The project to return Stonehenge to “splendid isolation” has received a body-blow. As Mike Pitts has explained, an Inspector has refused to sanction the restriction of traffic on Byway 12 and other tracks and that wasn’t what Wiltshire Council or English Heritage had hoped for although “it will have pleased many, including some Druids and Pagans, and off-road driving campaigners.” The decision creates two difficulties – vehicles driving or parking on the tracks is contrary to both the Management Plan (which specifies they should only be used for emergency, operational and farm vehicles) and the current improvement project, that almost everyone supports, which aims as far as possible to remove the twenty first century from the the landscape and the vicinity of the stones.
Mike suggests that these issues “will need to be resolved later down the line” but in the meantime here’s a possible interim solution to an otherwise irresolvable difficulty….
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Adapted from original image © Copyright Derek Harper
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
The Heritage Journal 
59 comments
Comments feed for this article
05/01/2013 at 21:54
Archer
There was still a huge stack of bin bags from the solstice piled up on the west track when I went by just the other day. Sad that people don’t respect the place enough to take their rubbish with them or take it to the nearby dump, especially when some had been camping out there 2 to 3 weeks.
06/01/2013 at 07:25
Jenny
I agree. You often hear people going on about their rights at Stonehenge but never their duties!
07/01/2013 at 15:25
LPF
No doubt you’ll be surprised to hear that it was the “druids and the pagans” who voluntarily collected a vast amount of rubbish from the byway after the solstice dawn ceremony before those of us who care enough about the environment went home.
The bags in question were left at the bottom of byway 12 adjacent to the A344 for Wiltshire Council to collect, after having previously agreed arrangement with them and English Heritage to have them collected in their normal refuse collection. This disposal of such a vast amount of rubbish is a health and safety issue. You cannot expect volunteers to take such a vast amount home with them without causing them selves a health risk.
The fact that the rubbish was not collected is a reflection on the action or rather the inaction of Wiltshire Council and English Heritage and not those people who care enough about the environment to clean it up.
I agree it would be good if everyone took their rubbish home with them, during and after solstice, and during the rest of the year when visitors leave all manner of rubbish behind after their day trips as it would save the volunteer litter pickers from giving up their time to pick up the mess others leave behind.
And how do I know that this is true?
We organised the volunteer litter pick among the druid and pagan community who were on the drove for solstice.
So before you go “druid and pagan” bashing and go on about “rights and duties” please have the intelligence and decency to make sure that you have in fact, got your facts correct.
07/01/2013 at 16:23
heritageaction
“So before you go “druid and pagan” bashing and go on about “rights and duties” please have the intelligence and decency to make sure that you have in fact, got your facts correct.”
With respect, our article didn’t mention litter and it certainly didn’t have any facts wrong or indulge in bashing. On the other hand, we do think it would be better if the tracks were kept clear of vehicles and we don’t apologise for having that opinion.
07/01/2013 at 17:20
LPF
with respect, your photoshopped image accompanying your article clearly contains the following provocative text:
“This Byeway is Open
However, off-roaders are requested to voluntarily to avoid using it, thereby enhancing their reputations.
Druids & Pagans are invited to do the same, showing their respect for the monument and its landscape and willingness to preserve the stones in splendid isolation that most people wish for them”
I would argue that voluntarily cleaning up the byway by those identifying themselves as Pagans And Druids does show some respect for the landscape and the monument. Your illustrative imagery, (which whilst being what one might say is ‘tongue-in-cheek” and I might add in very poor taste) infers that those from the Druid and Pagan community have no care for the monument or its environs, which is simply not true, and is in fact in many individual cases quite the opposite.
