Author Archives for nancy wisser

New and Improved Clonehenge Contest!

almondhenge

Our new contest begins with the autumn equinox. Create a cool, exciting, hilarious or just excellent henge or henges and send photos to us by winter solstice in the northern hemisphere [which is December 21st this year].

doghenge

Judging will take place over the holidays and we will announce the winners early in January. These can be Stonehenge replicas you made before and never posted online (bear in mind, we spend a lot of time searching and have seen hundreds of replicas online that we’ve never posted to Clonehenge, so don’t assume that if it’s not posted here we haven’t seen it!) or replicas made new especially for the contest. They can also be Stonehenges you made for a school project (and possibly added stupid things to). Don’t forget the peoplehenge concept!

Foodhenges, dioramas with figures, beautiful high quality henges, stupid and silly henges, all are welcome. If we get enough we will divide them into categories. Winners will receive a Clonehenge t-shirt.

Photos may be sent to nancy.wisser @ gmail.com . Remove the spaces.

block-henge

We look forward to seeing some inspired new henges. Happy henging, gentle readers!

Photo and henge credits: almondhenge (a microhenge)  by Simon W. Burrows, doghenge and cement block henge by that mad henger, deadeyebart.

clonehenge t shirt

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Tiny Tick-Tock Stonehenge Clock

sh-clock-2photo by Stonehenge Guy, Bob Bradlee of Stonehenge Collectables

You’ll find it on Ebay, this curious little Stonehenge with a clock on its side, made by Westland Giftware. Who thinks of these things? Who was the person who said, let’s make a tiny little Stonehenge-ish thing and put a small clock face on it? You have to wonder.

But clockmakers and astronomers are among those most aware of Stonehenge. We showed you a trilithon replica at a clock museum in a post about two museum replicas. Stonehenge is seen partly as an ancient timekeeper, so combining a clock with Stonehenge isn’t completely random. Not that we mind things that are completely random–they’re often our favourites!

This item is wrong in so many ways–proportions are all wrong, it’s all one solid piece . . . And yet, can you feel it? That pull? We can feel it calling us to buy it and set it to gather dust on the shelf above the computer where we do our Clonehenging. It’s kind of, well, you know–cute. Stonehenge isn’t supposed to be cute! Bad Stonehenge replica!

Score: 5  itty bitty, tiny little druid fairies! Aww, can’t you just see them dancing? And picture their footprints in the dust on our shelves? Wait, what’s that the cat has in her mouth? Uh oh, gotta go!

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Bed-Henge Project, Yet to Be Realised

bed-hengephoto by Sebastien Fouet, intermittent artist, with permission

Looks real, doesn’t it, until you stop and think about how those skinny mattresses are standing by themselves. It was a thought while doing housework: beds are rectangular–there has to be a bedhenge. And there it was, on the first page of the search. When we asked to post the picture, Monsieur Fouet, the impudent Frenchman said, “Well, Yes, You can use my stuff for your fetishist Henge web site 🙂 , no problem.” Ouais? Eh bien, merci, mon petit chou!

But then he emailed again, telling us what we should have known– that this arrangement of mattresses is virtual, existing only on computers. So should we post it? Well, why not? We haven’t had a French one yet. There’s something about beds in a park that seems so very French. And we must say that the shadows of the mattresses are nicely done.

You can see another construction, named Document but nick-named Mattresshenge, in the fifth picture down on this page. Nice, but not meant as a Stonehenge replica. It was the only other thing we could find.

So what about the image above? It is almost all trilithons, understandable but not optimal. Perhaps the most surprising thing about it is his inclusion of the center trilithon horseshoe, which seems to be taller than the others, just  as in the original.

Score? We give it 5 druids. Let us know, Sebastien, if you ever get your project off the ground. [How does that idiom read on Google Translate?!]

Oh, yeah, we almost forgot–Yarr, mateys. Shiver me timbers. Avast ye scallywags. And the like. Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day, a bit late!

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Werner Wick’s Stonehenge in Bavaria

bavarian SH 2photo from Markt Velden

Yes, another one for the Large Permanent Replica list! This one was masterminded by horticulturist and landscape gardener Werner Wick on the property of his business near Velden, Bavaria, Germany.

