MEDIA REPORTS SUMMER SOLSTICE 2001 ...Back
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The greatest show
Reports by Jeremy Wilson Pictures by Mark Soanes
RECORD numbers enjoyed a glorious
sunrise at Stonehenge for what has been described as the best summer solstice
ever.
More than 14,000 peaceful revellers mingled freely around the
stones to create a joyous carnival atmosphere.
Huge cheers greeted thc dawn of the longest day when just before
5am the prehistoric stone circle was lit up by the most spectacular and
clear solstice sunrise for decades.
Stonehenge director Clews Everard confirmed it was the biggest
crowd since records began.
The open access strategy of last vear was again a success,
suggesting the turn of the millennium has marked a new dawn for Stonehenge
after past outbreaks of violence and confrontation.
Just five arrests for minor drugs offences were made as the
50 police officers on duty spent most of the night mixing happily with
druids, hippies and partygoers.
Many revellers even sought out the police to shake their hands
for keeping such a relaxed and low-key presence.
Tony Higgins, who made the trip to Stonehenge from Norwich
for the 25th consecutive year, summed up the celebratory spirit: "Everything
has been perfect. We've had an extraordinary sunrise, touched the stones
and had the party of a lifetime.
"I had tears of joy tonight - it has to be the best solstice
ever"
The police were happy to have had such a quiet night.
Supt Jerry Wickham said: "It went very well. Just five
arrests from such a huge crowd shows that people have overwhelmingly been
sensible and law abiding."
Stonehenge guardians English Heritage were justifiably pleased
that their carefully planned strategy of managed open access- used for
only the second time in 17 years - was again effective.
Chief executive Pam Alexander said: "We have made huge
steps forward. I was confident the hard work would pay off and have had
a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing night. The sunrise was stunning."
Ms Everard stressed that working in partnership with the police,
National Trust, local authorities as well as the druids had been important.
She said that things could still be done to better explain
the safety reasons behind some of the restrictions that revellers ignored
- including pleas for no fires, naked flames, dogs or bottles.
"To make our strategy sustain- able we must encourage
people to take responsibility. Having said that we are very pleased,"
she said.
"Much has gone right and it has been marvellous to see
so many people from different walks of life."
Although arrangements for next year still have to be decided,
Ms Everard added that the long-term aim was to allow for greater access
within the 4,500-year-old World Heritage Site.
It takes all sorts to make merry
THOUSANDS came from all over
the world to sample the unique Stonehenge summer solstice experience.
Druids, hippies, tourists, children and councillors were just
some of the 14,500 that joined together and happily mingled throughout
the night.
The revellers sang, danced, beat drums to tribal rhythms and
even juggled flaming torches.
The mood was buoyant and as the festivities moved into the
early hours of the morning a collective pride in the carnival-like atmosphere
developed.
"It's just wicked. This is what it's all about,"
slurred one, as he clung on to one of the prehistoric stones as if his
life depended on it.
Also seen enjoying the occasion were former Amesbury mayor
Richard Crook, town councillor Vernon Smith, Amesbury town clerk John Lodge
and Wilton town councillor Tim Abbott.
As the sun finally emerged from a small cloud the druids, including
Arthur Pendragon and Rollo Maughfling, the Archbishop of the Glastonbury
Order carried out their midsummer ritual at the edge of the site.
"The sunrise is beautiful and pure and will heal the nation,"
said one druid. As the morning wore on, revellers gradually moved away
from the stones.
For the second successive year the Stonehenge summer solstice
had belonged to the people.
Dawn breaks over Stonehenge on Thursday
to the joy of 14,000 witnesses. PIC1
K6446-32
Thousands of visitors fill the
A344 as they
leave Stonehenge after the summer solstice. PIC2
K6449-27
See also: http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/supplements/sol/henge.html
FRIDAY JUNE 22 2001 Times
Magic of Stonehenge summons up the sun
BY SIMON DE BRUXELLES
A FANFARE of gongs, horns, didgeridoos, samba drums and a Maori choir greeted the sun as it rose above the Heel Stone at Stonehenge yesterday, the longest day of the year.
That appearance of the guest of honour at the celebration to mark the summer solstice was an unexpected bonus for the crowd of 14,500 who had stayed up all night to witness the event. They were rewarded with the rare sight of the summer sun rising above the escarpment opposite the prehistoric monument, normally shrouded in early morning mist at this time of year.
As the sun rose, a man on a motorised paraglider performed a series of tortuous twists and turns as shafts of orange sunlight illuminated the lichen-covered stones. It was only the second time that English Heritage had re-opened Stonehenge to the public for the dawn celebration since a ban on solstice gatherings imposed after a series of skirmishes between New Age travellers and Wiltshire police in 1985.
This year it was left to the assorted druids, pagans and white witches to police the stones on the most sacred night in their calendar.
The few revellers propelled to the top of the ancient stones by alcohol and other more illicit substances were coaxed down with gentle argument, and police who patrolled the perimeter of the site recorded only five arrests for minor drugs offences.
The hordes of Mohican-haired punks and "crusties" whose clashes with police led to the ban have either grown up and bought BMW estate cars and allterrain pushchairs or else they simply stayed away.
The crowd, double the number at last year’s event, included as many families with children as it did tattooed young men in leather jackets. Assorted wiccans, pagans, heathens and white witches were easily distinguished by their cloaks and carved cleft sticks.
Jenny Blain, a lecturer from Sheffield Hallam University, was not there just to celebrate, she was hoping to observe for an anthropological project on the modern use of prehistoric sites. But the long, black velvet cloak and the fact she was sipping mead from a silver-mounted ram’s horn were clues that she was not just an observer. She explained: "I am a heathen rather than a pagan. That means I believe in the old Anglo-Saxon gods like Woden and Freya."
