The Society of LEY HUNTERS Newsletter # 53 August 2015

The Watkins Memorial Stones are installed and a short unveiling took place in the rain on 13th June. Thanks to all who were able to attend and all who made the project possible with your donations and assistance.

Subscriptions: G. Frawley, 17Victoria St, Cheltenham, GL50 4HU. UK. (£15 per annum) Cheques payable to; The Society of Ley Hunters. enquiries: [email protected] editorial: [email protected]

LEYHUNTERS

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A Tribute to Alfred Watkins BOB SHAVE Humber Woodland of Remembrance, Saturday 13th June 2015 In June 1921 Alfred Watkins came to this spot and experienced his revelation of the ley system. Ninety years later, in June 2011, I followed him, eager to see what he had seen here and to better understand his experience. I must admit to feeling disappointed with what I found here. There was no visible alignment or any feature which would obviously suggest a ley. I needn’t have been so disappointed. I had not seen much, but then, as far as we can tell, Watkins had not seen much here either. That was not the nature of his experience. His writings, and those of his son Allen, tell us that Watkins’ vision of the ley system came into his mind instantaneously, without warning, his mind flooded with images so coherent that there were only a few basic ideas to be added to his theory after that day. His perception of leys was sudden, complete and intuitive in nature. Let’s turn for a moment to some of Watkins’ other achievements, outside of the field of leys, as these make up an important part of who he was. He was a skilful photographer, in a time when photography was hard work, and not the trivial exercise that it is today. In Watkins’ young day you needed a tent, to provide shade while you dipped your glass plate in the silver solution, before loading it into the camera which had to be mounted on a tripod. Next time you take a selfie with your smartphone, spare a thought for poor Watkins. The famous Bee Meter, the light meter that Watkins designed and built, was taken to Antarctica by photographer H.G. Ponting to help record Captain Scott’s ill-fated expedition in 1910. Ponting later wrote to Watkins, thanking him, and saying that his photos would have been impossible without the meter. Watkins was also a keen innovator as a baker of bread. After careful experimentation he designed instruments to help calculate baking times based on how fast the dough rose before baking started. And in the early days of his father’s flour mill, it was Watkins who pioneered the use of electric light in the mill, from a generator, the first such use of electricity in Herefordshire. Watkins’ innovations arose from an inquiring mind coupled with patience, a methodical approach and accurate observation. He was to apply all these skills in his famous book on leys, The Old Straight Track, where he tried to amass evidence for the ley system which would convince sceptics. Throughout his life, Watkins had explored and observed his local landscape. As a teenager he had entered Radnor Vale in Powys, driving his father’s brewery waggon, noticing the tumuli and megaliths of that area. Later, as a keen photographer, he travelled around Herefordshire and the Welsh borders, recording on glass plates towns, villages and countryside. When the moment at Blackwardine came in 1921 he had been absorbing the landscape for decades. After the discovery of leys he went on to write The Old Standing Crosses of Herefordshire, a photographic pilgrimage to record images of all the stone crosses he knew of in the county, of which there were many. Later still he went on to write about the Ledbury Hills in eastern Herefordshire and their literary connections. His life was characterised by a restless energy which drove him to

2 experiment and to explore, and, having explored, to reveal what he had found to others. On Watkins’ death in 1935, a poem was written by a Mr. H. Hudson in tribute to him. This poem was found by Society of Leyhunters researchers in 2004 in the Straight Track Club archives in Hereford library. I’d like to read it out now. I’m grateful to Jon Lord for finding it and to Adrian Hyde for copying it out and posting it to me. He was a valiant law unto himself; He framed a ladder other feet will climb; From Yule to Yule – from Vespers until Prime Through four score years he laboured not for self. With hand upon the plough, he turned not back; His life’s long span knew not the even-time When none may work – he only knew to climb Amid forgotten way-marks on the old straight track To where there gleamed for him the beacons of a world sublime.

It’s a beautiful poem, I think, and one thing I like about it is that we’re all mentioned in it. “He framed a ladder other feet will climb.” Some of those feet are our feet. And when we just walked up from Risbury, we were climbing another rung of that ladder. Some people might say that Watkins was wrong, that there are no such things as leys. They are entitled to their opinion. Others will say, OK, there are leys, but so what? Are they relevant to us today? In my opinion, yes they are. For thousands of years human beings have walked the land, we have farmed and hunted, observed the heavens and told stories about the landscape around us. It’s only in the last hundred years or so that we haven’t. We are cut off from the land. Studying leys, and especially walking them, re- connects us with something that we have lost. Alfred Watkins was a methodical, analytical experimenter with a strongly intuitive streak; an explorer who didn’t often leave Herefordshire; a new-age pioneer who wore a suit. He is a difficult person to categorise. But there can be no doubt that he felt a strong connection with the landscape and its ancient sites. He begins his introduction to The Old Straight Track with this quotation from W.H. Hudson’s Hampshire Days:

We sometimes feel a kinship with, and are strangely drawn to the dead, the long long dead, the men who knew not life in towns, and knew no strangeness in sun and wind and rain. In such a mood on that evening I went to one of those lonely barrows.

