Avebury

Over a long weekend, our friends decided to join us for day trips to explore the surrounding villages. I haven't driven much in the UK but what I can't get over is how polite English drivers are. The minute you indicate to switch lanes, the driver right behind you as well as the fellow on the next lane actually slow down! Wow.

You see, we do things a little differently in New Zealand. North Island, in particular. We like our "personal" space on the motorway. If you indicate, we take it as a sign that you're ready for a race and we speed up. Steve is as laidback as you can get but turns into a snarling lion behind the wheels.

Now, getting back to the point of this post. Another friend told me that Avebury is a must see. The 5 of us packed ourselves into a compact rental car and headed for Stonehenge and Avebury. I know I'm going to get an entire carton of rotten eggs thrown at me but honestly, Stonehenge is a historical site which has been highly publicized but it is just a field with a pile of big megaliths. It was such an anti-climax when we got there. However, we first drove past the Alton Barnes White Horse formation on the slope at Milk Hill. Mr Robert Piles of Manor Farm hired two men to design and cut out the horse back in 1812. Apparently, you can see it 25 miles away from Salisbury.




Avebury in Wiltshire county is a fascinating and charming village. In fact, it is the largest and apparently the finest neolithic display of boulder formations to be found. How old, I hear you ask. 5000 years old! We call a 100 year old building as wow, ancient. Over here, everything is centuries, if not, thousands of years old. It's also considered the spiritual centre for paganism, Wicca and druidry and has its fair share of ghosts. Since I'm easily spooked, it was a good thing I didn't know too much of the history BEFORE I got there or I would've never dredged up enough courage to explore the place.









I have absolutely no idea what he's doing but I'm guessing he's trying to see if there's "energy" emanating from the rock?




St James church dating back to approximately 1000 A.D.
























Here's the blurb from pub-explorer.com

The Red Lion is set in the tiny village of Avebury which is three miles in radius and some 2000 years older than Stonehenge! The pub is 400 years old and located at the centre of the stone circle where every six weeks a pagan festival is held. It is in the Top Ten list of most haunted pubs in the country and has been seen on TV as such. The main ghost is that of an old landlady "Florrie" who was killed here by her husband.