The byway’s use is not limited to just Druids, Pagans and Off Roaders lampooned in your published image, but is also used daily by the general public also. Since the monument itself is a human built structure to be used by humans (unless you have any evidence to suggest its construction is built by anything other than humans and for non-human usage) I fail to see how leaving the monument itself isolated away from people serves to preserve the monument. Surely the point of preserving any such monument is for the enjoyment, usage and study of people from all over the planet. Preventing people from accessing the vision of it in the 21st century outside of English Heritages opening hours surely smacks of commercial elitism and not preservation.
Had the author of this article actually read Inpsector Boylands report and recommendations to Wiltshire Council and English Heriatge, ( please see http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/stonehenge-inquiry-recommendation-report.pdf)
they would also know that objection for its closure was also from other members of the community that use the byway including but not limited to bird watchers, dog walkers and other local residents of the area, yet your article’s supporting imagery suggests that it is only the Druid and Pagan community and the Off Road community that is being singled out, and it is inferred that it is just these two groups that have no regard for the Environs of the Stonehenge Monument, again, a statement which not just generalist but also is untrue.
One can appropriate from the inference of the text on your imagery that you are portraying Druids, Pagans in quite a prejudiced and negative light (by inferring that their reputations be improved by following your suggested voluntary actions) which in my view is “bashing” however, I would like to point out that not only are you poking fun at the religious types who use the byway, (which in my own my view is the hallmark of an rather uneducated mind) but also you are poking fun at those who use it for other purposes also to justify an opinion which carries no real weight.
So, for the author’s credibility to remain intact, I respectfully ask that the offending text be removed from the supporting imagery or amended so that the tongue-in cheek reference is inclusive of all byway users by using the term “General Public” in place of the words “Druids”, “Pagans” or “Off-Roaders”.
Personally, I respect that you are entitled to your opinion, and to publish your opinion where it does not sleight other members of the public community, but I am afraid that it is one which the Government Inspector, the Highways Department, English Heritage and many, many other people just do not share with the author of this article.
07/01/2013 at 17:43
heritageaction
” I respectfully ask that the offending text be removed from the supporting imagery or amended so that the tongue-in cheek reference is inclusive of all byway users by using the term “General Public” in place of the words “Druids”, “Pagans” or “Off-Roaders”.2
Respectfully, no we must decline your request. Druids, pagans and off-roaders were mentioned because those were the groups Mike pitts mentioned, having discussed the matter with English Heritage.
We dispute that the article is in “poor taste” or that it is “poking fun at the religious types who use the byway” or bashing anyone. For your information Heritage Action has both Druids and pagans in it’s ranks. It is also worth bearing in mind that the vast majority of Druids, pagans and off-roaders don’t use the tracks, only a tiny minority do.
10/01/2013 at 09:27
Jes
The track is a traditional resting place for many who visit this sacred land. It is very wide and open to anyone to rest there, with no fear of impeding emergency services. I for one acknowledge it’s deep value. It may indeed be the only way that people can even SEE Stonehenge without paying in the near future. Should the sight of Stonehenge be restricted to those with (quite a lot of) money that would be an alarming tragedy.
10/01/2013 at 10:11
Robert Barlow
When the cost of admission is so much smaller than the cost of a tank of petrol to get there I think it’s a bit of leg pull to claim parking on the tracks is the only way some people can afford to visit Stonehenge. I’m a pensioner on a very small income and I pay to park my car in the proper carpark and go in to see the stones and I don’t see a problem. I bet no-one that parks for free on the tracks has as little disposable income as me so why shouldn’t they pay their fair share towards the cost of maintaining sites?
10/01/2013 at 12:56
Stonefan2
i couldn’t agree more.
02/03/2013 at 23:13
mary guyver
hello ,I come from France every year in my Camper so I can visit my family , and I always stop for a couple of days at stonehenge , it is wonderful to see people from all over the world enjoying this sacred place , I never leave any litter , and I clean up any that others leave as well , It is very hard being in a camper van in Britain , very unhospitable compared to europe , nowhere to park , everywhere paying , it does not encourage foreign visitors , be assured money is spent in the shop and visiting the henge , and in the cafe .If I had to pay to stop over , well it would be impossible to come , having walking difficulties I prefer to avoid any distances too large , It would be a great shame to make this place just a money spinning tourist trap .I have chatted with people from France , Italy , Germany , Holland , Greece , to name but a few , and they always have great awe and respect.
