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Today on a whim, we went out for a drive with no idea where we were going ... I was driving.

After following no particular route I saw a sign for Salisbury ... and decided to pay a visit to Stonehenge, Jane was only saying a week or so ago that she would like to see it, as she had never been.

So we do Stonehenge, and very pleasant it was too ... BUT.. here is the sorry tale of a man's youth being lost forever !!

After the tour as we were walking back to the car, we notice a sign saying "Join English Heritage" .. we have a brief chat about it and say that we should do that one day, save a few bob on entry fees etc ... but when we get back to the car and look at the leaflet it states "Join today and we will refund your admission charge" ... well we did the maths and a £75 yearly pass would mean that we get a refund of the £16.50 I had paid ... So we did it !

WE are now the proud owners of a 1 year pass to over 400 English Heritage sites across the UK ... better still, because we opted to pay by direct debit, we get 15 months for the price of 12 ... All I want for christmas is a tartan flask and blanket !!

Where did my youth go... I want it back !!

old git.

Welcome aboard Kev!

PS - Why have you shaved your hair off in the middle?

Kicking a man when he is down!  :D

PS Welcome to the old gits club

The goalposts were much closer together in those days

Solar panel for a love machine ;)

national trust alot better :) *ducks*

The time to worry is when you start smelling of boiled ham and piss.

Yup, welcome to the old boys club Kev.

Could be worse, you could have reached it at 21.

blatent "i've  met Tikay"  brag imo

That I like.

Insult, with added humour.

When will the Kidz ever learn that sort of subtlety? ;)

Blatant 'I drove the car and didn't crash it' post imo.

So, age has caught up with you my friend ?

Here you go, consider a short break next time -

Long Weekend (http://www.saga.co.uk/travel/hotels3/hilton/HiltonHotelSearch.aspx)

I can't believe it - you have to pay to see Stonehenge - I must be really old!  I can remember when I went to Stonehenge in 1962 and you could wonder about and clmb on the stones at will - didn't have to pay a penny.

 ;whistle;

NOOOOOOOOOOO! you little monkey

 rotflmfao   revenge for all those baby pics you embaressed me with he he

What gives them the right to charge a fee?

I would love to challenge this in court.

It's theirs, they maintain it and cant have anyone turning up wrecking it, what makes the country ours or our governments? by that rational anyone can turn up and say this is a nice county, lets take it for ourselves, then you'd want someone in power to stand up and take possession of the country for you and organize defense on your behalf.

You can see stonehenge from the road, which is really quite close to the stones ... (although plans have been passed which will close the main road in a couple of years) so you dont actually have to pay to see it.

The entry money includes a telephone type thingumybob which gives you a full and in depth commentary on the stones and the surrounding area . was £16.50 which was a family ticket and admitted 2 adults and up to 3 children under the age of 15.

How many times did you walk round them? how long were you there?

 just the once, the commentary has 7 stages, each one is marked on the route by a marker on the floor ... £16.50 for a family of 5 is a bargain, we were only there just over an hour, but there is coffee shop and cafe, souvenir shop  ... plus guides dotted around the perimeter of the stones who are happy to answer any questions.


I had been before (I didn't have to pay then) and I was appalled to see kids climbing on the stones etc ... far better this way imo.

did you try nicking one of the phone things? the alarm that goes off is really loud

LOL thought about it, but then at the end of the commentary is the bit that says "Please hand the commentary devices back to the stand, the alarm which goes of at the turnstile, if you forget, is rather loud"

So that the poor can't afford to see it?

Who's?

when TK used to go there they didnt charge you. they just asked for help in moving a few stones into place....

Cancel the DD and grim them

You CAN see it clearly without paying ... in fact there were plenty of people taking photo's from outside the perimeter fence ... bloody expensive cameras they had too.

I suppose it's like a lot of other places Tom ... The Eiffel tower, Tower of London, Buckingham palace, the list is endless ... anyone can look at them, but it costs you to get up close.

Fair enough imo, these places need funds for maintenance, and preservation.

Deserves some loving :D :D

I am going to use this thread to keep a tally of the entry fees we skive through the membership cards (I will make it pay for itself !!) ... and bore everyone to death with pics of the places we go to ... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !

Other places you have in mind to visit??

Now for some real excitement  you can visit SEA henge at Holme next the sea , Norfolk

But unfortunately the local historians decided to dig it up and put it  in a museum near Peterborough

What a shame , it lay there for thousands of years , no bother to anyone.

This site ( was ) of international importance, formed by 55 oak timber posts completely encircling an upturned oak tree, has generated much public and media interest since its discovery was announced in January 1999.

Osborne house and Carisbrook Castle on the Isle of Wight ... Portchester castle which is 5 mins away, and although we have been into the grounds a few times, we have never actually been inside the castle.

Hastings (Abbey & Battlefield)

Thats just a few off the top of my head, I will have a good scan of the handbook and will no doubt find loads of other places as well.

By the way, I fully expect to see tikay's house listed in the handbook :D

Deserves nothing.

so what happens at the solstice,

 do all the hippies pay £16 to get  close to it?

Stonehenge

In ancient times, hundreds of years before the
dawn of history.
There lived a strange race of people...the Druids.
No one knows who they were, or what they were doing...
but their legacy remains...
hewn into the living rock of Stonehenge...

Stonehenge, where the demons dwell
Where the banshees live and they do live well
Stonehenge
Where a man is a man and the children dance to
the pipes of pan

And you my love, won't you take my hand
We'll go back in time to that mystic land
Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow
I will take you there
I will show you how

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7wcyLrPqC4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7wcyLrPqC4)

government

So they can visit it for free, or charge everyone else £1000, or blow it up, or ban us from seeing it altogether?

Any plans to visit a wide strip of hairless skin?

they can but they wouldnt because its  unreasonable, i think charging for it is reasonable you clearly dont, but you seem to think it isnt a monetary issue but a broader human rights/possesion/property issue and i dont think it is.

I think maintaining and protecting it is reasonable, but that protection should be funded by the taxpayer, lottery grant, or some other none discriminatory source.

Making it available (Or at least more available) only to those who can afford it is wrong.

Yup, give me a ring when you shave the tash off, I will be there.

how long has it been since you have had to pay and has it always been fenced off?

Lol. Sorry, but you said places off the top of your head....

fyp

ages and no, there was no fence when they first built the place

You don't know that. There possibly was.

they probably left the fences up after the cranes lifted the rocks into position

the outer ring of stones was built as a security fence. they wouldn't have needed to fence in the world's most advanced security fence, would've been a waste of money. they did have dogs patrolling the area though

to protect what?

historians disagree on this but the most recent evidence seems to suggest that the inner ring of stones were used as markers for a helipad

they didnt have helicopters in wiltshire

I'm surprised they had stone.

that's why it took so long to figure out stonehenge's use, it just didn't make sense. turns out it's a refuelling stop for travellers from oxford wanting to visit the portland bill lighthouse