Stonehenge

In June 2004, just two months after I had my hip replacement operation, I booked on a one-day trip to Salisbury, Old Sarum and Stonehenge.

I'd been to Stonehenge before, but this time it was going to be possible to actually go up to the stones and touch them. English Heritage has a legal obligation to limit the number of people who get to go up to the stones, not least because the wear and tear on the environment is in danger of undermining the stones. So this was an opportunity I could not miss.

It was a filthy day, and by the time we were at Old Sarum, I was in no fit state to do a complete tour of the site on my crutches. When we got to Stonehenge, it was still open to the public, and we had to wait for it to close before we could gain full access to the monument. While we waited, the clouds that had sent down their drenching rain on us all day suddenly cleared, and the sun came out. It was like a miracle. The effects of the sun and shadows on the experience were stunning.