This quote was surely important to Watkins, describing what we might call today a spiritual attraction to the sacred sites, a yearning to spend time there and to feel the presence and guidance of the ancestors. We have followed in his footsteps by walking from Risbury, and stepping up another rung on his ladder. Let’s carry on climbing the ladder – and remember, the ladder has no end.

Bob Shave Society of Leyhunters

3 FIRST LEY Society of Ley Hunters Moot, 12th-14th June 2015 In September, 1921, Alfred Watkins gave a talk to the Woolhope Club in Hereford about his discovery of leys the previous June, published in detail in the Hereford Times and which can be seen in the Michael Behrend Archive at: http://www.cantab.net/users/michael.behrend/aw_cuttings/ocr/p_009.html The report says: "Mr. Watkins, in his lecture, said that he knew nothing in June of what he now communicated. After visiting Blackwardine, he noted on the map a straight line starting from Croft Ambury, lying on parts of Croft Lane past the Broad, over hill points, through Blackwardine, over Risbury Camp, and through the high ground at Stretton Grandison, where he surmised a Roman station. He followed up the clue of sighting from hill top, unhampered by other theories, and found it yielding astounding results in all districts, the straight lines to his amazement passing over and over again through the same class of objects, which he soon found to be (or to have been) practical sighting points." The Society of Ley Hunters, which has recently erected a memorial stone to Watkins and his discovery, sited at Blackwardine crossroads on the original ley, devoted its June moot to honouring Watkins and the discovery. On Friday 12th June we gathered in the Woolhope Room at Hereford Library, where the archive of the Straight Track Club had been brought for us to see. This is the huge collection of the Club's postal folios, sent round to all members for them to read and add contributions. After seeing these and a lot of discussion about the early years of ley hunting, we finished the day with a walk round Hereford seeing some of Watkins' leys in the city, including the spectacular Offa Street ley, with Gerald Frawley.

Alfred Watkins’ house in Hereford The following day we met at the Hop Kiln, set at the base of Risbury hillfort and immediately adjacent to the ley. Philip Heselton, who had been the first editor of The Ley Hunter magazine in the 1960s, began proceedings by speaking on the early days of the revival of interest in leys. For him it started at his local library at Sunbury-on-Thames, which had an interesting acquisition policy covering a lot of unusual subjects, such things as spiritualism, ghosts and flying saucers. Two which particularly interested him had been Flying Saucers Have Landed by Desmond Leslie and George Adamski, and The Coming of the Space Ships by Gavin Gibbopns. The latter had a list of books and magazines which included Flying Saucer Review. Philip subscribed to this, and in the January 1961 issue there was an article "Diffusionist Theory and the STAR Fellowship" by Tony Wedd of Chiddingstone in Kent. This led to his going to the rally which Tony held that summer in Chiddingstone. He found a group of about a dozen people; as well as flying saucers they talkd of lots of things esoteric including Wilhelm Reich and orgone energy, and Alfred Watkins and The Old Straight Track were mentioned. A booklet Skyways and Landmarks was on sale for sixpence, which linked leys with alignments of UFO sightings made in 1954. He went to the library and ordered Wakins' book and read it. The photographs struck him first, almost as if Watkins was in the landscape. Ancient sites aligned. He was fascinated and started drawing pencil lines on maps; one of them was a line of moated sites in Surrey, aligning with Gills Lap in Sussex, one

4 of the points mentioned by Tony Wedd. Tony had told him of a former member of the Straight Track Club living in Oxford, but he found he had died, so he decided to start an organisation again, called the Ley Hunter's Club. But he did get into contact with Egerton Sykes, who was interested in leys and flying saucers, but strangely felt there could be no connection between them. He had been listed in the book list in The Ley Hunters' Manual, which Watkins had written two years after The Old Straight Track. He had a list of the names and addresses of the Straight Track Club members. Mrs. Carbonel had suggested this idea to Watkins; members wrote articles which were circulated postally, and there were field meetings. Many members were old to start with, and by 1948 most were too old to do much, and the organisation folded. Egerton Sykes was a member after the war. Philip wrote to the members on the list; some produced no reply, in other cases there were replies from widows. But he had a few encouraging replies, one from Allen Watkins, Alfred's son. He said his father had hoped above all things that young people would become interested. Mrs. Carbonel's daughter sent a copy of The Old Straight Track. The club went on a number of ley hunts, and various people visited. The Pendragon Society were contacted, and a joint trip to Avebury was organised. Philip and I went to Winchester on the train, where a coach had been organised to take us on to Avebury. Tony Wedd came on the trip, during which we climbed Silbury Hill and visited West Kennet Long Barrow. Subsequent to this I entered a report of the trip in a "Roving Reporter" competition organised by Tuesday Rendezvous, a children's programme which was like an ITV version of Blue Peter. I was one of the winners and was interviewed on the programme by Hugh Moran, a reporter on the Daily Mail. He said "Good luck to you, Jimmy, and I hope you do get a job on a newspaper". That never happened, but I have been an amateur journalist most of my life, editing about ten very different magazines. After this there was the inaugural meeting of the Ley Hunter's Club at Kensington Central Library on 17th November 1962 - Philip mentioned that this was the same day the Findhorn community was established. Allen Watkins spoke saying he now had a clearer insight into his father's discovery. He felt they were laid out on a religious basis, of physical, mental and spiritual states, and the various points represented earth, air, fire and water. Philip produced several bulletins, culminating in The Ley Hunter magazine being started in 1965. It ran for about three years, then it was restarted by Paul Screeton in 1969, bringing it out on a monthly schedule. On the 50th anniversary of Watkins' discovery a weekend in Herefordshire was organised. There was a meeting in the Woolhope Room followed by a picnic on Risbury Camp, a site on the first ley discovered. Philip then said he would like to end with a project. Alfred Watkins had lived very near the composer Edward Elgar and it seems likely that they knew each other. They were both members of the Woolhope Club and both had a love of the landscape, which Watkins expressed through photography and Elgar through music. They also both did strange things in sheds with chemicals! Philip suggested a play could be written with talking and discussion between them, illustrated with Watkins' photographs and Elgar's music. I followed Philip's talk by speaking about leys that Watkins found at the Roman city site at Silchester, where my family had come from. This had been a substantial city comparable to London, but nothing Roman remains above ground except the city wall. In The Old Straight Track he describes three leys through the city, and also the fact that a building in the centre thought to be an early Christian church is at the meeting point of lines drawn between the corners of the city, including some of the gates. He thought the position was determined mathematically. One of the leys runs east-west across the city, possibly coincident with one of the streets and passing through the present parish church, a square Roman temple and the early Christian church. Watkins thought that the three buildings being oriented to the same angle was an extraordinary fact. (The church may have practised Gnostic Christianity as a bloodstone was found nearby with a figure of Abraxas, a Gnostic figure, on one side and "iaw" (Yahweh) on the other). The ley had been extended into Surrey and Middlesex showing itself to be spectacular with a total of several miles of coincident road and track and a number of significant points. It follows a coincident track across Bushy Park to the Hampton URC Church, where its width was dowsed at 14 paces. Then it runs along a coincident road in Hampton with double trees, before coming

