The Gathering - Moot 1st March

A new season rolled up to the Moot on Sunday with a beautiful sun-shiny Spring day. And to celebrate this we all decided to sit out in the sun and fully enjoy the new season to its fullest. With maps spread across the tables a major topic of conversation was centred around the wealth of undiscovered sites in the area, including sites of breathtaking beauty. The usual suspects were noted of course, such as Swallowhead Spring and Oliver's Castle. But everyone seemed to have one or two little gems that nobody else had ever heard of. These included a spectacular cluster of springs outside of Calne, hill forts close to Wroughton and a number of forests out Castle Coombe way which have a plenitude of ancient sites hidden away in them.

So, as the warm, summer months begin to emerge from the dark, frosty mornings of the winter, thoughts and plans are set in motion to perhaps have a few of our wonderful moots located at some of these sites. Can you imagine sitting up on Oliver's Castle with its sweeping vista across the the vast expanse of the Wiltshire countryside. All this whilst listening to new and fascinating speakers, maybe even hearing ancient stories being told or music being played - music with drumming and dance. Watch this space before each Moot... you'll always know what's in the offing if you check in.

There was also a good deal of discussion about litter. A challenge to any of you is to go out for a walk with a bag and fill it up on your bimble. Well, that's not really the main challenge. The big challenge is, having already done one round of litter picking, to go out for another walk a day or so later and notice what you see, and notice how you feel about that.


The town of Calne is lucky becuase one of the Avebury Moot followers, Moira, lives there. She has called for a meeting to take place in Calne at the Lansdowne Strand Hotel on Tuesday 14th April at 6pm. This event is being held to raise awareness of the growing litter situation in our countryside and to recruit soldiers for the Litter Army. The council have already furnished her with enough equipment and supplies to fully kit out 10 brave souls. Topics for consideration include the extremely heavy littering of the river Marden - can this really be just down to people tossing litter into the river... or is there another cause? Check out the meeting to find out.

Once again the Red Lion were the perfect hosts and ensured that the tradition of the Avebury Moots being held at this focus point continues into the future. There was a fine mix of clientèle, including bikers on their impressive looking Harley Davidsons, families with all their children out for the day about the stones, and even a bunch of scouts that marched off of the ridge down Green Street and who holed themselves up to get fluids and valuable carbs.

Keep watching this space now because speakers are in the process of being booked. If you have a subject that you might like to talk about then drop us an email with a telephone number so that we can have a natter. Also check the site before each moot for confirmation of what has been booked. It's worth noting that the Avebury Moots works in close collaboration with the Avebury Circular and so noteworthy information about the moots, the Circular, the Spirit Camp etc will all be published here.

Enjoy the sun:)