03/03/2013 at 05:56
Robert Barlow
Mary, as I said before, when the cost of admission is so much smaller than the cost of a tank of petrol to get there (especially from France!) I think it’s a bit of leg pull to claim parking on the tracks is the only way some people can afford to visit Stonehenge. About 600,000 people come to Stonehenge from abroad every year and they nearly all manage to get there without parking for free on the tracks.
I’m a pensioner on a very small income and I pay to park my car in the proper carpark and go in to see the stones and I don’t see a problem. I bet no-one that parks for free on the tracks has as little disposable income as me so why shouldn’t they pay their fair share towards the cost of maintaining sites?
03/03/2013 at 11:24
heritageaction
Mary, there are still places left for 2013 solstice camping at Stonehenge campsite, 3.2 miles from Stonehenge, for £20 per head to include Shuttle Bus to and back from the visitor’s centre. So there’s not a lot of reason to be saying free parking on the droves is essential for anyone at all.
03/03/2013 at 12:49
Hypatia Boudica Mystlydene
Robert, your argument seems very convoluted… Let me show you what I mean. Imagine that you want to go to Stonehenge and you do not have the money in fact you only have only enough money to get there. Imagine something in your soul, heart or mind is strongly urging you to connect with Stonehenge. You have a passion to simply sit and gaze at our world heritage site, soak up the feeling, take a few pics and just cant afford to go inside for the tour. The drove being open for people to do this is a perfect opportunity to have this sort of contact and get familiar with the landscape.
Lets face it, the vision English Heritage has of the new Stonehenge complex is messed up completely by a bunch of campers sat viewing Stonehenge from the drove, So of course they need to close it in some way. In fact I believe that they will probably put a hedge alongside the A303 and then Stonehenge will be invisible unless you go into the site as a paying guess. Not allowed to park on the drove, and then they have it – ‘English Heritages “splendid isolation” project’ will certainly be no longer under threat.
In fact if I am getting their vision correctly I predict that this is when things will really start changing and Stonehenge will become out of bounds for any one other than paying guests.
There is a big difference in my mind between visiting Stonehenge for a day parking for free and gazing from a distance whilst eating a picnic and arriving on a coach and investing in the whole E/H stone age theme park tour.
You may be a pensioner with very little disposable income or you may be someone paid to say this to make it look like some people with very little money are more than willing to invest in the whole trip rather than sit under the stars and watch the scene like our ancestors would have done, even if it is only from an allowed distance for the sake of having a real experience and saving a little money .
It may seem rather rude of me to suggest you might be a plant of some kind only your repeated insistence and rhetoric about ‘if you can afford to get there you can afford to go in’ shows me you have very little understanding of the affects of long term poverty and how every penny counts to some people.
Sir Cecil Chubb left Stonehenge to the nation, so the people of Britain would be able to visit our wonderful world heritage site. He wanted the local people to be able to go there for free and others pay something like the equivalent of £2.50 today to go towards the upkeep. I really don’t think he intended for the government to turn it over to a Quango company to turn it into a business to make money and keep the people out unless they pay for their privately run trip.
Lets face it this is essentially what has happened with the intention of making Stonehenge an ‘isolated’ experience for those who can afford it and nobody else gets a look in!
All the implications of this are quite obvious really their planned intentions are to transform Stonehenge into a world-class visitor destination and the future price will be almost double what it is now. Nearly 3 times as much as it would be to visit somewhere of equivalent interest like New Grange in Ireland and more than 2 thirds the price it cost to have a day visit to a place like Longleat.. only without anywhere as near the amount of long term overheads. They are not going to want walkers or people viewing Stonehenge for free at all now are they?
