After 18 months of life threatening health issues, social isolation, and dissociative amnesia-ing my way through life, I found an accessible event: Stonehenge Summer Solstice.
Even though I’m an archaeologist who lives in the UK, I really couldn’t care less about British history. That being said, I applied for a job at Stonehenge in spring of 2023. I took my powerchair for the interview, and afterwards they gave me free entry. This is usually when an author tells some hilarious story, but nothing of the kind happened. Instead, I found that Stonehenge had better accessibility than my hospital—one of the top in the country.
The entire facility is level access with paved paths, wide doorways, and no steep hills. Even better? Their disabled toilet has an electric lift and even a height adjustable hospital gurney for those who can’t use toilets. The red cord wasn’t even tied up! They also have manual wheelchairs to be used on a first come first served basis, but they were actually decent quality. They even had enough that despite noticing three people using them, there were several left.
They have a bus that takes you to the site for people who can’t or don’t want to make the walk. The bus is the same as standard city busses, except the drivers are very familiar with access needs. Of the four times I’ve used their busses, they raised the seats out of my way, asked (told) people to move, and even defended me from microaggressions. There’s a short, paved path to the site itself. You’re able to get quite close, within a couple dozen feet. Not all of the path around the site is paved, though this is due to conservation legislation rather than unwillingness. That said, when I went in June, there was no mud or difficulty getting through the grass.
I have a very severe case of MCAS which has resulted in several malnutrition related admissions. In 2022 I used roughly 150 Epi Pens before my mast cell stabilisers kicked in—Halloween of all days. It wasn’t until spring of 2023 that I found an allergy friendly mask that also filtered allergens (cotton and surgical only filter what you breathe out. If you’re masking for your own sake, it literally works better to pull a shirt over your face). Around the same time I found these masks, I also hit my worst with nutritional deficiencies. They were causing debilitating neuropathy, severe mobility impairment, and severe fatigue. I couldn’t walk from the couch to the toilet, both because my feet hurt so bad and because I would collapse from light headedness.
The treatment for this didn’t start working until early June. At this time, I was talking to a friend about how much I wish I could go do stuff, but anything indoors or near food is a hard no because of how concentrated the allergens get. At some point it just clicked: the summer solstice was two weeks out, and Stonehenge was accessible. I started researching where vendors would be (far from the henge/stone circle itself), whether people could grill food (nope), how much tickets cost (free), and how reliable the public transport was (every 15 minutes).
It was perfect.
Despite my lack of interest in British history, I very much wanted to attend the Stonehenge Summer Solstice for the social perspective. Growing up, I was told to be Christian, but I wasn’t taken to church past three years old. Even though we didn’t so much as say grace at dinner, my family was appalled when I said I didn’t believe in God. Thus, for me, the event was intellectual rather than spiritual. I wanted to understand others, and it was completely life changing.
I’m going to give details so that you can understand how little discrimination we faced. I’m a wheelchair user and went with an able bodied friend. We’re both AuDHD and queer. He’s an Indian immigrant, I’m a white American immigrant, we’ve lived in the UK for roughly the same amount of time, and we were both raised speaking English.
I had to bring several bags for medical supplies, camera supplies, food, water, and blankets (thanks, cold urticaria). When we got to the security check point, they asked to see what was in the bags. We'd been informed of this online, so I gladly got my bags out and started point at thing to summarise what they are. The instant I mentioned medical supplies, they were totally fine and let us through without seeing the rest.
Even with the wheelchair, we were able to get right into the centre with everyone else. No one, once, at any point was bothered, rude, or ableist in any way. They didn’t bat an eye when I stood and pushed my wheelchair. In fact, I lost count at seeing 11 other wheelchair users that night—several times more than I’ve seen in equally large crowds in the city centre, and most of these were young people. It wasn’t even overstimulating: it was all one sound. You didn’t hear the crowd, you heard the music the crowd was making collectively.
It was one of the most welcoming experiences of my life. We were able to get within the henge itself, and it was truly life changing to see the way that the entire crowd chanted and swayed peacefully. I’ve never witnessed anything where that many people were able to coexist in such a natural manner. Not only were groups of hundreds of people practicing their religion together, but there were several different religions all practicing together. At least half of the crowd consisted of immigrants, and there was a large group of Hare Krishnas who were almost exclusively Asian. At one point, the Hare Krishnas and a group of Latinos wearing traditional clothing were dancing in the same circle to the same music. They were interacting with each other; they responding to each other’s movements; they were dancing together.
My mom is a cop, and every time she had to work a protest, she’d leave the house saying, “I can’t wait to go beat up these protesters!” She meant it sincerely. Seeing the way in which so many people got along (without even trying to convert you!!) completely changed my perspective on humanity. It was truly and simply nothing I had ever witnessed, and something which I whole heartedly believed was impossible.
