stonehenge today a report from friday september 3rd 2021

i made a visit to stonehenge earlier today after passing through amesbury. the weather was very nice, not overcast not rainy or drizzling. in this regard i was very lucky. i found out that the local visitor's centre is currently closed, as it was the last time that i paid it a visit. this is a shame as when it was open it was a very useful source of local activities and information. i hope that this can be remedied soon. in the past i have bought some very good and helpful books from this shop, which have helped with both my local and historical researches, which is why i was hoping that i might still find them open today. alas this was not the case. since this shop was not open i continued down the road to take another look at the work being done upon the local museum. this is still underway as i discovered upon my last visit, so it looks as if it may be some time before people can enjoy this helpful facility once again. wandering down the road i decided to pay a visit to stonehenge, a sacred place which i have seen for a very long time. some things had changed and some things were still the same. in some local woods there is a small and growing community amongst the trees, this looks as if it has been organised by travellers as part of the a303 tunnel protest, which as we all know was cancelled although for how long is another question. the area was surrounded by various signs related to the protest and by long sections of blue rope, clearly visitors were not meant to simply wander in so i did not. this makes a distinct change from my previous visits where i was able to openly wander into the woods, where upon the last occasion only a single tent was present. this time there were multiple tents, a caravan, some kind of wooden structure like a hut, a central assembly area with logs and seating where people could gather, and next to it on a very short stretch of road which has basically been closed off, some cars and other vehicles and some more signs. on the other side of this there are some nice boxes in which fruit and vegetables have been placed which anyone can freely take, although there is a camera set up there which is watching these boxes quite closely, why i do not know. the a303 itself was extremely busy, indeed it was jammed at one point, at least when i was walking down towards the stones. i have heard comments from some people that something needs to be done about the large and rising volume of traffic, and indeed it did look as if it might become a problem at some point or even be a problem right now. the drove or as it is otherwise known, the byway, was chocker with travellers and their vehicles, cars, and vans. some people were sat around outside having conversations, some were playing their guitars, there was a skeleton sat down in a chair, there was a man selling cheap crystals and a cheap massage it all seemed harmless enough i hope that they don't have any real trouble down there. notably, however, the composition of the people on the drove has changed greatly; many people who i once knew quite well are no longer there and have simply moved on, where to i do not know. some of my friends who sometimes go there were not there, i don't know where they all are currently. one of my previous friends met me there and offered to make me some tea if i stayed around, i chose not to on this occasion although he seemed friendly enough. arthur pendragon was loitering around down the road, he was not holding any protest but was standing there looking across at the entrance where people were going in. there was no protest of any kind being held, which was unusual in itself i thought. there were large numbers of people around, going in and out on the tourist buses which serve the stones. i could not tell what was on arthur's mind, although he clearly seemed to be worried about something. i saw many crows hovering around the area and flying around, one took off from a fence as i walked past it, a man was standing talking to and feeding another crow on the opposite side