Stingy Stonehengers

“I don’t mind spending money, but I hate WASTING money”

This is a statement I have made from time to time and our kids roll their eyes whenever they hear me say it.

For me, spending money to see Stonehenge would have fallen into that ‘wasting’ category. Loss had zero interest in it, and I had only marginally more - but I figured it was just one of those things that had to be done. Fortunately, I had done some research and discovered that it was indeed possible to visit Stonehenge without spending a cent (penny) so this was very, very appealing.

I punched into Waze the spot to which we needed to drive - the intersection of Fargo and Willoughby Roads, Larkhill. The morning was overcast but no rain was falling and we parked at the (assumed) correct spot after a 45 minute drive from Bath. From here it should be a 15 minute walk to our goal.

We had seen coach-loads of people out on the roads and assumed they were all heading towards Stonehenge ‘proper’ - so this made us (especially Loss) pleased not to be part of those teeming masses who would arrive at the car park (and pay for that very privilege as is almost universally the case here); then hand over AUD$40pp to get crammed into a shuttle bus to be driven to the Stones; then jostle with all those fellow passengers to only get moderately close / frustratingly distant to what they had come to see (its all fenced off); and then do all that in reverse.

There were no other cars where we parked which was both pleasing and slightly unsettling. Nevertheless, we followed the described gravel path and before long could see ‘The Stones’ standing up on the hill in the distance. In our foreground were flocks of sheep with the Stones in the background; but for the people that were being disgorged from the shuttle busses they had flocks tourists in their foreground - and background.

As we approached the fence that divided off the ‘paid’ visitors from us, our non-camouflage jackets must have caught the attention of the security man guarding the fence we were approaching. He started moving along his ‘Berlin Wall’ with the obvious intention of intercepting us.
My (so far) reliable website ‘hack’ promised that there would be another path that would run parallel to this fence and that once we hit this dividing wall we would be able to turn and walk along it to get adjacent to the Stones. But I couldn’t see it yet.

I was a few paces ahead of Loss and as we approached the Berlin Wall (or was it the 38th Parallel?) the not-so-congenial looking security man looked directly at me and called out in his most stern voice “Excuse me sir, do you have an entry ticket?”
As I was taking the last few strides in his direction and had no choice but to reply “No, I do not” I was thinking that we might have just had a fruitless walk through the Salisbury countryside and that we would either be turned away or would have to cough up the required fee.
Even behind my sun glasses, I’m sure he could see the whites of my eyes and he probably could sense an early morning victory against unwanted intruders.
But at that moment I spotted the little gate in the fence on the left (on MY side of the divide) that lead to the promised pathway. Without a change in pace I turned and stepped onto that path. There was a pause from the security man just for a moment and then, in a slightly defeated tone he said ‘…and now I will leave you well alone, sir if you remain on that path’ at which point he sauntered off to defend other parts of his stronghold.
I thanked him as earnestly as I could and we walked unimpeded to a point where we were just a a few meters further away from the Stones than the paying tourists. We only remained for a few minutes to take some snaps etc before returning on our pleasant 15 minute walk back to the car, pleased with our frugal start to the day and our brisk walk in the crisp morning air.

Next stop, Oxford.Read more