A jaunt out to another ‘Managed Access’ at Stonehenge, at the permission [and conditions] of English Heritage.
I had a nice time, met old friends and some wierd and wonderful people, doing wierd and wonderful things. BUT …. it is not as I would have it. The whole policing operation and security policy might seem a little ‘over the top’ for those just wanting to gather for an overnight party. The operations are more intelligable though, if you have had any experience of the free festivals. In the names of health & Safety, and public order, rules and regs are devised, together with the limits of stay, to stiffle any possibility / attempt to re-establish
“The Peoples’ Free Festival of Albion at Stonehenge”
This place has such a history in recent times, that the public demand that there clearly is for a gathering at this time, that has been squashed by force. The police money continues to be spent to resist this idea. Now 20 years since the last proper event there and next year is 20 years since the Battle of the Beanfield http://tash.gn.apc.org/sh_bean.htm
Add it all together and the sum is huge. Other parts of the world hold events like this up to the world. The Kum Mella festival has 15 million participants every four years. The authorities plan for years and turn out in some force, BUT to help those gathering and to help enable the event. This country, well …..
More pictures from this set, on my PhotoBlog at:
http://tashcamuk.fotopages.com/?entry=141373
and on Indymedia at:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/06/293800.html
Pictures of last years 2003 events, on various sites at:
UK Indymedia Stonehenge Summer Solstice 2003 Pictures
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/06/273217.html
PhotoBlog 2003 at:
http://tashcamuk.fotopages.com/?entry=4037
and on my webserver:
Stonehenge Solstice 2003 :: http://tash.dns2go.com/xtra/stonehenge2003/index.htm
Also, a reminder to check out some ealier work, describing how we have arrived at this phase, in the story, The story so far .. .. ..
Stonehenge: http://tash.gn.apc.org/stones1.htm
Solstice Ritual: http://tash.gn.apc.org/solst_0.htm
[pdf version] http://tash.gn.apc.org/solstice.pdf
Beanfield: http://tash.gn.apc.org/sh_bean.htm
Operation Solstice: http://tash.gn.apc.org/op_solstice.htm
The Story so far: http://tash.gn.apc.org/history.htm
My Diary: http://tash.gn.apc.org/diary.htm
