Syncrotastic

  While in Glastonbury I heard a rumor about a girl called Dana who had danced across Scotland and was planning to dance round the world. My instant reaction was "how dare she bust in on my pitch", only joking, i was exited and hoped somebody would put us in contact.
  A few weeks later, Simon, who built our website went to visit his sister only to discover that she had been building Dana's website.  Here is some links:
http://nomadicdance.org/ireland/
http://www.sponsume.com/project/nomadic-dance
  Dana performs long distance contemporary dance and is currently making her way across Ireland,
she has a plan to go around the world with a traveling dance and art studio. What a scheme!
  In the last few weeks I have met a belly dancer who wants to join the party, and heard about a gypsy dancer and ballerina. Exiting times.
  In a few days I will join Dana in Ireland and dance with her a day.
  I've never been to Ireland before.
Just one problem....
I've lost my hat!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stonehenge to Glastonbury Tor

It took three days of adventures for me to dance from Stonehenge to Glastonbury Tor.
I will update my diary into this space at some point when i get time.

In the meantime here is a picture of me at the Tor to show I made it.
The photo was taken by Ailis McColm. I am stood next to her boyfriend with a plastic poncho keeping the rain off my kit.

Time for a quick rest

  After being ushered out of the solstice car park after having barely slept, I decided to look for a place to put up my tent for the day.  I bumped into two lads who both happened to have red in their beard as i do, who were heading towards a camp in the forest, prefect!
  James, who lives with his hammock and all his gear attached to the back of his bike told me how he plans to set up forest communities along the Micheal/Mary ley line. By coincidence I will be following that ley line when I dance through Cornwall later this year.
  We found the camp and I pitched my tent amongst the trees. It turned out to be the camp of the Freeman Nomadic Tribe community. Here is a link to their website http://freeman-nomadic-tribe.co.uk/
  I decided to walk back to the shop i had been to near the Stonehenge inn the night before. It seemed so much further when I was walking instead of dancing.  As I walked round the shop I couldn't help thinking how much I must smell to all the other customers, but somehow I still got I smile from the girl behind the counter, then I sat on a bench and dipped lettuce leaves into cold beans for my tea.
  I had to pass through Larkhill army base on the way back.  Seeing as how I have a long beard and was still dressed in white, kids on the base followed my down the street calling me a Taliban fighter.
I bumped into a lady who was looking for her tortoise, she moaned it may have escaped forever.
  Returning to camp I drank tea round the campfire with Pip and others before going to bed.
  Sleep Finally!

Stonehenge summer solstice

  Half way between Avebury and Stonehenge I have the luxury of waking up in a cosy bed,shortly followed by a delicious cooked breakfast at the Antelope Inn in Upavon. I have a feeling I'm going to need the boost with a good twelve miles to dance today, not to mention solstice celebrations tonight and tomorrow morning.
  I also have a pack on my back today and it's not exactly light. The main road to Amesbury is nice and straight, but with no grass verge and heavy traffic it would be a suicide mission for me, luckily i can follow the old road through the villages.
  It turns out to be a bit hilly but i don't mind as the scenery is beautiful and the sun is beating down.
I dance over tank crossings, find some huge feathers for my hat and a helpful gentleman makes me a cup of tea and directs me to a shortcut which leads me along the river. The man appeared just as i had been stood on a village green scratching my head in confusion. It's a nice change from the road, dancing along the river bank, ducking under branches, but i worry for my ankle as I skip through the dirt.
  My backpack has been no trouble and i barely stop until i've danced about nine miles to Durrington.
Well I say barely stopped, I have to pee every half a mile due to my water intake. My regime is to drink about eight litres a day so I'm constantly in and out of the bushes. I swear by it though, somehow I hardly sweat, and I don't even smell, and anybody who knows me will find that very hard to believe.
  Not wanting to arrive at Stonehenge to early, and cautious of using up to much energy, I decide to find a pub in Durrington in the hope of resting a few hours to save strength for the last few miles.
The pub turns out to be the Stonehenge arms.
  While i'm walking from the pub to the local shop to get a bite to eat, the heavens open dramatically and I spend the rest of the afternoon underneath the hand dryer in the pub toilets. The pubs quiet considering it's the solstice.  I sit and chat with Michael, a local chap who's right on my wavelength and draws me a map showing a shortcut to stonehenge.
  As the evening draws near I go through my ritual of getting ready, drinking ginseng tea and arranging my kit. Some young lads are in town for their first trip to Stonehenge and are exited at the idea of following me, so we head off.
  It's chaos at the stones as everybody wants their photo taken with me. It gets worse when I bump into Pete the druid who is in his robes, we can hardly talk amid the barrage of cameras so we head back to the van where I am served a lovely handpicked herbal tea. On the way to the van i was given a crystal by a guy in a dog collar and dark glasses, it was pitch black, i still carry the crystal.
  There is a rule in the solstice carpark of no tents. I can't tolerate this, i've skipped at least ten miles with a heavy backpack i need to get my head down for a couple of hours before sunrise, not least as I plan to dance off again tomorrow. I find a spot in a row of cars next to a motorbike. The owner of the bike has music blaring out and for some reason, despite being English, he is only listening to Australian music, from AC/DC one minute to Kylie the next.  He informs me that the Australians are the only people who make good music.
 Despite the curiousness of the biker, and the loudness of his music, i pitch the tent anyway thinking it's a fairly tucked away spot for a sly kip and i head off to pee.
  Walking back to the tent I make friends with Tom and Nick from London and a fellow named Luke who is intrigued by my adventure and has similar ambitions for himself. We all jump in the back of Toms van with a couple of others and have a good old natter until finally I protest that I really must get some sleep before sunrise.
  I find my tent has gone when I return! I fume.
 Eventually i recover the tent from security. I only want some sleep before sunrise, it's hardly fair. I return to Toms van in search of sympathy.
 The guys head off to the stones kindly letting me stay in the van to sleep in the company of Nicks dog.  But just as I get comfy, Nick has decided to return and wants to talk.  I have to say it's one of the most interesting conversations I've had for a long time, but it's painful as i am so tired. Eventually i give up altogether on sleeping and head to the stones with Nick.
  Just as we get to the stones i am accosted by a member of the Warminster Morris men who invite me to dance "Jocky to the fair" with the rest of the men. It's nice to bump into dancers but i decline their invite to breakfast and stay for the sunrise. so tired I am.
  I bump into Matt Dunham, a friend from teenage years who i've bumped into here and there. He's a photographer now and took photos of me that ended up being published on the internet. A couple of the pics are included with this post.
  A man in a pink t-shirt tells me I must of been a horse in a past life all things considered.
I'm dazzled by beautiful druid girls.
But it's so hard to stay awake now the sun is up.
A man hands me a postcard that just about breaks my tired head.
This is what was hand written on the postcard:

