Since coming across some sarsens banking up the river Cole out by the Shaftesbury lakes back in January I been on the trail of 'stray sarsens' (sarsen stones imported from the Marlborough Downs). At first I thought they were just around Coate Water and Hodson - the ones at Coate are very beautiful indeed and have added much to their setting. Since then, I have re-discovered wonderful moss-covered stones in Queen's Park, shining stones at the Lawns (over-looking the lakes) and lots of smaller stones placed by cycle tracks and at the Manor Garden Centre. The stones in this picture are on the corner of the Rodbourne Cheney round-about opposite St Mary's Church. I can truly say I had never noticed them before and yet the stone in the foreground of the photo is probably the largest I have come across so far.What is the almost magical quality of these amazing stones that they can make themselves so invisible and will survive for thousands (possibly millions) of years? Long after the communities around them have disappeared.
