What are people’s plans for Summer Solstice? 🌞

Tesco.

FOD late night Thursday, burrito and cider for the win

Going out for dinner for my 50th birthday!

Friday evening I’ll be in Milngavie, setting up registration for the annual West Highland Way race and doing the runner briefing.  So, that’s a 96 mile ultra marathon that starts at 0100 Saturday; between Friday morning and Sunday afternoon, there will be very little sleep indeed.  Around 220 runners should be on the start line, with their individual crews ready to meet them at the various checkpoints.  I’m the responsible adult, allegedly.  Safety officer and chief medic, so will have a field hospital facility set up with my team at the finish line in Ft Bill from lunchtime Saturday until after prize giving finishes and around 170-180 of those runners have collected their engraved crystal goblet.  There’s a wee party afterwards, for anyone still awake…

Good job highlandman,these things don’t happen without a lot of work.

Hope the weather’s kind.

The swim group I mentioned near the start of the thread are meeting at 4:20am on the beach to see the sunrise. Er, so I won’t be doing that!  😂

Those who say the nights will be getting shorter, that’s not the case. It’s the sunrise that is getting later.

We were planning on going somewhere up high in the Tuscan Appennino mountains with a bottle or five ten of Chianti and staying there for a week so as to spectate stage one of the TdF but we’ve now been invited to dinner at the rowing club on the Arno River in Florence, a hundred metres from Ponte Vecchio.

Can’t really say no to that offer!

C’est la vie, or rather…. È la vita 🤗

Although I might have gone for a sunrise ride somewhere in the Chianti hills in the morning…. Anyways, it’s too hot to ride after 10am at the moment. Due to be 39°C on Thursday. 🥵

Driving to snowdonia the meet up with a bunch of old friends for our once a year jaunt into the mountains there, will hopefully end the day gazing up at Cadair Idris and the sunset, scheming where exactly we’ll be wild camping over the weekend. Almost a full moon too, tgat doesn’t happen too often.

I’ll be preparing for the earlier onset of darkness, longer nights and colder weather that’s gonna be coming our way.

Well my wife has a plan to join her friend climbing to the top of the nearby hill and enjoying the evening and a chat, as they did last year, which sounds lovely and am happy to support.

until I ordered a new bike which may arrive on Thursday and prevent me staying in with the kids…………

I’m in the southern hemisphere on the 21st so I shall be looking forward to the days getting longer again.

Those who say the nights will be getting shorter, that’s not the case. It’s the sunrise that is getting later.

Not quite true. Sunrise will be getting later, and in fact the earliest was today or yesterday. But the latest sunset won’t be for another few days. The shortest night is the closest to the moment of solstice, which is on Thursday evening.

Anyway, to answer the question, I’ll be going up the same hill I’ve been up for the last couple of dozen solstices to look at a hole in a rock and hope the sunset is visible through it.

@fasthaggis

I’ll be attending the local sacrifice with a portion of chips (£2.50)

A sacrifice to the midges of Moffat?

The nearest place to me that’s worth going to will be overrun with faux hippies, pagans and probably some bloke cosplaying as King Arthur Pendragon*, and a load of people banging bloody drums, leaving no peace and quiet to appreciate the event.

*Actually an ex-biker from Yorkshire who’s most likely got Viking ancestors. They’ll probably close the NT carpark as well. 🤷🏼

Probably ride up the Trundle (hillfort thing behind town) with a beer and watch the sunset and then ride back the scenic route.  Usually a small crowd up there but its a gorgeous spot on a sunny evening.

on a sunny evening.

Optimism. I like it….

I’ll be dancing naked around a bonfire with the other hippies.

Careful now don’t burn anything on the fire

It seems I might end up in Loch Morlich.

Looks like I’ve just agreed to drag my unfit self over cut gate tomorrow night.

Can’t wait!

Looks like just stop oil want to stop the stone age hippies too 😕

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw44mdee0zzo

Thursday, not much.

Saturday / Sunday – daft long Audax,

It’s the sunrise that is getting later.

Thank f, getting bored of waking up before 5am…

I should be riding to Holmbury Hill for solstice, but this year I’ll be at home wishing I hadn’t got Covid.

The nearest place to me that’s worth going to will be overrun with faux hippies, pagans and probably some bloke cosplaying as King Arthur Pendragon*, and a load of people banging bloody drums

Sounds like a reasonable gig.

Is it Avebury?

Answering the exam question, probably drinking a beer in the garden at sunset. Crazy times.

stonehenge, apparently 🙄

I’m guessing some minor, teeny chance of being “overrun with faux hippies, pagans and probably some bloke cosplaying as King Arthur Pendragon*, and a load of people banging bloody drums”

Avebury NT car park closes at 6pm tonight. Really handy when I have a soundbath in the village at 6.30pm and there’s nowhere to park. I’ve left my van in a lay by on the A4 and hoping it’s still there later.

Gone are the days of parking right next to the circle in Avebury, I guess.

Just seen those bastad activists spraying orange paint there.

Totally pointless

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!

Just stop oil painting

A lovely evening last night turned into a misty, midgy dawn. Closest I could get due to work.

I reckon that Just Stop Oil have shot themselves in the foot a bit with this latest stunt. I am a pagan and  active in several groups (some local, some national/international) and the outrage in the pagan community as a whole has been very strong. Obviously you can’t lump everyone together into one group because people will have differing views but in my experience the pagan community tend strongly towards environmentalism and would be natural supporters of causes such as Just Stop Oil but now will be against them. When you consider that Just Stop Oil are generally unpopular in society at large they have probably lost the support of thousands of people ( in the last census there were roughly 100.000 people in the UK who identified as Pagan/Wiccan/Heathen/Druid/Shaman ect) who were sympathetic to their cause.

I’ve a vague plan to walk up the hill at the back of the house and watch the sunset over the Cheshire Plain and North Wales

It is kinda ironic, that, although Stonehenge’s origins and purpose remain unclear, it is an ancient monument designed to align with the sun at the solstices. The sun is now frying the planet. 550 people have just been fried to death in Saudi Arabia in temperatures of over 50° C, yet some feel it’s more important to be outraged by some powder sprayed on 5000 year old monument than the extinction of life on planet earth.

Perhaps the media should highlight the damage done to rare lichen’s by pollution instead?…………..Hah….hah….how silly of me…….

Not much chance of seeing the sun today, it’s somewhat wet out. So we did pony games under a covered area at riding class and that’ll be about it for the day. Probably in bed by 22h50 for the solstice.

it seems that despite 50C temps, these people still went to worship some god.
stonehenge may be just stones but id like it to still be there in 5000years. what was the point? Did it do something wrong? Id like to go there for solstice again (its been 50years-ish) but too difficult tehse days
Avebury, stonehenge and silbury hill all fenced off? what are we supposed to do?

Really nice night here in Galloway so I might head out for a drive up into the Galloway hills, I’d much prefer to be bivvying on the Merrick with some whisky but hey ho…….

Nice evening for it 🙂

Fantastic pic, Dickyboy. Would love to be there.