Springs, stones and playgrounds!
Travelling with my manic ball of energy called Eben is certainly an interesting experience. It has been non-stop since we arrived in Southampton and headed up to Marlborough, first stop the Alton Springs.
We were challenged by a number of diversions but I would not be defeated and we did eventually find All Saints at Alton Priors, a beautiful twelfth-century church with a yew tree in the churchyard which is said to be 1,700 years old! The hollow trunk has been divided into two but it is still healthy, it’s rather amazing and well worth the visit. The whole place is magical, they found an old Sarsen stone with a hole in it (indicating its importance) buried in the church, an attempt had been made to break it in two, reminding me of my beloved Goddess menhir in Guernsey.
We were also here to see the springs that bubble up from greensand in this magical woodland between Alton Priors and Alton Barnes, just incredible, I’ve never seen anything like to before. There wasn't a huge amount of time to enjoy the healing potential of these springs as Eben was by then trying to chop the greenery with his pretend sword, which always drives me slightly mad because it seems such a waste of nature, to just destroy it like that. I did manage to get a video and take in the general ambience, it’s definitely a place to return and hang out - it’s one of several headwaters of the River Avon, which flows south to Durrington and Stonehenge, so it’s a special place historically.
We got to see the Alton Barnes white horse too, which is pretty cool, and the whole area is stunning, five miles south of Avebury in the Vale of Pwesey. This is village and thatch territory and the landscape itself was awash with the bright yellow of rapeseed making quite a tantalising scene for the eyes, even Eben thought it was pretty cool!
Up to Avebury next for a whistle stop tour. I was on a mission to find Devil’s Den, a wonderful dolmen set amongst the Marlborough Downs. I did ask for directions from a helpful family but I was struggling to find parking so ended up walking up a huge hill in the bright sunshine with Eben on my back, knowing I was going in the wrong direction, but hoping to bump into someone who might set me right. Alas not. I ended up calling E back home in Guernsey for directions but he wasn’t able to immediately help and it was only after I turned around and started walking down the hill, this time on the phone to my Mum as I had accidentally called her, that I spotted the dolmen in the distance and this jubilant feeling overtook me because it just stood out so majestically, albeit I now had another thirty minutes of walking to get to it.
Alas, I literally abandoned the car in the gateway of a field and traipsed with Eben still on my back in the warm morning sunshine along a bridle path out to the dolmen. It was well worth the walk and the sore feet that I have today, let alone the sunburn and the general sweatiness that ensued, the things we do for neolithic stones. But look at it! What a joy. What an incredible dolmen, like a two fingers up to the world; look what we did, we just balanced a huge stone on two others, just like that. I’m told it’s full of faeries at night, but that experience will have to wait for another time.
People don’t always believe me, because all they see is a bunch of stones in a field. But stones have a consciousness to them. Anyone who dowses will know this. You can literally dowse their aura and if you rest against a stone it will literally talk to you. I didn’t have a hue amount of time to converse with the dolmen, because dolmens send Eben totally crazy and he was maniacally running around it and jumping on me and it, and then a couple turned up so I accepted my fate and we carried along our way.
We stopped at the Sanctuary where the Michael and Mary ley lines are said to meet and I lay in the centre while Eben looked on from the car, he’s certainly not my little neolithic explorer like Elijah, this one is all lazy legs and car-side viewing if possible. I could feel the energy. It’s a big thing for me this Mary and Michael line, they are said to meet and form a chalice at the top of Glastonbury Tor, the sacred marriage and union, Tantra in the land…I’m kind of following the Michael line, which is aligned with Beltane, coming up soon on 1 May.
From there the Avenue at Avebury, Eben stayed in the car again as I sprinted, within view, to the initial stones, just to touch them and do some energy work, and then we were off again, driving through Avebury, how it pains me, but alas there is a sacrifice to be made and it was that, this isn’t just my trip…I did debate that I would just have to leave it at that, but then Adam and Eve, the cove, caught my eye and I am a sucker for coves, LOVE coves, so I drove out to them, parked up and sprinted again, in full view of Eben, out to those marvellous stones to say hi.
Then it was Silbury Hill, once again a massive sprint to the base of the hill and then that was it, Avebury done in super speedy time, which sums up Eben, everything is done super speedy…
Off to Bowood House, or at least the grounds of Bowood House, that were landscaped by Capability Brown back in the day, grade 1 too. Despite the landscaping they are amazing, there’s a huge amount of incredible mature trees and shurbs, and just this wonderful feel to the place. Not that we were there to enjoy the gardens so much as the adventure place ground, the best one in Wiltshire I’l have you know.
We’ve been here a few times previously, because back in the day it was home to Tractor Ted world, and Elijah was mad about Tractor Ted for a while. We used to visit the day after my Glastonbury retreat finished and I have a mix of memories of morning sickness when carrying Eben in utero and just needing to lie under the trees, to bringing him as a baby to the Big Machines open day and Elijah hanging out in an enormous combine harvester and meeting Les, from the videos, we have a photo of him somewhere, how we loved Les!
Nowadays there is no Tractor Ted world and the indoor soft play has gone but the adventure playground is amazing with this near vertical slide which the older children love, but was a step too far for Eben, no doubt his time will come as he was up amongst the trees on the various roped-walk ways. I went up once and that was enough for me! We managed to spend 3.5 hours pottering here in the sunshine with the many other families enjoying the holidays and the amazing weather.
Then it was the drive to Glastonbury, Eben fell asleep and I got to enjoy some peace and quiet! Now here we are, in Glastonbury, with the Tor and the Spring ahead, and lots of Glastonbury fun to be had…
xx
