans there, such as Adrian Thompson and Tina Lyons. Thompson, 62, a window blind fitter from Leicester, said the solstice was a chance to “honour the ancestors” – and make new friends.
Chris Richards, a 35-year-old carer from Wolverhampton, said a few drinks and a party was certainly an element of the experience, but he also loved “cuddling up” with his friends at the circle at dawn. “Even when it’s hot like this, it can get chilly. We get into a ditch; the wind blows over you and the sun rises. It’s wonderful. I’ll always come here.”
