Cows & Comets at the Stonehenge 

 

I have been staying in this tiny-ass village near Salisbury for the last month. It's about 5km from the 
Stonehenge. So a few weeks ago I was taking an evening walk and I accidentally spotted the Comet 
NEOWISE in the sky. I was like "​ Woahhhhh!"​. So I bolted home, grabbed my camera and took a few 
creative shots.  

However, I was obviously only thinking, "​ STONEHENGE...COMET... zomg :PPP Hmmm can't do it tonight... 
I haven't been there yet before, I might get lost or arrested. They say it will be there all month… Hell yeah!! 
It'll only get more epic anyway!"​ So I went home and downloaded my shots... ​"Cool. Tomorrow.. henge!!" 

……….....​cloudsfordays.org​ -_- 

Only a whole week later I looked outside and there was some sunshine!! "​ Oh the excitement!! I'd better 
go there this morning and recce the place for tonight​." ​*Starts walking*​ An hour later, it was euphoric 
to see those majestic rocks appear in the distance as they were revealed by the rise on the A303. So I 
quickly and carelessly ran across the road to knock off some wides. 

 
1 
 
 

​A jogger jogged by me and hopped over a small step ladder into the meadow before me.. ​"Sick!!!" 
*Hops fence* 

My henge-locked gaze was broken as I looked to my right and saw many a cow chilling in the field. 
"Perfect. They’ll make a great pic! Hmm this is actually a one-of-a-kind place to chill... I might have a picnic 
right here!"​ I sat amongst them for a couple of hours, wishing I'd brought my guitar along. They were 
such curious cuties, surrounding me, staring at me, asking questions. One licked my shoulder!!  

"These are fun photos! But duuuuuuuuuuuude I'll hate myself long time if I miss out on capturing the 
comet behind Stonehenge!​ (I've missed the shot of a lifetime in Salisbury once already before, but 
that's another story) ​I'll come back tonight and get it!!! :))"  

*leaves* 

N.B. Recce incomplete. Geography and route not mapped for my return in the dark. 

Murphey wouldn’t have it.... Damn clouds blew in before dusk!!!! And I read that the following 
weekend would be the last chance to see it because it's obviously dimming as hurriedly as a 
speeding comet. :(  

Luckily 6 nights later, whilst sitting on my bed after a disappointingly cloudy Sunday of the supposed 
last-window-of-opportunity-weekend, at around 9pm(sunset) I noticed some orange light in my 
peripherals, outside my window..... "​ C..c..could it b..b..be? The ccclouds bbbreaking???" 

 
 
 
 

I ran downstairs and into the road to get a better view..... 

"OMG They could just be going to break!! I'll take half an hour 
to prep my kit and then just double check if they're actually 
serious about this before I commit.....​ ​*preps backpack, 
keeping a keen eye out of the window*​ ....​Yes please!! 
Looks good! Let's go!"​ ​*sets off into darrrrrkness* 

My torch and eyes were glued to my every step as I 

avoided squashing millions of snails and slugs. I would 
look up occasionally to the North to try to spot the comet 
but there was no sign of it!  

Finally I got to the field. Couldn't see much other than the 
stars, and there wasn’t a sound apart from the some 
distant cars swishing past. It's a bit eerie out there. 

“​I like it! Should have worn boots though because my socks are getting wet!” 

I couldn’t see very much with my phone torch. Trusting my memory of 
last week's visit, I visualised the cows to my right, the Stonehenge 
straight ahead, approximately over... "​ There! ​*points*​ ​if I keep walking 
straight along here... I should find myself on the Southern side of the henge 
and come across it's silhouette on my right… Hmm.. Hopefully there isn’t a 
fence to stop me..."  

I came to a fence, easily hopped over it and found myself on a 

pathway between said fence and another. Focused on the dark 
horizon to my right, I was just squinting to find the rocks jutting out 
somewhere……. “​ Where the f**k is this thing!?”​ I passed an ewe and two 
lambs, talked to them for a minute... They knew nothing. Then I walked a 100m or so and came 
across an old tombstone. “​Woahhh creepy!”  

It was so quiet, and just as I was taking a photo of 

the tombstone, I was given a fright by some walkie 
talkie chatter directly behind me! I jumped and 
spun.. looked into the darkness and saw nothing....  

