We spent last weekend driving round and round Swindon town centre (it’s in Wiltshire) completely and utterly lost. We were looking for a friends private party, they had hired out a hall and laid on a few nibbles, a disco and a party band (OK, I know this because we did eventually make it there).

The problem with driving in Swindon, is that whoever designed the road signs seems to have completely forgotten that it’s only people who live there who know what the local estates are called, the rest of us (or those who don’t have, or like in my case have a broken satnav) have to base our navigation on road names and numbers.

Swindon is so weird, as all but the major signs, only point to estates, which is absolutely no use to you if you don’t live there. I don’t know where the band came from, but they must have had a sat nav if they weren’t local, as otherwise they would never have had the time to set the PA and lighting rig up, then find time to sound-check before all the party guests arrived.

We actually missed almost all of their first set too, and judging by the second half, I expect that was good too, they played all types of music and had the dance-floor packed all night, with people bopping around. I must confess though, it’s funny that whenever I see a party band, it never fails to amaze me how everyone suddenly converts to doing their wedding dances.

Anyway, the point of this wasn’t to tell you how good the party was, or to harp on about the group who played (although they were good!), it was to warn people not to drive into Swindon without a map or a sat nav, or you may well end up driving into town, then back out, into an estate, then back into town again and the whole time keep finding yourself on the one way system around the town centre, at a point just past where you wanted to turn off, so have to go all the way round again.

Some key facts about Stonehenge

Stonehenge is one of the historical places in England that dates back to 5000 years ago and is one of the major tourist attractions in the area.

Stonehenge is located in Britain nowadays is the version that was made 3500 years ago and it is actually the fourth version. The first version of the Stonehenge dates back to 3100 BC. The first version of the Stonehenge had Aubrey holes which were deep and round holes in chalk. People thought these were for the purpose of graves but actually it was for religious ceremony.

The second version was made after 1000 years when some heavy rocks were transported from a long mile away to make a double circle with an entrance in it. The stones were so heavy, about 4 tons each that such an effort would have been made in transporting them from the mountains. It is thought that they were transported first through rollers and then by water.

The third version was made in 2000 BC when very heavy, about 50 tons each Sarsen stones were transported from the mountains. With such weight of the stones, it was impossible that they were transported by rollers or boat. It is most likely that people pulled the stones down using ropes. Given the weight of the stones, it is probable that 500 men pulled on the ropes of each stone to transport it. Anyway, the stones that were brought were set in an outer circle and inside the circle, there were five trilithons which were erected and organized in a horseshoe way. The remains of these trilithons are still available today.

The final version of the monument was made after 1500 BC when the stones were reorganized in a horseshoe way and in a circle that we get to see in England nowadays. However, the original Stonehenge had 60 stones or more, many of which are broken and removed and there are only a few left.

With all the effort that was put into making the amazing Stonehenge, the question which has marvelled historians and scientists is why it was made. A long time back, there were only historical and mythical theories about it that the devil made it, or Merlin had it built by a giant he had. Other theories were that it was made for the purpose of a burial place for the royal family. Some historians had the view that it was a roman temple. There have been scientific studies also on the stones of the Stonehenge to unravel the mystery surrounding it as to why it was built. However, the mystery remains unsolved as no one can give an accurate account of something that happened a long, long time ago. The most popular, however, is that it was made for some religious purpose and that is why people still have religious ceremonies over here.

The Stonehenge that we see now is nothing compared to the giant, breath catching one that was built 5000 years back. Only some idea can be obtained as historians have made pictures to show how it would have looked like. What remains now is only a very small proportion of it as most of it has been destroyed by weather conditions and constructions in the surrounding area

The market town of Marlborough is close by, so if you need accommodation, Marlborough is a great place to find a hotel.