5 to Sunbury Cross. This is now the starting point of the M3, but Philip and I remember it as a multijunction of five roads. Watkins was cautious about crossroads, including them only as confirmatory points, but this one seems a significant point as many leys meet there. One goes to the tumulus on Hampstead Heath which enthused Tony Wedd with leys, another goes through the site of Chertsey Abbey and several churches, and another runs along the Egham Causeway, which is likely to be part of the Roman road from London to Silchester. This alignment has a coincident stretch of main road, and goes through the Spelthorne Moot site and several churches. Next the line goes through an earthwork enclosure on Laleham Burway, where the field trip following the ley in 1994 started, filmed as The Silchester Ley (this can be viewed on YouTube by going to the YouTube site and searching for that title). The ancient church St. Michael's, Thorpe is next. This stands on the site of Roman buildings; the pillars have Roman brick bases and traces of tesserae were found there when the church was repaired in the 1990s as the chancel was sinking into the crypt below. This crypt had a basin and the former vicar of Thorpe thought it may have been a mithraeum as it was similar in structure to the London Mithraeum. A Roman cinerary urn was found near the church, and a portable altar stone which cannot be later than fourth century. The ley then continues to Sunningdale Church, where it crosses the Roman road at the adjacent multijunction, then goes on to Silchester through a named crossroads Fair Cross. This ley vindicates Alfred Watkins and his work.

At Risbury hillfort After the Society AGM which followed, we walked the ley as closely as we could from the Hop Kiln and over Risbury hillfort, with its spectacular earthwork, led by Gerald Frawley. We then continued on the footpath, which followed the ley in places, past the building known as Gob's Castle and along the path by the stream, finally ending up at the Blackwardine crossroads where Alfred Watkins had his original inspiration. The standing stone raised by the Society was already in place, and Gerald brought out the memorial stone and put it in place.

The memorial stone Bob Shave’s dedication

6 Bob Shave then spoke, saying that in June, 1921, Alfred Watkins came to that spot and experienced his revelation of the ley system. Ninety years later he had followed him, eager to see what he had seen, and was disappointed that there was no obvious alignment or ley feature. But then he realised that Watkins had probably not seen much either - that was not the nature of the experience. It came into his mind instantaneously; without warning his mind flooded with images so coherent that there were only a few basic ideas added to his theory after that day. His conception of leys was complete and intuitive in nature. He then went on to describe Watkins' other achievements. He was a skilled photographer at a time when photography was hard work, having to dip the plate into silver solution before inserting it into the camera. The Bee exposure meter which he designed was taken to Antarctica to record Captain Scott's ill-fated expedition. The photographer wrote to Watkins thanking him, saying the photographs would have been impossible without it. He also designed instruments to calculate the time of baking of bread, and pioneered the use of electric light in his father's flour mill. The innovations came from an enquiring mind coupled with patience and a methodical approach. Throughout his life Watkins explored and observed his local landscape. As a teenager he observed the tumuli and megaliths of the Radnor Vale, and later as a photographer recorded towns, villages and countryside. When the moment at Blackwardine came he had been absorbing the landscape for decades. After the discovery he went on to write The Old Standing Crosses of Herefordshire, a photographic pilgrimage to record the stone crosses of the county. He always wanted to explore, and then reveal what he had found to others. On his death in 1935 Mr.H. Hudson wrote a poem in tribute to him. It was found in the Straight Track Club archives by Society of Ley Hunters researchers. It said that he laboured for fourscore years, and framed a ladder other feet would climb. Bob said that when we walked up from Risbury we were climbing another rung of that ladder. Some might say there are no such things as leys - they are entitled to their opinion. Others may ask if they are relevant - in his opinion they are. For thousands of years humans have walked the land, farmed and observed the heavens, and told stories about the landscape. Studying leys reconnects us with something we have lost. Watkins begins his introduction to The Old Straight Track with a quotation from W. H. Hudson, which says we feel a kinship with the long, long dead who knew not life in towns and were no strangers to sun and wind and rain. In such a mood that evening he went to the lonely barrow, describing what we would call a spiritual attraction to a sacred site, a yearning to spend time there and feel the presence and guidance of the ancestors. We followed in his footsteps by walking from Risbury and stepping up another rung of his ladder. He urged us to carry on climbing.

