Hey folks, I’m Chris Lambourne, and welcome to my channel!
Originally from Wales, now living in England, I am a keen drone pilot, photographer and a lover of history. I travel all over Britain to seek out adventure, and post short films and vlogs where ever I go, showing Britain through the ages, from both land and air.
Hit that subscribe button if you want to join me, as I explore some of the best historical sites that Britain has to offer! I am super excited you’re here, and I can’t wait to take you along on this journey!
Most nights have an evening walk and listen to something on RU-vid and frequently RU-vid then plays something else, so I stumbled across this via the algorithm, the music is too loud compared to the narration. I was carrying two bags of shopping and the ground was very wet so I did not put them down and turn down the sound but for anyone who is not deaf your sound levels for the music are too loud.
well its by no means a new theory, but as soon as the dumplings who have guessed as always it the origins of not just wansdyke but hundreds of similer sites" as soon as they accept common sense and the obvious reallity of canal systems the better, and many orther facets as well, ace video, MINT". cheers.
Was the original author of the idea affected by looking at a map of the Pennines, where the River Calder emerges from both sides of the ridge of hills?.. Looking for the source of the River, (Calder), following it up from Hebden Bridge and Myth Holm Royd, pronounced My-Them-Royd, locally, Luddenden's Other Foot, (Luddenden Foot), all along the River Calder, so on up past 'Drippy Bridge' and Calais Lock, (on the Canal), (Callis Lock, real name), and so on up to Todd Morte Den, pronounced Todmdn, locally, (Todd means death in German, and Morte means death in French), there is a fork in the valley system here, turn left to 'Summit' and Rochdale, to the South, or follow the Calder River, on the right fork of the valleys.. And so up and up, and looking at maps, the Calder goes up and up, towards the Spring, then continues down-hill to Burnley... Em, that's what the map is showing, so a closer look with a detailed enough scale of map, to trace the Calder River to its Spring, is looked at. Within a stones throw, almost literally, in easy view from the Spring, there is another Spring, with its stream flowing in the opposite direction to the Calder River, back toward Tod - Todmdn, and Hebden Bridge.. 'Someone having a laugh' naming two Rivers with their Springs almost next to each other, and flowing in opposite directions, the same name, both are named River Calder.. (up and down hills by water, with no locks or water supply, except for two trickles of two Springs). The Calder Valley is / was very aware of the need for a comprehensive extensive water supply system, reservoirs, including the highest beach in all England, a sandy beach in a corner of one of the canal water collection reservoirs, up on the tops of the moors, all around.. Wave a Wand at Wandsdyke, to make boats go up and down hills?..
"in the centre was no doubt some sort of trading station" ..No doubt? What evidence is there that any stone circles ever had a trading station in the middle? Maybe there was, at Avebury, but sorry, where's the evidence? Excellent work done for this vid, no question, but the title just looks like a click-bait, with no explanation enough what it was that the history books got wrong... The fact that there was flooded terrain, or terrain around that was under water, doesn't in any way say thet Avebury was not a ceremonial location. Why was the ditch of the henge (ditch and bank) 9 Metres deep? is a good question, and books maybe miss the flooding issue, but this doesn't make them getting anything wrong.. ONE point, that the history books say that the henge ditch was all originally joined up all around? not seen that.. Maybe true, but still not up to the dramatic title.. And implying that it was all just a trading centre, on basically an island, just doesn't make sense. "Whatever the site may have been... it's no doubt a most magical sight" is true, and sorry, though, but this hints that 'The Real Truth' titles are usually no such thing.. Just another clik bait line.. And still no evidence included from known excavations that while feesible, the area around Avebury was marshy or flooded.
fine piece sir ,but you dont seem to understand that also the mounds surrounding the stones were chalk , so in the sunlight would have beemed white , love to get our heads together on this .
