SUMMER SOLSTICE '99  Newsletter bits

SUMMER OF HARMONY?

As we reported in the last issue, the House of Lords decided in March that a peaceful gathering by the roadside at Stonehenge is not illegal, even when a ban under the Criminal Justice Act is in force. This completely undermines the legality of the police operations that have been keeping us away from the Stones each summer. So this year they have not even applied for a ban, and for the first time in a decade there will be no "exclusion zone". Instead the Chief Constable wrote to the Council explaining that this was because of the court judgement, and progress in access at equinoxes and in talks with interested groups. She saw the decision as "a significant opportunity for all those who have a deep interest in Stonehenge and the celebration of the Summer Solstice. It is hoped that we have moved on from the days of confrontation and mass policing. However, the onus will rest on those who intend to come to Stonehenge for the Solstice". Councillors responded by generally agreeing that it was time to let those who wanted to come to show they could do so peacefully. In spite of this seismic shift in attitudes, English Heritage is sticking to its plan of small steps to wider access sometime- maybe, and the basic problem remains unresolved. They say there will be no access to the Stones themselves except for 150 of those who applied for tickets (100 last time). The situation is complicated this year by the solstice falling almost midway between two sunrises, so the 'right' day is not as clear-cut as usual. The 22nd is when the sun rises furthest north, and some people will be going for that. Druids and the press will mostly be going on the 21st, and other groups have applied for other times of day. The road past the Stones is expected to be closed at times to vehicles, but not to people on foot. The National Trust fields should be open to the public as usual, but they will not be allowing camping, fires or amps. So is this, as the CC puts it, "the herald of a new period of tranquil and harmonious celebrations at Stonehenge"?
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~~~~~~ Letter from Karelia ~~~~~~~~~~~ 23may1999 ~~~~~~
Whenever police say to me "Are you a traveller
or a hippy or an eco-warrior or what?"
I say I'm a human bean, old bean.
Then I think of the thug murder rape land clearances
in bosnia and kosovo and rwanda and cowboys and indians
and of the lynch mob I once saw near Reading;
and think perhaps the british may have the best police
but they must make so many mistakes and see so much
shit and hate and injustice it must be quite a relief
when they have to sit and read papers like this to
check for revolutionary thoughts (oh vain that I am
thinking anybody would bother).
Free Stonehenge. www.dicegeorge.com ;=} smile ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Millenarian Madness

It is difficult to write anything for this veritable publication that both appeals to it's dispossessed readership and is not deemed irresponsible in the eyes of the secret cult of lawmakers that monitor it. We are at a threshold and this is just such an attempt. The constant task of recounting the history of the Stonehenge Peoples Free Festival must continue. That chapter ended in the mid 1980s. What happened since is a different darker retrospective, which perhaps culturally cannot be addressed. The people that assembled in the aforementioned Free Festival did nothing to change the law, foresee a change of law nor justify a change in the law. * And what of the future ? To speak of such a thing in the cultural environment of the Stonehenge diaspora invites criticism, the future has already been claimed by the judicial astrologers and secular hierophants . There is nothing any of us can say that has authority with regard the future. I suggest an adaptation of Henry Ford's famous courtroom maxim is appropriate - The future is bunk.

Hengist McStone 11 May 1999 *On the subject of the law it isn't lawful to drop bombs on chinamen in Belgrade.
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This is the new logo English Heritage are going to use to 'promote' Stonehenge. They paid £10,000 for it. The logo was revealed at the launch of a marketing campaign to find a commercial operator to build and run the new visitor centre at Amesbury. A developer will be chosen in November, and it is supposed to open in 2003. Two years later the A344 is to be closed and work started on the A303 tunnel (public inquiries permitting). It would be finished by 2008.
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A LEARNING CURVE EXPERIENCE

a last connection
cable well-hidden in
heather checkerboard
burnt old new shoots
ripe as grouse-food

is on-line is linked
Halfkirk stone circle
toysize no Stonehenge
but enough enough thinks
must be here now can

tap field must will
link all such makings
a screenfall of talk
from with goddess will
fill laptop free soul

only now is hollow
is head is taken what
feeds such things is
becomc only top~up
battery recharge is

one more midage found
long after killed by
exposure inquest open
verdict not wise to go
alone to high places

should always take
offer first as needed
a younger the sacrifice
a firstborn fine in
tight short clothes

always in instruction
manual read carefully
fine print will tell
of course of course
price as old as knowledge

steve sneyd
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hello dice george and willy x -congratulations on your continued struggles to establish our basic rights at stonehenge I hope to see you all this summer though my plans to walk from the Rock of Gibralter are possibly a little ambitious. I send all my love to all Henge frendz nic turner and the remains of the pyramid possee and the artists that performed there over the years...... Big Steve
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What gives u people the right to "use" an Anchient Monument to practice your"make believe" rituals? Also leaving the place like a rubbish tip with empty beer cans and fag/joint ends scattered around the place. You people need to grow up, I fully back the Police's intervention, without it the place would be trashed. (From) Dibs

we dont leave rubbish in the stones - if anyone had dropped some at march equinox then somebody would have picked it up
the burnt out cars at the end of stonehenge 1984 festival were out of order
if you look at our aims and objectives then you'd see that care of the Stones is one of them
I bet the tourists drop fagends, but thats the way of the 20th century, perhaps they think they're creating work perhaps they dont think, we're all learning
i have grown up
certain people call themselves druids and do what they call ceremonies, it fulfills a need in them,
what police action do you back? how far would you go? - do the common people have a right to watch the sunrise? - do you trust people?  DG
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In 1988 I was at Stonehenge. It resulted in a dislike of Policemen and this song. I'm coming to London soon and I am interested in Information about a celebration this summer

PLANT MORE TREES

At war with Reality
Who's gonna save you and me
Journey the soul to the cauldron bowl
There is no life under control

What was stolen from Angelsey
Who didn't account for you and me
Journey of the soul through mind control
did you fly when you got home

What ain't in the bag Babylon
You've got what I need
I am coming on strong
When I am coming on strong

You are kicking the shit out of my kind
Fucking us up on your little white lie
Stood still; is no place to go
You are dealing with Infininty

This world is not aligned
The Romans have played with time
Believe in nothing you are told
Does the future lie in you future sold

What could be of this ring of stone
If Langley would not be at home
I wish to hold the hand of the Indian
I need to find some new forgotten medicene
Oh I've got medicene

Graham Kenneth Cox - The Low Flying Object - Kush ra a nan (Happy every day)
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I love stonehenge because there's demons in the stones (From) Scott Smith
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CLARIFICATION: Somebody poured green paint on the A344 by the Hele Stone at March Equinox. Stonehenge Campaign policy is to green the A344 where it cuts the Stones from the Avenue, not by green-washing it but by grassing it up.
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,            ______      _________    _______           ,
,          /  Free  \   / The     \  / Stones \         ,
,          \________/   \_________/  \_______ /         ,
,       ____       ___           ___         ____       ,
,      /    \     /    \        /   \       /    \      ,
,     |      |   |      |   o  |     !     !      !     ,
,     |      |   |      |  m   |     !     !      !     ,