Stonehenge forum 180 room
Image by thesweetcheat
close

Teething troubles or deeper problems?

http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Stonehenge-visitors-say-8211-Mickey-Mouse-better/story-20428319-detail/story.html

Jim.

jimit wrote:
Sounds dire from the report, we spotted immediately the problems that arise from the land trains, peopled boarded and then alighted at the same spot but are supposed to turn right round the buildings when they come back - teething problems of course and a bit of signposting would not come amiss.
We were also caught in the draught of the ticketing offices, which sit in the centre of the buildings, roofed but open to any cutting wind.
I hate to criticise because the building and the idea of distance from the stones is so good and I think it will take a couple of years to change it, the land trains definitely need some thought, the turning place is too small, and only one entrance for the coming and going of the land trains.
I expect it will all come good, those miserable people on Trip Advisor should learn to be patient;)

jimit wrote:
I visited last week as the opportunity presented itself via a friend who now lives in Devizes and maintains a double NT membership - so I admit I did not have to pay the £14.90 admission fee. It was a lovely day weather-wise and when we pitched up at around lunch-time there were several coach parties of visitors wandering around. We didn't get to use the land train as there were some small buses ferrying people back and forth. Once up at stones, however, the crowds of people seemed to dissipate and I managed to take lots of photos against the changing sky. What upset me most of all was that you couldn't view the stones from the Avenue side of the Heel stone as a barbed wire fence was still in place. There is still some work going on at the site of the old car park and the now turfed over section of the A344 - a large ground arrow by the Heel Stone which points out the mid-winter alignments so I imagine the fence will be moved in due course. I wanted to walk up the Avenue and take a photo from the other side of the Heel Stone and we were able to go into the adjacent field to do this (sheep-poo hazard). I have to say the EH staff were numerous and very friendly - though wish their customer services training didn't include referring to everyone as 'guys' (but that's me being picky).
The cafe is designed to deal with high numbers of people - so it was paper cups, sandwiches or pasties - soup had been on offer but had sold out. We ended up driving into Amesbury and using a small friendly cafe close to the Amesbury Heritage Museum (closed that day but definitely worth a visit).
As of February entrance will have to be pre-booked - which may account for the rush of visitors during January - I am sure it will settle down by the summer.
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/458/stonehenge.html#fieldnotes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-25724541

The BBC local news Points West is running this story today. Thousands of visitors pitched up at the weekend - the news clip shows most of them walking up to the stones rather than waiting for the transport.

Edit: Have just seen this ...
http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/English-Heritage-offers-cheaper-Stonehenge-option/story-20438611-detail/story.html
On the other hand people could park at Larkhill and walk up the by-way. All this seems a far cry from the 'open access' talked about in the recent past. Or did I imagine that.