Between some rocks and a hard place.

From The Western Daily Press:

A plan to build thousands of new homes for soldiers returning from Germany could have to be changed – because they will be built on the horizon where the sun rises on summer solstice at Stonehenge.

The Ministry of Defence said they were ‘aware of the issues’ and were organising a meeting with experts on the stones.

Last night there were growing calls for the particular site, on a 100-year-old airfield at Larkhill in Wiltshire, to be discounted from the plans to house 4,000 soldiers and their families returning from bases in Germany.

Yes of course, it would be cultural vandalism to actually block the sunrise, but we can safely assume that Homeys in that area would violently oppose any new homes being built within miles of anywhere. But in principle, why not build a lot more homes a respectful distance away from Stonehenge?

A good counter-example springs to mind here:

What is so pleasantly surprising about Rome is that ancient Roman structures are dotted among what is otherwise a perfectly normal large European/Mediterranean city. And it must be nice to live in a flat or work in an office from which you can see the Pantheon, the Colosseum or whatever charming little jumble of excavated ruins happens to be just off a busy roundabout.

These things were built in the centre of their civilisation, just as Stonehenge was. The Roman ruins are still in the centre and you'll happily interrupt your journey to spend ten minutes having a nose round, but Stonehenge is just a sorry little bunch of rocks a few hundred yards off the A303. Some motorists might make an impromptu break and go and have a look but most drive straight past.

My delight at seeing these random bits of old Roman stonework (which might all be faked, I'm no archaeologist) were in no way diminished by the fact that thousands of people pass them every hour of the day; even if Stonehenge (which in turn was re-assembled during the 19th and 20th centuries on the basis of good guesswork) ended up in the middle of a large park in the middle of a medium sized town, people would still visit it, wouldn't they? In fact, probably more people would visit it.

"Stonehenge general manager sought"

From the BBC

The prehistoric stones of Stonehenge are to be cared for by a general manager for the first time.

English Heritage says it needs "a dynamic and inspirational leader" to look after the site in Wiltshire. Duties for the £16,500-a-year job include liaising with the Wiltshire monument's two or three volunteers and ringing up Farmer Jim to ask him to pop round with his tractor to pull cars out of the muddy car park.

Other responsibilities include overseeing arrangements for summer and winter solstices. English Heritage's Tim Reeve said it was "important to ensure we keep the dignity of the stones".

"You could drinking tea in the drizzle one minute and shouting "FOR FUCK'S SAKE! STOP CLIMBING ON THE STONES!" the next. Then you can be back in a state-of-the-art visitors' caravan flogging fridge magnets," he added.

"The next time you could be in a boiler suit, trying to unblock the portable toilets."

He said it was also important to make sure "solstice celebrations aren't in some way compromising the mystery and integrity of the stones". Our interview was interrupted briefly while he shouted "FOR FUCK'S SAKE! STOP CLIMBING ON THE FUCKING STONES!" several times, followed by "YES YOU! I CAN SEE YOU, YOU KNOW! Jeez."

English Heritage has called for only "the brightest and best" candidates to apply for the position. Preference will be given to people with experience in explaining to American tourists that the nearest hotel is several miles away, that there are no rides for the kids and yes, this is the real thing, not a scaled down model.

The Longest Day

It's Summer Solstice today; from now on, the days will be getting shorter again...

And the nutters are out in force. Bless.