Monthly Archives for September 2011

Small Henges and a Henge Spotter’s Time Out

photo from modelermagic.com

Today–more small Stonehenges for the home. Above is the Larson Designs 1/72 scale Stonehenge model, a pre-made resin model that sells for between $50 and $75.

It has its faults but over all it is not a bad model. Many stones are in the right places including the trilithon horseshoe faces the three-lintel segment of the outside circle, always a sign that someone actually looked at Stonehenge before making it. And that IS desirable. (We learned that Larson Designs makes or at least made a Firefly Class freighter model. Also desirable.)

And this little set is made by Mosaic Mad Romans, a UK company that makes simple mosaics for children. This kit does need assembly. The company claims it is made of marble, which outclasses the real monument to a considerable degree. We are not certain how this qualifies as a mosaic, but it is charming, and once again the trilithon horseshoe/three-lintel stretch thing happens, so we’ll overlook that small detail.

There is no shortage in the world of Stonehenge sets and kits for home use. How many households include one (or more), we wonder? Stonehenge continues to proliferate its offspring by infecting and re-infecting the human mind in a natural reproductive process. It is awe-inspiring to watch, although we could do with David Attenborough to do it justice.

While the creation of Stonehenge replicas never takes a rest, Clonehenge will be going on hiatus for a month or so. (Unless we receive or stumble upon an example we cannot resist posting. We’re weak like that!) We don’t even plan to post the Friday foodhenge for a while. It even could be longer than a month until we return to the task. We shall see. We stand confident in the conviction that we will not be missed.

If you do get a twinge, the world is full of materials for making Stonehenge replicas. Go to it! Or just keep your eyes open. You know they’re out there. Always take a camera. So until next time, friends, happy henging!

Most Accurate Digital Model Ever: Now There’s No Good Excuse!

photo by English Heritage, but found here

A brief much more sensible post. We know last week’s was less than optimal. We will try to be less silly today.

Won’t be too difficult because we have only a simple news item to report from the English Heritage website: “A detailed survey of every stone that makes up Stonehenge using the latest technology, including a new scanner on loan from Z+F UK that has never before been used on a heritage project in this country, has resulted in the most accurate digital model ever produced of the world famous monument.” There is also a video that we wanted to imbed here but couldn’t, a preview of the scan results.

The news item goes on: “With resolution level as high as 0.5mm in many areas, every nook and cranny of the stones’ surfaces is revealed with utmost clarity, including the lichens, Bronze Age carvings, erosion patterns and Victorian graffiti. ”

This project is significant for us, of course, because there is now a super-accurate model of Stonehenge for people to use when creating their own replicas and for us to use for comparison when judging replicas. Of course we wonder things, like–did they just scan the stones or did the scan the ground, too, so that everything is place in exactly the right place and at exactly the right angle? No mention of that here. Maybe later.

The last paragraph of the page at that link (which we are sure you clicked on!) implies that some of the information may be used to make a replica for the future visitor center. When that happens,we will be sending out a plea to our minions for pictures of that replica to post here.

But for now we just wanted to keep you informed of the latest news in Stonehenge models and replicas. Thank you for visiting.

To tell you the truth, we never suspected when at the age of 19 we hauled those stones out there and tipped them up under cover of night, how interested, even obsessed with them people would eventually become. We thought for a while we might one day come out and admit the hoax, but with the tourism and giving jobs to archaeologists, who, it must be admitted, need something to do, the whole idea of “ancient” Stonehenge has taken on a life of its own. We may never publicly admit that it was just a lark we pulled after a friend bragged of building Glastonbury Tor and placing that cheap folly on top.

Oops! Getting off on a tangent again. We don’t want to go blathering on about the past like an old person. Can’t imagine anyone being interested. Cheers, and, until next time, happy henging!

