Mike Pitts has probably rendered a service to Stonehenge by demonstrating that gatherings there going back to 1901 were not “free access” protests. Anything in support of modern calls for unregulated and unlimited access is best examined and demolished. In any case such calls are looking progressively unrealistic and English Heritage has now confirmed they won’t back down on charging for parking (which presently costs them £60K to lay on!) and banning alcohol at solstice gatherings. Indeed they aren’t in a position to do so as they’ve been directed to expand their income from £97.8m to more than £122m by 2023 and they have a statutory duty to eliminate damage and disrespect. Some in the Free Access lobby disagree:
On the other hand, here are two compelling witness statements about Summer Solstice. First, from Dennis Price of Eternal Idol who has been studying, writing about, appreciating and speculating upon Stonehenge for many years. Here’s his account of taking his children to Summer Solstice:
“These should have been idyllic celebrations and for the most part they were, but they were always marred at some point by the appalling behaviour of others. I am as enthusiastic a proponent of the delights and benefits of alcohol as anyone alive, but these ideals rapidly faded whenever I encountered the snarling, incapable, vomiting, belligerent, foul-mouthed drunkards, men and women who have made their deeply unpleasant presence known at every Summer Solstice I’ve attended.
Then there’s the matter of the clean-up of the monument on the morning after, when the English Heritage employees have regularly had to deal with the results of the ruins being defaced and actively vandalized by stoned, drunken morons who have lit fires on the stones, smeared them with oil and the like. Worse still, the custodians have had to remove vomit, excrement and every conceivable variety of human effluent from within the circle, a task that no one should have to perform at Stonehenge.”
Second, there’s the view of Frank Somers of Amesbury Stonehenge Druids which puts the “Our Temple” claim, the bedrock of all resistance to regulation, into neat perspective:
“Most people gathering at Stonehenge for summer solstice are not pagan at all. The vast majority of those who peddle and consume recreational drugs and who get completely drunk there have come for a free ‘party’ thrown by English Heritage, are not pagan. Druids have struggled to maintain any meaningful spiritual presence, outnumbered as we are, and unsupported by the authorities. We would love it if all of those who came, could come with peaceful hearts and open minds. The majority do. Pagans, the ones who really love Mother Nature and revere the ancestors who built Stonehenge, despair greatly at the litter and the presence of hard core drugs. It’s no longer a case of a few hippies smoking cannabis. Today, ketamine, assorted pills, ecstasy, Z’s, etc. are all being used. With so many youngsters there it really is dangerous.”
The Heritage Journal 
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12/04/2016 at 10:22
Tim Daw
There are two changes that being implemented and they have little relationship to each other apart from getting people annoyed.
Firstly the car parking charge: it costs a charity money to provide it, paying to park is not unusual, even when attending a religious ceremony. It would be hard to not to have to pay if you wanted to drive and park for a service at Salisbury Cathedral. So a charge would appear to be reasonable. Is £15 reasonable? It seems a lot and will lead to a lot of people trying to avoid it. The hope is that they will get the bus but I think it is more likely they will park in Larkhill and on any roadside they can. it could be argued, and I would, that the cost to the community of such unplanned parking means that the car parking charge should be a more nominal amount or not introduced.
I have never drunk alcohol at Stonehenge and I have cleared up on my hands on knees on the morning after the solstice for the last few years as a member of staff. I have also taken my young daughter to the solstice.
it is interesting to read more of Dennis Price’s thoughts than the excerpt you publish. He continues: “I wandered around for hours, talking to the others who were patiently waiting to be allowed in to one of the most enigmatic and mesmerising locations on the planet and it was clear to me that everyone just wanted to have a good time, to relax and to be present at a place and time that somehow elevated the spirit and provided a tangible connection with something greater than ourselves.
These people all went on to enjoy their stimulant of choice at Stonehenge, whether it was the company of like-minded others, the cool night air, singing, poetry, live performance, the presence of the eldritch stones, alcohol or some other substance, all without in any way making others feel uncomfortable and all adding to the enjoyment of the collective experience. Unfortunately, there were some visitors who quite literally did not give a shit for the feelings or enjoyment of anyone else, and they conducted themselves accordingly.