A few yards away, Sally Williams from Swindon, dressed in an identical floor-length black cloak, said she was a wiccan. "That means a witch," she said. "I do have a broomstick and a cauldron, although I don’t wear a pointed hat and don’t use newts as they are an endangered species."
"Mystic Merlin", in a pointed crimson hat, was promoting his Crop Circles Game, which has 340 pieces, including a miniature replica of Stonehenge - the only sign of commercialism at an event which English Heritage hopes will become an annual and trouble-free fixture.
English Heritage’s chief executive, Pam Alexander, said: "It’s been wonderful, watching the sunrise. I felt the atmosphere was very much more relaxed this year."
An unusually visible sunrise at Stonehenge yesterday PIC1
Dressed for the occasion, some
of the 14,500 pagans
and sightseers who came to celebrate the summer solstice. PIC2
SUNLESS KINGS [editorial]
The mystic science of celestial signals
This may no longer be the dawning
of the age of Aquarius, as the straggle-haired posse in Hair assured us.
But that is not to say that a lot of people all over the world are not
keeping the spirit alive.
Yesterday morning an orderly assortment of horn-blowers, gong-bashers
and samba beaters heckled in the pallid solstice sun around Stonehenge's
sarsen stones. In contrast to the rather unspiritual showdowns between
police and the crustier celebrants of former years, this summer's festivities
were overseen by a responsible bunch of druids, pagans and white witches
who ensured that cornucopias were not left littering the site arid no one
stepped on anyone else's sandal.
Meanwhile, in Zimbabwe millions of people craned their necks
and squinted their eyes towards the sombre heavens to wimess the first
solar eclipse of the millennium. Night crickets erupted into song, birds
took to the trees, lions strutted with less than usual swagger and rangers
rang in the cash as sunstruck tourists vied for a spot of savannah.
Not everyone was as enamoured. The region's dominant religion,
the Shona faith, interpreted the eclipse as the direst of omens, pregnant
with foreboding for President Mugabe. The recent run of ruling party demises
- Hunzvi, Gezi, and Mahachi - are marshalled as evidence of this disturbing
trend. The Shona's witch-doctors equate "the rotting of the sun"
with a rottenness at the heart of the country's politics; few white farmers
would dispute the verdict.
Gone are the days when wily colonisers can exploit gullible
tribesmen with eclipse prediction. Helios hocus pokery may have got Columbus
a long way with the Arawaks but today's native peoples are wise to his
game, happy to use science to plot the approaching celestial signal, and
equally up to the job of using the end product to berate tyrants.
Heavenly hiccuping and the fall of kings have long been associated.
Roman emperors had a particular fear of comets, to the extent that, as
Tacitus notes, Nero made it a policy to get in there first, wiping out
potential enemies in one sanguine swoop. English monarchs have, rightly,
been more wary of eclipses. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the eclipse
of August 1133: "the day darkened over all lands. Men were greatly
wonder stricken, and were affronted, and said that a great thing should
come hereafter". The event was seen as curtains for Henry I (it was).
William of Malmesbury writes that the eclipse of 1140 marked the end of
Stephen I (and last).
CARTOON
10,000 mark solstice at Stonehenge By Peter Foster
MORE than 10,000 assorted druids, spiritualists and New Age travellers gathered at Stonehenge yesterday to witness the summer solstice.
Dawn broke on the longest day of the year to a chorus of druidical chanting, drumming and the jangle of Morris dancing bells as a broad church met under the circle of prehistoric stones on Salisbury Plain, Wilts. For the second year in succession English Heritage and Wiltshire Police did not try to prevent visitors entering the 5,000-year stone circle, which is usually fenced off.
Police reported only five arrests - all for possession of soft drugs.
[and the online version continued...]
- and English Heritage said they were "pleased" with the general level of behaviour despite several of the revellers climbing on to the giant stones. Those who stayed up long enough to catch the dawn, which broke at 4.55am, were rewarded with a spectacular sunrise.
Rollo Maughling, the arch-druid of Glastonbury, led the pagan rituals, chanting in between delivering loud blasts on a coachman's horn. He was forced to compete with didgeridoos, a 10-piece samba band, three bagpipes, cow bells, tambourines, guitars and the enthusiastic jingling of the White Horse Morris troupe celebrating their 50th anniversary.
Stonehenge solstice revellers see the light
Crowds police themselves in peaceful sunrise ceremony
Jeevan Vasagar and Sasha Blackmore
The tribes gathered in their thousands to hail the rising of the sun. And the ancient guardians of the stones, otherwise known as English Heritage, smiled upon them.
A man in a motorised paraglider swooped about above the Wiltshire fields, while the white-robed pagan priests hummed, chanted and blew their trumpets. Crusties and assorted ravers whooped and danced to a samba band in what was the most successful solstice celebration yet to be held at Stonehenge.
King Arthur Pendragon was somewhere, in a deep slumber apparently, and morris dancers also shook a leg at sunrise.
An estimated 11,000 people witnessed the dawn, thought to be a record, in the second year in which unrestricted access has been allowed for the solstice.
"This time of the year is when the sun is at its height and at its most power," said Mark Graham, a druid priest from Loughborough who was wrapped in the pelt of a fallow deer.
"It is the time when the horned god roams the earth and makes it fertile. He dances with the earth mother."
A spirit of good-natured celebration roamed the space between the stones early yesterday and made it a success for English Heritage.
The site's custodians hoped that the revellers, some 14,500 of whom came and went in the night, could police themselves and prevent a return to the clashes with the police that saw Stonehenge placed off limits to the druids for 15 years.
