Aspects of Avalon

Like most of Paul Weston’s books, this is a good yarn. I bought my copy in Labyrinth Books across the road from St John’s Church, shortly after it came out. The photo of the Tor seen from Tesco intrigued me, I had a really bad black cloud of gloom experience 1 when staying at the Travelodge near there. I wouldn’t go as far as saying the region of the Wirral Park roundabout is cursed, but it’s not somewhere I want to dwell for any length of time. Glastonbury Psychogeography by Paul Weston Paul’s description of the happenings there had an even darker feel - the arson attack ejecting Mickey D’s from the Glastonbury temenos, the 1998 Legionnaire’s disease outbreak from IMCO’s cooling tower afflicting customers at B&Q, all confirmed the feeling that this is a hellmouth that needs Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The diabolical miasma doesn’t extend far,  I am fine in Aldi, and the Old Tannery is one of my favourite restaurants in the area. Maybe the good vibes from Saint Bride's anc...

 The first of February is the festival of Imbolc, the start of Spring and associated with St Brigid from Ireland, and the Goddess Bride is some pagan traditions. It seems like the earth is coming back to life, snowdrops appear, and some birds like the song thrush have started singing. The group gathers at the White Well in Wellhouse Lane Since its formation in November 1995 the Friends of Bride's Mound have had an annual pilgrimage on Imbolc from the White Well/Chalice Well to Bride's Mound. The tradition is even older, Serena told us a group have been making making the pilgrimage since the 1980s, for 37 years, and she has led the pilgrimage for most of that time. Gathering at the Market Cross  The pilgrimage is for two and a half miles, along Chilkwell Street and the back of the Abbey, down Silver Street with a pause at the Market Cross where a few people joined, down Benedict Street and on via Porchestall Drove to Cradle Bridge.  on the embankment of the Brue, near Cra...

On a low mound in the Somerset Levels near Athelney there is a monument to King Alfred. In January 878 the Viking king Guthrum launched a surprise attack on Alfred at Chippenham, and King Alfred was forced to fall back, to Athelney in the Somerset Levels. King Alfred took refuge at an old Iron age hillfort, and here he planned his reprisal. In May of the same year he launched the fierce battle of Edington, where Alfred vanquished Guthrum's Viking army, the remnants withdrew to Chippenham and surrendered.  King Alfred's monument     Guthrum converted to Christianity an Alfred became king of Wessex, which is the start of what we now know as England. In 888 Alfred built a monastery on this site, which was destroyed in the Dissolution of the monasteries, so now this monument is all that can be seen. It was built in 1801 by John Slade. Bust of King Alfred on the monument The inscription reads  “King Alfred the Great in the year of Our Lord 879 having been defeated ...

These veterans are Gog and Magog, and they have had a troubled history in recent years, each one has been set alight by berks leaving tea-lights. The combination of fire and living wood is not a happy one : There is someone out there, possibly still in the Avalon landscape, sitting with the knowledge that, in their misguided understanding of ‘honouring the trees’, they instead have burnt the bugger down. Magog is in the foreground, the still living tree, with Gog behind I didn't get to see Gog and Magog properly on this visit, because the trees are surrounded by a whacking great fence pretty much up to adult eye height. The notice posted on it says that  Spring is just around the corner and you will see everything bounce back and blossom. The fence will blend naturally into the landscape Err, no, it bloody well won't. I can see why the landowner wants to fence this off to stop twits putting tealights into the trees and climbing the branches, but no way is that fence goi...

 They make a good effort with these crocuses, and by the Lady Chapel, snowdrops are the flowers of Imbolc. A song thrush was making a fine effort, with the sharp calls of the jackdaws as a counterpoint.  The low winter light brings out the figure of St Brigit in the worn carvings over the entrance to the Lady Chapel. Carving of St Bridget milking a cow The doorway with the carvings over the entrance to the Lady Chapel Glastonbury Abbey website

How accurate is the position St Bride’s Well Stone? The historic site of Bride’s Hill holds the site and footings of the early Brigid Chapel and burial site, but the FoBM land holds a site featured in more recent Glastonbury mythology. This was where the Blue Bowl was hidden in 1898, sometimes said to be Bride’s Well. The tale of the Blue Bowl links Bride’s Hill, Chalice Well, and some luminaries of the early-twentieth century revival of mystical Glastonbury. Patrick Benham, erstwhile editor of the 1970s alternative magazine Torc called this group The Avalonians, and the story of the Blue Bowl is told well in his book 1 of the same name. The whereabouts of this feature is of interest to some modern pilgrims, and there’s some doubt about its location due to 20th century hydrological work. I have set out to examine this, using Dr John Goodchild’s sketch map, historical mapping and post-war aerial photography. We now have the privilege of some quite large scale historical mapping ava...

The Tor dominates the surrounding countryside. Surprisingly, it's often not so visible in the town, for instance it is almost invisible from the Abbey, where it is hidden by the rounded bulk of Chalice Hill. It rises majestically from the Somerset Levels, and there is a symbiotic relationship between the Tor and the Chalice Well. The Tor is surmounted by the ruined tower of St Michael's Chapel. How do you like your ascent, steep or less steep? Many visitors to Glastonbury want to climb the Tor, and there are good views to be had over the Somerset Levels from the top. There are two routes - a steep route from Stone Down Lane approaching from the north-east, and and less steep route that starts from Wellhouse Lane very near the Chalice Well approaching from the west. The steep route ascends roughly the left-hand side in the header image here, the route from the Chalice Well ascends the right-hand side. You start from roughly 20m at the Abbey car park and the top is 158m. In summ...