Winter Solstice

I returned to Avebury for the Solstice on the 22nd with Moonface & Nicky, who have both been to previous Solstices, both Winter and Summer.

The early morning was chill and misty, with a light frost and an atmosphere of quiet apart from the muted rush of commuter traffic from the 21st century road running through the Circle.

There were only thirty-five people within the circle witnessing the ceremony, which was led by Terry the Druid. A prosaic name, a strange title. The ceremony was gentle & convivial, with most attendees introducing themselves by name and their home. It's wonderful and surprising to think that there was only that small number of people in the largest stone circle in Britain; a monument that's five thousand years old, predating the Pyramids and Stonehenge.

After the short ceremonial, Moonface, Nicky and I walked up to Windmill Hill, over the sodden fields and the winterbournes, swollen by the recent rains. In summer their courses had all been dry; and now the streams are overflowing into the low fields surrounding them.