Well happy solstice everyone (6.24 am this morning). The nights are now officially drawing in.:D

edit -

correction - the Solstice was at 6:46am this morning.

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
Well happy solstice everyone (6.24 am this morning). The nights are now officially drawing in.:D

Just contravening the copyright :D

Bummer. Winter is on the way :(

Well British summertime doesn't officially end until October the 30th so I'm clinging onto it for all its worth! :D

Summer Solstice Blessings to you too Phanerothyme

and to everyone else :clap:

how is everyone spending tonight ( or spent tonight if ya reading this tommorow? )

im off to an open ritual with bonfire food drink and lots of brill peeps :thumbsup:

Brightest Blessings
Litha

Originally posted by Litha
im off to an open ritual with bonfire food drink and lots of brill peeps :thumbsup:


Lol! Guess I'd have had the answer to my text if I'd have read this first! :hihi:

Happy Solstice everyone! :)

Eleri (also going to an open ritual with bonfire food drink and lots of brill peeps, strange that! ;) :clap: )

The Trees
Philip Larkin
The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said;
The recent buds relax and spread,
Their greenness is a kind of grief.

Is it that they are born again
And we grow old? No, they die too,
Their yearly trick of looking new
Is written down in rings of grain.

Yet still the unresting castles thresh
In fullgrown thickness every May.
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.


I hate midsummers day, I, like Larkin, feel the decline also - 'a kind of grief'. You can't ****ing win!
:(

I spent my Summer Solstice picking flowers and dancing naked around my friend's pole. We then drank mead from a wooden flaggon and sang Steeleye Span songs on a haystack, still naked. This evening I shalll burn the entrails of a pig or something, and then make merry at ye pube - again, naked. I will spend the night in a police cell bruised and bloodied. Same damn stuff every year. Ho hum.

Originally posted by kblade
Well British summertime doesn't officially end until October the 30th so I'm clinging onto it for all its worth! :D Summer officially started on 1 June and ends on 31 August. British Standard Time (BST) is what officially ends on the last Sunday morning of October, when we go back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Sorry for being pedantic, but it really winds me up when people say that British summer time starts in March, when Spring actually starts on 1 March, British Standard Time starts at the end of March, and Spring Equinox falls on 21 March. :rant: over:wink:

My favourite part of the year is the autumn, I just love it when the nights draw in. But the late summer is great too, we often seem to get an Indian summer, where the sun and heat is fresh like Mediterranean sun. Mid summer sun in Sheffield often comes with lots of tiredness and humidity, like we have just had, probably due to the smog of the city adding to it.. I love it when we get a lovely bit of sun, and a nice cool night where you can get a great night's sleep as well.

Happy solstice everyone.
MC

Originally posted by Ant
I spent my Summer Solstice picking flowers and dancing naked around my friend's pole. does he have a big pole like?

Originally posted by Ant
I spent my Summer Solstice picking flowers and dancing naked around my friend's pole. We then drank mead from a wooden flaggon and sang Steeleye Span songs on a haystack, still naked. This evening I shalll burn the entrails of a pig or something, and then make merry at ye pube - again, naked.

Dammit, Litha, I knew we'd forgotten to do something tonight! ;) :heyhey:

Hippies.They're everywhere. They wanna save the earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad.

does he have a big pole like?

Well, I help him erect it in May, and it stays standing proud until the Summer Solstice. Yes, it is on the large side. Large enough to tie lengthy ribbons to it's tip and dance merrily around it. Many people have admired it when they catch sight of it on the village green.

Originally posted by Jon
Hippies.They're everywhere. They wanna save the earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad.

At least when they see UFOs they have an excuse :P

Well, I couldn't get out and celebrate the solstice this morning, but I will be going out tomorrow night for the full moon to enjoy some crepuscular peregrination and picnic hampers.

Hippies welcome!

http://www.netheredge.com/flyers/picnic.pdf

(link to map is disabled - you think I want everyone to come? :P )

Originally posted by Ann_x
Summer officially started on 1 June and ends on 31 August. British Standard Time (BST) is what officially ends on the last Sunday morning of October, when we go back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Sorry for being pedantic, but it really winds me up when people say that British summer time starts in March, when Spring actually starts on 1 March, British Standard Time starts at the end of March, and Spring Equinox falls on 21 March. :rant: over:wink:

Sorry, don't worry I know what you mean. :) I just meant clocks go back etc and the whole calendar/clock goes haywire etc. I just like to hold onto what sunlight we have for as long as poss, perhaps phrased it wrong :blush: :)

Originally posted by Jon
Hippies.They're everywhere. They wanna save the earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad.

Idiotic comments are also too common and they stink :rolleyes:

Originally posted by muddycoffee
My favourite part of the year is the autumn, I just love it when the nights draw in.
I'm fondest of the autumnal months as well...looking forward to those leaves of flame and evenings scented with the rich smoke of bonfires.:)

Originally posted by Eleri
Dammit, Litha, I knew we'd forgotten to do something tonight! ;) :heyhey:

was it the wooden flaggon??? :D

i was to busy having a totally excellent time i didnt even notice :hihi:

Originally posted by Jon
Hippies.They're everywhere. They wanna save the earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad.

what hippies are you reffering to Jon?

cos im not a hippy and i deff dont smoke pot and i only smell bad when i fart :P

It's all downhill from today...... (morbid git)

I mangaed to get out on my bike to catch the sun rise from Totley. Was fantastic!

