Midsummer's Night 2017.

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lulled in these flowers with dances and delight.
(Oberon, Act 2 Scene 1)

A Midsummer's Night's Dream.

Midsummer's has always had a dreamlike quality for me and I've always celebrated it.

In 2014, Robyn and me were up on Box hill, drinking Asti and watching the night fall. Then in the far distance, over 50 miles away, we watched in miniature, Glyndourne Opera celebrating its anniversary with fireworks. A magical night indeed.

In 2015 we spent the night before Midsummer's Day at Stonehenge, waiting for dawn. What words can describe the sight of the sun rising through the stones?

2016 wasn't so great - we had a wedding to sort out in far too little time and the Solstice had to take second place.

This year we didn't have any great plans - and in the end we walked to Ankerwycke to spend a little time at the Ancient Yew Tree - where King Henry the 8th wooed Anne Boleyn and near where The Magna Carta was signed.

It's a magical and mystical place - where the local Witches Coven carry out their ceremonies (this is an area where 'The Old Religions' have survived) around a Yew tree which may well be 2000 years old.

I foolishly walked all the way (well why not?) and as we got to the fields we marvelled in the oranges and yellows of the last flare of the suns setting.

All around us rabbits were rustling and cows were wandering about to find somewhere comfortable for the night.

It was still stinging hot.

We passed the pond and in the distance, the Thames glinted. We walked through the wood to the ruins of the old abbey.

And when we got to the little glade where the Yew is, Robyn tied one of our ribbons to the tree, something which has happened for millennia - for luck.

Then we walked back - by now I was in a lot of pain and struggling, but I made it.

Quite an achievement and part of the magic of the night.

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Solstice 2016 didn't really happen.

I was very sad on the day of the Solstice this year - it's always been something special for me and for the last two years it's been extra special.

Two years ago, Robyn and me were sitting on the top of Box Hill, having a drink, eating chocolate cake and watching the night fall. Then by accident we saw the fireworks at Glyndebourne some 50 miles away.

It was when we knew we were in love.

Last year, with a broken back, we spent all night at Stonehenge waiting for the sun to rise between the stones. It was very, very special.

We'd wanted to go back for the winter equinox last year but I was too ill.

Right now I'm struggling and we just have too much on - we couldn't go. So it was very sad.

Then again we'd already had a busy day;

These are the cobbles of Camden Lock, under water from the rain. We went there to buy a hat for me to wear at our wedding.

We also had a wander around what is still one of my favourite places and on a wet Monday morning there weren't many people about either.

Then we took a look around all the food stalls and Robyn made me try a Turkish wrap.

Now, I don't normally like wraps but I liked this one;

Then we headed up to town to buy rings - which we thought would be easy but it wasn't and we need to get back to collect them later this week. Now that's a problem because I have a hospital appointment and another dose of chemo to look forward to!

Then we got home and realised how much we still have to do - with people arriving most days.

So no night out for us on The Solstice but we did go for a walk around historic Ankerwycke to watch night fall.

The sky was amazing;

And we watched the moon rise too - it was the night of a 'strawberry moon' also known as a 'honeymoon'.

Well it was a full moon and very pretty;

And we took a look at The Ankerwycke Yew which is between 1000 and 2000 years old;

So what did we do the next morning?

We found that the wedding music we'd carefully burnt onto both a DVD and a CD wouldn't play on a CD player so we went into Egham and did all the charity shops - we found nearly all the music that Robyn had chosen on old fashioned CD's for just under £3!

We got back home and Robyn got a reply from The Registry Office, who confirmed that the 70 days notice period expired yesterday and The Home Office hasn't done anything to stop us getting married. We are legit!

We went over to the reception venue for our appointment to go through everything with them.

Then my printer cartridge ran out - no more copies.

I should explain that when I started this Blog, I tried to get a new cable for my obsolete old laser printer but I was told it would cost almost as much as a new printer - so I bought a new printer and blogged about it.

But I kept the old cartridge - somehow it seemed wrong to throw it out.

So now I opened up the old cartridge and then using a soldering iron, burnt a hole in the empty one. Then I refilled it from the old one before I sealed it up again with duct tape.