Stretton Grandison Church On the ley towards the Roman station The following day, Sunday, we went in the other direction along the ley, and visited Stretton Grandison, where St. Lawrence's Church is on the ley. Pat Toms found it was quite a wide one, dowsing at about 30 paces wide. We then walked on up the footpaths to the site of the Roman station.

JIMMY GODARD

7 Ley-lines from paper maps Eric J. Sargeant. BSc(Hons), BA (Open), CITP MBCS, FIED

Twice recently I’ve come upon articles denigrating Alfred Watkins’ two works on ley-lines. [Ref. 1 & 2]. Whereas in June we commemorate him with the erection of a new standing stone at the Blackwardine crossroads which were the site of his revelation. [Ref. 3].

According to Dr. Ronald Hutton: “There are lots of reasons why orthodox scholarship is hostile to the concept of ‘leys’ ”. Ley-lines are: “one major aspect of the methodology of ‘alternative’ archaeology which is quite unacceptable to orthodox scholarship”. Nor does he accept that ROMAN ROADS are pre- Roman. Although dowsing, remarkably is approved of by Dr. Hutton, saying: “But a book by two eminent academics and a dowser, argues sensibly from case studies for the efficacy of dowsing in church archaeology”. [Ref. 4]. My copy cost me £4.50p, knocked down from £18.99p!

The second denigrator is Ken Hollamby in [Ref. 5]. The greater part of his article is quotations from [Ref. 1 & 2]. A footnote queries their punctuation and syntax. Maybe Mr. Hollamby is a pedantic academic as well. He reiterates, “in archaeological circles at least, the theory is not taken seriously”. Upon the extracts he makes a couple of cynical comments, saying as he was almost convinced, but now knows where he was going wrong.

The “lots of reasons” seem to reduce to two. 1/. That non-academic authors, such as the Poet Robert Graves, have mislead the uneducated public. Dr. Hutton is a double academic; Oxford and Cambridge. [I’ve lectured at two universities, and so maybe can call myself an academic]. 2/. That sites along an alignment may not be of similar dates. Maybe a bronze age mound aligned with a Norman keep and a 15th century church. However the inspirational influences at those locations are constant and timeless.

Likewise, twice recently I’ve found leys from paper maps. Firstly, Jeff Poole, a colleague at the East Midlands Dowsing Group meetings, [Ref. 6], had asked me to take a look at the village of Orton-on- the-Hill in Leicestershire, near to Twycross Zoo. I have a map of that area. [Ref. 7]. This map is dominated by four sections of straight roads marked ROMAN ROAD Watling Street, so that’s historically alright. The village has 2km of straight road at 124 to the grid. The first part named ‘The Green’, aligns the village church, dedicated to St Edith of Polesworth, SK 30421 03932, and the crossroads at Main Street and Pipe Lane. It continues as Orton Lane and Sheepy Lane. Extended in the same direction the line connects the isolated cemetery, SK 32965 02222, off of the Twycross Road and Earthworks, SK 35093 00805, at Sibson. Going in the other direction there is 1.35km of trackway starting,SK 29665 04462, obviously inline on the map. The line passes through Newton Regis Garden Centre and the windmill symbol at Seckington. Then there is another 500m of trackway crossing Clifton Lane, SK 23837 03818. Perpendicular to that line, at 214, another alignment through the church starts with the pond and church at Snarestone, SK 34124 09463. This passes through Norton Juxta-Twycross, through Twycross Zoo and the crossroads on Norton Lane. It continues to the crossroads of Watling Street and Spon Lane at Grendon, SP 27447 99455. Then onward through Speedwell Farm, White’s Farm, Pump House Farm near a moat, Hurley Hall Farm’s moat, SP 25127 95928, East House Farm to Gnomon Wood, SP 23673 93772. A third alignment through the church, at 274, starts with Market Bosworth church, SK 40746 03258, going through a lake island at Friezeland Farm, SK 38637 03379, then Hoo Hills, SK 37569 03469, Temple Farm, SK 35997 03553, and Cliff House, SK 34375 03657. It continues through another lake island in R. Anker, SK 25687 04217, onto the remains of a Benedictine Priory, SK 25177 04265.