Their faith seemed rewarded when one man who clambered up a stone, risking damage to the rare lichens that covered it, was quickly coaxed down by the crowd.
One of those who kept the peace among the revellers was Susanna Lafond, a battle chief tain with the Loyal Arthurian Warband, who said: "This one will be the best - the omens are all in place."
All the panoply of modern-day druidism was here in full regalia: silver tabards emblazoned with Pictish wolves, monkish cloaks, broadswords and flowing hair.
The samba band was deco rated with leaves in "a celebration of the green" and was led by an anti-capitalist protest performer last seen on the streets of London on May Day.
Police made just five arrests, all for possession of soft drugs, though for the most part they politely ignored the clouds of fragrant smoke.
The main concerns raised were about fires being lit by the crowd, the jugglers who performed with burning brands, and bottles being dropped on the grass.
Clews Everard, English Heritage director for Stonehenge, said: "Lots of things have gone right, but there is lots we can learn from.
"We need to make clear why we have these terms and conditions. Stonehenge is an ancient monument and iconic in this country.
"We don't allow glass in because people walk here barefoot. We can't allow fires where there are crowds."
Superintendent Jerry Wickham, who ran the Wiltshire police operation, said: "When you think of an event this size and the history it's had, to have just five arrests indicates that the crowd has been law abiding, and the policing has been handled sensitively.
"We've been very pleased with what has happened. Generally the crowd have been supportive and have gone up to have a joke with officers."
Watching the sun rise over Stonehenge
while
'the horned god roams the earth and makes it fertile' PIC1
and a day of innocent pleasures PIC2
and the occasional display of the outrageous PIC3
Sun alliances [editorial]
Solar power has unlimited potential
Hail O sun! You really had a splendid day yesterday At Stonehenge, you appeared at a summer solstice dawn for the first time in years, delighting thousands of pagans, druids, witches and spiritual tourists. To cap that, you put on a marvellous show in southern Africa, with a total eclipse that crossed Botswana, Zambia and some of the poorest countries on earth. But is it in your power, we ask, to beam in on the mind of energy and industry minister Brian Wilson? British policymakers have long embraced the forces of darkness and the solar industry explosion now surging around the world has barely registered here, though it does power the Big Brother house. Global production of photovoltaics last year jumped to 288 megawatts, a 43% rise on 1999; and the price dropped too, both as result of governments pump-priming the industry. Germany has allocated more than £320m over the next 10 years, Japan £700m and the US over £50m to developing the industry. Yet Britain produces less than 1MW a year from a mere 166 roofs, and intends to spend just £lOm over three years. We must move faster or be eclipsed. The UK could combine the best of others' programmes. The Japanese model could be used to provide loans to homeowners who cannot afford the installation cost. We could also follow Germany, which pays a premium for solar energy to companies wanting a faster return on their investment.
To be fair, the government
has moved in the past year - its white paper proposes a welcome 100,000
solar roofs. But it is hazy about timetable and there is little sense that
it will really support this nascent industry that energy analysts believe
may grow faster than any other in the next decade. Britain's priority should
be the creation of a manufacturing base and encouraging builders to install
the technology. Then we could celebrate a genuine vision of a sustainable
future every year at the summer solstice.
Druids, drugs and a very naked dawn. It was like the Sixties, man
By Chris Gray
At 4.43am yesterday, thousands of druids, pagans, travellers and the simply curious saw a spectacle denied them for 17 years.
The 14,000 people who gathered at Stonehenge were obliged by a sun that appeared over the stones, unobscured by cloud cover or drizzle.
Last year, when the monument opened to the public on the summer solstice for the first time since the festival was banned in 1984, rain and storms deprived the crowd a sight of the sunrise. But yesterday, there was no such disappointment.
The dawn was heralded by one pilgrim who was cheered by the rest as he flew over the World Heritage Site on a motorised paraglider and performed a display over the stones.
When it arrived, one over-zealous bare-chested reveller attempted to climb the stones, potentially jeopardising future events by breaching the rules of the occasion. Fortunately, he was easily coaxed down.
Although yesterday's crowd was more than double the 6,000 who gathered last year, when the ban on the Stonehenge Free Festival was lifted, it was trouble-free. Police made only five arrests for minor drugs offences. When the dawn was met by an outbreak of naked coupling around the stones, officers took a tolerant approach, with a force spokesman saying "naked bodies" were not for the police to sort out.
It was a world away from the riots of 1985, when the Battle of the Beanfield turned Stonehenge into something resembling a war zone. That led to a four-mile exclusion zone being imposed and it was not until 1998 that small groups were invited on to the site for the solstice by English Heritage.
When it was reopened fully last year, there were no arrests and it was judged a huge success. Negotiations between police, English Heritage, the National Trust, travellers, pagan and druid groups made a bigger gathering yesterday possible.
Crowds built up as the site was opened at 8pm on Wednesday. As they waited through the night, druids and pagans conducted ceremonies around the stone circle. By the time dawn came, the site was packed with New Age hippies, circus performers, drummers, jugglers, travellers and tourists.
"It was like the Sixties," said one visitor, John Taylor. "It was the most incredible atmosphere. Everyone was really going for it. People were stripping off, climbing on the stones, dancing and generally celebrating the sunrise."
Mark Graham, a druid priest from Loughborough, said: "We carry out ceremonies here for all sorts of reasons, such as the winter solstice and weddings, but there is something about being here for the summer solstice which makes it really special.
"There's been no trouble. Everyone's been friendly. There's a very high energy here."
English Heritage's chief executive, Pam Alexander, said the solstice celebrations were still sensitive but the success was a good omen. "It's been wonderful watching the sunrise. I felt the atmosphere was very much more relaxed this year. Everybody seems to have really understood how important it is."