Is this really fair on the people who simply love Stonehenge and want to gaze or even walk around for virtually nothing like I could do when I was a child. The changes to the site will certainly vastly improve the visual impact of Stonehenge only to ask ‘Druids and Pagans or any other member of the public to show their respect for the monument and its landscape and willingness to help preserve the stones in the splendid isolation most people wish for them’ seems somewhat disingenuous whilst some people are making a whole lot of money by isolating the stones from view of the public.
That message says ‘ Pagans and Druids and any other member of the public please keep away to show your respect for the monument and its landscape’ and as for how people viewing the stones from the drove helps preserve the stones in the ‘isolation most people wish for them’ ….well that is truly laughable because if they were truly in the ‘isolation’ as they say ‘most people wish for them’ nobody would see them and nobody would be making any money out of Stonehenge and I do not think that is what is being suggested here is it?
Who is being isolated here are the people who just like to use the drove to soak up the atmosphere and not buy into the whole trip. These people should have the opportunity to respect the Stones from distance at least… and English Heritage need to find away of accommodating these people into their plans to show they truly want to do a service to all the nation and not just a select few who can afford to pay for a what is often a one off visit by vaguely curious tourists. That is surely the only decent thing to do in their position of preserving our heritage for all the nation?
03/03/2013 at 14:06
Pat
I hardly think English Heritage would have the least interest in planting pensioners here to argue their case for them!!!
In any case most people seem to like their splendid isolation concept, in fact I get the impression that a majority of Druids and Pagans do too so it can’t be painted as religious persecution. I also find the poverty thing rather contrived. If people can camp just down the road for just £20 they don’t really have very strong grounds for complaint. It’s only 3 packs of fags or a third of a tank of petrol per year!
03/03/2013 at 23:40
I hear you, but no.
It seems quite a few on here are completely out of touch with the financial situation many are in. Last year I received a great deal of feedback from people who could NOT afford the petrol to gather at Stonehenge. Public transport is even MORE expensive. I and many others have NO income or benefits. I hitched myself, and breakfasted on the wild mushrooms and nettles. Most of this goes unnoticed, and I wouldn’t have mentioned it myself except that I can’t allow this thread to think that all who feel strongly about their access to Stonehenge…which is OUR heritage, have to be squeezed of what resources they have. It is a cheek to have it closed off at all, to deny access at all. To deny access completely except for your dwindling middle classes is simply not a palatable idea.
04/03/2013 at 00:14
Stellaneal
If you hitched you didn’t need to park on the droves.
04/03/2013 at 10:27
BillSezNo
In any case how many people actually have “NO income or benefits” and want to camp on the droves? Five? Ten? Perhaps the solution would be for them to prove their nil income or benefits to EH who might be happy to pay for them to camp elsewhere in exchange for achieving the Splendid Isolation goal for Stonehenge? After all the years of the monument being considered a national disgrace they might think that was cheap at the price. Has anyone asked them or is moaning more fun?
05/03/2013 at 08:18
BILLY BUCHANAN
well eh and friends no all about moaning dont they after all they have been doing it for a very long time now about 1970 I think it stareted and it hasn’t stopped yet has it…It is a national right to go to the stone with out hinderance or demand for money ;;;-)
05/03/2013 at 09:57
heritageaction
Well we’re not EH so we’re not too concerned who has moaned the most, only with how things will get resolved. It’s pretty clear to us EH are never going to give you most of what you want or OATS are calling for and many probably realise that so continuing to ask for what isn’t going to happen is no more than moaning really. Why don’t you ask them for what they probably WILL give you instead? It’s worth a try surely. We’d certainly support you and a lot of others would too.