"Hello...? Hmm ok… don’t mind me! I’m just..." 

I took a few hasty steps down the pathway, glanced 

behind me and finally up at the horizon on my 
left……….. 

 
 
 
 

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!​ There it was... just 40m away from me. I was blown away.. gobsmacked.. 
filled with butterflies.. taken totally by surprise because I'd been looking the wrong way all along. 

The only pity was that I was on the wrong side of it to get the shot. Anyway I set up my camera to get 
some from this side first. (Above) 

(Lol! I say set up... I don't have a tripod out here so I 

would have to make a plan. Fortunately there were 
log posts on the fence so I could use them as a 
platform for my camera. I had a book with me to 
scale it up a bit, as well as.. I guess.. something or 
other to prop up the lens for tilt function!) 

I snapped some pictures before I saw a torch approaching me. Obviously security! I was anticipating 
being told to piss off but the old man was actually friendly and wished me luck after pointing out 
with his torch where they had previously been seeing the comet on clear nights.  

So I packed my bag up to relocate to the Southern side of the henge. “​According to Maps I should be 
able to just walk around......” ​ Not quite. You couldn't get there without jumping the fence into the 
monument site, which is definitely not allowed. And me with my phone torch… security would 
quickly be on top of me.  

 
 
 
 

I convinced myself that it wasn't worth the trouble. It was late. Loads of people already have the shot 
from when the comet was still gleaming in all of its glory, so mine would be pathetic anyway! The few 
pics I had taken would suffice and I would walk the motorway home, defeated and despondent.  

I woke up the next morning and nonchalantly proceeded to check out what I had taken. ​"Beautiful! 
But…. :(” ​ Clouds blew in again and I welcomed them.  

It ate at me. I scolded myself.. ​"Come on 

dude you should have just hopped the 
fence and got the shot.. played oblivious 
tourist if they busted you! You didn't get it, 
you fool!! You didn’t try everything."  

Two days passed and it was this last 

Tuesday when the clouds once again 
miraculously cleared during sunset!  

“I have to go. Comet or not. Dignity.” 

So I set off once again with a new plan: 

Hop the fence from the road and 
approach the Southern boundary from 
there, which I did. Only to discover 
much to my surprise, that there was no 
such boundary. No fence with logs for 
me to place my camera. Just a 1ft high 
rope where I arrived at the edge of the 
long grass where the turf begins. I was 
already inside the monument site, waving my torch around. 

“Yikes. I'm definitely trespassing​.”  

I dropped to the ground, speedily fished out my camera and set it on my bag underneath the rope to 
compose a shot… a shot which the guards were already walking through with their blasted torches 
as they closed in on me. It was a now or never moment.. “​ Mmmm! Ok I think that’s sharp! Damn... I 
won’t get a clean shot, but whatever!! At least it’ll be proof that I tried!! Lol.” 

*click*  

*Wait 20 seconds………. smile and wave………* 

Fortunately I had just 2 seconds left of exposure by the time they got close and yelled at me that I 
was indeed trespassing and I needed to leave immediately. They escorted me to the path on the 
Northern side, telling me I could stay and shoot in the wrong direction for as long as I like.  

 
 
 
 

I thanked them for not arresting me, which they didn’t find too funny, and then proceeded to play 
around with some creative shots for a while before heading home. 

Checking through my photos the next day, the only picture 

that I took from the Southern side was easily my favourite.  

The flares give a special effect. To me it looks like an alien 

spacecraft has flown in and landed next to the Stonehenge! 
And if you look closely you’ll see a misty silhouette of what 
looks like an alien having disembarked his ship! :P  

I saw no evidence of the comet in shot, but I realised that I was 

quite content without it after all. It’s in focus, it's raw, it tells a 
story. Flipping long one at that. I actually got more than I 
bargained for. So I'm stoked…. 

“Hmm what? Wait a minute….. whaaaat?!?” 

If you look even really closer, almost directly above that figure’s 
head, you’ll see that.... I did…... 

In fact... 

Get it…… After realising that I didn’t need to get it. ​Get it? 

 
 
 
 

   
 
 
 

  

 
 
 
 

By Dylan Thomas Silk