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St. Edith’s church, Orton-on-the-Hill Leicestershire Three alignments go through the church My second example arose during a metal detecting dig with Derby Artefacts Recovery Club [Ref. 8]. It was at Stydd Hall Farm, near Yeaveley. In one of the fields, we had been allocated to search, there was a moated mound, all overgrown with trees and fenced off from the animals. Noting it’s location with my Garmin GPS unit as SK 18212 39397. Tracing an alignment through that position across two map sheets, [Ref. 9], gives a line which justifies the dates argument - for modern geographers have again chosen two of the sighting sites as triangulation points. The line, at 147, runs down through Alkmonton church, SK 18707 38536, Dairy House Farm, the long side of Barton Hall, to Hoon Mount Tumulus; the trig’ point, SK 23009 31824. In the other direction we have Snelston church, SK 15536 43334, followed by Dun Low and Cart Low surrounded by numerous Tumulii, before Soles Hill Tumulus, the second trig’ point, SK 09794 52505, and then onto Grindon church, SK 08536 54531.

Moated mound at Stydd Hall Farm

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Alignments at 95147

There are sections of ROMAN ROAD and dotted lines marked ‘Course of’ on the Derby map looking like a E-W Equinox alignment. But, as with Watling Street sections don’t quite align one to the next. One section on the left hand side, above Wootons, SK 06302 38974 - SK 08625 38743 is at 95 When extended right across the map it connects a short section at SK 14749 38180, a Tumulus, SK 18242 37856, and two large plus ‘+’markers for lost medieval villages, Alkmonton andOsleston. The map’s symbol chart says these mark ‘Position of antiquity which cannot be drawn to scale’. It continues clean through the centre of Derby and onto a road junction ‘a crossroads’ to the east of the city. Meeting therewith the A6005 ROMAN ROAD connecting Derventio camp, Sawley camp on R. Trent, and Vernemetvm camp on The Fosse Way.

References 1/. Early British Trackways; Moats, Mounds, Camps and Sites, Alfred Watkins, 1922, The Watkins Meter Company, ISBN 1-59605-469-7. 2/. The Old Straight Track, Alfred Watkins, 1925, Abacus, ISBN 0-349-13707-2. 3/. The Watkins Memorial Stone Dedication, The Society of Ley Hunters, June 2015, http://www.leyhunters.co.uk/page172.html 4/. The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles; Their Nature and Legacy, Ronald Hutton, 1991, Blackwell Publishers Inc, ISBN 0-631-18946-7. 5/. Ley Hunting with Watkins, Ken Hollamby, Sheetlines - The Journal of The Charles Close Society, #95, December 2012, http://www.charlesclosesociety.org/files/Issue95page43.pdf. 6/. East Midlands Dowsing Group, http://www.eastmidsdowsers.co.uk/ 7/. Ordnance Survey, Explorer Map, #232, Nuneaton & Tamworth, Edition A1, 2006. 8/. Derby Artefacts Recovery Club, http://www.derbymetaldetecting.co.uk/ 9/. Ordnance Survey, Landranger Maps, #128, Derby and Burton upon Trent, Second series, 1977, and #119, Buxton, Matlock and Dove Dale, Second Series, 1977.

10 A solsticial alignment in the district of Oporto, Portugal Albeno Chaves

A straight line just under 16 miles long drawn between the hill forts (castros) of Guifões and Monte Padrão makes an angle of 58º east of due north, which is precisely the midsummer rising sun azimuth at this latitude of approximately 41º N. This means that an observer at a sufficient height above the hill forte of Guifões would see the Sun rise on the 21st June behind the hill fort of Padrão. Six months later an observer at Monte Padrão looking south-westwards down the red line would see the midwinter sun set behind the hill fort of Guifões just after 5 pm. This solsticial alignment 'connects' several places with historical/archaeological interest and, if prolonged south-westwards, ends at the Fort of Our Lady of the Snow at Leça da Palmeira. It is obvious that this alignment between both hills is purely accidental, although the precise distribution of markers along the line might have been intentional.

1‒ Fort of Our Lady of the Snow (Forte de Leça)

Leça da Palmeira, council of Matosinhos. Dating from 1638, it was built to defend the mound of the river Leça (now Port of Leixões) against the attacks of pirates and buccaneers.

11 2‒ Castro (hill fort) of Guifões (Castrum Quiffiones)

The stone with an engraved swastika or even several rowels points to an occupation of the place since the beginning of the Iron Age or the end of the Bronze Age1. A stone with cup marks was also found here.

3‒ Niche in a tree

Araújo, parish of Leça do Balio, council of Matosinhos. Towards the end of the 19th century, the church yard witnessed something which turned it famous and attracted lots of people: the appearance of a “holy oak tree”. In April 1895, after a heavy downpour, a very old oak tree was dragged more than 30 meters in one go and stood miraculously upright. The population believed it was a miracle, also because a fountain appeared on the spot with “miraculous” water. The tree no longer exists, but the population maintains the tradition2.

4‒ Mound and menhir at Taím

1 http://www.swastika-info.com/en/startpage/portugal/1097601015.html; Joel Cleto e José Manuel Varela, O CASTRO DE GUIFÕES (MATOSINHOS): DOS ESTUDOS DE MARTINS SARMENTO ÀS INVESTIGAÇÕES DA ACTUALIDADE – Revista de Guimarães, Volume Especial, II, Guimarães, 1999, pp. 467-479.

2 Idem

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Neolithic monument. The mound measures about 1.50 m high and has a diameter of 20 meters. This short menhir shows cup marks at the bottom Parish of Silva Escura, council of Maia.