Graham Chivers, spokesman for Wiltshire police, said there was no reason the festival should not become a regular event.
Stonehenge hangs upside-down in
the crystal ball
of an entertainer during summer solstice celebrations PIC1
at the monument yesterday.
David Sandison.
Dawn breaks at Stonehenge yesterday.
David Sandison. PIC2
Stonehenge revellers keep their sunny side up
By JIM PICKARD
New Age revellers were spoilt for choice yesterday as the summer solstice coincided with the first solar eclipse of the 21st century - although that was visible only from southern Africa, writes Jim Pickard.
Closer to home, more than 10,000 Druids and hippies descended on Stonehenge for only the second time since 1984. The huge crowd had already gathered as the first rays of light appeared over Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire at 4.55am yesterday morning. Although English Heritage had banned camping equipment, sound systems and bottles, and forbidden anyone from climbing on the monuments, the party-goers were allowed to wander among the stones - access is usually limited to the surrounding footpath. There was a carnival atmosphere as visitors were treated to the sights and sounds of fire-eaters, drummers, choirs, dancers and even a motorised paraglider circling overhead. Ravers mingled happily with solemn Druids intent on carrying out their ceremonies. The atmosphere was said to be good-natured, with none of the aggression of 1985's "Battle of the Beanfield", when police were involved in violent clashes with New Age Travellers. Only a handful of arrests were made. The subsequent four-mile exclusion order was lifted only last year, although a select group of druids have been permitted to hold sacred rites at the site. Access to Stonehenge had been limited earlier this year because of the foot-and-mouth epidemic. Yesterday's celebrations came as the government announced plans to lift the strict footpath restrictions.
Revellers watch the sun rise over
Stonehenge PIC1
Picture: Reuters
It's all bright on the night of the solstice
by ANTHONY MITCHELL
MORE than 14,000 worshippers
saw the light yesterday as they converged on Stonehenge to celebrate the
summer solstice.
The ancient stone monument in Wiltshire was opened to the public
for only the second year in more than a decade. But police said they made
just five arrests for minor drug offences and English Heritage branded
the event a major success.
As the thousands of revellers waited for the sun to rise, druids
and pagans performed religious ceremonies and entertainers, ranging from
drummers and a choir to circus-style performers, helped to create the atmosphere.
Then, as daybreak drew nearer a motorised paraglider put on
a show for the crowds.
Stonehenge was only reopened for the solstice celebrations
last year after a four-mile exclusion zone was finally lifted. The zone
had been set up after violent clashes between the police and new age travellers,
including the now infamous battle of the Beanfield in 1985.
But yesterday when one over-zealous reveller climbed on top
of the stones, he was gently coaxed down again.
Daniel Moir 38, from Shaftesbury said: "I have been coming
here since I was 10 and it was always a puzzle to me why there were any
restrictions in the first place. I'm very pleased this is open again. It's
a great atmosphere."
Druid priest Mark Graham, from Loughborough, added: "It's
great that the site is open to everyone. We carry out ceremonies here for
all sorts of reasons, such as the winter solstice and weddings, but there
is something about being here for the summer solstice which makes it really
special. There's been no trouble. Everyone's been friendly"
English Heritage chief executive Pam Alexander said she understood
that the solstice celebrations were still sensitive but added: "I
felt the atmosphere was very mucb more relaxed this year."
During the rest of the year visitors usually have to pay at
Stonehenge and are prevented from going up to the stones. But yesterday
revellers were allowed to celebrate in and around them after English Heritage
drew up conditions.
Meanwhile, Africa greeted the first total eclipse of the new
millennium with awe and panic yesterday Millions cheered and danced as
the eclipse raced east from Angola to Madagascar But in the Congo's capital
Kinshasa, families cowered in their homes after authorities warned that
the eclipse was dangerous. They had failed to mention that the danger was
only by looking at it directly.
WARM WELCOME: A woman enjoys the solstice yesterday PIC1
BIG DRAW: A woman watching the eclipse in Zimbabwe yesterday PIC2
REJOICE: A druid called Steve performs a ceremony PIC3
pictures: INS NEWS/REUTERS
MIDSUMMER SHAGGING!
DOZENS OF HIPPY COUPLES IN HORNY ACTION AT STONEHENGE
RANDY revellers grabbed their chance to have rock-hard romps at Stonehenge yesterday during the summer solstice celebrations. Dozens of hippy couples bonked against the mystical stones- while thousands of white-robed Druids and flame-throwers looked on.
Stripped
The cheeky visitors stripped
off as first light hit the prehistoric stone circle in Wiltshire - and
then they created some erections of their own.
Stunned onlooker Sam Frost said: "I couldn't believe it.
They were getting down to it even though there were thousands of people
milling around.
"No one seemed to care and everyone was having a good
time."
The revellers got their first chance to have a romantic clinch
among the stones for 17 years.
Last year heavy rain put a dampener on the event, and since
1984 the site had been sealed off by police because of rioting.
This year, 12,000 hippies, travellers, Druids and tourists
flocked to the site to celebrate the longest day of the year.
A spokesman for Wiltshire Police hailed the event as a
success, with only five arrests for drug possession.
He said: "We did get reports there were a lot of naked
bodies around, but the policing was low-key."
A spokesman for English Heritage later denied couples had been
having sex.
FIRESTARTER: A flame-thrower lights up the night: PIC1
CHEEKY: Rowdy revellers strip off
as more than PIC2
PIC3 PIC4
12,000 attend this year's summer solstice at Stonehenge
Stuff, NZ 22-6-01 [one of several versions of the Reuters story]
WORLD NEWS
Thousands celebrate summer solstice at Stonehenge
LONDON (Reuters): Thousands of druids and New Age tourists converged on Britain's Stonehenge on Thursday to celebrate the summer solstice, revelling in the chance to get close to the ancient standing stones for only the second time since 1984.