So, I think it will be a great shame if alcohol is indeed to be banned at the Stonehenge open access events, because it will be demonstrably unfair on the overwhelming majority of people who venerate the place and the occasion, who have consideration for their fellow pilgrims and for the monument that has become the centre of their celebrations. It would be great if those who felt compelled to drink themselves into a vomiting, urinating, defecating, foul-mouthed, vandalising, shambling stupor in order to honour the achievements and beliefs of our ancestors could do this somewhere else…”
Quite. The security team are professional and every year get better at their jobs. It is a pity there have been so many changes in the EH Solstice management team and the accumulated wisdom has been lost. Just like a well run pub it needs proper policing, the drunks and the wasted need to be ejected and the families who want to spend a summer evening and night on a blanket with a picnic and a glass or two encouraged.
More interestingly is how EH has portrayed the problem they want to solve, and how this year’s pronouncement differs from previous reports.
7/4/2016 English Heritage said it had seen more “drunken and disrespectful behaviour” as crowds had increased each year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-35990687
Year – number of arrests – estimated crowd from contemporaneous news reports
2009 – 37 – 36,500
2010 – 34 – 20,000
2011 – 20 – 18,000
2012 – 37 – 14,500
2013 – 22 – 21,000
2014 – 25 – 37,000
2015 – 9 – 23,000
2014 – “Kate Davies, English Heritage’s manager of Stonehenge, believes all sides have come a long way since the days of the exclusion zones, describing today’s event as a “peaceful celebration enjoyed by many thousands”.
She puts their success down to a “close working relationship” with the druid and pagan groups as well as Wiltshire Police.”
2015 “23,000 people went to Stonehenge to watch the summer solstice sunrise this morning but the General Manager of the site, Kate Davies, says that is fewer than she was expecting. She added that the celebration was a calm and peaceful one that passed off with relatively few problems”
12/04/2016 at 13:47
Edwin Deady
There is a difference between regarding Stonehenge as precious and preciousness in attitudes towards it and any celebrations there. You make reference to 1901 but look at any reports of pre Great War fairs and the like, especially those in the nineteenth century, and you will see accounts of drunkeness, ribaldry, violence and all the rest of a scale that would astonish anybody today. We, the whole population, is getting better behaved while all the time more and more controls are being emplaced.
What is happening is the increasingly prissy attitude to ancient monuments.
12/04/2016 at 15:22
NS
So what degree of booze, damage, fires on the stone, smearing with oil, vomit and faeces are acceptable at free nocturnal parties in St Paul’s these days?!
12/04/2016 at 20:55
Tim Daw
That’s one for Occupy London and its supporters back in 2012 – http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/nineteen-lorry-loads-of-waste-taken-from-finsbury-square-occupy-camp-7865437.html – for the aftermath.
12/04/2016 at 21:06
Bard of Ely
I am in support of King Arthur’s views on the matter and wish to make that clear from the start. I feel that banning alcohol will cause binge drinking before arrival at the Stones and illegal drug-taking in an effort to get around the new rules being imposed by English Heritage. I also feel sure that the car park charge will greatly annoy many people who will be forced, as they see it, to park elsewhere. This will cause an increase in traffic problems in the area. Instead of creating a safer and calmer atmosphere for Summer Solstice celebrations, it seems to me that English Heritage are inviting confrontation with many members of the public, both pagans and non-pagans, who will be angered by the new changes. I have published an article here explaining my views in much greater detail: http://hubpages.com/politics/Trouble-at-Stonehenge-King-Arthur-fights-the-alcohol-ban-and-car-park-charge-for-Summer-Solstice
12/04/2016 at 22:25
Billy Buchanan
They Dont wont more people to go They dont feel safe and in secure control There Greed and power has got the better of them.They eh should pay because that is what they took on in the first place Now they want to change the goal posts. And now they want some trouble to back up there position.Which they will no doubt get one way or another. We just have carry on doing what we are doing ignore eh demands for money and carry on a !000’s of years old tradition.
12/04/2016 at 22:42
Edwin Deady
False parallel
13/04/2016 at 06:54
NS
“They Dont wont more people to go They dont feel safe and in secure control”. That’s true but they have openly said so. But that doesn’t mean “their greed for power has got the best of them” etc, it suggests they don’t want any more disrespect or damage.
Most people would agree with that aim so ….