A cold winter’s day in England; frost layering the ground even mid-morning. But I didn’t care, I was visiting Stonehenge for the first time and totally in thrall to the mystery of these most famous standing stones. I envied those who had visited them in the past, being able to walk between the towering neolithic arches and dance like druids in the dewy dawn. But even walking the perimeter was pretty special and it was with a satisfied air that I wandered back out through the car park.
In the back of a careworn Kombi sat a long-haired dude in leather pants, smoking a very large cigarette. I smiled and offered a kind of ‘hail fellow, well met’ nod; he removed the fumey roll from his extravagantly moustachioed mouth and offered me a puff. Well, what could I do?
Half an hour later, Derek—for that was how he introduced himself—asked whether I’d like to buy a rare vinyl postcard of Stonehenge. It wasn’t until much, much later that I discovered it was actually a curiously shaped record by some band called Spinal Tap who I’d never heard of.
Still, I’ve always kept it as a weird travel memento.
More on Spinal Tap here
vinylconnection.com.au 
What a coincidence! I got given the same thing when I went to Bitch School.
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Tap into synchronicity, HMO!
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I was in Stonehendge too. Whatever the place meant for its builders – it was damned important to them. Today is the field delineated with wire mesh. There is a huge parking lot, a souvenir shop and a visitor center. And what’s much worse: the highway passes close to the stone circle.
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Yes, sadly the hum of traffic is impossible to ignore. Yet despite the restrictions, it is still a place of wonder.
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You’re right. The spirit of these builders is still in the stones.
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I want that. The CD sucks by comparison.
Does it have the Talk With Tap track?
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Now you know where Talk With Tap Part 1 is hidden!
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Thanks man…I will wishlist this on Discogs!!
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Now were the real standing stones slightly larger than 18″?!
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From where I was standing, no.
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Love this. I cavorted amongst the stones as a teenager I don’t think I gave them the requisite respect at the time more interested in the properties of the local vegetation. I really love Woodhenge which is just down the road. Stonehenge has become a full on tourist trap but is still a place of beauty.
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Rock and/or roll! RE-posted on twitter @trefology
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Precisely! Thanks Tref.
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Hail fellow, well met! Here’s to the careworn Kombis.
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Always nice to receive a nod from across the oceans. Cheers, Bill!
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Brilliant post!
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Thanks Tim.
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On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d rate the movie 11. 🙂 Rob Reiner ‘hit it out of the park’ (as we say here in the states) with his directorial debut.
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An infrequent sporting metaphor from JDB. Hm. Must head over to Augenblick to see if there are any clues as to the whys and wherefores of that. 😉
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I cavorted amongst the stones as a small child, noting a strange herbal smell in the air …
I got taken to a druidic thing there in the 70’s.
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Of course you did.
That’s rather wonderful, really.
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