05/03/2013 at 11:04
mary
@heritage action ,
I come over from Europe in July , but if I didnt have family in britain I probably wouldn’t bother because being in a camping car in Britain is an ordeal ! every where in europe camping carists are positively encouraged , I can travel the coast of brittany , parking up next to beaches for free , the local tourist boards knows I will spend my money in local shops and restaurants , but not in Britain , nooo , You can find yourself deeply in trouble on the side of the road , the campsites are either full or extortionate , the british tourist board doesn’t seem to realize how un welcoming britain is .
There is also the point of not wanting to be organised and herded into little shuttles , the project starts to sound like a cross between Ikea and Disneyhenge.
20 pounds is a lot when one is counting ones pennies just to cover ones ferry fare , some of us don’t have unlimited resources.
I consider stonehenge my ancestral necropolis , and I have the right to pay my respects to my ancestors and deliver my prayers to those departed , in peace in my own time ,
Or will the british government be restricting access to graveyards next !!!!!!!
05/03/2013 at 12:01
BillSezNo
“20 pounds is a lot when one is counting ones pennies just to cover ones ferry fare”
Maybe I’m missing something but that statement just doesn’t seem very convincing.
05/03/2013 at 22:04
Hypatia Boudica Mystlydene
”Maybe I’m missing something but that statement just doesn’t seem very convincing.” maybe I am missing something too only neither does that one.
Gone are the days when Stonehenge still had some of its wildness about it, they have built a wall around it and now you have to pay to get a view of our national heritage. E/H are not going to want walkers or people viewing Stonehenge for free they can easily have parking stopped on the drove, close the drove entirely when they have events and then they will have captured the prize.
I agree anybody that wants something from them in the future will have to work with them and I suggest they come up with a very cunning plan to make sure everybody gets what they want to some degree when asking them for anything they WILL give.
06/03/2013 at 05:46
BillSezNo
“Gone are the days when Stonehenge still had some of its wildness about it”
Grrrr, but that’s the whole point of splendid isolation, EH are moving things back in the direction of that long-lost wildness by removing the big fence, the A344, the visitor centre and the car park. Everyone welcomes all that and no-one can deny that not having loads of vehicles parked on the droves would be consistent with that yet you and others are fighting against it.
It would be nice if those who are always claiming they love Stonehenge more than the rest of us started putting the good of Stonehenge ahead of their own convenience. All I ever hear is bellyaching about how awful EH are yet it is they, not you, who are now doing a lot for Stonehenge. So how about you all doing something positive for the benefit of Stonehenge instead of constantly going on about how your rights mustn’t be taken away? So far as I’m concerned, Stonehenge being restored to splendid isolation or “some wildness” as you put it for the benefit of EVERYONE is a lot more important than whether a few people have the convenience of parking close by. Just park further away like everyone else will be doing without complaint. Since that would very obviously be for the benefit of Stonehenge I really don’t see why you don’t just do it.
06/03/2013 at 11:23
BILLY BUCHANAN
Well I would say that judging by your reaction to so few people parking as is there right given to them by the less exstremist parts of society the law courts. So we are not asking eh for anything we will take what we all ready have and do not turn our backs on and moan about what is the reality of the world and the way things are today.;;;-)
06/03/2013 at 12:41
Pat
Claiming your right to park there because it suits you is still a pretty unfriendly act towards Stonehenge even if the law backs you up. It’s not exactly helping achieve the splendid isolation aim is it?
18/03/2013 at 11:24
mary
why not bulldoze the A303 then ????
18/03/2013 at 11:36
heritageaction
Ideally, of course. One day, when there’s enough money.
But the fact it hasn’t yet happened is hardly a reason not to do what can be done quickly and cheaply. In fact it’s all the more reason to do so.
19/03/2013 at 09:11
BILLY BUCHANAN
It will not be splendid isolation when there will be a train every 15 mins you are being used for propaganda so eh can take over
19/03/2013 at 09:30
heritageaction
No-one has suggested splendid isolation means no-one visiting, just having less clutter round it, which will certainly happen. Surely you aren’t saying that’s wrong?
