21 June: Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, two miles (3 km) west of the town of Amesbury.

The Summer Solstice is one of the few occasions when people can actually get inside the stone circle of Stonehenge - although access is only granted to people belonging to neo-pagan religions for whom the Summer Solstice is a sacred day.  Here are some facts about Stonehenge you may not be aware of.

1. Archaeologists believe it was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC, which means there are no written records explaining how or why it was built. Hence there are legends. One says that it was originally erected by giants in Ireland, but the wizard Merlin brought it to Wiltshire and rebuilt it as a memorial to 3,000 nobles slain in battle with the Saxons. Another legend maintains that the Devil bought the stones from a woman in Ireland and declared that no-one would ever know how they came to be in Wiltshire. A local monk stood against the Devil, saying, "That’s what you think!" but the Devil threw one of the stones at him, striking him on the heel. The stone is still there and is the largest one, the Heel Stone, and weighs 30 tons. A more scientific explanation put forward by modern archaeologists suggests that the monument was built in stages. Around 3000 BCE, a ditch 6 feet deep was dug in a field to form a circular enclosure. The stones were added between 2500 and 1500 BCE. It has been estimated that the construction of Stonehenge took more than thirty million hours of labour.
2. There are two different types of stone which make up Stonehenge. The larger stones, which weigh on average 25 tons, are sarsens, probably brought from Marlborough Downs (20 miles away). The smaller stones are bluestones, so called because they appear bluish when cut or wet. These weigh 4 tons on average. It is these stones which are believed to have come from 140 miles away in South Wales. How they got them there, nobody knows but theories include teams of oxen or carrying them on water, on rafts. Another possibility which has been suggested is that the stones were carried closer to Wiltshire by ice age glaciers so the builders didn't need to move them quite so far.
3. Who built Stonehenge? Again, we don't really know but there is plenty of archaeological information about people who lived in the area. People lived there at least 500 before Stonehenge's first earthwork enclosure. From studying the remains of their houses, and of the people themselves, we know they had a rich diet of meat and dairy products, meaning they probably weren't slaves. One of the objects on display in the visitor's centre is a Cow's jaw, dating back further than the time when Stonehenge was built, and which had been kept in good condition, probably a family heirloom or talisman, suggesting cattle were important to those people.
4. Lots of ancient human remains have been found there, which has led to conjecture that it was a burial site. Some of the people buried there were likely to have been of high status, because of the precious objects buried with them. Several of them were women. Whether Stonehenge was built as a cemetery or if the remains found were of people who simply happened to die there is not certain.
5. Other theories range from it being built as a Druid temple (although Druids worshipped in forest groves rather than in buildings which tends to discredit this idea), an observatory (at the summer solstice, the sun rises over the Heel stone), a venue for the coronation of kings and queens, or that it was built by aliens. Another theory is that it was built because there was good hunting to be had in the area, since there is plenty of evidence, such as animal bones and flint arrows, that plenty of hunting took place. The presence of abundant game may have led people to consider the area sacred. Other historians suggest it was built at a time when Britain was becoming a unified entity, with people all over the islands making houses and tools in similar styles, and was a monument to co-operation.
6. Why these particular stones? Perhaps it is down to their unusual acoustic properties – when struck they produce a loud clanging sound, so they are known as “ringing rocks”. They were believed, by some ancient cultures, to have healing properties. Could Stonehenge have been a hospital? Or a shrine similar in function to Lourdes?
7. Ever gone out shopping for a specific thing and come home with an extra bargain you didn't even know you needed or wanted when you left home? That's exactly what happened to a businessman called Cecil Chubb in 1915. The story goes that he attended an auction to buy some dining chairs but ended up buying Stonehenge for £6,600. Three years later, presumably not having found a use for it, he donated it to the nation.
8. 1.3 million people visit Stonehenge every year, and there are a couple of marriage proposals there on average every month.
9. Through the years, Stonehenge has required repairs and conservation work. Stones have been known to topple over - in 1797 an entire trilithon fell down. Surveys were done, and stones leaning at a dangerous angle were straightened. The fallen trilithon was re-erected in 1958. According to Charles Darwin, the main factor to blame for stones sinking into the soil was... earthworms. In modern times, conservation of Stonehenge has meant that people in general can no longer go inside the stones unless they are neo-pagan worshippers or school children on special tours (there was a time when not only could anyone and everyone climb on the stones but people were issued with chisels so they could take a piece of Stonehenge home with them!) and a road, the old A344, which ran right next to it, was closed in 2013 in order to reconnect Stonehenge with its ancient setting.
10. It was the site of a battle as recently as 1985. The battle was between about 600 New Age travellers who wanted to hold a festival at Stonehenge, and about 1,300 police officers who had set up a roadblock seven miles from the monument in order to stop them from doing so. Eight police offers and 16 travellers being hospitalised as a result of the ensuing riot. 537 of the travellers were arrested in one of the biggest mass arrests of civilians in English history. This event is known as The Battle of the Beanfield.

The Raiders Trilogy

Book One

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Power Blaster is a superhero who lives in a dimension not unlike our own, in the mega-nation of Innovia. No-one knows who he is or where his powers come from. 
After saving the life of the President several times, Power Blaster learns that a test of a nuclear warhead to defend the planet against asteroid strikes will have devastating consequences for his world and sets out to prevent it.

Power Blaster's actions lead to an unexpected result - a wormhole opens between his dimension and our own. Anyone in the vicinity is pulled through. People from diverse backgrounds and cultures must co-operate to survive and learn to live with the powers travel through the wormhole has bestowed on some of them.

A stable wormhole is established between the two dimensions. Power Blaster is determined to bring Desi Troyes, the person responsible for the bomb, to justice. Help comes from some rather unexpected sources. Meanwhile, Shanna Douglas sets out on a mission of her own, to find out if there is a cure for the life altering condition the wormhole gave her friend, Benedict Cole. Little does she know that she will stumble upon the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious origins.