I can’t recommend this event highly enough for disabled people, particularly multimarginalised disabled people. It’s just a night of sincere inclusivity.
Here are some of the photos I got that night. For the videos and the rest of the photos, check out my instagram @The.Savannah.Syndrome.
Image 1 ID: hundreds of people sitting and standing in and around Stonehenge at dusk. The fence has been taken down, and there is a large crowd within the stone circle itself.
Image 2 ID: Taken from within the henge, a shot of two vertical stones with a horizontal stone on top. People are standing between these, and there is a crowd of people on the left. It is dusk and you can barely make out people’s features.
Image 3 ID: The outlines of several standing stones and people standing amongst them lit against the darkening sky. You can see stones from both rings, and all of them are pairs with a stone on top.
Image 4 ID: The shot is angled such that you see the grey dusk sky through the openings of two sets of stones.
Image 5 ID: The shot is angled through the openings of two sets of stones. You can see the moon through the closer opening, and the sunset through the further.
Image 6 ID: Taken from a few feet outside the henge, the sunset contrasts with a cloudy sky. The stones are beneath the clouds, and it looks eerie but enchanting. The outline of a large crowd is visible in the distance, and you can just make out the shoulders of a few people within the henge itself.
Image 7 ID: A crowd of people dancing is just visible against the near-black sky. They are standing within the henge, and a few are standing on a fallen stone. You can see standing stones in the distance, and a few people have their phones out for torches and photos.
Image 8 ID: The flash illuminates the centre of the crowd; everyone is standing in a circle, facing inward, at a few people dancing in the centre. One person wears a white dress and has floral antlers; several people have flower crowns; one person has a tambourine, and others are wearing complex clothing, but it’s too faint to see details.
Image 9 ID: A selfie of Savannah sitting against a standing stone. It’s grey in the moonlight, and you can see two stars behind the stone. However, you can only see Savannah from the nose up, and she’s wearing a face mask with a black beanie pulled down to her eye brows.
Image 10 ID: A slow shutter photo: a standing stone in the right third of the image, a crowd at the very bottom of the image, and most of the image displaying dozens of stars in the night sky.
Image 11 ID: You can faintly make out Stonehenge against the near-black night sky. To the right is what looks like a church steeple; it’s a Hindu shrine.
Image 12 ID: An ethereal photo taken with very slow shutter speed shows a large, dense crowd dancing together. It clearly consists of different religions with a Hare Krishna man with a shaved head and orange robes on the left. On the right is a woman with a flower crown. In the back ground is someone with a red, green, and yellow flag. Stonehenge is behind them all, and they are lit with the pre-dawn sky.
Image 13 ID: Taken moments after the last, we now see another Hare Krisna as well as someone with a hat decorated with small fruits. They are dancing together in a circle.
Image 14 ID: Later. It’s lighter outside but there is still a slow shutter. People walk in front of the camera, making Stonehenge in the background seem almost lit up with their clothing. The person with the flag is still present, but the others aren’t.
Image 15 ID: Taken moments after the last, the photographer zoomed in on the right side of the henge. The flag is clearer, but people closer to the camera are blurrier. These are still ethereal and enrapturing.
Image 16 ID: Facing east, a crowd sits and stands in a field with very dense fog about an hour before sunrise. People close to the camera are clear, but the people furthest away are walking briskly and have blurred into ghost like figures.
Image 17 ID: A blurry photo of Stonehenge before sunrise. The crowd is getting larger, and people are in traditional pagan clothing. The person with the green, red, and yellow flag remains. We’re closer to the henge and can now see three sets of standing stones.
Image 18 ID: A slow shutter photo of some of the stones in the outer ring. It’s pre-dawn, and the sky is just beginning to turn from grey to blue. People are standing against the stones, and one person is walking in front of the camera. This creates an ethereal effect.
Image 19 ID: A shot of a large crowd in and around Stonehenge. It’s dawn, and people are facing east toward the expectant sunrise. Several people have flower crowns, and one person has a Native American headdress.
Image 20 ID: As the sun begins to rise, the shutter speed is increasing. You can make out individuals of the crowd as they stand in front of the henge. You can see several sets of standing stones, each with a stone laid across the top. The person with the flag has returned.
Image 21 ID: Another photo facing the imminent sunrise with a large crowd in a field. The sun would be visible by now if not for the very thick fog. People a few hundred feet away are just grey outlines.
Image 22 ID: We’re closer to Stonehenge now, and we can see the person in a Native American headdress and clothing. We can just make out a group of people behind them with various “hippie” outfits and religious items. We can see several of the stones, and they’re beginning to tower over the crowd.
Image 23 ID: A wide shot of the crowd within the henge shows thousands of people expectantly facing east for the sunrise. It’s a complete mix of humanity ranging from a middle aged, working class white man to an Indian man with a shaved head and orange robes.