Visitors are normally kept well away from the stone circle, but English Heritage, which manages the site in southern England, decided to allow access again after a successful summer solstice last year when 8000 people attended.
This year, at the peak of the celebration shortly before sunrise, some 12,500 people had gathered there, a spokeswoman for Wiltshire police said.
The circle of megaliths is a holy place to the pagan religious order of Druids, who welcome the dawn of the year's longest day with chanting and dancing to pipes and drums.
"Their belief system is recent - the ceremony only dates back a couple of centuries," an English Heritage spokeswoman said. "But the Druids and other pagans see summer solstice as a very important time of the year."
The site opened at 8pm on Wednesday (7am Thursday NZT) and remained open until 9am (8pm Thursday NZT), English heritage said.
With a 60 percent chance of clear skies, the Met Office had predicted a "fiery dawn". However, murky skies on the morning meant the sun did not shine through an archway into the inner circle as revellers had hoped.
English Heritage has allowed only limited access to the site since 1985, when the banning of the Stonehenge Free Festival, a yearly event giving access to the stones, sparked clashes between riot police and visitors.
Solstice dawns over Stonehenge
Ten thousand people witnessed the dawn
Druids, New Agers and revellers have gathered at Stonehenge in Wiltshire to celebrate the arrival of the summer solstice.
About 10,000 people were there to witness the sun rising over Salisbury Plain at 0455BST on Thursday morning.
The sacred rocks of the World Heritage Site on Salisbury Plain had been closed off to solstice revellers for 16 years after pitched battles with police in the 1980s.
But as dawn broke in Wiltshire this year, BBC reporter Paul Greer described "an amazing scene" of druids, dancers, fire-eaters and paragliders encircling the ancient stones.
Mr Greer said the crowds had so far been well-behaved, but the stones were "not a place for quiet contemplation" as the summer solstice party continued in the early hours.
A four-mile exclusion zone was lifted last year and 8,000 people celebrated peacefully.
Numbers this year were expected to increase dramatically because Glastonbury Festival in Somerset has been cancelled.
There was no sign of the tension that led to the infamous Battle Of The Beanfield in 1985, when police smashed vehicles that were home to New Age travellers.
A smaller crowd saw in the solstice at the giant stone circle at Avebury, across Salisbury Plain.
Free access
In recent years, a small number of pagan druids have been allowed to hold discreet dawn ceremonies at Stonehenge - regarded as Europe's most important Megalithic site.
During the year, paying visitors are prevented from going up to the stones themselves, unless special arrangements are made.
Access was free between 2000 BST on Wednesday and 0900 on Thursday, with revellers able to go right to the stones.
English Heritage said earlier it would not allow anyone to climb on the stones, light fires or use fireworks.
It is also banning amplified music, pets, camping equipment, bottles and other glass objects.
Sun worship
Travellers who descend on Wiltshire Plain every Midsummer Day say the stones represent the "spurt of life".
They say their gatherings echo the acts of the ancient peoples of the British Isles until the 11th century, when King Canute banned worship of the sun and stars.
The Wiltshire stones are all that remain of a sequence of monuments on the site between about 3000 and 1600 BC.
Each was circular and aligned with the rising of the sun at the midsummer solstice - the longest day of the year.
Even with the help of recreational drugs - much in evidence last year - the mystery of the original purpose of the stones is unlikely to be solved at the celebrations.
Sex theory
Some say it was built by a sun-worshipping culture; others that it aligns with the sunrise because its banks were part of a huge astronomical calendar.
The prehistorian Aubrey Burl has claimed it was built by French invaders because it resembles stone circles in Brittany more than it does other British sites.
One other theory may be more attractive: that it was used for sex rites.
The Stonehenge refusenik
Druid Matt McCabe stayed away from Stonehenge this summer solstice, despite it being an important day in his ceremonial calendar. Here, he tells of the conflict between revellers and the spiritual sect.
There's a conflict between the need for a party and a need for a spiritual ceremony to mark the summer solstice at Stonehenge.
The two seem to be incompatible, because the revellers aren't interested in co-operating with the druids, so the druids get slightly disillusioned. Who's going to stand up and ask 5,000 people to move out of the stones so the druids can get in for dawn?
And with the Glastonbury Festival off this year, the attraction of going to Stonehenge for summer solstice was much greater to a larger number of people.
It was always going to be a right old scrum, so I had no intention of going down - the thought of it just didn't appeal.
Get in early
My order - the Order of Bards, Ovats and Druids - had our own celebration there on Sunday afternoon, with the full co-operation of English Heritage, while the tourists were still going around the stones.
Of the 130 members attending, just six put their hands up when asked who was going to Stonehenge today. Most seemed to be relieved that they didn't even have to think about going to rough it with the revellers.
Summer solstice is a very important day for druids, as we are a tradition that observes the sun and moon.
And there's also a very important eclipse in the Southern Hemisphere today - the marriage of sun and moon at the solstice - so most druids celebrated somewhere a little more private.
I've been a druid for 10 years. I was a TV researcher and had an argument with a writer claiming that he'd got it wrong in a book about sacred London.
The writer gave me the address of the order, so I sent off for the introductory package. I just felt like I'd come home.
Battle of the stones
Stonehenge is the most potent site in which to celebrate the event because it is aligned to the summer solstice sunrise. So the battle will continue to be fought over who has access to the stones.
We regard Stonehenge as a living temple, a stellar observatory, a monument to the highest that mankind can achieve.
The accusation has long been that Stonehenge has nothing to do with the druids, but historically it has.
