'It's good to be back' Stonehenge reopens at last to solstice crowds

A druid in flowing robes played a waltz on bagpipes in the dappled shade of a tree as a band of pilgrims on the grass made crowns of summer flowers.

- Steven Morris

Three Buddhist monks strolled past and a group of men shed their T-shirts in the warm sunshine and drank lager, promising to party until the sun set and rose again.

After two long years of Covid restrictions, the great stone circle of Stonehenge reopened for summer solstice celebrations yesterday, bringing pagans, healers, naturelovers and partygoers - back to Salisbury Plain in their thousands.

"It's very exciting," said Chris Park, the druid on the bagpipes. "For the last two years we haven't been able to get to the stones for the summer solstice. It's so lovely to be back and feel part of this amazing landscape again."

Park was helping lead a group of pilgrims who had brought water from sacred springs all over the UK for a ceremony at a spot near the circle where humans are known to have camped 4,000 years ago. They were then heading to the stones before sunset at 9.28pm yesterday and sunrise at 4.49am today.