The Facts as they seem to be
The summer solstice in astronomical
terms occurs at 03.42 British Summer Time this year, read more detail
here: https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/summer-solstice
The sunrise out there on the day will
be at 04.52 British Summer Time.
Entrance is free to the area by the Stones (“the
Monument Field”) and in past years reputably up to 30.000 people have
attended the Solstice. A lot of those people arrive the evening before with
their flasks and blankets, or even days before with their tents and campervans and
they will be hogging the central area, including self-declared druids, assorted
hippies and other spiritual people, tourists from nearby and afar etc. The chances
of us getting right close to the Stones or – dare I say it – seeing the sun
rise over the Heel Stone, I would not put too highly therefore.
In past years, the following rule regarding bags has been applied by English Heritage “Only small bags (approx. 30cm x 25cm x 15cm) will
be allowed into the Monument Field and searches will be conducted.” Anyone still
wanting to get into the ‘Monument Field’ therefore will need another SWC walker
to guard their backpack. For all the dos and don’ts (no glass, pets, flames,
drones, blades…) read more detail here: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/things-to-do/solstice/what-and-what-not-to-bring/
Arriving at the Stones too early can be dealt
with by walking the Cursus Barrow Cemetery and Western Cursus extension,
which is worth half an hour of walking (or just by ogling at all the other
people and soaking in the atmosphere).
A Special Bus Service (Line 333) is run
by Salisbury Reds between Stonehenge Car Park and Salisbury Station. Tickets
can be pre-booked on the app. The 2025 timetable is available via a link from here.
As for the Walk
Stonehenge is 20.2 km into the full walk route, with the very most of the 288m total ascent done by then, so at
daytime this would be worth 4 ½ hours of walking at most for the average SWC
walker. Most of the route follows tarmac paths, roads, solid farm tracks or
wide grassy tracks, so I don’t think the pace will be much slower at night than
during the day (there is one descent through a wood along a narrow path, but that can be avoided by following a road from Salterton Farm). But to be on the safe side, let’s add a cushion for slowness,
food breaks and stuff going wrong (but how could it, we’re the SWC?), then this
gets us to – say - 5 ½ hours from the station to Stonehenge. Therefore,
a departure at around 22.00 from Salisbury City Centre sounds like a good idea.
The Morning Shortcut (starts 8.2 km into the walk)
cuts 2.2 km of walking and may be useful if the pace is slower than assumed above,
or more generally for slower walkers.
From Stonehenge, it is another 5.8 km to
Amesbury and there is of course also another extension en route that can be
walked to fill more time (to the regular buses from Amesbury or to breakfast).
The Walk Post
SWC 67 Salisbury to Amesbury via Stonehenge
Length: 26.0 km (16.1 mi) [shorter and longer options possible, see the
webpage for details]
Ascent/Descent: 288/268m
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours
Toughness: 5 out of 10
Take the 20.20 Exeter St. David's train from Waterloo (20.27 Clapham
J, 20.46 Woking), arrives at 21.49. Meet outside the station building
in the car park, to the right as you come out.
Return buses from Amesbury (outside
Library) to Salisbury Blue Boar Row (from 19 mins journey time, Lines 8, X4 and
X5): first at 05.50, then 07.04, 07.19, 07.34, 07.49,
then up to 6 per hour all day.
Return trains from Salisbury: 05.15,
then xx.46/47 and xx.21 all day. Buy an Anytime Return to Salisbury or Advance Singles.
This walk mostly follows the Avon Valley upstream from the
quintessentially English Cathedral City of Salisbury with its many historic
buildings, to Amesbury which claims to be the oldest occupied settlement in
Great Britain, having been first settled around 8820 BCE. En route you rise out
of the valley to the site of Salisbury’s earlier incarnation: Old Sarum, with
its impressive hilltop location, banks and ditches, ruined remains of an
earlier cathedral and supreme views across the Avon Valley and to the modern
town.
A meandering route (to the lunch pubs) then crosses and recrosses the
Avon while passing through several twee villages, dominated by mills, thatched
walls and cottages and several impressive grand homes.
You then bear away from the Avon Valley to enter the very evocative
Stonehenge World Heritage Site with its numerous pre-historic monuments: barrow
cemeteries, large linear or non-linear earthworks and wooden and stone henges.
All but two of the fifteen most prominent monuments in the Stonehenge area, as
well as many more minor sites, are either passed on, or can at least be spotted
from, the main walk or the various extensions and shortcuts.
Breakfast in Amesbury: A handful of pubs in town,
probably some cafés as well. The George Hotel and The Bell (Wetherspoon’s, open from 08.00) appear to be the
best bets for (solid) food amongst the pubs.