Amazing video mate..Researching myself St Catherine’s hill in Christchurch where the Avon is on one side and the stour on the other..But near St.Catherines is Ramsdown,which is a smaller hill in the shadow of St.Catherines..By Ramdowns are two Bronze Age burial mounds on which one is situated on a man made ridge and slope dating back to the Neolithic..I think all three are connected and St.Catherines with the two rivers beside her was an important site in history of the area and the U.K.. Thank you again and all the best
Awesome, I was looking at Marlborough and the water courses going to Avesbury and Towards the Thames when this video popped up, I think this is pre historic and this would have been how they brought the stones from Wales to Stonehenge :) Apart from the Orkney Altar Stone, although I think they are trying to debunk that one at mo. We also have tunnels in the Scottish Isles, maybe they are also canals for transporting stones/wares. They have often speculated how they transported many things up and down the hills, I think this is the answer as otherwise they would have got bogged down constantly by our famous misty isle weather. Now I wonder where else this mysterious canal system will pop up. think of the tracks on Malta leading to the sea, or the boats they know from Wales that had three runners like a catamaran-where there is no longer any water only leaving ancient evidence of boats and boat building. Very interesting!
How is this how things were transported up and down hills in boats? For big stones it would have been in dual purpose flat bottomed barges, and so either on rollers, or following Rivers inland, with dam and lock systems relatively simple to install for the purpose, where necessary. So there was no River system available to do this for this ditch / canal? and it looks more important to keep it near as a straight line, rataher than follow River Valleys, is again making look defensive not canal. and except for the unlikely ice age movement factor, it still goes up and down hills, so still just a question mark... Sorry, no rewriting of history going on here, to see..
You should not assume that the ditch was ever 9m deep relative to the surrounding land. Over the centuries the bank would have eroded and new layers dug out to raise the height again above the relative height of the surrounding land. Modern ditches are cleaned out, but very rarely do people make an effort to clean out right to the bottom of the original cut.
Yes, thanks for the video, as I should have said in my last comment. I would also have mentioned Thomas Hobbes, one of the most influential political and philosphical thinkers in Europe, who was born in Malmesbury in 1588. He calls himself 'Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury' in perhaps his most influential book, Leviathan. Certainly an important part of Malmesbury's history.
lol - no. What you're proposing here is a giant lake, not a river. Such a thing did not exist. Rivers don't pool up like that. They flow and erode, creating deep gullies in the earth as they do so. There's no evidence of what you're proposing at all.
Great video! I think we should give weighting to the economic consequences of labour intensive, pre-historic remains - from hand axes to earthworks. Apart from a few blessed places, like the Fertile Crescent, the people were very poor, so costly enterprises have to have a pay-off.
You understand how a spirit level works yes? It could never have been a canal. Also, it's elevated on chalk downs, unless it was lined with clay it would not have held water, nice try thou
I’ve went 76.3 mph and gotten the drone back safely with ease. I dint even have to drop the altitude below 390ft to get it back. And it was fighting the wind at 10-15mph.
Makes sense they just use water to architect the landscape. They wouldn't use manual labor. Water hydrolics. Those smarties. They knew how to use the nature. The wind and the water .
February half term 1990 I joined an NT volunteer archaeology finds search around Avebury it was fascinating we were put up in a property that literally looked out onto the henge amazing time ❤
I've come here from Paul Whitewick's video about where the Stonehenge Sarsen stones were quarried. That quarry is in Westwood, just west of Savenake forest, which may explain why the dyke ends in a field. It didn't need to go any further. Could this be how the blue stones were moved from Preseli? It sounds like they still working out how Sarsen were moved from Westwood but this canal could be the first part of the link. I've long thought the stones were moved by water, seeing as there was so much more of it back then and west Somerset, Glastonbury area was still under water. The only pitfall is, the rafts, barges or boats would have to been huge
Well made and beautifully presented but deeply flawed. I suppose it depends upon what you mean by "canal" but I'm prepared to concede it might have been a seasonal watercourse. I tend toward the theory of a boundary ditch of unknown,probably pre-Roman origin. The Kennet and Avon canal was built more than 100yrs before Victoria came to the throne...you need to get the little stuff right to convince us of the big stuff,I'm afraid....
Chris, a shout out to youtube for dropping this into my video feed! Happy to have discovered your site. I live in the US and due to physical and financial constraints, I'll never get to see these wonderful sites in person. As an ardent anglophile and lover of history, I've read several books about Avebury and the surrounding area. It is very helpful seeing this from above as it shows a completely different perspective as opposed to filming totally on tne ground. I've subscribed to your site and am looking forward to watching the other videos.
