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| Stone Formation Archive 1985 |
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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 May 30, 1985 DRUIDS are set to ignore police warnings to stay away from next month's banned Stonehenge festival. Chief Druid David Loxley, 39, said at least 20 followers of the religious cult would go ahead and hold their summer solstice ceremony at Stonehenge, despite the risk of prosecution. English Heritage which owns the site and the National Trust, which owns land surrounding Stonehenge, have declared the annual pop festival illegal. They have hired a private security firm to patrol the area with guard dogs. Razorwire barricades, prevent entry onto their land. The crackdown aims at detering 30,000 pop fans coming to Stonehenge. Last year £20,000 worth of damage was caused on National Trust land and ancient burial sites were dug up. Last week Wiltshire Chief Constable Donald Smith said 400 policemen were ready to turn fans away. Neighbouring forces have promised reinforcement. Mr Smith did not rule out the possibility of police using firearms and riot gear. A defiant Mr Loxley, who has been Chief Druid of the 100-strong sect for four years, said: "I don't think they are going to stop me." He hit out at the way the law had been used to ban pop fans and druids from the site. Druids had never caused any trouble at their June 21 ceremony, but they had still been banned. Spokesman Warren Davis revealed that the National Trust had so far spent £20,000 advertising Stonehenge a no-go area. He said: "The Druids have got no historic link with Stonehenge earlier than 1905. That was when they held their first ceremony there. "All this talk about thousands of years of Druid tradition is a load of nonsense." Author John Michell, 52, who has written books on the history of Stonehenge, disagreed. "The first ceremony was held way beyond that in pre-historic times. In 1905 it was first mentioned in the Press." Mr Michell of Notting Hill, London, denied he was a Druid, but said he would be attending next month's ceremony, despite the ban. "How can you be prosecuted for going to your own temple?" he asked. The first pop fans are expected to start arriving this weekend. Wiltshire Police expect that 100 children will be taken into social services care during the pop festival period. Four marquee tents have been hired from the Army and put up in the grounds of the children's home at Holt, near Trowbridge, to help them. Back to 1985 index |
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