A few days back in time.

It is that time of year again when my annual birthday comes around, tinged with that forever memory of first being diagnosed with cancer and at the same time a moment of happiness as we became man and wife, with Mrs Beards Birthday as well a few weeks later, I decided that we deserved something a little more special and booked a national trust cottage at the fantastic site of Avebury.

We headed off with adventure pup for what would be 3 days of history and relaxation in a place we both felt was extraordinarily special, on our way we popped into Marlborough for some supplies and a quick look.

Now Marlborough is an interesting place and seems to exude money from its very core, people wandered around looking as if they have just stepped off a family estate worth more than a small village and wearing clothing costing more than my cars are worth, but still they were very pleasant and with adventure pup behaving she seemed to draw the pets and admirations today.

In the grounds of the college just at the periphery of the town and unbeknown to me at the time sits a large 62 foot prehistoric burial mound with legend and folklore telling us that this is where the bones of merlin now lie and is a similar age to nearby Silbury hill bearing an uncanny resemblance to its taller sibling.

We found little there other than a few interesting shops and loaded with some snacks we headed for Fishlock cottage in Avebury circle itself, an 18th Century 1 bedroom cottage nestled within 5000 years of human history.

Once unpacked we settled in quickly and with no phone signal or wifi it was a welcome break from the hustle of daily life and jobs and one we both needed. We made use of the local Red Lion reputed to be one of the most haunted pubs in the UK for its ample ale supply and of course Wifi, well we aren't savages are well.

Day 2

I woke early and set off on a run with adventure dog, the grounds cloaked in a magical and mysterious mist, adding a feel to this ancient center of worship that perhaps our ancestors would of felt some 4000 years ago, we ran its bank and followed a little road out of town for a short distance before heading back and through the church yard where the mist clung to everything around it.

We opt for a delightful bacon sarnie courtesy of the local shop before heading out for a 3mile wander taking in Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow and then back along the West Kennet Avenue. The map was supplied by the national trust and used a print out of OS mapping which was ideal, a short walk and we were at our start of the National Trust car park before crossing the extremely busy A4361 and along the path to Waden hill, a likely through back the Anglo-Saxons and slight change to the name of Wodin Hill.

The path down reminded me of the Southdown’s, hard and compact in the baking sun, but slippery and sticky like clay in the wet of winter, each foot step making one move slightly to the side as you went, Silbury Hill was soon upon us and stood proud by the A4 itself a Roman Road. It is a protected monument these days with nu public access onto it, this is important to remember that being made of chalk is prone to damage and wear very easily.

Silbury Hill is an artificial chalk mound built during the Neolithic period and measures 129ft high making it the largest manmade hill in Europe and has a similar volume to the Egyptian Pyramids. Some estimates put the length of construction to some 500 men working for 15 years straight, the outer ditch is thought to have been made in order to construct the mound itself and completed over quite a few years, its use is still unknown with many saying a ceremonial or spiritual purpose.

We move on and cross the busier A4 making quick the gap in traffic as large lorries whizzed by at great speed, we headed up a slight incline and onto the even more amazing West Kennet Long Barrow, constructed some 5600 years ago it is perhaps one of the best examples of such a site in the UK and was used over a period of 1000 years.

It sits at 328ft long and 10ft high, there are 5 chambers inside and extends for 42ft, as you can see from the photo the stones is quite polished in places which is a result of the stones having been in a fast flowing river at some time in its life, with one stone appearing to have an ear lobe carved into it.

With 42 skeletons having been found inside with some complete and some not, it was thought that at times, bones were removed from the site and used in ceremonies and ancestor worship, the large stone on the outside of the barrow were there as a warning to others to its importance and around 2000bc the site was filled in with rubble and not disturbed until the 19th C.

We spent a little time here, I stood inside in the quite and felt immediately settled there, the chambers here are said to resonate at different hertz giving off both feelings of calm and trepidation, us humans cannot heard these frequencies but they have been found to have an effect of the psychology of the mind.

We left West Kennet and headed back along the path towards the A4 again crossing it quickly and up and over Waden hill before heading up along the West Kennet avenue of stones, Sarsens flanked us either side and we felt a sense of importance and connected with ancient times as we walked its central path back towards Avebury.

Originally 100 stones would of made up a wide avenue or procession way which would of connected the sites of Avebury and the Sanctuary 1.5 miles away. During excavations 4 bodies were discovered there along with scatterings of bones along its way, suggesting an important ceremonial route in its day. Interestingly the procession way seems to have had little use suggesting it was used only on special occasions, chalk being easily worn away.

It wasn’t long before we were crossing back over the busy road and once again stepping into the mass of stones at Avebury, perhaps echoing some long forgotten ritual entrance as our ancestors would of done, with appetites worked up we took a stroll over to the national trust site and partook of some chili and tea before spending the remainder of our time ambling around the Keiller museum which holds a number of important finds from the tireless work he carried out, before heading into Avebury manor which was home to Keiller and his life’s work.

We wandered around the many grand room, once restored by BBC ones a house in time, each room now a testament to the lives of its previous residents, although some are not the biggest fan of the work carried out by the TV show with one room being a little off from what would of actually have been there.

Day 3

We have a leisurely morning, breakfast of bacon and kindly supplied tea gift from the national trust, before making our way off again and in the town of Devizes, an 11th Century market town built around the castle, which today is a private residence. The town was bustling with people going about their daily lives and we opted for a cuppa and a cake during our little meander, the town boasts some 500 listed buildings, we got the feeling the town would be better suited to the seaside, having that nautical feels with its old buildings and many small passageways.

We left feeling refreshed and headed back towards Avebury again, where we spent the rest of they day chilling in the cottage and reading the many books on offer. That evening as night time feel, we heading off into the circle itself for some night trail photography, with limited light sources it was the perfect place to mess, we stood behind the cottage and noted how the stones seemed to absorbed the sound whilst stood in front created an echo that stretched off in the outer edge of the bank.

It was definitely an eye opener to have that briefest of glimpses into the past, the bank in its hey day would of been some 50ft higher, the many stones absorbing and echoing back the sounds of drums and people as fires created shadows that would of made the whole place seem like it was dancing.

We spent a good few hours wandering and taking different shots around the circle before gathering in the pub again for a well earned pint.

Unfortunately our time was at an end and by 10am the next day we were packed up and heading off again, not before a stop at the most English village I think I have ever been to, Bourton-on-the Water, one I have told people if I had to sell England as a place to other countries, then this would be the place.

Built in that typical Cotswold honey colored stone and nicknamed the Venice of the Cotswold’s and with some 4000 years of human existence in the area, it is certainly a place to visit in your life time.