The Germans have their share of these things, don’t they? Let’s see, there was Stonehenge in der Oberpfalz, the one at the Deutsches Museum, the tiny one at Miniwelt and of course the one at Therme Erding (consistently one of our most popular posts but we suspect that’s more because of the words mandatory nudity in the title than because of a great enthusiasm for spa megaliths).

This is one of those quirky privately inspired replicas, which always have their unique aspects. It consists of just the five center trilithons and an inner horseshoe of smaller stones representing bluestones. A neat way to make a smaller structure and still have it be fairly accurate. And he has anchored the uprights in cement to prevent falls, just like they have in the original in modern times.

As far as we can make out from the translated page, the idea had been on Herr Wick’s mind for about 30 years before he built it with a friend’s help. A serious traffic accident from which he emerged unharmed seems to have spurred him on. Perhaps he was spared because his mission to build a Stonehenge replica had not yet been fulfilled!

Score: 7 druids. We like this sturdy homage to the megalith builders. May Werner Wick live many years in order to enjoy his creation!

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Toilet Henge Again: Oh, Banksy, You Kidder!

banksy henge

photo by MG/BS4, with permission

Admittedly this is a little late, as the article we got it from was posted in June. It got by us at the time but a friend of the blog sent us a link, so here it is, another toilethenge by Banksy, this time part of the exhibit Banksy vs. Bristol Museum.

Not sure why he went for this again. His Glastonbury replica was sufficiently satisfying, and the guerrilla art pinballhenge that may or may not be his struck us as a little fresher. If you know what we mean.

Written on the Welcome to the Museum sign are the words, “Now wash your hands,” which would actually be funnier if they were on a sign on the way out that said “Thank you for visiting the museum.”

Long time readers will remember that this is not our first Bristol henge. Rogue archaeologists at the uni there built a snowhenge during the great snow last winter. We’ll be keeping an eye on that city from now on.

Score: 5½ druids this time. This is smaller and less elaborate than last time, just one trilithon and a fallen upright, and it feels a little tired. You never know with Banksy, of course–that may be what he’s going for. He certainly is not worried about his score on Clonehenge. We confess we’re fans and we look forward to whatever he comes up with next, henge or no henge!

Romans vs. Druids, a Stonehenge Diorama!

Romans_1.sized

from Stonehenge Collectables.com, with kind permission

Oh, goody! You know how sometimes things can be so wrong and yet so right? The diorama above, built years ago by a Canadian (you know how they are–ya just never know what the heck they’ll do next! ;-)) and now in the collection of Stonehenge collector Bob Bradlee, is that kind of thing.

Ah, the wonders of Twitter! That is where we ran across Mr. Bradlee aka StonehengeGuy and his website Stonehenge Collectables.com. In our unrelenting search for Stonehenge models and replicas we have seen all kinds of Stonehenge post cards, art, t-shirts, etc., but somehow we never knew there were people out there lapping them all up! Now we know.

A few of the things he has picked up along the way are, like this one, hengy enough to cross over into Clonehenge territory. As anyone who knows us must surely guess, we love this one! [more photos of it here]Yes, those are actual little Roman soldiers with shields and helmets and swords, fighting, yes, oh yes, druids unclad from the waist up (except for the women) using clubs, bows and arrows and double-headed axes! It is the battle for Stonehenge, a battle that almost certainly never took place.

We don’t know what the model Stonehenge itself is made of (see comments for that info), but it’s nicely done. No bluestones, of course, and no ditch and bank, but the monument is, realistically, already in ruins in the time of the druids, so there is no implied assertion that the druids built Stonehenge. Refreshing.

Score: 6 druids. I’ll bet the staff of the Wiltshire Heritage Museum are dying to get their hands on this baby! By the way, here’s what worries us, looking at this: if the druids were magical like so many people say, why didn’t they defeat the Romans when they conquered England? Why couldn’t they levitate them and drop them into the English Channel or something? Could it have been the irresistible lure of the tourist lira?

Our thanks to StonehengeGuy. We look forward to seeing more from his collection, but we doubt he can beat this!

