(c) K Wicks
Under the Apple Tree…
It is coming…
New release coming soon
(c) K Wicks
If you like a bit of creepy…
Why do you want to scare people?…
It’s an odd thing for me, horror. I have defended it, been scared by it, wanted to read it, watch it and write it, and by extension, share it.
Now I give more thought to why I feel the need. I would say my childhood was both molded and traumatised by horror films and books (mostly films), yet I cannot leave it alone. They have partly made me who I am, shaped my phobias and fears and set me upon this path.
But I wonder, should people like me share the story in it’s full unbridled horror, or should we filter it? For those who don’t have an imagination themselves or are limited with it, are we just putting unnecessary concepts and ideas forward? Ones that shouldn’t have ever got out? And after we have written it, it can take on a new form where the horror or idea no longer belongs to us, is no longer down to the imagination. Film and its brutal visual imagery assault can be both impressive and terrifying. But lets be clear, it is an assault on the senses. Just one we choose. But why?
All stories can evoke feeling and emotion, so why do we choose to put ourselves through heartbreak, love, horror, fear, intrigue and laughter, for something that is not happening to us or anyone we know. Is it because it is safe? Because it isn’t happening to us and we can just pause, identify from afar or turn it off? Unlike real life.
I am in two minds about whether we should, just because we can…
(c) K L Wicks
K L Wicks Author Interview – Red Cape Publishing
Red Cape Publishing were kind enough to ask me for an author interview…
Neolithic Adventures – West Kennet Avenue
Really this could be an add on to my piece about Avebury given it’s proximity, but I think this deserves it’s own piece. West Kennet Avenue is an avenue of stones through an entire field leading in the direction of the West Kennet Barrow. I had no idea this was just round the corner from Avebury stone circle.
Two very long rows of stones, some of them huge, some of them worn away by people, time and weather. There are a few posts marking out the ones that didn’t make it. On the drive down the road, there are also a couple of random monoliths, seemingly on their own and out of place. They help to still mark the old boundary line of the avenue.
From here if you walk to the top of the hill, you can actually see West Kennet long barrow, and Silbury Hill further down. It’s hard not to see a rather large neolithic community at work here. And this is all we have left after 5,500 years, then who knows what was here to start with…
(c) K Wicks
Neolithic Adventures – Wayland’s Smithy
One the more well known long barrows in England, Wayland’s Smithy. This is a stunning location and quite a site to behold when you get to the enclosure. Although situated on the ancient Ridgeway, it’s quite a walk from our known paths and roads so feels like quite a remote location. Only a mile apparently from the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire.
This one has also been reconstructed and only the front is exposed and accessible.
It’s very impressive when you see the size of the stones and walk around the site. Human remains have been found at this site during excavations, but from an earlier structure that this barrow was built on top of, without further bodies or burials being mentioned.
It’s amazing what is just lying around above and below ground, literally just under your feet and you might not even know it…
(c) K Wicks
Neolithic Adventures – Belas Knap Long Barrow
A site we have also been to before, but always worth a visit. Belas Knap long barrow is quite a jaunt up a steep hill and through a wooded walk, it’s quite off the beaten track as with the others. Although I realise that is how it appears now to my eyes and the modern arrangement of the landscape. Agriculture and building works have greatly changed what was once here. This one is on the Cotswold Way, so actually not to far off the beaten track at all.
This structure has been excavated a number of times and was restored in the 1930’s to it’s present condition. What you see above is the apparent ‘false entrance’, and there are a number of side chambers and under the false entrance – although skeletal remains have been found during the chamber excavations, some of these have been dated to the bronze age, so in my mind cannot be attributed to it’s building.
These two chambers are on opposite sides of the barrow.
Just another in the long line of ancient mysteries left standing today. The adventure continues…
(c) K Wicks
Neolithic Adventures – West Kennet Long Barrow
The ancient trail continued with a visit to West Kennet Long Barrow, we have many strewn about the country and this is one of the better preserved intact ones. Apparently the largest in Britain, measuring approx 100 meters in length – there are two other equally impressive ones not too far away in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire and will feature shortly.
This barrow is high on the hill overlooking Silbury Hill and very close to Avebury stone circle. Not seen from the bottom it is a small hike up the hill but when you reach the brow, the amazing structure comes into view.
From the front – with myself for a bit of scale.
Here you can see the length and where, again, over the years it has been looted and excavated, with a number of skeletons being found in the various chambers. There is no evidence to suggest this was built for burials, although it’s obvious people over the millennia have used this as somewhere to place your dead or the remains of.
There are extremely large internal stones and small chambers (none of which would really fit a full size body by the way), leading into the barrow. This is only a small portion at the front of the structure, most of the rest of it having caved in and has been left covered.
But what you can see and get to, gives us an idea of how solid they are and need I say it, built to last. We would have trouble today trying to build something like this at the top of this hill, so it really does beg the question as with all the other sites. Why and how?
The mystery continues…
(c) K Wicks word and photography & M Wicks Photography
Neolithic Adventures – The Long Stones
Just outside the official stone circle of Avebury, there are two random stones that have been left in a field about a mile away on the edge of Beckhampton, called The Long Stones. Apparently once these stones were of a much greater number leading directly to Avebury, but having been used as building materials for years, only a few survive.
I’m not one to usually see shapes in things – but this definitely looked like a horses head to me. Also an interesting feature, the concentric circle and spiral lichen covering part of the side. Nice.
It’s hard to imagine these stones in context, with our modern roads either overtaking or ignoring ancient routes, letting them overgrow and disappear. Many stones being incorporated into farmers field borders (saw a few in Cornwall), or used as walls for residential properties. When you walk around these areas and look at the stone used, really look, you can see where it came from. But we need stone and should recycle, so I am slightly torn by this. It’s harsh and logical at the same time. And I wonder, if we didn’t make any money from the tourism on these ancient sites, would we even bother to keep them now…
But given the size of what we have left, it much have been quite impressive back then.
(c) K Wicks
MKW Publishing 