Tymon Burghy

There are many mysteries in life: Are mythical creatures real? Is there life on other planets? Why do children hate naps? What is an NFT? and What is the meaning of Stonehenge? to name a few. Now I’m not going to try to answer any of those questions – sorry to disappoint. I will, however, talk about my journey to one of the Ancient Wonders of the World.

    In their 2011 song titled “Stonehenge”, Ylvis asks the very question that I have already asked. “What is the meaning of Stonehenge.” When working in our office one rainy May Friday in Oxford, my roommate Ben and I were listening to random songs when Stonehenge came on. We sat there for some time listening to it when it dawned on me that I had Stonehenge on my list of things to do while I was in the UK. I hadn’t talked to Ben about what he wanted to see, but I figured that Stonehenge was on the list too. We had a bank holiday coming up the next Monday so I paused the music and asked Ben, “Hey what do you have planned for Monday?”

“Nothing,” he replied, “how about you?”

“Want to go to Stonehenge?” I asked casually even though I already had an idea of his answer.

“Dude!” he exclaimed enthusiastically, “Let’s go to Stonehenge!” It was settled.

    That evening I ordered the tickets to Stonehenge. This would be the first real “touristy” thing I would do in the UK. The anticipation built up over the weekend until finally we were on the train to Salisbury. The train trip had several stops and a couple times where we had to wait for another train. I brought a book with me to read while we travelled. A few hours later we got off the train at Salisbury the closest station to Stonehenge. Outside the train station sat a bus with the words Stonehenge Tours sprawled across the side of it. We got on and paid the driver and he handed us each a set of earbuds. We climbed to the top tier of the bus and got front row seats – which are prime spots on an English bus. After another few minutes, the bus launched and we plugged the headphones in. A recorded tour guide spoke in our ears and told us about the area. It turns out that the Salisbury Steak was unfortunately not invented in Salisbury, England. As the bus drove, the guide told us about the early people who lived in the area that made forts in the hills and even built Stonehenge. The people who lived here were some of the earliest human civilisations in Europe and definitely the earliest in England. 

    We pulled up to the Stonehenge car park and unloaded from the bus. Ben and I were stoked to be there, we made our way to the visitor centre and checked in. We were directed to a small display set up near the visitor centre that showed what the huts would’ve looked like that the people who built Stonehenge lived in. Made of mud and straw it’s a wonder in itself how they survived through the English rainy seasons.

    We then jumped on a bus from the visitor centre up to the monument itself. The monument was something to behold. As we walked around the massive stones, we tuned into the free tour app and learned more about the history behind the monument, the group that built it. We strolled through the path around the monument, being controlled by restrictions, it was very uncrowded and we could get around the path pretty easily. Taking pictures as we went of the different views of the stones and parts of the monument. We got around to the designated photo spot which was also the closest that we were able to get to the monument, and took several photos, some fun, some serious. Then I pulled out my AirPods and gave one to Ben. I turned on the Stonehenge song by Ylvis and we stood there and listened to the song in front of the titular stones. It can be described as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The monument itself was much larger than I thought it would be, the stones reached into the sky and created an impressive display. There was just something magical about it.

    After getting out of the Stonehenge queue, we started trekking towards another monument called Woodhenge. Walking through the fields dodging sheep and sheep droppings, we made the mile and a half trek over strange mounds to finally arrive at Woodhenge. Woodhenge currently consists of small concrete cylinders forming the henge. In the past, this henge would have been made from wooden posts towering 7.5m (25ft) into the air. As with Stonehenge, it is assumed to be a ceremony site made as a part of a series of monuments. I had been told by someone at work to visit Woodhenge and that it was more impressive than Stonehenge, but I found that that wasn’t quite true. Although I did enjoy Woodhenge and I still encourage you to see it if you’re travelling to Stonehenge, it is not better than Stonehenge. 

    We walked back and the wind really picked up, we were walking and my hat flew off and I had to chase it down and get it back. The wind was so bad at one point that we were yelling trying to talk to each other. When we got back to the monument, we went around the monument one more time to get a few more photos before we headed back. We took the bus back to the visitor centre and waited for the bus to pick us up and for us to get ready to head back home. We got back to the flat and were exhausted, it was a great way to spend a bank holiday with one of my best friends.