This was the first Solstice access open to all the public for 16 years and the damp cold weather and the absence of any sight of the sun at the time of the dawn did little to dampen the enthusiasm from the very good-natured crowd. Indeed there was an amazing energy of good will in and around the stones as an alternative community denied a gathering for many years met each other again. Mr & Mrs Wiltshire were also there and I saw many happy policeman. English Heritage provided some lighting which was of a tasteful blue green colour and this was turned off before dawn. Others saw the light and I have heard of spontaneous and deep spiritual experiences taking place.

The Stonehenge Peace Process had an information point at the entry to the stones giving out our own leaflets and exchanging glass bottles for plastic ones. There were up to 40 of our Peace Stewards on duty over the site who mostly observed that the site was peaceful. Nevertheless they also managed some quiet and responsive interventions. We organised a procession from Woodhenge, this was smaller than expected, consisting of about 30 people. After a pleasant walk we arrived at 11:30PM to find the stones already open. As we entered the field the stones are in we went through an arch of staves held by druids and pagans all wishing us a happy solstice. Those of us who had sticks then joined the arch which advanced and reformed, so we repeated the greeting ritual to each other several times as well as welcoming the public, so this made us all very jolly.

Later the samba rhythm and fire juggling of the Kings Drummers provided an alternative focus for the celebrants and they also played within the stones close to the invisible dawn and there was impromptu acoustic music . The sight of the sun close to 7AM aroused a cheer. By that time an amazing jam session had started with drums and other instruments including a young woman on bagpipes, and these musicians then led a procession out of the stones at the close of the access period. Many left with this procession and with encouragement by our Peace Stewards and other responsible members of the public the exodus continued until at 8PM there were 20 or 30 remaining. When the police suggested they leave they immediately did. English Heritage were able to open to tourists soon after 9AM as had been planned. The Stonehenge community had shown itself able to keep to the agreement on time limits. The final accolade is that, apparently, neither The Sun nor The Mirror found anything about the event worth printing.

Rollo Maughfling went into the stones and welcomed the invisible sun for five minutes as he had arranged to do, and reported himself happy with how this had gone. Earlier a group of druids had held the centre briefly and chanted the druid vow. Early on Arthur Pendragon held a circle on the grass. Later there was another ritual in front of the Hele stone. In general it was too crowded and chaotic for organised ritual within the stones to make much headway. Space for this requires many more alternative centres of attraction to be set up. Without this it is suggested that on this occasion some people held the centre of the stones inhibiting throughput. These are matters requiring further thought.

There were some breaches of the attendance rules. Those who attended may not have known they were breaking the rules, although our website took 600 hits in the weeks leading up to the Solstice, and there was a large notice in the carpark, I think our investigation may show that more official leaflets could have been given out, and once again information could be improved.

Some glass bottles got into the stones area and our stewards noted some of these and removed them to black bags as soon as drinkers had finished drinking from them. At least one was found broken and was also carefully removed. In general with volunteers going round with black bags throughout the access period, there are favourable reports that very little rubbish remained at the end. English Heritage seemed to have found only one glass bottle. This was stuffed down a rabbit hole. There are no reports of the rabbit having emerged yet.

The banning of dogs diminished their numbers greatly but if this is to be continued in the future I would think both controls against admission of dogs and the welfare of any dogs retained, both need re-examining. Lack of facilities for retaining them near the entrances meant owners secured them to gates and fences with no-one providing any welfare attention. A problem involving at least one unhappy dog and an unhappy dog owner was resolved when it somehow happened that all the dogs at one entrance slipped out of their restraints and managed to escape.

One fire was lit briefly near the Hele stone. An orange ball of light was seen. This appears to have been paraffin lit to ignite some sticks. Water was poured on this fire and damage in terms of burnt grass etc. is believed to be minimal. The use of some candle flares broke the rules in a strict sense but caused little safety concerns in practise.

Very soon people started sitting and then standing on the recumbent stones, which is predictable particularly in the crowded circumstances that arose. Eventually some people were dancing on the stones. The evaluation of any damage, particularly to lichen on the stones, has not been completed. Ascent of the vertical monoliths was attempted, Peace Stewards and crowd members intervened to bring them down. One man got up and was seen to run briefly across the row of lintels in the North. Upon coming down he was taken in charge by English Heritage guards and reportedly removed from the site. This caused some crowd reaction and I was worried the incident might escalate. However it didn't. Later the guards were alerted again and removed a man, possibly the same man, in a second incident. After this there were no more ascents, the intervention proved to be a deterrent.

There is reported to have been some camping in parts of the carpark. To everybody's relief the key rule of No Amplified Music was not breached. We hear of no attempts to set up sound systems anywhere in the area. The stern warnings posted on our website may have helped. The Stonehenge Peace Process invites party organisers to come forward to join our talks through the TRCS and to possibly join a group that can talk to landowners about future events. The TRCS plans to meet early in September for a full Solstice debriefing and discussion.

The Stonehenge Peace Process would like to thank Andy Hollingshead, the police commander, and Andy Tatem, who was in charge of police on the ground, and his good natured officers who are proud to have carried out 0 searches and 0 arrests, and to thank Clews Everard of English Heritage and her team for their hard work and expenditure on this event, as well as the English Heritage Commissioners for allowing the Great Experiment to happen. Thanks to Mark Harold and Gafyn Blakeway of the National Trust, who assisted and were also very happy about the outcome.

Thanks to the Peace Stewards, thanks to Enford villlage for their support, thanks to Arthur and the Kings Drummers, to druids and pagans with staves, and to everybody who came for being so great. We can look forward now I am convinced to many years of ongoing Summer Solstice access. There is more work to be done in reconciliation and peacemaking, but this great step forward makes everything else so much easier to accomplish.

George

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