Breakfast in Salisbury: Plenty of
cafés and pubs in Salisbury at the central square on Blue Boar Row and on
Station Road. See the webpage or the pdf for details.
For walk directions, a map, a height
profile, photos, gpx/kml files, and photos click here. T=swc.67
7 comments:
Post amended, now departing an hour earlier to definitely arrive at the Henge for the Solstice.
The 9.21 from Salisbury connects in Woking to the train out to the Haslemere walk. Just saying...
Have booked the train from Clapham Junction (may change my mind) but I am not doing the walk. I am a slow walker and even slower in the heat. If possible - it would be nice to meet up - maybe at the stones. We shall see.
Aiming to meet you in Salisbury
I wasn't sure what to expect regards attendance numbers, so seeing 15 others assemble outside the station was mighty pleasing. This number was no doubt supported by the extremely favourable weather forecast for the night, especially if compared with the baking temperatuers during the following day.
Not only did we start in very pleasant 20 degrees, but the thermometer never dropped below 17 during the walk. On top of that, we had (until the very very end) a cloud-free sky, giving us a starry canopy above, and then our friend the moon started rising as well (crescent-shaped) halfway through the route. Unbelievably lucky all of that.
1 walker had announced her intention to not really do any walking, but she stayed with us to our first stop anyway. That was about 10 minutes in, at The Bishop's Mill (Greene King). She then took the bus to the Stones and (unfortunately) was never seen again.
The other 15 made the best of the conditions and kept to a good pace, while only sparingly using the headtorches (on stretches of uneven ground, narrow paths with a drop or on roads with traffic). We compromised the usual route only in one place, at the cathedral ruins in Old Sarum, as there wasn't much to see without extensive torch-use anyway.
On then down the very steep hillfort slope (1 tumble, after an earlier slip on the route up) and along farm tracks and quiet lanes plus the 'lunch' pubs (passed at a quarter to one and half past one).
to be ctd...
continued:
As we neared the Neolithic area, some other walkers passed us or were passed by us. Randomly parked cars gave the game away: car parks near the Stones were full, so cars needed parking further away. We stopped briefly for food and drink intake before restarting.
An early glow on the northeasterly horizon heralded solstice and sunrise and as we passed the Normanton Downs, the Stones finally came into view, although difficult-to-spot amongst the mass of people around them and the handful of bright lights put up by National Heritage. We were parallel to the Stones at 3.15 and agreed a strategy for when and where to meet again in case of losing others in the masses and then passed the (very cursory) bag check (" Got any alcohol in here, mate?") without problems. The 'Monument Area' was jam-packed already with plenty more people streaming in from the two general car parks some kilometres away and also off the shuttle buses, but as anyone who regularly attends packed concerts and/or sports events knows, packed impenetrable seeming masses do move. People walk out or in, shuffle sideways etc., so we had a chance. Most of us decided to walk around the Stones and try to get into the inner circle from the far side, and after 10 minutes or so everyone who wanted to be in, was.
My group of 5 was mere metres away from the epicentre of the action, i.e. a group of percussionists and drummers creating a constant aural wall paper of rhythm and chants. Some punters were way into their journey to mental relaxation (judging by smells and eye movements/lack thereof), others were trying to muster ecstatic dance moves in the tightly packed space (grrrrrh!). Some of us stayed inside the stone circle for the whole 90 minutes, others left to the outside for easier movement and changing views. The skies had brightened further and with 15 minutes to sunrise, a large group of red-clad druids (?) moved in, orchestrating some singing in the middle, with the percussionists still 'banging their drums'. And then the old orange disc appeared from beyond a low wooded risk, above the Heel Stone and down the middle of the circle. As it does once a year, apparently.
Soon after, we left the highly organised area (food stalls, a merch stall, chem loos etc) and by 5.15 were all together again at the agreed meet point.
The BBC gives the attendance as 25,000, but we think that is a bit optimistic. Anyhow, all staff were saying it was more than in previous years (the weather!).
We continued the route, past the Heel Stone and down The Avenue, past the King Barrows and into Amesbury at 6.35, i.e. with 30 minutes to the next bus. The George Hotel and the Bell Inn (Wetherspoon's) were open and both saw some of us enter, although no alcohol is served at the Spoon's before 9!
7.04 bus for most, with 3 walkers of the fairer gender staying at The George for a bit longer.
In Salisbury, 4 went said their good-byes immediately, while the other 11 reconvened at Charlie's Cafe for breakfast.
The 9.21 train was the next easily reachable train, but while some people dabbled with the idea of joining the Haslemere walk, only one hardy individual did so, while most others explored the town, its market or even Old Sarum, and 2 others stayed on the train to London.
All in, a risky posting, but a risk well rewarded.
w=warm-and-dry n=16
And yes: this is the longest walk report I have ever written and will ever write (too long for one post even!)
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