Feeling Emo–The Anguish of Clonehenge!

photo from the maths department at the University of Arkansas

Someone said to us recently, “You must love Stonehenge replicas!” Haha! *bitter laugh* Let’s get this straight–there is probably no one in the world as tired of Stonehenge replicas as we are! How could they be? We’re the only ones who look at them all the time, search for them, judge them, read about them…

We mention this because we could hardly get ourselves to do this post. Mankind’s desire to make new Stonehenges grows and grows, but our will to chronicle them, frankly, wanes. After all, there are 6 billion or so of you and only, well, one or two of us.

Click on any of these pictures to learn more about the replica depicted. We are far too busy with our anguish about how nobody truly understands us and nobody else perceives the world with our subtle aesthetic and metaphysical understandings or appreciates our artistic worldly view… alas and alack! We suddenly feel the world could do with more black Stonehenge replicas–to go with our clothes, our nails, our hair and our lips.

The one glimmer of hope in this dark business is the kids who continue to make their little Stonehenges with enthusiasm. Often they manage to do better than older people because they are innocent enough to actually look at Stonehenge and see that it’s not made up of rectangles and straight lines. Even when they do include straight lines, they’re likely to get the proportions and stone shapes closer to right.

Have we whined enough? No? Look at these shoes–we’ve only had them three weeks and the heels are worn right through! And anyway: global warming, governmental corruption, big corporations, joblessness, hunger, conspiracies, garbage in orbit, garbage in the oceans, bigots, deforestation, extinction of species, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, Michele Bachmann, reality television, people who don’t use their turning lights, Twitter planning to put adverts RIGHT IN YOUR TWITTER STREAM without so much as a by-your-leave or an if-I-may, the revival of Clippy… It’s all too much!

Wait. . . .  You know what? We’re kind of feeling better now. That cheered us up. Or maybe it’s the fact that we’ve finished our post for the week. Either way we’re all smiles here. Time for a cat henge!

Awwwww! Cats make everything better. All is right with the world!

So until next time, friends, happy shiny henging!

Cheswardine: Another Long-Sought Henge Attained!

photo by Mia Robinson

Well, we survived the flood and gales. Many thanks to those who sent us good wishes, silent or otherwise. Irene let us live to henge another day.

We have long sought a picture of this little trilithon circle in Cheswardine, Shropshire. Looking at it, you may well ask, “Why?” but the fact is, once we know something like this is out there, we desire to list it, just as a collector wants that Mickey Mantle rookie card or that Black Lotus card, or any special little knick knack that completes a set. If there is a Stonehenge replica out there, we want it on Clonehenge!

We know very little about this one. Tinker, our photograph provider in this case says, “i recently moved to cheswardine and was thrilled when i randomly found the henge!!! i drove past it lots of times it wasnt until i stopped for the post box that i saw it as its hidden from the main road its on small ground next to a house but it is very lovely!!”

And a site on the interwebs says, “On our way back home we happened to pass through the Shropshire village of Cheswardine, and having spotted what looked like a miniature Stonehenge, we had to stop and photograph it. The structure is on the grass verge of a street called Symon’s Way, which leads off the main road through the village, and it is made of rough stone blocks. ”

As for score,we can’t give it more than 5 druids, charming as it is. Very cute, but not very Stonehenge-like. The ideal picture of this henge would include at least one cat. Possibly wearing a tie or hat.

The point of this post, however, is to laud, trumpet, and otherwise praise our alert reader and contributor for finding this henge in Cheswardine and sending us the picture! Well done, Tinker! If we gave out awards, we would send you one. Alas we do not, however. You will have to be content with the admiration of a grateful nation (the Henge Nation), and the not-inconsiderable honour of having made us happy. Well done, you!

We hate to post and run, but we watched Ancient Aliens last night and now are all worked up about mica at Teotihuacan, the stonework at Ollantaytambo, and the precise and symmetrical carving at Luxor.  So we are going to cut this post short and go do hours of pointless Googling which will lead us to countless flaky sites that all quote the same, probably dubious, source(s).  Oh, what fun!

We wonder when Ancient Aliens will get around to discussing the mystery of countless people building Stonehenge replicas around the world. Alien mind control?  I’m sure that the guy with the intense tan and weird hair is on task as we speak.  Stay tuned!!

And until then, happy henging!