(Wednesday & Thursday, September 18 & 19 2024)
We went to Avebury twice while in Wiltshire - first on Wednesday afternoon after leaving Swindon and before checking in to our All Cannings Airbnb, and then again the next morning. It’s only about 20 minutes from Swindon, and 15 from All Cannings. I loooooove Avebury! We have been to Avebury on every trip we’ve taken to England, and usually more than once. The year Baker B went with us, in 2013, we spent the second week in Marlborough which is only 10 minutes away so we made a number of Avebury visits. Baker B also went by himself the first week while he stayed alone in Devizes and we were in London. So clearly we are all smitten with Avebury!
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument and World Heritage Site that’s made up of three stone circles around the village that’s also called Avebury. It’s the largest megalithic stone circle in the world and was constructed between 4000 and 3000 BC. So basically it’s a very pretty little village with huge mysterious stones all over the place. Like Stonehenge, its original purpose is uncertain although it’s likely it was a religious/ritualistic site. We’ve been to Stonehenge a couple of times and although of course it’s amazing and impressive, it’s also much more touristy than Avebury and you can’t touch the stones anymore unless it’s a special occasion like the summer or winter solstice. You actually can’t even get anywhere near them now without paying the entrance fee. In Avebury the stones are everywhere, and you can do all the communing you want with them.
So. Speaking of communing with the stones. On the second day we were in Avebury, Thursday, I had an idea. Born of a serious need for a little alone/quiet time, because as I’ve said before, Kim is my BFF and I love her and love spending so much time with her, but she…. Never. Stops. Talking. She also constantly dredges up the past and worries about the future, and I was really really trying hard to be present on this amazing trip, to soak it up, to be in The Moment. And that wasn’t always easy due to all the running around and figuring things out and planning what was next and VERY rarely just being still and … present. SO I came up with a cunning plan. I suggested that we each find a stone that we resonated with, and spend some time just sitting quietly with our stone.
Kim actually LOVED that idea - she is very into the energy and the vibes and the stone-communing. She was also dressed for the part:
That’s not the one she picked - we went all the way over to the Avenue of the Stones, which at one time contained I think 100 standing stones in two parallel rows.
My stone, with my stuff all piled up:
And my hair having quite the reaction:
Kim looking EVEN MORE the part:
I gazed at the view and wrote in my journal and then decided I should try a little stone-resonating too, since it WAS my idea to do that, even if it was a teeny bit of a ploy. So I sat there with my eyes shut and immediately saw a road in front of me. Going straight ahead, narrow and a little dark at the edges, very beckoning, and seeming to be moving. It was much like when you’ve been doing a thing for a long time- like driving - you can close your eyes and feel like you’re still doing that thing, but it was also very different. I opened my eyes for a bit, and closed them again. Same thing. Same road. I had the overwhelming sensation that it was me traveling forward, in England, as if I was supposed to continue to be there in the future and continue to travel forward. It was very strange and very strong. Obviously I’m meant to go back and stay there!
Also oddly, when I was writing about it in my journal that night in our Chedworth Airbnb, the globe lights on the wall kept flickering. Although they did not flicker if I looked at them… only if I was NOT looking at them. I could see them out of the corner of my eye. I’m sure it wasn’t my brain shorting out! It went on for a weirdly long time and was the only time they did that while we were there. If they really were doing that.
And Kim had her own epiphany moment, which I’ll just say briefly involved her getting strong messages that she had to let go of the past and the future and focus on dwelling in the moment, as well as letting go of what she doesn’t need and setting boundaries. Exactly what she’d been having some major issues with.
So all that was quite interesting and thought provoking, and now I need to go back to England!!
Of course there was a lot more to Avebury, including the very pretty village where people have stones in their back yards.
And there’s a beautiful old church and interesting buildings and lots of sheep.
And horses just hanging out beside the road through the village!
And the beech trees with their astonishing root system:
And of course the Red Lion, the only pub in the world that’s inside an ancient stone circle, AND is also reportedly haunted by numerous ghosts! We sat outside and drank a beer. Happily they had Wellwater this time - on our last visit, in 2017, they were very disappointingly out of the Wellwater. We’ve eaten there and not been terribly impressed with the food, but the beer is outstanding. Even when it’s not Wellwater.
AND as if that isn’t enough, I will throw in a few pictures of Marlborough, where we stopped for dinner on the way back to Chedworth. We were trying to get back before dark so didn’t have much time to walk around, but we spent a LOT of time in Marlborough in 2013 with Baker B. We stayed just a couple of miles outside town and really loved it.
This time Kim and I had one of our few non-pub meals at an Italian restaurant called, oddly, Ask Italian. It was very good - I had Mushroom Ragu and we both had fancy mixed drinks. Mine was the ginger gin on the left, and was delicious. I don’t remember what Kim’s was, other than also delicious.
We were inside, but had a nice view of the street:
And then it was back to Chedworth, with one more day left, featuring Sudeley Castle.
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