PEOPLE in Amesbury are being asked if they would like to twin with the town of Cavaglia in Italy.

The town council has been approached by the authorities in the north Italian municipality which also has a stone circle and is of a similar size to Amesbury.

Town councillors said they wouldn’t have the time or resources to set up the twinning arrangement but would ask the community if they wanted to start a twinning association.
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Work to create new visitor centre and make road improvements could start next year after financial announcements by ministers.

The on-off saga of sorting out the roads around Stonehenge and building a proper visitor centre seems to be back on track after ministers announced two important measures which could mean work finally starting as early as next year.

The closeness of the A344 to the stones near Salisbury, as well as the visitor facilities described by the public accounts committee in 1993 as a "national disgrace", have long been a problem in need of fixing. Government funding for the latest project was axed as part of £73m of savings announced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sports in June.

The heritage minister, John Penrose, said the government was giving English Heritage the permission it needs to access £2m from its historic reserves of £8m. That is money given philanthropically over the years and the DCMS said its use represents "the government's commitment to philanthropic support for major cultural projects".

Penrose said the way Stonehenge – listed by Unesco as a world heritage site in 1986 – had been presented to the public had been "woefully inadequate. Decades of dithering and indecision have got us nowhere."

He added: "It was bitterly disappointing when the country's dire financial state meant we had to withdraw government funding for the visitor centre here last June. But I – along with English Heritage and my colleagues across government – have been committed to finding other ways to support the project. The fact that we have now almost secured private funding is an example of the 'big society' in action, with everyone working together to ensure a mix of funding solutions."

The £27.5m project already has £10m of lottery money in the pot as well as money which English Heritage has made in profit from its commercial activities and fundraising. Today's announcement means there is now just £3m to raise – a sum English Heritage is confident of getting to allow work to start in 2012.

The second announcement directly addresses the road problem. The transport minister, Mike Penning, said funding of £3.5m had been agreed for a scheme to close the junction of the A303/344 and grass over the stretch of A344 close to the stones. There will also be improvements to the A360/A303 Longbarrow roundabout to deal with the increase in traffic which will result from the A344's closure.

English Heritage welcomed the ministerial announcements. Its chief executive, Simon Thurley, said: "These are crucial steps which bring closer the transformation of the currently blighted Stonehenge landscape. We are grateful to the government for their forthright support for this important project, particularly at a time when money is so tight. We now need to secure the last permissions and raise the final elements of funding. I am confident that we will be able to do both in time to start work next year."

A new environmentally sensitive visitor centre, replacing the current one, will be built about 1.5 miles away with people taken close to the stones on a low-key visitor transit system or, as others have called it, a "noddy" train.

The National Trust has organised a summer of events at Avebury to celebrate the 25th anniversary of it becoming a World Heritage Site.

Visitors can attend a number of Time Travellers’ workshops, which sketch the history of the area from the early Neolithic period to recent history. The first one takes place on Sunday. It includes a visit to West Kennett Long Barrow.

Subsequent workshops take place on May 22 and June 12. Throughout the summer there will be guided tours of the area taken by archaeologist Dr Nick Snashall and museum curator Dr Ros Cleal.

Dr Snashall said: “We have everything from Neolithic settlements to Bronze Age burial mounds, Roman roads to Saxon settlements, from a medieval village to a 16th- century manor house.”

Details are available at www.nationaltrust.org.uk

HEAVENS above – the future of North Glasgow as a visitors attraction could be written in the stars.

Ambitious plans have been rekindled to finally complete and refurbish Sighthill Stone Circle – Scotland’s answer to Stonehenge.

The astronomical circle in Sighthill Park was the first of its kind to be created in the UK for 3,000 years.

However, it has lain unfinished and unloved since 1979 . . . until now.

Husband and wife team Duncan and Linda Lunan hope to complete the circle, turn it into a tourist attraction and watch visitors gravitate towards it.

They have formed a new organisation – the Friends of Sighthill Stone Circle – and are appealing for people to rally round.

Legendary writer, artist and academic Alasdair Gray has agreed to be a patron of the society.

The circle was designed by Duncan to line up with the sun and moon, with work taking place in 1978-79 – funded by a Government scheme.

However, the change of Government – and the arrival of Margaret Thatcher – meant work was abandoned.

Duncan said: “The circle was never completed and it has never become the local and visitor attraction which was intended.

“There is nothing to tell visitors who put the stones up, to whom they’re dedicated or how the circle works.

“This is such a beautiful park and you hardly see any people here.”

The aim now is to erect the final stones, install a plaque to explain the circle, restore stones to their correct height and provide better footpaths.

The circle has been a passion for Duncan (65) for more than three decades.

The idea was borne out of a competition for school children to design a copy of Stonehenge. Although not a replica of Stonehenge, the circle was conceived by Duncan according to ancient principles.

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Plans to erect a wind turbine near a stone circle in Aberdeenshire are being contested by Historic Scotland.

The circle of Easter Aquhorthies is thought to be one of the earliest of around 90 stone circles still surviving in Aberdeenshire and is classified as a scheduled monument. The stones are thought to have been erected around 2000BC. The circle consists of 11 stones, some up to 8ft high with one 12ft stone lying recumbent. The dry stone wall that surrounds the monument, is thought to have been added in the 1700 or 1800s.

Council planners say that the turbine would “detract from the quality and character of the landscape” and recommend that the committee refuse planning permission on this basis.

A visit to my favorite stones and one of the most enchanted places imaginable. It's a long but compelling drive down to Cornwall and on to the Lands End Peninsula (Penwith). Trelew farm provides cozy accommodation in a beautiful spot and Boscawen-Un stone circle is situated on the farm, just a few minutes walk from the farmhouse.

This circle is incredible! A beautiful faerie ring of 19 stones hidden in thick gorse, here you are completely shielded from the outside world, enveloped in magic! It is not difficult to see why this circle at Boscawen is still the chosen meeting place for Gorsedd (Druidic) ceremonies of today. A single menhir stands in the centre of the circle, leaning towards the NE – the midsummer sunrise perhaps? Another lovely feature of this circle is the single quartz stone, which sparkles in the sunlight, though it can be difficult to spot on a cloudy day. This is a place of immense peace and tranquillity. Some may say that the veil is thinner at sites such as this one – in any case, it is certainly an enchanting spot and a wonderful haven

Mountain of God! Great forefinger of Light!
Pointing the path to wanderers on earth.
Thro' tangled forest, stream and ominous night
Gathering pilgrim souls! O bring to birth
The will half shapen and the vision free
Above the parting clouds! Convince us still
of quests that move to their own minstrelsy,
O Tor of Avalon! O holy hill!
Alice Buckton 1867 - 1944

Archaeologists are scanning Stonehenge this month, looking for ancient grafitti and rock art. Their hi-tech laser equipment is capable of measuring details on the stone surfaces and surrounding earthworks to a resolution of 0.5mm and will be looking for clues about the past of Britain’s most famous Neolithic monument.

The faces of the stones are being scanned for rock art, such as the Neolithic dagger carving already discovered. The team are also looking for more modern graffiti - Apparently Christopher Wren, whose family lived nearby, left his mark “Wren” which can be seen carved into one of the stones.

The new equipment will give experts the most accurate digital model of Stonehenge to date – previous surveys have been photographic with a resolution no better than 2cm.

English Heritage is currently raising funds for a new £25million visitor centre at iconic Stonehenge. After losing government funding last year, a significant amount has now been promised by the Heritage Lottery Fund.