We know that the druids didn't actually build it - the word 'druid' was attached to the Celtic peoples from about 350BC, whereas the building process at Stonehenge was complete by 1000BC.
Yet the Romans so associated Stonehenge with the druids that Caesar wrote that the temple had been built by the druids.
Hopefully at some point in the future, we can reach a compromise where we can have a ceremony to mark the sunrise among the stones, with a party outside.
But in the meantime, the revellers are not prepared to let druids into the stones for sunrise. Not as a group decision, but as individuals they feel that they've got their place in the stones and they're not budging.
They don't respect the druids, so we're on a hiding to nothing.
[Real Time gives people a chance to tell their own stories in their own words.]
Your comments:
I suppose I am what you would
call one of the revellers. However, I believe that the stones are of MASSIVE
importance to those who do feel the connection on the site and that should
be respected at all times. I'm not saying that only druids should be allowed
on site, but peaceful and meaningful rituals are what it's all about.
Lorna Pointon, England
I was at the stones last night
and one thing that was clear was that nobody has claim over the land, whether
they have large rocks on and they are druids or not. As far as respect
for druids go, I would have more respect for them if they were to party
with everybody else.
Steve Pointer, UK
With reference to Steve Pointer's comments in which he says druids should get down and party with the rest of them if they wish access to a site they hold sacred, I would like to ask if Mr Pointer would feel just as happy to block access to a synagogue or church for the same reasons. Steve Tarrant, London
During the late 70s and early
80s my husband and I went to Stonehenge as "revellers". The usual
routine was that the druids were inside at the stones and us "revellers"
were always kept - at bay - beyond the stones. By hardly any druids turning
up this morning, it does seem to be a case of sour grapes. Could it be
because they are not now given any special privileges?
Jo Hagan, England
Revellers mark solstice at Stonehenge
Thousands of people have gathered peacefully at Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice.
The historic Wiltshire site was opened for the public to mark the summer's longest day for only the second year in over a decade.
Although some 14,500 people visited the sacred stones this year, police say they made just five arrests - for minor drugs offences.
English Heritage, which runs Stonehenge, has proclaimed the event a major success.
Crowds began to gather at the World Heritage Site in the run up to the summer solstice and partied throughout the before seeing sunrise.
As the thousands of revellers waited, druids and pagans carried out a series of religious ceremonies and entertainers, ranging from drummers and a choir to circus-style performers, helped create the atmosphere.
As sunrise drew nearer, one person, using a motorised paraglider, flew over the stones and performed a small display to the cheers of the crowd.
Reveller Daniel Moir, 38, from Shaftesbury, Dorset, said: "I've been coming here since I was ten and it was always a puzzle to me why there were any restrictions in the first place. I'm very pleased it's open again. It's a great atmosphere."
Marina Di Mio, from Notting Hill, London, said: "It's a very important place and we shouldn't forget the reason why we are here. There is such a good mix of people. Everything has been really good."
Although Stonehenge is open to the public during the day, all year round, it was only reopened for the solstice celebrations last year after the four-mile exclusion zone was finally lifted.
The zone had been set up following violent clashes between the police and new age travellers, including the now infamous Battle of the Beanfield in 1985.
During the year, visitors usually have to pay and are prevented from actually going up to the stones unless special arrangements are made.
But revellers are being allowed to celebrate in and around them after English Heritage drew up a number of terms and conditions.
People were asked not to climb on the stones, light fires or use fireworks, and a ban on amplified music, pets, camping equipment, bottles and other glass objects was also introduced.
English Heritage chief executive Pam Alexander said: "People have had a really enjoyable time. It's been wonderful watching the sunrise.
"I felt the atmosphere was very much more relaxed this year. Everybody seems to have really understood how important it is."
Supt Jerry Wickham, who ran the police operation, said: "We've been very pleased with what has happened. Generally the crowd have been supportive and have gone up to have a joke with officers."
Summer solstice marked at Stonehenge
LONDON, England -- Thousands of people celebrated the summer solstice at the ancient site of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, southern England, on Thursday.
It is only the second time since violence disrupted the event in 1985 that ordinary observers have been allowed inside the ancient stone circle to watch the sun rise on the longest day of the year.
The solstice drew a crowd of about 14,500 -- including Druids, New Age followers and ordinary observers -- who gathered around the stones at 0455 local time (0355 GMT) on Thursday.
The rocks are remnants of the last in a sequence of circular monuments built between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C., and align directly with the rising of the sun on the longest day of the year. Some experts believe the monument was built by members of a sun-worshipping culture. Others say it aligns with the sunrise because it forms part of a huge astronomical calendar.
This year cloudy skies stopped the first rays of sunlight shining through a stone archway into the inner circle, but did not seem to dampen the festive spirit as observers danced, beat on drums and watched fire jugglers.
Pam Alexander, Chief Executive of English Heritage -- which own the site -- said: "We have had a very enjoyable night. We are very pleased that we are managing a much more peaceful and celebratory approach."
Solstice ceremonies at the site were banned after clashes with the police in 1985, resulting in a four-mile exclusion zone.
In 1999, Stonehenge was opened to 150 druids, but was gate-crashed by about 200 people who clashed with police.
But last year, English Heritage allowed full access during the solstice. About 8,000 revellers attended the celebrations which passed peacefully without incident. This year police reported only five arrests, all for minor drug offences.
"Everyone's been friendly," druid priest Mark Graham told the Associated Press news agency. "There's a very high energy here."
While Druids celebrated at Stonehenge in Britain, across the Atlantic in America, people gathered in the plains of Nebraska around a direct copy of Stonehenge, built out of old cars welded together.
The structure, known as Carhenge, is drawing tourists and devotees by the thousands. Not only is the layout the same as Stonehenge, but the cars are the same height and width of the giant stones in Britain.
