‘At RAF Boscombe Down we were preparing numerous aircraft for the Cold War … I was asked to help the crane operators at Stonehenge … I knew about cranes from the aircraft … We got into the main circle … one of the main sarsen stones had fallen down … we got it up into position and the other workers packed stones round the bottom … we got one of the lintel stones up and put up a blue stone on the way out.’
In 1950, after 18 years without refreshments since the demolition of the Stonehenge café, the National Trust allowed a mobile tea-bar in the car park. By 1954 there were new underground lavatories, and in 1960 the car park was extended. Three years later an automated ticket machine was installed to alleviate queues.
More problematic was the interior of the stone circle, which the feet of countless tourists turned into a quagmire each winter. The interior was surfaced with gravel in 1963, protecting the fragile archaeology.
This major engineering project and associated excavations began in 1958 and continued into 1959. Atkinson, Piggott and Stone together oversaw the archaeological work. The trilithon was re-erected from the position where it had lain for 161 years. An upright and a lintel forming part of the outer circle were also put back into position. One of the large sarsens of the inner horseshoe was set in concrete and a large hollow at its base infilled. The sarsen bases were set in concrete to prevent future movement. Finally, six fallen bluestones were lifted and straightened.
https://www.silentearth.org/restorations-at-stonehenge-2/
Yes,Amazing. How in the hell did the original builders construct that amazing edifice?
ReplyDeleteriduclous amount of strength and clever use of ramps, rolling those big rocks on round logs... ever see a ship roll on inflated bags out of the ocean onto shore? Incredible heavy loads can easily be moved with some simple engineering, use of lever, fulcrum, etc.
DeleteThe pyramids were made the same way, and the Easter Island statues erected similarly, and the obelisks the Egyptians made.
There was a you tube video I posted about 15 years ago where a high school teacher showed how a man can single handedly move 20 ton blocks... it's a slow process, but a big block can pivot on a single well placed rock, with balance, and then there is very little friction in the movement. Then crab walk it.
I just saw online that a man bought Stonehenge in 1915 at an auction, when he told his wife he was going to buy some dining chairs. He donated the site to the British government, as long as locals could visit for free and others would only pay a shilling for admission.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/news/the-man-who-bought-stonehenge
I just read that this morning too! Thanks!
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