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| Stone Formation Archive 1990 |
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 Stone Formations news, views, gallery and archive brought to you by Weird Wiltshire Introduction Latest News News Archive Stonehenge Stonehenge Project Stonehenge 360 Avebury Saviours Stones Village Solstice Wayland Smithy Long Barrow Woodhenge Gallery Summer Solstice Gallery 2002 Summer Solstice Gallery 2004 Postcards Wallpaper Links  |
First published on February 18, 1990 Mark Tungate reports on a new image among the travelling folk, and sees hope for reconciliation in future celebrations at Stonehenge. THE most potent images evoked by the word "hippie" are negative. It's either tripped-out flower power freaks from the late '60s, shorn-haired juveniles battling police at Stonehenge, or Neil from The Young Ones. But call them by their preferred name, New Age Travellers, and the picture changes. New Age has become very trendy of late. As fashion casualties fling on the batik and clutch crystals, the cool colour of the '90s is not black but Green. Alex Rosenberger, editor of traveller magazine Festival Eye, finds this ironic. "We were using the term New Age long before it became fashionable. But we don't mind, it's good that more people are adopting an attitude of hope and open-mindedness. "After years of suspicion, bad press and a strained relationship with the police, it looks as if things are beginning to change for the better. The travellers have been negotiating with English Heritage and Wiltshire constabulary. Autumn and winter celebrations at Stonehenge went without a hitch. Could this be the dawning of traveller glasnost? "The situation is certainly improving," says Alex."People are realising that we do have a point, that the Earth is changing, that life in cities is not the ideal." This change in attitude is to be tested in a debate at Salisbury City Hall on March 15. Travellers will talk to local luminaries and the general public about the pros and cons of New Age life. "It's going to be a very balanced debate. Everyone will get their say. This could be a key event for us, and I think the authorities will be surprised about how many people are sympathetic towards travellers." The police themselves are still wary of the travellers. Violent clashes at Stonehenge in 1988 and the undercurrent of tension in the hot summer of 1989 are still vivid memories. "We walk a very precarious tightrope as far as the travellers are concerned," says Wiltshire Deputy Chief Constable Alan Elliot."We don't take sides, but we are anxious to avoid trouble and maintain law and order." The police worry about the traffic problems caused by hundreds of beaten-up vans converging on a quiet tourist spot, and the potential damage to the Stonehenge monument itself. "There is also the problem that the tavellers want to establish a free festival on the site," he added. "We are not going to back an unlawful festival, and aside from that there is no space for one." Even so, peaceful discussions have been held between the two factions. The small numbers attending the autumn and winter events did not merit police involvement. Alex Rosenberger feels that the travellers' own image may have whipped up public and Press hysteria in the past. "A lot of it is fear," he says. "People think we are scruffy and dirty, therefore we are to be feared. In fact, it's the opposite of the truth." A forthcoming event, laughably titled National Nude Day, may do something to reverse that opinion. Alex and his friends want everybody to shed both their physical and mental apparel on June 21. "The name is a bit like those signs that say: 'Sex. Now we've got your attention...' What we really want is a day of thought and equality. And being naked is a great equaliser." Alex would not encourage busy Londoners to brave the Tube in the buff, or hail a cab with their appendages swinging." No, it would be better to have pleasant gatherings somewhere quiet and private. I can't see that there would be any trouble. Imagine the police trying to arrest 200 naked people." National Nude Day may also be another step down the road to traveller perestroika. "At least it shows a sense of humour, a willingness to be ridiculed. This whole Green thing takes itself very seriously at times." It will be interesting to see how many of the New Age fashion brigade are willing to bare all for their beliefs. Back to 1990 index |
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