Dear 2011 Hengites
Five Letter Pattern
 When one rearranges a five (+) letter word 42531; the result, if one allows letters to represent symbols, telegraphic speech and abbreviations etc, often has a reference to the original word.
  For example, C; the sea, to see, with V, CV. Hen(N) is a Scottish term of endearment.
   Yours Mark Randall         7=4765123 F 2341765 ? 4123765(+2356) m 11=389(+,4567)
i.e ladders, LADRS

After reading that i felt a little dizzy, walked back to the carpark and at least managed to lay down for an hour before the security started hassling me to leave.
 I think I know what Mark Randall was trying to tell me, but i'm interested to hear what anybody else might have to say on the matter.

Avebury to Stonehenge Begins

  

 

     So much for my first nights sleep in my new tent. Half an hour after i went to bed the party starts up and the loud dance music is coming barely twenty feet away from my tent. I don't sleep a wink. I am a light sleeper at the best of times, later on that morning Lynne seemed puzzled that i got no sleep and i explain that I've lived in a house for way to long. And i wonder how long it will take to adjust.   

  So I get up for the big day of dancing having had no sleep. I had been so careful to be ready for today, and i end up sleeping in a bloody party, the best laid plans and all that. Still the excitement drives me.

  I acquired some neighbours over night who have put up a small yurt and just happen to be putting the kettle on as I rise and stretch.  They came from Rotheram and like most people here they have made the journey every year since they first came. Theres not enough cups so i take my morning tea in a measuring jug as a drunken Scotsman in a kilt staggers past, then back again as he realises he's walking the wrong way down the path. I take my time getting ready, boldly getting my kit on, secretly hoping today will not kill me.

   Abdul has not long crashed out in his car, I had heard him puking not long ago so i leave him be a while.  A distinguished gentleman stops to talk, he gives me a tip off about some bards who walk the old paths and sing for their supper, sounds like my kind of people but i am yet to track them down. (any info very welcome) Something interesting about this guy i can't put my finger on and sadly i can't remember his name and didn't get to talk to him again before I set off.

  I rouse Abdul and convince him to take my bag forward before he heads home. He's worse for wear but agrees. Which means i can dance at least part of the way today with no rucksack on my back.

  As I'm about ready to go, Lynne and a few others are walking the horses down to Avebury centre and i walk down with them intending to start my journey proper from there.

  Passing through the stones we bump into Corky, that same drunken Scotsman I saw as i drank my tea. He is of course most charming and after chatting I agree to give him one of the bells off my legs to attach to his dreadlocks. It's lunchtime by now. I sup a couple more pints of water outside the pub and set off dancing as the small crowd cheer me off.

 Round the corner one of my sashes falls off my shoulder, so I stop and ask somebody to pin it back on. I notice how out of breath I am as I try to talk, I'm worried now, that was only a few yards, but off i skip again. I dance through the pathway of stones that extends out from the circle (I'm missing a technical term here I'm sure). The pathway ends and a stile takes me onto the road where rows of traffic cones have been laid on either side as if to carry on the path that had been marked by stones.

  And here I go and the day is beautiful, following the village roads towards Upavon where Abdul has taken my bag. This is surely my best ever day dancing on the road, no bag on my shoulder, little traffic and beautiful scenery. I keep a steady pace and my breath is fine, and I'm not even sweating in the glorious sunshine. Past Knap hill I dance, some young bulls in a field rush to greet me so I stop and chat to them for a while, maybe they like the bells.

  A van pulls up next to me and a chap who turns out to be Pete the druid asks me where I'm going. "Stonehenge" I say, so is he, with his girlfriend who's beautiful name escapes me, "do you want a lift?" he asks, "no I'm dancing all the way" I reply, "yeah i know, that's why i stopped to offer you a lift" his response, and then he declares they are off to meet king Arthur and I should find the van when I get there, then he bangs the outside of the van door with his hand and drives off. My light heart is lifted higher still.

  Later I get a text from Abdul to inform me he has left my bag at a pub in Pewsy Warf. That's not where we discussed and miles out of my way to collect. I head on to Upavon and decide to book into a hotel. Cheating a bit but I didn't sleep last night and I know I'm not likely to get much sleep at solstice before heading off dancing the following morning.

I get a bus to collect my bag, and taxi back, an expensive day paying for a hotel room too. But I get a good rate at the antelope Inn. After a well earned hot bath I tuck myself into bed as the sun goes down.