Carhenge was built by Jim Reinder as a memorial to his father. He needed 33 old cars to finish the structure.
After it was completed, state officials labelled it a "junkyard" and an "embarrassment," ordering the council in the nearby city of Alliance to bulldoze the site to the ground.
Carhenge survived after locals campaigned to embrace Reinder's legacy. The monument attracts many Druids during the winter and summer solstice.
CNN's John Vause contributed to this report.
14,000 in good-natured gathering at Stonehenge
Thousands of people have gathered at Stonehenge to peacefully celebrate the summer solstice.
The historic Wiltshire site was opened to the public for only the second year in over a decade.
Although some 14,500 people visited the sacred stones, police made just five arrests - for minor drugs offences. English Heritage has branded the event a major success.
Crowds began to gather at the World Heritage Site yesterday evening and partied throughout the night in the lead-up to this morning's sunrise.
As the thousands of revellers waited, druids and pagans carried out a series of religious ceremonies and entertainers, ranging from drummers and a choir to circus-style performers, helped create the atmosphere. As sunrise drew nearer, one person, using a motorised paraglider, flew over the stones and performed a small display to the cheers of the crowd. And, when one over-zealous reveller climbed on top of the stones - flouting site rules - he was gently coaxed down again. Reveller Daniel Moir, 38, from Shaftesbury, Dorset, said: "I've been coming here since I was 10 and it was always a puzzle to me why there were any restrictions in the first place. I'm very pleased it's open again. It's a great atmosphere."
An exclusion zone had been set up following violent clashes between the police and new age travellers, including the now infamous Battle of the Beanfield in 1985. This year revellers were allowed to celebrate in and around the stones after English Heritage drew up a number of terms and conditions.
English Heritage chief executive Pam Alexander said she understood the solstice celebrations were still sensitive but added: "People have had a really enjoyable time. It's been wonderful watching the sunrise. "I felt the atmosphere was very much more relaxed this year. Everybody seems to have really understood how important it is."
Supt Jerry Wickham, who ran the police operation, added: "When you think of an event this size and the history it's had, to have just five arrests indicates the crowd has been law abiding and the policing has been handled sensitively."
Druids, tourists gather at Stonehenge to celebrate summer solstice
Celebrations are underway to mark the longest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere.
Thousands of Druids and new age tourists have converged on southern Britain's Stonehenge to celebrate.
It is only the second time since 1984 that visitors can get close to the ancient standing stones, as they are normally kept away.
Police said before sunrise, some 12,500 people had gathered for the summer solstice.
English Heritage, which manages the site, allowed access again after a summer solstice celebration last year went off smoothly.
The circle of megaliths is a holy place to the pagan religious order of Druids.
They welcome the dawn of the year's longest day with chanting and dancing to pipes and drums.
With a 60 percent chance of clear skies, the meteorological office had predicted a "fiery dawn".
But murky morning skies meant the sun did not shine through an archway into the inner circle as revellers had hoped.
Nevertheless, the thousands of people there remained in high spirits.
Las Vegas Sun 21-6-01 [one of several versions of the Associated Press story]
Revelers Mark Solstice at Stonehenge
LONDON- The lichen-covered rocks of Stonehenge reverberated Thursday to the beat of drums, the sound of cheers, and the drone of a motorized paraglider as thousands of revelers greeted the summer solstice at the prehistoric site.
For only the second time since violence marred the event in 1985, the organization that oversees Stonehenge allowed ordinary observers inside the ancient monument to watch the sun rise on the year's longest day.
A 14,500-strong crowd of druids, New Age followers and curiosity-seekers gathered inside and around the stone circle 80 miles southwest of London as dawn came at 4:55 a.m. Thursday.
Cloudy skies, which stopped the first rays of the sun shining through an archway into the inner circle, did little to dampen the festive spirit, as people danced and watched fire jugglers. As sunrise drew near, a motorized paraglider swooped above the stones to the cheers of the crowd.
"Everyone's been friendly. There's a very high energy here," said druid priest Mark Graham.
Stonehenge, the remnants of the last in a sequence of circular monuments built between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C., is one of Britain's most popular tourist attractions.
Exactly how and why it was built remains a mystery. Some experts believe it is aligned with the sun because its builders came from a sun-worshipping culture, while others believe the site was part of a huge astronomical calendar.
Midsummer ceremonies at the site were banned in 1985, after violent clashes between revelers and police - dubbed the Battle of the Beanfield - led to hundreds of arrests and accusations of police brutality.
In 1998, English Heritage, the organization that oversees Stonehenge, allowed 100 people to gather amid the stones at dawn as part of a step toward admitting larger crowds.
Two years ago, Stonehenge was opened to 150 druids, but about 200 people gatecrashed the event and clashed with police.
Last year, English Heritage decided to allow full access again, and the celebration, attended by about 8,000 revelers, passed peacefully.
This year, revelers were told they could party amid the stones on condition they not climb on them or light fires. Amplified music, fireworks, pets and glass also were banned.
Organizers and police said visitors stuck by the regulations. One man clambered onto the stones, but was coaxed down by fellow revelers.
"We have had a very enjoyable night. We have had about 14,500 people who enjoyed a really stunning sunrise this morning," said Pam Alexander, chief executive of English Heritage.
Police reported only five arrests Thursday, all for minor drug offenses.
But not everyone was happy. A group of 130 disillusioned druids held their own ceremony at the site on Sunday so they could avoid the partying crowd.
"There's a conflict between the need for a party and a need for a spiritual ceremony to mark the summer solstice at Stonehenge," druid Mark McCabe told the British Broadcasting Corp.