5– Moors threshing floor (Eira dos Mouros)

Prehistoric rock-art site of indeterminate period3, within the precincts of the airfield of Vilar de Luz, parish of Folgosa, council Maia.

6‒ Castro (hill fort) of Mount Padrão

From late Bronze Age to the end of the Middle Ages. It is one of the main references of culture and heritage in the council of Santo Tirso.

3 Joel Cleto, FREGUESIA DE LEÇA DO BALIO, Mediana – Guias das Freguesias de Matosinhos, p. 34

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BOOK REVIEW:

A Guide to Glastonbury’s Temple of the Stars: Their Giant Effigies Described from Air Views, Maps and from “The High History of the Holy Grail”, by Katharine Maltwood (James Clark and Co. Ltd., London, 1964 reprint) It is hardly topical to be writing a review of a 1935 book in 2015, however, having just read this book for the first time I thought I would write a few lines in case others, like I was, are still unfamiliar with it first-hand. The copy I read was a 1964 hardback reprint, ordered from my local library. The book describes Katharine Maltwood’s vision of the Somerset landscape, where she saw roads, rivers and the natural contours of the land forming the outlines of the signs of the zodiac, in a circle about ten miles across. On opening the book it is clear from the start that her vision has come, not just from a purely visual examination of maps and aerial photographs, but also from medieval mythology and knowledge of ancient civilisations. Arthurian legend played a key role in the formulation of Maltwood’s theory, so let us look there first.

King Arthur, Phoenicians and other matters Katharine Maltwood was an artist, and in 1929 she made an illustration for a copy of The High History of the Holy Graal, an Arthurian romance, in an English translation by Dr. Sebastian Evans. The original story was written in French by an unknown author in the thirteenth century. Maltwood says in her Introduction to Temple of the Stars, referring to the landscape zodiac figures, “the effigy giants…never would have been found had it not been for the guidance of this History.” Maltwood’s illustration for the High History was a map showing the itinerary of the knights in their quest, and it was self-evident to Maltwood that the events took place in and around the Isle of Avalon, the last resting place of Arthur and Guenievre, in other words Glastonbury. Maltwood also had an encyclopaedic knowledge of ancient civilisations and was strongly influenced by the book The Phoenician Origin of Britons, Scots and Anglo-Saxons by Dr. L.A. Waddell. She quotes this book more than once and from it comes her estimate of the date of creation of the zodiac, around 2800 B.C. It is through the Phoenicians that Maltwood saw a transference of astronomical knowledge from the Middle East to Britain, ensuring a continuity of ideas in terms of the shapes and symbolism of the constellations. A third ingredient which Maltwood brings to the book is her detailed local knowledge. Repeatedly we come across comments from Maltwood describing roads, tracks and buildings which she can only have known about from exploration on the ground.

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Style and readability The book is structured in a logical way with each chapter dedicated to a zodiac figure, starting with chapters on Leo, Virgo, Scorpio, and so on. But the Temple of the Stars is not just about the stars. Each figure is the earthly embodiment of a character from The High History of the Holy Graal. For example Aries is Sir Gawain, Aquarius is Sir Perceval and Sagittarius is King Arthur (and Hercules). In an attempt to prove this, Maltwood repeatedly quotes from the High History when describing the Zodiac, so much so that it breaks up the text and makes her account disjointed. Passages from the High History are thrown in to her narrative out of context, so that we never see the whole story of the High History, or how the different passages relate to each other. Overall the style of Maltwood’s writing is restless, jumping from one subject to another. This made the book, for me, difficult to read.

The Zodiac today Reading the Temple of the Stars today, can we recognise Maltwood’s figures in the landscape, using modern maps? I believe the answer is yes. Maltwood refers at times to Bartholomew’s half-inch to the mile map sheet 34, saying that it is “on too small a scale to show all the giants in detail” but gives a good overview of the area. She also used 6-inch maps for detailed work. On the modern O.S. 1:25,000 Explorer sheets 129 and 141, many features described by Maltwood are still visible. The special quality of the landscape is apparent, in that hills, rivers, roads and woods form themselves into strange, almost organic shapes. It is easy to see how Maltwood’s giants could have been perceived. Furthermore she maintains that projecting stars onto this landscape from a planisphere, or star chart, places the zodiac constellations on the ground in the correct positions relative to the earthly effigies. For serious study of the Zodiac, for the price of two Explorer maps, you can order online from the Ordnance Survey a custom-made 1:25,000 map, centred on Park Wood at the centre of the Zodiac, which will accommodate most of the main features.