Also captured a load of photos! (http://www.daevh.co.uk/rides/index.php?subaction=showcomments&id=1119391977&archive=&start_from=&ucat=8&)

Originally posted by venger
Idiotic comments are also too common and they stink :rolleyes: What ever Venger :loopy: i dunno what your problem is with me but i'm getting a little fed up with your negative comments about me. Hippies.They're everywhere. They wanna save the earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad is a quote by Eric Cartman. If you could see my cd collection its like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Jethro Tull and Donavan and old Genesis so i would class myself as an old hippie, but if someone else would have put that quote on the forum i would have laughed.

Btw great pictures daevh
:thumbsup:

It's that time again.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42407000/jpg/_42407308_stonehenge_getty.jpg

Summer Solstice Blessings to everyone :wave:

Summer Solstice Blessings to everyone :wave:

And to you Litha and to all :D why is it raining :( :hihi:

It's that time again.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42407000/jpg/_42407308_stonehenge_getty.jpg

Its one of my ambitions to spend summer solstice at Stonehenge never got round to it yet though would love to take my daughter maybe next year!

Mentioned it to my daughter and her friend (who is 12) her friend said whats Stonehenge? Should of seen mine and daughters faces resembled this:o

Dont they teach them anything at school now?

And to you Litha and to all :D why is it raining :( :hihi:
Rubbish int it, im off to find loads of candles to help bring that nice warm sunny fire energy back cos its gone really dark n miserable in my house :(

Its one of my ambitions to spend summer solstice at Stonehenge never got round to it yet though

Same here. The only thing that stops me from going is the thoughts of being surrounded by hordes of chartered accountants in white robes and sandals who think they're Druids. I'll have to find a stone circle of my own. :suspect:

Not sure it's a happy occasion when the days start to get shorter before Summer has even begun. :(

Oh hum :|

Happy summer solstice to those who appreciate it. All considered, I suppose it is quite fortunate in a generally dismal country's climate to have these few nights that are almost endless and stunning of gentle summers.

Tonight I will be watching the sun go down on the Nine Ladies stone circle near me.

Tonight I will be watching the sun go down on the Nine Ladies stone circle near me.
Hope it stays fine!

The nights are now officially drawing in.:D


Not for nearly a week yet.

The earliest sunrise comes nearly a fortnight before the latest sunset; the solstice is the date partway between on which we have the maximum daylight. There are long and complicated explanations for why this is, and I really can't be bothered at stupid o'clock in the morning after only four hours' sleep. :D

If anyone really, really wants to know, this page (http://members.aol.com/jwholtz/analemma/analemma.htm) explains why the dates were what they were in 2001. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Not for nearly a week yet.

The earliest sunrise comes nearly a fortnight before the latest sunset; the solstice is the date partway between on which we have the maximum daylight. There are long and complicated explanations for why this is, and I really can't be bothered at stupid o'clock in the morning after only four hours' sleep. :D

If anyone really, really wants to know, this page (http://members.aol.com/jwholtz/analemma/analemma.htm) explains why the dates were what they were in 2001. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Maybe we should have let the walking group who have gone on the summer solstice weekend know!

Tonight I will be watching the sun go down on the Nine Ladies stone circle near me.

it was yesterday, because of the leap year.. we went up on thursday to drop off my nephew and there were all ready people there.
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.3843#solstice this page has a table of the dates towards the bottom

Good job it's raining then ... heh .. I'm a bit of a fairweather celebrator myself.

Good job it's raining then ... heh .. I'm a bit of a fairweather celebrator myself.

Too right my nephews up there camping, not envious at all in this lot.. mind you sky news are reporting the solstice as today :confused: all the people at the nine ladies seemed to agree it was the 20th

.. mind you sky news are reporting the solstice as today :confused: all the people at the nine ladies seemed to agree it was the 20th


According to this (http://www.earthsky.org/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-solstice-on-june-21), the exact moment of the Solstice was 23:59pm UT (GMT, it's near enough the same thing) on the 20th, which, as we've moved the clocks forward, would be 00:59am today, here in Britain.

What's not clear if that 23:59 really is the exact moment at which the Sun reached its maximum declination north, or if it's an "official" exact moment.

(edit) It really is the exact moment, in fact. It arrives a fraction early (first time since 1896 that it's arrived on June 20th by GMT/UTC reckoning) because of the leap year and a few other odd factors.

According to this (http://www.earthsky.org/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-solstice-on-june-21), the exact moment of the Solstice was 23:59pm UT (GMT, it's near enough the same thing) on the 20th, which, as we've moved the clocks forward, would be 00:59am today, here in Britain.

What's not clear if that 23:59 really is the exact moment at which the Sun reached its maximum declination north, or if it's an "official" exact moment.

(edit) It really is the exact moment, in fact. It arrives a fraction early (first time since 1896 that it's arrived on June 20th by GMT/UTC reckoning) because of the leap year and a few other odd factors.

heavens-above reports 00:59 local time as the solstice moment for our longitude.