"Who's going to stand up and ask 5,000 people to move out of the stones so the druids can get in for dawn?" he added.
Q&A: Simon de Bruxelles at Stonehenge
The summer solstice was welcomed peacefully by up to 14,500 people who flocked to Stonehenge to see out the year's shortest night.
Last night passed off without incident as a good-natured crowd of pagans, new age travellers and families mingled together to welcome the dawn..
Simon de Bruxelles, Times correspondent, was there to witness what is fast becoming a pageant for the more colourful members of the human race.
How many people were there to see in the dawn?
According to English Heritage there were around 14,500 people there, about twice as many as last year. It was certainly a colourful gathering with every group from the Hari Krishnas to a Maori choir joining the more predictable druids, pagans and wiccans. The Maori singers were there because it is winter solstice in New Zealand and the start of the Maori new year.
Were there as many people as expected?
English Heritage's ''open stones'' policy meant they had very little idea how many to expect. The favourable weather forecast certainly helped draw out the crowds as for the first time in more than 15 years it was possible to watch the sun rise over the Heel Stone.
How did those people present celebrate the solstice?
Most celebrated in their own personal way - even the druids did not perform any rituals although some blew horns or banged gongs. There was a big cheer when the sun first appeared.
What kinds of people were there?
There were as many families as ''new agers'' and to judge from the cars parked in the fields a pretty good cross section of middle England.
Who outnumbered whom?
There appeared to be fewer "new age" types and druids than last year. Of these two groups the druids were more numerous.
What was the weather like?
The weather was perfect with an eerie mist rising from Salisbury Plain giving the whole place a very mystical atmosphere. The sun managed to emerge through a gap in the clouds just above the horizon.
Does English Heritage's year-old "open-stones" policy appear to be working?
Definitely, although I suspect if it becomes even more popular next year there could be problems with overcrowding in the inner circle.
Was there a large police presence on hand?
There were a lot of police but they kept to the perimeter of the site. Druids and pagans acted as unofficial stewards. There wasn't any trouble and it all appeared to be good natured.
What was the weirdest sight you saw?
I think this had to be a large middle-aged man who appeared to have lost all his clothes.
Two-minute briefing BY ANJANA AHUJA: Summer solstice
So it’s the summer solstice today, but what exactly is it? It is the longest day of the year - in other words, when the time between sunrise and sunset is the greatest. The Sun is at its most northerly point in the sky, just over 23 degrees above the Equator. The Sun’s position in the sky varies because the Earth is tilted; also, the Earth’s orbit is itself tilted with respect to the solar equator. It’s as if our planet was a tilting gyroscope fastened to a hula hoop which is moving around a dancer’s waist. The situation will reverse in six months’ time — the Sun will be 23 degrees below the Equator, giving those in the southern hemisphere long evenings but bringing us our winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, on December 21.
How will the summer solstice be celebrated? The Druids will gather at Stonehenge at dawn, as they have done in years past, to commemorate the occasion. The enormous stones were thought to have been erected as an astronomical temple between 3000 and 1600 BC, specifically to observe such events as solstices and eclipses.
Who else celebrated the solstice? Any society which worshipped the Sun, from the ancient Egyptians to the Maya, had special rituals to mark the longest day. These included lighting fires to supplement the Sun’s warming of the Earth, and prayers that the coming summer and autumn would bring rich harvests. Some Native American tribes held a “first fruits” ceremony, allowing fruits to be harvested on this day, but not before. In other cultures the longest day signified life and fertility, and was a popular day to get married.
Is the summer solstice the same as midsummer? Midsummer was another name given to the longest day, but as Christianity flourished Midsummer celebrations were moved to June 24 to coincide with the feast of St John the Baptist. Some communities light bonfires on Midsummer’s Eve to ward off evil spirits. It is also a tradition (albeit a dangerous one) to run through the embers the following morning. Other customs include wearing your jacket inside out to keep danger at bay, and rubbing fern seed on eyelids to make fairies visible. Historically, people wove garlands made from St John’s wort, known then as chase-devil, for spiritual protection on the day, even draping them around their livestock.
The story in statistics: Summer solstice
Compiled by Laura Barton
When is the solstice?
The summer solstice is the beginning of summer, falling on June 21/22 in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere the seasons are reversed, and the solstice falls on December 21 or 22. This year's solstice falls on June 21 at 7.37am.
Sunrise at Stonehenge
Many people celebrate the solstice at Stonehenge in Wiltshire. Stonehenge is thought to have been designed to calculate the position of the moon and the sun over 56 years. The north-east axis is in alignment with the sunrise at the summer solstice. Stonehenge was begun around 2000 BC. Sarsen stones were carried 30km from the Marlborough Downs and erected in a circle of 30 upright stones. Today, 17 remain standing. Each sarsen stone is up to nine metres long and weighs 4,860kg.
Keeping the peace
Last year was the first in 15 years that Stonehenge was open to the public for the summer solstice, following the Battle of the Beanfield in 1985, when travellers and pagans clashed with police - 420 travellers were arrested. The cost of policing the summer solstice at Stonehenge in 2000 came to pounds 50,000.
World famous
Stonehenge was designated a World Heritage site in 1985.
Music and muggings
Many people celebrate the summer solstice at the music festival Glastonbury. On the first day of last year's festival, 88 people were arrested and 425 crimes were reported, including 56 muggings. In 1999, there were a record number of thefts at the festival: 1,300.
Sources: Britannica; Times; Daily Mail; Daily Telegraph; Independent; www.about.com; www.pagenfed.org
The Independent has been running adverts for their photographs repeatedly since the solstice.
For example, on 6-10-01 a full page ad of colour
photos in the weekend magazine, and a b/w ad
in
the paper on 8-10-01.