Craig’s List Foamhenge–Keeping Austin Weird

styrofoam SH3Photo copyright, Joseph R. Jarrett September 11, 2009 “Foamhenge – Austin, Texas”

An advertisement on Craig’s List in Austin yesterday read, “Stonehenge in Austin!!!! Large blocks of boat dock Styrofoam ready for creation of the New Druid sanctuary. OR you could saw it into 3.5″ slices and use it to insulate your garage wall like I did.”and later, “Free at the Curb [address removed] Disturbing the High Council with electronic wizardry signals or rapping upon the Great Hall Door will bring Great Shame to you and your Steeds!!! Gollum and the Castle Hounds will be pissed too!!! :)~  Oh, some garden hose is there too.”

It was accompanied by the photo above. Since then, we are informed, someone picked up the styrofoam to use as a waterfall. (Not sure how that works, but whatever.) The henger and photographer tells us, “I made this “Foamhenge” to summon the forces of the Druids to influence the global economy. I also used sections of these blocks to insulate my 1951 garage as a way to promote recycle and re-use.. . . Mostly, I am cleaning up my yard!!!!”

Well, we say if you’re cleaning up your place anyway, why not petition the Old Gods while you do it? It can’t do any harm and who knows–it might help. We’re kind of sorry we never see temporary styrofoam Stonehenges when we drive through our nearby suburban areas. But then we don’t have the motto this city does: “Keep Austin Weird!” Looks like Mr. Jarrett is just doing his part!

Do we score this ephemeral offering? No–for one thing we can’t tell if those are trilithons or just blocks with hats. And why ruin a fun thing with a score that to be fair would have to be low? Any druids have already dispersed. Let’s just enjoy it for what it was!

Replica In the News: Strawhenge in Essex

strawhenge 2Sent in by alert reader PG, here is a strawhenge just reported today by the BBC. You can see the video of it being made here. Part of it falls over, but at the end of the video they compress the whole hour and twenty minutes it took to build it into 10 seconds. Fun!

We hadn’t seen a strawhenge in a while. Our thanks to the mystery contributor.

Score: 6 druids. It’s better than a set of trilithons, and we love to see one being made with heavy machinery for a change!

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Polystyrene Henge–Stonehenge for Lizards!

build-Stonehenge-for-lizard 2photos from Lizard-Landscapes.com, with permission

“You know you’ve always wanted to build a model Stonehenge…” How can we resist posting a model Stonehenge from a page that begins with those words!? This website has a page telling how to create a Stonehenge model for a pet who is ordinarily confined to a cage or dry aquarium. And it’s brilliant!

Poor creatures–after all, what are the chances they’re ever going to get to Wiltshire? Srsly? So it’s your job to bring Stonehenge to them. And luckily for you, Andy, the proprietor of Lizard-Landscapes.com, is amazingly good at making faux stone things and demonstrating how to do it. There’s even a step-by-step video! Check it out here: How to Build a Model Stonehenge.

build-Stonehenge 2As sometimes happens, we started out chuckling when we first stumbled across this (Stonehenge for your lizard? Rly?), but upon closer examination, we were impressed. He looked at Stonehenge. Carefully. He says the word sarsen, and would have said trilithon if he’d known the word. He was reaching for it, but could only come up with “Stonehenge structures.” The point is, he noticed. Well done, sir!

And he says, both in the text and on the video that “You know you’ve always wanted to” make a model of Stonehenge. Ha! This strikes at what we refer to as the Clonehenge mystery. Yes, for many people this has the ring of truth, but why? Why have so many people always wanted to create a Stonehenge model? Why does it turn up everywhere? It is a question we ponder. Instead of doing anything worthwhile.

In the meantime, it’s worth watching the video just to see the green anole  (the lizard above) leaping from stone to stone. No doubt this is how it was when Stonehenge was built, back in the age of the dinosaurs.  (You didn’t think men coexisted with dinosaurs? See the proof here!) And, although unrelated to dinosaurs, be sure to check out his miniature city page, if only to see the lizard rampaging through the streets when it’s finished. If you’ll pardon the expression–Cool!

Score: 7 druids. We love being surprised and entertained. Hmmm . . . maybe we should build a Stonehenge for our cat. Or better yet, in the local elementary school playground. So many replicas needed, so little time!