Discussion Maltwood does not go into detail about how she believes the Zodiac was constructed, however she seems to imply that the figures were planned, and at least partly, engineered, by a civilisation from overseas over 4,000 years ago. A tradition of the existence of the figures then persisted so that in the Middle Ages, the author of the High History related their story to the landscape effigies, perhaps as a way of revealing them to those able and willing to see. Maltwood does say, in her Introduction, “The name of the author is not known; that he was well acquainted with the Sea Moors (i.e. the Levels) of Somerset is now apparent from his accurate knowledge of the effigy giants.” It is for each of us to decide how much of Maltwood’s vision to accept. Anthony Thorley’s essay Contemplating Zodiacal Dreamtime, in the book Signs and Secrets of the Glastonbury Zodiac, reviewed in SoL newsletter #51 (Nov 2014), is an excellent discussion of some of the main ideas. But for the purposes of this review, my own opinion is that Maltwood has stumbled across something significant, in that she has perceived a sacred space, encircled by magical symbols and linked in some way to observation of the heavens. The landscape of the Glastonbury Zodiac comprises a relatively flat central area surrounded by hills. It has wide skies with hills at strategic points to act as landmarks for observers. Maltwood seems to have been aware of this. On the penultimate page of her book she writes, “The effigies definitely indicate a Sanctuary made by stargazers.” And let us not forget the words of the book’s title, Temple of the Stars. Her book shows that she was a person of education, culture, sensitivity to the landscape, and above all a complete conviction in the reality of her findings. She was immersed in the High History and its landscape, to the extent that it seemed as real to her as the everyday physical world. Perhaps in this way she was like us – we all feel enthusiasm for, and have conviction in, our own discoveries, leys for example. A Guide to Glastonbury’s Temple of the Stars is a strange and complex book. It is not particularly easy to read – but I felt lucky to be able to open it and step into Maltwood’s world. Read it. It’s worth it. Bob Shave Spring Equinox 2015

15 The Silbury Revelation By John Drews

For centuries, people have gazed upon the colossal mound known as Silbury Hill that stands near Avebury in Wiltshire, and wondered why and when it was built. To this day, it remains the most mysterious monument in Britain. What could have motivated the ancient Britons to spend an estimated three million man-hours building a monument for no apparent reason, and why did they go to such extraordinary lengths in their building methods to ensure its longevity? Those are the questions that have fascinated me since I first heard of Silbury Hill over twenty years ago. Despite its unprecedented size, most observers have assumed it to be a tomb of some kind; possibly a ‘king- size’ Bronze Age round barrow. However, numerous archaeological investigations have failed to find any evidence of chambers or deliberately formed hollows anywhere within its solidly constructed body, and modern seismic surveys have indicated that none exist: out goes the tomb theory. Roughly conical in shape with a flattened platform at the summit, it rises over one hundred and twenty feet, which makes it the largest man-made mound in Europe. Silbury’s first archaeological intervention took place in 1776, with the latest ending in 2008 when repairs had to be carried out to the older, collapsing archaeological shafts and tunnels. The investigations discovered that Silbury’s construction was a cleverly planned affair, with an internal, stepped series of radial and concentric chalk walls retaining horizontally laid chalk rubble. At its very heart there is a ‘primary mound’ of organic material and gravel. Without those methods of construction, the mound could not possibly have stood for so long. Silbury’s date is no longer a mystery; radiocarbon dating technology has established that it was built c2400 BC, over a time period of anywhere between one and one hundred and sixty years. Unfortunately, because of the absence of any burial chambers, that is as far as our knowledge of the monument goes. In 2001, I set myself the task of analysing all the archaeological and environmental data, and of considering all the published theories relating to the mound (no matter how outlandish). Owing to Silbury’s proximity and apparent relationship to Avebury henge, it was necessary to research the entire prehistoric complex. Eventually, being an entirely free agent, I decided to leave my native Lancashire, and in 2008, I became a tour guide at Avebury henge with my tour partner Mariah Wheatley. My remit was to concentrate on the history and archaeology of the henge, while Mariah dealt with the more esoteric aspects such as Earth energies. That philosophy of ‘anything goes’ served me well when I decided to write my own book about Silbury Hill, enabling me to offer a more comprehensive account whilst still adhering to archaeological and environmental facts. Back in the 1990s, I wrote two Lake District guidebooks, developing along the way the ability to recognise landmarks from various perspectives and distances. Considering that Silbury has a flat top, I thought that it could have been an observational platform utilising special views absent from natural hills in the same area. From photographs taken from the summit and from Ordnance Survey maps, I plotted the mound’s horizons and its visual relationship with all the other prehistoric monuments in the Avebury complex. Even though the summit area was known to have been reshaped in the Saxon era, it was still possible the summit was either at or very close to the original height. Apart from a somewhat tenuous link with Silbury’s water-catchment area, it soon became apparent there would have been nothing to see from its summit that could not be seen to better effect from natural hills around the mound. Neither would there have been any advantage to be gained if the summit had been designed as an astronomical observation point. I was back to square one. The one unequivocal statement that can be made about the monument is that the ancient Britons built a gigantic conical mound in that specific location. Why? Because they needed a mound of that shape and size in that location. Once I embraced that basic premise, the mystery began to unravel. Like every other researcher, I had made the mistake of perceiving Silbury Hill as a separate entity. It is not, and was never intended to be. To see the great mound as it was meant to be seen, it must be viewed as part of its wider landscape. In 2010, and quite by chance, I saw Silbury in its true light by looking at another, very similar hill in the neighbouring Vale of Pewsey. It became obvious that Silbury is in fact an effigy (or perhaps more accurately part of an effigy), designed to blend with and enhance the adjacent Waden Hill. Furthermore, that chance discovery provided me with a title for the book. Nobody could have been more surprised than myself to find that Silbury Hill is part of a hill configuration that recurs naturally in the landscapes of many other prehistoric complexes throughout Britain, including the oldest in Orkney and the most iconic of them all at Stonehenge. As such, it is evidence of the religious beliefs and practises of the Late Neolithic population, and the conclusions drawn by ‘The Silbury Revelation’ will delight all supporters of green policies, and vindicate followers of Earth Goddess religions. For a limited launch period the book is available for £6.95 (RRP £9.99) with free p&p to mainland UK from www.thesilburyrevelation.com.