Amazingly, when I put it back in the printer it worked. I fear it won't last for long because these days cartridges come with a chip that kills the thing when you've used up the number of copies it thinks you should be allowed to have.

Anyway, Robyn then typed up the schedule of music, printed it off and we drove in to Windsor to drop it off with the discs to The Registry office - which happened to be at exactly the time we will get married in a weeks time. We also met one of the registrars who will do our marriage for us as she arrived for another ceremony.

We got home and after a rest I cut back the grass in the front garden.

Then, in a panic, we realised that the plans we'd made about flowers weren't going to work out - so we've come up with something different to deal with that.

Wait and see, it's exciting!

Wow I'm tired out now.

Lots still to do - no wonder people do this months in advance.

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge 2015.

Oh, that was very special.

It wasn't much of a surprise to most people - I must be getting predictable.

We went to see in the Solstice (the longest day) at Stonehenge - to watch the sun rise through the stones.

Every journey starts with a single step (so they say). Ours started with a burger.

I'd always wanted to go for the Solstice but never had the time. Robyn was desperate to see Stonehenge but we got there too late last September.

She also wanted to walk among the stones and that you can't do any more unless you pay a lot more.

So, we arrived at about midnight which was special enough.

On the way a young Moon lit up the sky, chased by a bright star which I like to think was Venus.

I had with me a disabled walker from my late Mum. I couldn't use the disabled car park because I don't have a badge - so I also couldn't use the bus and I had to push it a very long way from the car to the stones.

I was pretty exhausted by the time I got there but the walker has a seat and that was a life saver for me during the night.

They shouldn't have let me in with it but one look at my spinal brace seemed to shut them up.

When we got in the place was buzzing;

No it was really buzzing. There were about 30,000 people there.

We struggled through the centre of the stone circle and set up camp just opposite the three arched pillars, on the outside of the ring.

There was music, drumming, singing.

There were lights and jugglers.

There were people juggling lights;

There were quite a few drunk people, swaying alarmingly through the crowd.

There was incense.

There was some kind of special 'herbal tobacco'.

There were 'Manic pixie women', there were new age travellers.

There were Druids;

Robyn and I blew bubbles in the breeze and then I embarrassed her rather a lot by wearing LED lights on my hat which I have to say were very popular.

I had my photo taken several times and quite a few people came up to say hallo or to congratulate me.

I'm not sure that Robyn has forgiven me yet.

Strangely, by about 2-00am the sky in the east was becoming streaked with light and the stars started to hide.

It also got cold and we were glad of the old blankets we took with us.

I was struck by how much it felt that we were sitting on the edge of the planet, spinning at 44,000 kilometres an hour towards the sun, as I watched the sky light up;

We started to move forward and the crowd got more and more excited as 4:52 am got nearer.

Sunrise!;

The sky was fabulous - red and violet all at the same time;

And then the Sun rose - it really did come up through the stones although where we were clouds came over just at the wrong moment;

Just amazing;

 

 

I found it incredibly moving and that was in spite of the meleé of drunken revellers, spaced out hippies, aggressive new age travellers and the whole of Europe's privileged gap year kids ticking another box on their 'bucket list'.

 

Actually for one night, lonely Stonehenge was the centre of the whole world - the only place to be.

 

It was electric. 

 

 

 



When the Sun was fully up we struggled back through the centre of the stones again - not easy with an oversized disabled walker, I can tell you.

The achievement of building this monument is immense; it's only when you are right under the stones that you can see how big they are.

All this was done without metal tools or wheels.

The lichen is 3 thousand years old.

And I imagine watching the sun rise on Midsummer's morning was just as thrilling all those years ago as it was for us today.

And it still means a lot to so many people - here a small bunch of flowers left in a whole in one of the stones;

By the time we'd had enough I was well on the way to being shattered; it was a very long way back and uphill.

Oh dear that hurt.

We slept in the car till the traffic had quietened down but then we were off on the second part of our Midsummer's day.

That's for tomorrow!

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)

Home:  helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com