As for a low-impact land train every 15 minutes that’s better than a car every three seconds isn’t it. There’s no contest.
EH using us for propaganda? I’m not sure who would laugh loudest about that, us or EH!
24/03/2013 at 17:56
BILLY BUCHANAN
I think you must be referring to the A303 when you say a car every 3 seconds and not the people that have the right to park a long way from the stones and it is not the clutter as you say that is the problem here but attitude that eh and friends have towards certain types of people. Also, take into consideration the proximity of Cairo, a whole city of tall buildings and slum areas: yet the Great Pyramids still inspire great awe and wonder in all who visit. Having some vehicles on a small lane outwith the perimeter – which could be further isolated using legitimate methods such as bank rising and hedge planting if it really is so important – is insignificant. Furthermore, attempting to force the closure of such an area is a clear infringement against public rights of way and access. Like the current debate about Freedom of Press more emphasis must be placed on upholding rights that people in this country boast about and try to enforce militarily on other counties yet are fast disappearing and being corroded by over zealous control and so called ‘protection’.
25/03/2013 at 03:32
heritageaction
I think the approach to the Pyramids is squalid and widely regretted so how it is a reason for not supporting improvements to the Stonehenge landscape is hard to understand..
“which could be further isolated using legitimate methods such as bank rising and hedge planting”
No way! I’m still puzzled why you can’t park in the carpark or elsewhere like everyone else rather than suggesting raising earth banks in a WHS to provide hidden parking for a tiny proportion of visitors.
Here’s a simple question for you to answer that is the absolute crux of the issue: the setting of Stonehenge has been severely compromised for 65 years, since the carpark and early visitors’ facilities were built. Isn’t it time it was given a break? Isn’t that more important than your personal convenience? The choice is between one or the other.
25/03/2013 at 10:15
BILLY BUCHANAN
Your crux is already achieved as the old car park is gone. And you know why they can not park in the car park it will be lock up. I think we have seen land clearance of minorities in the past. There is no ‘choice’ as this “tiny” proportion does not meanfully impose upon the atmosphere of the stones. I think it more about freedom of choice v. control .And splendid isolation as you imagine is a fake utopia as long as the A303 exists.
25/03/2013 at 10:30
heritageaction
I think we have seen land clearance of minorities in the past….I think it more about freedom of choice v. control .
Well you can see it in those political or class terms if you wish, but actually it’s much simpler than that, it’s about doing right by Stonehenge after decades of the reverse. I think it’s fair enough – after all the only thing that makes you distinguishable as a minority, persecuted or otherwise, is not wanting to park where everyone else does – which you could, easily, like everyone else. What makes you an exception? Just do it, it won’t hurt will it and it WILL be good for the Stonehenge landscape, it’s undeniable.
27/03/2013 at 09:18
BILLY BUCHANAN
Well I think the person that decided to let people use the green lane was more wise than anyone that wants to stop them.Because he must have realized that when you are standing in the stones you can’t see any vehicles on the lane and e.h does not own or control that land and that battle has been fought and won. So I would say that your view is null and void. I think you should go to the stones preferably in the dark so that your own visions do not interfere and collect your feelings as they may give you a better vision for Stonehenge as feelings are all you can have for the stones. Good luck .
27/03/2013 at 10:10
heritageaction
But the WHS is far more than just the stones – which is why I said “it WILL be good for the Stonehenge landscape, it’s undeniable”. Which it is.
It is perfectly true that it is not illegal to park where you do, no-one has said otherwise, but that doesn’t make my view “null and void”. It’s all about what’s best for the WHS experience not about what YOU insist on doing because you can legally.
As a matter of fact, everything you have said betrays an absolute determination to have your own way for your own personal convenience rather than concede that not doing so would undoubtedly be good for Stonehenge. It’s pretty ironic that only a tiny, tiny minority of people wish to do what you wish to do while it’s a fair bet they would claim that they respect Stonehenge more than everyone else. Those are just words though, actions speak far louder and on the basis of actions the exact opposite applies.