Image 24 ID: A group of pagans from a variety of races and ethnicities stand together, cold, facing the sunrise. A Scandanavian woman is dressed in black and white fashionable clothing with a flower crown. She’s facing the sunrise with her arms crossed and a half-asleep look on her face. Nex to her is a woman wearing baggy, multi colour pants made up of individual squares of fabric. She’s also wearing a leopard print crop top, a green hat, and several necklaces. She has the same look on her face. There is also a white man playing bongos, a black woman with a flower crown and metal adornments in her hair. They are all standing above the crowd on a fallen stone.
Image 25 ID: Facing east with the rest of the crowd, we see a row of several standing stones and the backs of many people’s heads.
Image 26 ID: Facing west, we see thousands of people standing amongst the henge. Two people immediately in front of the camera wear “hippie” clothes, fedoras, and have intricate face paint. Behind them you can see a stretch of the henge that has not fallen over: four vertical stones are connected with three horizontal stones laid across their tops. This curves away from the camera in a way that draws you in.
Image 27 ID: A tired young boy is sat on the shoulders of an adult. They are amongst a dense crowd standing between the upright stones, all facing towards the sun will soon rise.
Image 28 ID: The giant stones loom over a dense crowd. This close, the frame has to cut out most people’s faces in order to show the top of the stones. The sky is lightening.
Image 29 ID: A crowd of thousands is all facing east, and the camera is facing west. You can only see their heads. The photo is shot through a pair of stones with a stone across the top. Through the hole, you see a single stone, but this one has a triangular knob in the centre of the otherwise flat top.
Image 30 ID: The same spot as the last, but a darker photo where you can’t see people’s faces. The stones are stark against the dawn sky.
Image 31 ID: Just over the tops of people’s heads, you can see a stretch of the henge that has not fallen over: four vertical stones are connected with two horizontal stones laid across their tops. This curves away from the camera in a way that draws you in.
Image 32 ID: A standing stone frames the right 1/3rd of the shot with people’s heads at the bottom. Focused in the distance is a set of standing stones.
Image 33 ID: There are no people in this shot. It’s another of the stones curving away, but the increased contrast and lack of people make it seem majestic against the pale blue sky.
Image 34 ID: The camera is positioned between the inner and outer rings, and the focal point is the far side of the inner ring. There are no people, just several sets of standing stones.
Image 35 ID: The only people are the tops of two heads and a blurry man in the distance taking a photo with his phone. The focus is a set of standing stones.
Image 36 ID: The camera is positioned between the inner and outer rings, showing the close side of the inner ring (two standing stones), the far side of the inner ring (a standing stone and the edge of a stone laid on top), and the far side of the outer ring (two standing stones with the edge of a stone laid on top of one of them). There is a crowd, densest at the centre of the henge.
Image 37 ID: The same location and angle as before, but this is a vertical shot. It shows more details of the people: a vast array of human kind, come together for the solstice.
Image 38 ID: A photo with higher exposure than the previous ones. This shows the outer ring of the hedge doubling back on itself as it curves. One person is standing with their arm raised and their hand on the stone. The rest of the crowd is facing the imminent sunrise.
Image 39 ID: Back to normal exposure, we see a boy standing higher than the crowd, presumably on a fallen stone, facing a set of standing stones. You can see the tops of other people’s heads, and they are facing another direction towards the sunrise.
Image 40 ID: Taken between the inner and outer ring, this photo shows a much brighter sky than the previous ones. You can see six sets of standing stones contrasted against the sky. The tops of people’s heads are just visible against the dark stones.
Image 41 ID: A photo of several people standing against a set of standing stones, all facing the sunrise. You can see the very edge of a set of standing stones both in front of and behind the focal point.
Image 42 ID: Taken between the two rings, this photo highlights the crowd standing against the inner ring and facing the sunrise. One man stands higher than the rest of the crowd, presumably on a fallen stone. He wears a blue plaid blanket over his shoulders in the cold, dawn light.
Image 43 ID: A high contrast photo, the sunrise is beginning to be faintly pink on the cloudless sky. The several standing stones are nearly black, as well as the heads of the dense crowd.
Image 44 ID: Facing the same way as the crowd, the shot goes straight through the gaps of two sets of standing stones. The gap between upright stones are directly across from each other on the ring, and the imminent sunrise will be placed directly in this hole.
Image 45 ID: A photo highlighting the crowd as the sun is finally visible over the extremely dense fog layer. It’s clear that the sun rose over the horizon nearly an hour ago, but you can barely see the top of it. Several thousand people stand in and around Stonehenge, many of them taking photos with their phones.
Image 46 ID: A 270 degree panorama makes Stonehenge seem only a few feet wide within the enormous crowd. People are mulling about now that the climactic event of sunrise has occurred.
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