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Where have you never been, but is close to you?
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this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2024
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Almost went to Stonehenge after visiting family down south. They wanted £60 and wouldn't let us take the dog in.
You can apparently get in cheaper if you're a member of English Heritage. So we looked online to see if it was a fair deal and what other sites membership grants you.
Turns out that English Heritage are a bunch of robbing bastards (they literally stole seahenge!) that enclose our historic sites in order to charge money for access to them.
I won't be visiting if I have to pay them.
English Heritage was set up by the government to protect historic sites, and then spun out as an independent charity to continue that role.
Protecting sites includes limiting the numbers who can visit, hence enclosing them. That allows visitor numbers to be capped and managed (which reduces damage from over tourism) and also prevents illicit access and vandalisn.
In the case of seahenge it was literally rotting away - the decision was made to excavate and preserve what was left. That was in response to press campaigns to do something to save seahenge; it was a controversial at the time and remains so now. They did this while still part of the UK government in 1999.
Stonehenge was gifted to the nation in 1915 and had been on private land up to that ppint. A lot of expensive work has been done to preserve the site including demolishing other structures to preserve the skyline, and even recently burying a section of road.
Visitor charges and subscriptions pay for English Heritage to continue their work and preserve our history. They're not "robbing bastards", they're a non profit with an expensive role.
When I was over there last year, we tried to shoehorn Stonehenge into our plant since we would be driving past in on the way to Bath. I heard from plenty of people that it’s almost not worth it unless you’re just really interested in its specific history. I was told it gets crowded pretty quickly (lots of tourists groups), and you can’t get very close to it anymore. We dropped it and saw it from the motorway on the way to Bath.
If it makes you feel any better, I was on a student ambassador trip to the UK and Ireland in the very early 2000's. Stonehenge wasn't on our itinerary, but we were traveling past and wanted to see it. Our local guides warned us that we might be disappointed, but we insisted. I won't say it wasn't worth it to see, but we were all pretty underwhelmed. It was still a neat and striking experience to see, but we were kept pretty far away from the stones. They were roped off in a field by the highway, and there wasn't much in the way of historical exhibits to spend time enjoying.