28/03/2013 at 23:04
BILLY BUCHANAN
I do not believe that to isolate Stonehenge to only those that want to pay, to follow the chartered course and see only the chartered course would be good for Stonehenge.And respect is not demanded it is gained by tolerance and respect for all people.
29/03/2013 at 07:15
heritageaction
“I do not believe that to isolate Stonehenge to only those that want to pay ….. would be good for Stonehenge”.
I have news for you. No-one wants to pay. It’s just that they all recognise it’s only fair for them to do so – so they do. On that basis of measurement most people certainly seem to respect Stonehenge more than you do.
30/03/2013 at 20:38
BILLY BUCHANAN
You know nothing about me and how much I do or don’t respect Stonehenge and you can pay if you want to. If you know the last 50 years history of the stones then you know full well that it is a class and political action.Let us not forget that those few thousand people had a law made in 1994 just to try and control them. And it is a crass excuse’splendid isolation’ by e.h to try and gain possession and control. This clearly demonstrates that they are not interested in people and there views only is it safe is it secure. So let us not dance about any more it is complete righteous Bull—- So your 1950s views and academia have not served you well as it is both patronizing and misplaced . I bless you for giving us the ability to tackle the corrupt human condition wherever it arises Namaste.
31/03/2013 at 05:54
heritageaction
If you wish to endlessly chew the Beanfield bone and see everything as a political and class struggle against “you the people” led by a bunch of scheming Old Etonian EH toffs inspired by Mrs Thatcher then go ahead. Truth is though, 99.9% of people including most pagans see the splendid isolation aspiration not in those terms but as simply what it says, and a very good thing for Stonehenge. That a tiny minority prefers its own convenience is a plain fact but no-one is going to be convinced that its more than that.
As for “I bless you for giving us the ability to tackle the corrupt human condition wherever it arises” that’s a bit adolescent isn’t it? It actually translates, in practical terms, as “I don’t want to pay but I’m inventing reasons” and nothing else. Why not now just admit it as none of the other reasons you have offered stands up to close scrutiny.
PS, on the subject of not standing up to close scrutiny, your previous claim that the parked vehicles couldn’t be seen from the stones needs to be seen against what the Inspector said – “I consider that parking on the BOATs is detrimental to the setting of Stonehenge and the visual amenity of the WHS.”
03/04/2013 at 14:42
Billy Buchanan
I think the Inspector has let eh have their whine like a spoilt little child but still continued and done the right thing in the real world by letting people (druids and local dog walkers alike) park and use it as a public space – the fairest way to proceed.
03/04/2013 at 18:01
heritageaction
“I think the Inspector has let eh have their whine like a spoilt little child”
I don’t think he saw it in those terms considering he said “I consider that parking on the BOATs is detrimental to the setting of Stonehenge and the visual amenity of the WHS.”
You seem to spend an awful lot of time saying the problem is EH waging a class war whereas a rather simpler situation exists – EH are trying to improve the setting of Stonehenge and almost everyone thinks it’s a good idea except for a tiny minority who prefer their own convenience.
You can spin it how you like but that’s how it actually is unfortunately.
08/04/2013 at 09:42
BILLY BUCHANAN
Who is this tiny minority that you say is detrimental
08/04/2013 at 09:59
heritageaction
Who is this tiny minority that you say is detrimental
Well a “minority” is the smaller in number of two groups forming a whole and the Inspector said of them “I consider that parking on the BOATs is detrimental to the setting of Stonehenge and the visual amenity of the WHS”.
13/04/2013 at 09:50
Billy Buchanan
Yes he is a very good at saying what is detrimental to the setting of SH and I am sure that had he been ask wether the A 303 was detrimental He would have said Yes and if he had been ask if a privite train line was made to SH then I feeel sure He would Have seen it as Detrimental to SH
13/04/2013 at 10:34
heritageaction
So what?