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Baltic Earth Energies Influence of geopathic fields on life and environment. [email protected] www.geopaatia.ee

British Society of Dowsers Specialist study of Dowsing. UK £30 01684 576969 www.britishdowsers.org

Caerdroia Mazes and Labyrinths 53 Thundersley Grove,Thundersley, Benfeet, Essex SS7 3EB "UK £8, EU £10, Elsewhere £12 [email protected] www.labyrinthos.net

Carwynnen Quoit Putting a Cromlech back on its feet. [email protected], 01209 831718 www.giantsquoit.org

David Furlong Earth energies, Health therapy. Course fees £55 to £300 0777 89047www.kch42.dial.pipex.com

Dorset Earth Mysteries Group Monthly Meetings Entrance £4.50 Steve Hawker. 01258 881008 www.dorsetmysteries.org

Earth Sky Walk Walking the Heavens on Earth contact via website www.earthskywalk.com

Folklore Frontiers P Screeton 5 Egton Drive, Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, Cleeveland, TS25 2AT. £7.50 (3)

Fountain International Magazine Healing the planet. Now based on the World Wide Web www.fountaininternationalmagazine.com

Gatekeeper Trust Personal and planetary healing through pilgrimage. 01803 864680 www.gatekeeper.org.uk

Megalithic Portal Monuments photo database & forums. [email protected] www.megalithic.co.uk

Megalithomania Archaeological tours and DVDs Contact via website www.megalithomania.co.uk

Meyn Mamvro The magazine of ancient stones and sacred sites in Cornwall UK £10 Cheryl Straffon.51 Carn Bosavern, St Just, Cornwall TR19 7QX [email protected], 01736 787612 www.meynmamvro.co.uk

Milestone society. Researching the waymarkers of the British Isles UK £12.50, elsewhere £25 [email protected], 01299 832338 www.milestonesociety.co.uk

Northern Earth Premier Earth Mysteries Magazine. UK £8.50 EC £13.50 Elsewhere £16.50 Kai Roberts 84 Elland Rd, Brighouse,W.Yorks,HD62QR [email protected] www.northernearth.co.uk

Research into Lost knowledge Organisation Disseminating Hidden Knowledge 116 Hampton Rd,Ilford, Essex IG11PU. UK £19, Elsewhere £24 Rob Stephenson. 0845 2260 531 www.rilko.net

Stoneseeker Walks, Talks, Resonating with the rhythm of the land. Peter Knight, [email protected], 07754 082691 www.stoneseeker.net

Surrey Earth Mysteries Group "Leylines, Archaeology, UFOs" UK £2 1 StPaulsTerrace,Easton,Wells,Somerset,BA51DX. [email protected] www.freespace.virgin.net/jim.goddard/semg

The Cauldron Witchcraft, Paganism, Folklore. BM Cauldron, London, WC1N3XX, England UK £16 (4) Cheque to M A Howard [email protected] PayPal at www.the-cauldron.org.uk

Wessex Research Group Multidisciplinary network hub. Many associated local groups. www.wessexresearchgroup.org

*Please note * Telephone numbers are shown for UK dialling

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12th Convention of Alternative

Archaeology & Earth Mysteries

Sunday October 4th 2015 10.00am – 6.00pm.

Bouverie Hall, Pewsey, Wiltshire

Five presentations by international speakers:

Keynote Speaker: Paul Burley Stonehenge and

the Greater Cursus – Neolithic Stairway to

Heaven Hugh Newman Mounds, Megaliths and Giants –

The Forgotten Race of the Americas

Susan Hale Exploring Sacred Space and Sacred

Sound

Rory Duff Remote Dowsing and the Earth’s Global

Energy Lines Peter Knight Stolen Images – Pagan Symbolism

and Christianity

Plus FREE lunchtime dowsing workshop with

the Wyvern Dowsers

Still great value at only £23 (early bird price £21

before May 1st) Cheques (payable to P Knight) to:

P Knight, 6 Baydon Grove, Calne, Wiltshire SN11

9AT.

Ticket hotline: 0775 408 2691

[email protected]

www.stoneseeker.net

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The Society of Ley Hunters

Autumn Gathering

th th th 18 , 19 20 September

2015 Visiting the landscape of the Corieltauvi Friday 18th , 10am – 4pm Presentations from: Bob Trubshaw…………..Queen of the Valley Frank Earp……………...The Catstone Trackways Peter Knight……………..Pagan Symbolism and Christianity Peter Liddel.……………..Pre-Roman Mercia At Attenborough Nature Centre & Reserve Barton Lane, Attenborough, Nottingham, NG9 6DY Price £26. Includes £10 for the provision of a working lunch Nearest Hotel. (500 meters). The Village Urban Resort Brailsford Way, Chilwell, Nott'm, NG9 6DL. Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th Car sharing site visits: South West to Tamworth Nottingham cave tours, email [email protected] tel 0115 988 1955

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