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29 May 2007. Denial of our heritage.

During the 70's I spent many happy hours looking at ancient sites and pondering their mysteries. I particularly remember the sense of freedom I felt at being able to wander around these entrancing places and meeting some interesting people in the process. During my recent tour of the South West decided to revisit some of these sites, in particular Stonehenge and Avebury. The last time I was at Stonehenge it cost around 25 pence to get in so imagine my surprise when I was confronted with a charge of £6.40 - yes £6.40, and to make matters worse the entire site had been roped off so access to the stones was prevented. All one could do was to walk around the site.  No warning of this was given prior to entry. I felt cheated.

The Land is now 'owned' by the National Trust and the monument is 'owned' by English Heritage. What gives these people the right to own anything and then deny access to what is in essence our heritage? The excuse given is that they are protecting the monument from damage, yet in the old days when the number of visitors was not much less than it is today there was no protective fence, only an attendant who kept an eye on things. It worked then - why not now? However, it got worse.

I suddenly became aware of a deathly silence from the people around me as a young man was suddenly jumped on by two aggressive security guards for daring to step over the barrier just to get a closer look. He was manhandled - yes physically pushed off the site by these two over-zealous robots even though he was trying to explain that he had no idea he was breaking any rules - fair comment when you realise that no mention of trespass is mentioned when you purchase your entrance ticket. The man wasn't a trouble maker or a vandal, apparently he was in the area and his mother had told him what a wonderful place this was and how she used to picnic there. Nevertheless, the 'owners', who have elected themselves as guardians of the site, now reserve the right to throw people off the site if they transgress the rules - rules that are not made apparent prior to entry. 

I find this wholly unacceptable, and apart from the physical assault I witnessed, what happens to the huge amounts of money generated here? I left making my feelings known to the rest of the robots, but more bureaucratic stupidity awaited me when I arrived at Avebury. I will explain tomorrow. 

31 May 2007. Denial of our heritage - 2.

Having seen the Hitler-style control of Stonehenge I left for pastures new, this time for that delightful village of Avebury and its word famous stone circle, which is truly awesome. I was quite looking forward to this especially after the manic demonstration of bureaucratic interference I had just witnessed. Avebury, 'owned' by the National Trust, is an open monument to which we all have free access without charge - at least it was. Imagine my surprise when on trying to enter through one of the gates I found it padlocked - yes padlocked - with a notice saying that this part of the circle was closed while 'restoration' work was in progress. In actual fact this consisted of a few workmen putting some new steps into one of the banks. Hardly a major construction and certainly no danger to the public. So why was half of the monument closed down? Surely they could have worked just as efficiently behind a small taped-off area? But of course this is the National Trust doing what such bodies normally do, using an over-the-top approach to a monument under its control. I had forgotten just how stupid people can be when it comes to guarding 'our heritage'. 

Undeterred I was determined to actually see something in the raw, so to speak. Silbury Hill? No chance. It's been fenced off for more than two decades so that it can be 'made safe'. 'What on earth is going on here? How long before a charge is made to climb to the top? 

Final chance - the West Kennet Long barrow. Surely there must be one ancient site I can visit that hasn't been stolen, patrolled by heavies, and fenced off? What do you think? More tomorrow. 

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