Just over four years ago, it was feared the sun had finally set on Glasgow’s astronomically aligned Stonehenge. Now, however, work is set to begin on restoring the modern stone circle which charmed and delighted so many Glaswegians and visitors encountering such an unexpected sight in an urban park.
The Sighthill Stones, in Sighthill Park near the M8 motorway, were erected in 1979 as part of a job creation programme. While, on the face of it, the project might have seemed like a gimmick, an end in itself to provide work purposeless beyond recreational curiosity, the circle’s creators intended it to have meaning: to form the first authentically aligned stone circle in 3,500 years and to honour Glaswegian academics who had pioneered controversial work on “ancient astronomy”.
Thus when, in autumn 2012, Glasgow City Council announced plans to revamp the Sighthill area, it looked like the stones’ days were numbered, with a sports facility of no known ethereal or astronomical significance set to stand in their stead. Somewhat to the council’s surprise, this prompted a passionate campaign to save the stones.
The campaign went beyond adherents of esoteric astronomy, for local folk loved the stones in themselves. They had become a part of the landscape, a place of informal pilgrimage, much more than a dispensable folly. Rock stars, writers and the Order of Bards, Ovate and Druids backed the campaign.
Caught between rock stars and a hard place, the council reassured campaigners that the removed stone circle would be put back, topsoil and all (ashes have been scattered there). Indeed, it will be reborn on a site originally planned for it, one better aligned with the celestial spheres.
High fives all round. Sighthill is undergoing a massive regeneration programme involving housing and improved city centre connections. In the midst of all this, we are pleased to say that, even regardless of astronomical significance, the magical megalithic will be the area’s star attraction.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here