Interesting theory, however, the assumed high groundwater level would have caused quite some problems with digging a 9m deep ditch. Water would certainly seeped in, and there were no pumps available. The ditch must have been dug at lower groundwater level. A ditch filled with water for a significant time should show layers of silt. Cheers, Michael
Author says there is silt, someone else says there isn't.. Nothing here really to show what was really happening at Avebury, apart from maybe different purposes in the time of it's cultural period.. Stonehenge maybe a lot clearer, like other Stone Circles, while there is clear enough evidence that whatever went on there, it was connected to the Sun and Moon movements..
great video. What about the smaller blue stone circle at the centre of stone henge ? These were brought from Wales. I believe it was the metal ore content of these stones which is what made this circle and others work so well. I believe stone henge was built around them. It is the metal ore content of these stones which was used to tune into the earths energy fields which enabled these people far greater clarity of thought at certain times of the year. It was like a giant radio receiver so they could commune with what they believed were there ancestors , the earth. these people had a far greater understanding of how the mind works than we do today.
Brilliant little film, thanks. Its often the case that the authority wants to say things were for religion rather than trading, I suppose because it fits in with academics idea of linear progression from primitive simple people to clever ones today
Oh please. The musical accompanied is way too intrusive, and for those interested enough to follow your train of thought ...we don't need gee-ing up, made excited, nor does your production and idea/s need any mor punch or wow atmosphere. In fact, it all detracts, and despite my keen interest, I am struggling to 'stay tuned" to you. Please, please reconsider your style...content is good enough as things are, thank you.
Damn. I didnt think it would be that easy to lose a drone on land. Especially since it reconnected, it shouldve lead you right to it. I wonder how it didnt since the gps isnt that inaccurate that it would no where near where it said it was, especially if it would descend upon losing connection. Im sure the wind blew it all over the place when it tried to land but even still So in the video, it looked like you tried to turn the drone around and go upwind? Mightve been better to just land it and go track it down At least the mini 2 isnt too expensive. Probably going down in price too since even my mini 3 is way down in price now
The wet, marshy period went from (approx) 4,000BC to 3,500BC. The henge was dug BEFORE this period, and the stones were brought in AFTER this wet period. You are correct to say there was a wet period during the time of Avebury, but the story is a little bit more complex that your description here. ALSO the henge was never filled with water. Great video, however.
What an interesting place. I think your maths is a bit out though. 25 tonnes x 80 is 2000 tonnes - not quite one very small cruise ship. The really big ones are over 200,000 tonnes! Still an impressive feat at the time though.
The location of West Wansdyke actually follows the South Eastern border between Mercia who under Offa were known for dykes and Wessex, East Wansdyke appears to be slightly South of the traditionally recognised border between Mercia and Wessex and so I believe that it was an early border between the two Kingdoms possibly built by the Mercians in Hwicce before the Expansion of Wessex which saw the Mercians pushed back to the North bank of the Rivers Thames and Avon leaving West Wansdyke in Mercia and West Wansdyke in Wessex. One thing that I am absolutely certain of os that Wansdyke was a defensive construction which followed the flow of the hills or rather the dips between hills which are natural geographical features which using natural geographical features as defensive lines had long since been a common practice. I really cannot see Wansdyke as a canal system simply because it doesn't make any sense at all, why would anyone cut a long undulating canal rather than cutting a straight line? And then there are the points that others have mentioned regarding no ability to retain water, any water there would seep into the earth like an aquifer and lo and behold, a little search on Google results in this:- "The majority of the eastern region of the District is recognised as being a major aquifer, and therefore highly permeable", that entire dyke would need to be waterproofed to retain any amount of water which would be visibly apparent each time it rained as it would resemble a river at most or a stream at the least and yet "grass".... Interesting video, good presentation and I really enjoyed your theorising but I do have to disagree with you claiming it to be an early canal system that dates back from 1400 years ago to earlier however, you mentioning an "indefensible defence" then I think I would agree to that, it probably did work well for most of its use as a defensive border but most probably fell out of use once Wessex successfully expanded into lands previously ruled over by Mercia and on that point I do think maybe it is time to look at the history books for a possible revision as the border between the two Kingdoms isn't really mentioned as being this particular location and all because we often just look at the later more traditionally accepted border after the expansion of Wessex and take that border for granted without question.