Moving the A303 is massively expensive and difficult, bringing a million visitors to the stones HAS to involve some sort of land train so the only one of those 3 detrimental features that could be cured in a moment is parking on the drove. All it needs is a group of people to act in the interests of Stonehenge rather than their own – but no, you’d rather say EH and others are to blame.
13/04/2013 at 12:37
Billy Buchanan
How do You Know They Are not Acting In The Interests Of SH
13/04/2013 at 13:37
heritageaction
Because, (for the Nth time) parking there is “detrimental to the setting of Stonehenge and the visual amenity of the WHS.”
As you know perfectly well.
13/04/2013 at 20:15
Billy Buchanan
That is only what you have been told you must try and add to your itinery and not try to limit other peoples and see past your dislike of people and look at the bigger picture. But you do not want to do that I think the real reason that you and eh want to stop any one from being there is that their plan for control has backfired as there is no where to throw the minority out once the road has gone.And I do not think that eh has to build a train line if they and the people where interested in so called splendid isolation they would not mind walking to SH like all those on the lane will do.
14/04/2013 at 05:33
heritageaction
There you go again, claiming you’re a persecuted minority, the victims of a secret agenda, with nowhere to go. What nonsense. Just go and park where everyone else is prepared to – like you do in your local town.
14/04/2013 at 09:21
Billy Buchanan
I ride a cycle and live where there is no town and Far be it for me to claim any thing I only say what I know for sure It is you thats makes all the claims so put away your lable gun
14/04/2013 at 09:32
Pat
But you’ve done nothing but apply labels! You’re a persecuted minority, EH are scheming against you – all complete nonsense to cover the much more down-to-earth fact you prefer your own convenience to the good of Stonehenge and everyone else. Just park where everyone else has the decency to, a million of them every year from every country on earth without the least complaint, OK? And do stop trying to convince people it’s others that are at fault. No-one believes it. They aren’t. You are. End of.
15/04/2013 at 10:40
BILLY BUCHANAN
I take it that buy the removal of my last comment means that you have no way to defend yours and eh stances on this subject
15/04/2013 at 11:59
Pat
Not at all. It’s just that there’s no point in endlessly going over the same ground. Incidentally, the inspector did NOT say you or others have a right to park on byways. He said “The public right is a right of PASSAGE”. That’s all.
So it’s more than likely that those who selfishly insist on parking there won’t be able to for much longer and will have to park where a million unselfish people are happy to. Hooray, the sooner the better.
17/04/2013 at 09:33
BILLY BUCHANAN
You know that will not happen and it is very sad that you have lost your chance to be able to debate this and other site questions because of your tow the line views ;;;-(
17/04/2013 at 09:48
heritageaction
“You know that will not happen”
Well, since there’s no legal right to do it and absolutely everyone except the tiny minority that do it think it shouldn’t be done I wouldn’t put any money on it continuing much longer if I were you!
21/04/2013 at 11:05
Billy Buchanan
Whats the matter too much truth for ya .It is in their own words how much money can we make quickly such nice people
21/04/2013 at 11:56
Pat
Well at least the money goes to heritage – whereas the money you and others don’t pay for parking or for the solstice celebrations goes into you own pockets. You, above everyone, have no right to criticise EH for anything.
25/04/2013 at 22:57
Billy Buchanan
Yes I live in a part of the country where they rely on tourism for their money as well and they have the same view. Give us your money and go away its a sad psycological problem that happens to people in areas that rely on toruist for there money .And its a big thing that so few people have to stand up for the rights of all the people so they have the right to freely visit stonehenge
26/04/2013 at 06:49
Pat
So you want to freeload at everyone else’s expense. Fine. Good luck with that. You may have to wait a while to get support from the rest of us.