They never talked about this one on SSC!

I like it. That’s great. And who knew they had such nice looking towns in that region.

Bishop Auckland is where you end up if you don't turn the right way on the A66.

Fangirl Three wrote:

Bishop Auckland is where you end up if you don't turn the right way on the A66.

I know three things about it.

It’s near Newcastle.
It’s the seat of a bishop and has a palace.
It’s where you go to test your eyesight.

cosmictanya wrote:

It’s where you go to test your eyesight.

That was Barnard Castle, though not far away. That's a prettier and less developed olde market town than Bishop Auckland.

Butterfield wrote:

cosmictanya wrote:

It’s where you go to test your eyesight.

That was Barnard Castle, though not far away. That's a prettier and less developed olde market town than Bishop Auckland.

Ahh yes.

I might’ve thought Barnard Castle was actually in Bishop Auckland, rather than its own place. Oh, I do also know that despite being from Glamis, the larger part of the Bowes Lyon art collection is there instead, due to coal mining interests they had in the region and building themselves a local house to stay in while they were there cracking the whip directly.

Butterfield wrote:

cosmictanya wrote:

It’s where you go to test your eyesight.

That was Barnard Castle, though not far away. That's a prettier and less developed olde market town than Bishop Auckland.

It was also Barnard Castle that I was thinking of in the A66 context. Bishop Auckland is where you go through (or round on the bypass) to get there from the other direction, from Darlington.

I'm bored with this conversation now.

I'm just getting interested!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/14/stonehenge-megalith-came-from-scotland-not-wales-jaw-dropping-study-finds

I want to see a map of the journey that stone took from north east Scotland to Wiltshire.

Butterfield wrote:

I want to see a map of the journey that stone took from north east Scotland to Wiltshire.

https://www.theworks.co.uk/p/maps-atlases-and-travel/aa-2025-large-scale-road-atlas-britain/WKS_9780749584047.html?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADybf6fisv9skybG7vGlRbmyjUUJj&gclid=Cj0KCQjwq_G1BhCSARIsACc7NxrX29iki1ZFi5zs2Wfh64brUt9eKYYbWed3X-C9O6Dz0nppAPJQMfgaArUIEALw_wcB

Butterfield wrote:

I want to see a map of the journey that stone took from north east Scotland to Wiltshire.

Google Maps suggests this is the best way to do it on foot:

Imagine dragging it over Shap Summit.

The article said it would’ve taken years rather 197 hours. They must’ve stopped off in a lot of places, maybe even moved to Manchester (Wigan?) on the way down, only to get begging letters saying ‘where’s the stone I ordered?’ and escalating legal action to get it back on the move.

Yes, the stone was probably stored for years at various locations along the way - abbeys, fortifications, whatever landmarks were around at that time - with many of the carriers never even knowing where it was going to end up and dying before it even moved on to the next place. This could have taken decades if not centuries, who knows*.




*I evidently don't.