Random Musings Mystery Tour: Wiltshire, Old Sarum, Stonehenge

I become a tourist for the day with a tour through the Wiltshire countryside including a visit to Old Sarum Hill fort, with random musings and waffle about various topics including the new Star Trek series.

[@gaeacornelius7835]

always happy being a passenger on your mystery tours .. thanks for the lift Rick ☺

[@houseofharmony7307]

Thanks for sharing this video Rick. Always nice to come along for the ride after a stressful day at work. This always helps to cheer me up.

[@peggybagley8031]

Hey Rick thank you so much for taking us along for the country ride have missed your videos quite a bit nice to have you back your videos are outstanding I've always enjoyed them thanks Rick, have a beautiful day

[@EA-58]

The sound of silence...love that Great video as usual, thanks Rick.

[@TUGMASTERUK1]

Thanks Rick, another nice trip out down your way. Really enjoy these videos.

[@Nuwerra]

THANK YOU, I LOVE THESE JAUNTS,ALWAYS LEARN SOMETHING,,,

[@jimnorlem6802]

Did enjoy the trip as always ... Thanks for doing all that is needed to post ... Blessings

[@snowpony001]

Thanks Rick for another enjoyable video. Fun "ride along".

[@soapLady52]

Thank you for the beautiful drive. Really enjoyed it and not the least bit tired! 😄

[@andrewball5111]

Love this vid Rick. Even when we can't see the major sites you can still make it very entertaining to watch lol.

[@henkmensen1500]

Just Love it! Thanks Rick...!!!

[@corinnevanherpe2753]

Can't wait to see the photos of you guys in costumes from your next camping trip

[@mandyofmarymac]

Goody...a road trip. And...if there is to be a vote for favorite planet....I vote for Venus.

[@irenepotter2709]

Having owned horses all my love, yes you have to look after them, and you have your ups and downs, but the rewards are amazing, they are such intelligent and beautiful creatures. Drive to the New Forest in the spring when the foals are born. We always used to see Stonehenge from the A303 as we drove past but they may of changed that now. I love your trips out and am surprised how little traffic there is on the roads compared to North Devon. Thank you for doing the video and the excellent camera work..............you are a natural :o)

[@gunnarsandberg1]

Just want to say I really admire what you have accomplished Rick! I've red your FAQ. It's a great picture you added, of you and your dad!

[@KnuxV1]

Great video as always Rick. National Heritage always want their chunk of flesh, can't imagine stones that have been standing for however many years need much maintenance. Get the robots to mow the lawn, and pay some bloke a tenner to hose 'em down every few years. Loved the tour of the cathedral too, off the beaten path a little, certainly enjoy the adventures. Have fun on the camping trip ;) All the best!

[@sebstubbs5392]

Hi Rick, Great video!!They closed the road that ran past Stonehenge about 4 years ago, its now been grassed over and just reopened for people to walk past for FREE!, also I believe they used the stone from the Cathedral at Old Sarum to build the Cathedral in Salisbury.

[@VanSolo-uk]

Yep TNG DS9 and Voyager ... I struggled with Mrs Columbo to begin with but soon settled in :) Favourite Character : Quark

[@lemonlees]

Secrets of the castle is a great series to inform you on medieval construction.

[@ninatheambulancecamper]

Ha ha ha thanks for making me go red mate lol. Looking forward to playing at Photography again next camp. Should be fun. Nice drive round, enjoyed that. I have a photo of me at the stones when I was smaller with my Mum, Stonehenge was completely open back then. Wish I had appreciated it more knowing that one day I’d never get the chance to walk in them or touch them again.

[@jennifermillardX]

Your always worth a Watch Rick X Another camping trip sounds great X Porton Down is MOD place, my sister-in-law has to go there sometimes for work X

[@sparkyprojects]

The round castle structure would be a 'Motte and Bailey', the motte is the castle, but it may be as simple as a wood fence around the top, to something like a stone tower, the bailey is where you'd find the 'support' housing to be, like the merchants that serviced the fort (blacksmiths, etc). Many buildings had their walls reused (a form of recycling), go back to the days of Henry viii and many religious institutions were demolished, Been watching some old time team episodes, the owner of one massive house was obviously short of money and was selling off the house room by room, literally pay the money and take it away. When you build a big wall, you make it like a cavity wall, then throw all the offcuts etc into the cavity, that suunken bit may be an undercroft that may have had a vaulted ceiling, that in turn supported a big building (have you noticed i'm a big time team fan ? ) :D

[@Knards]

Love Time Team

[@Birtybirchover]

Hi Rick, drive to and park near Woodhenge and then walk towards Stonehenge. A great walk and you start to appreciate that Stonehenge is not just the stone circle but the whole area around is full of interesting archeology. You can download the walk from the National Trust. I live near there, my house actually borders onto the porton down land.

[@Jakers457]

It's kind of cool seeing you explore the area near my local town. (Salisbury area.)

[@jonock1]

According to Wiki Old Sarum Cathedral was slowly dismantled, with its stone transported to the new site and used to construct the present Salisbury Cathedral. Only the foundations remained... Its lime mortar you're looking at there, it hardens into limestone. That's what was used before portland cement. Limestone burnt in Lime Kilns to make quicklime (calcium oxide). Then slaked to calcium hydroxide, used in mortar and gradually it absorbs carbon dioxide and turns back to limestone (calcium carbonate). Hope I got that right!

[@rickvanman]

Jonophilous great info- thanks :-)

[@simplifygardening]

Been watching discovery too Rick. I grew up with startrek and its something I can sit and watch all day. DS9 took a while to get into Voyager and SNG im the same, Discovery stretching a little far i think, but DS9 took me a good series to get into so will give discovery time

[@honestbob45]

It costs £45 for a family ticket to Stonehenge!, greedy corporate so and so's.

[@tonethetallbaldy5039]

It is ridiculous. I understand a small fee for security and stuff but shouldn't be a profit making thing. Went fee years ago loads of coaches there. We went into a nearby field as close we could. If you get chance visit Rollright stones in north Oxfordshire. Theres only an honesty donation box.

[@ricksallotment5923]

I've been waiting a while for your next video now, all is well. All is forgiven. Bring us now up to date with Rickworld and forget talking about this star treck fueled episode. Having said that just look at what they did to top gear. We live in strange times and changing faster than ever. Love from one of your biggest fans.

[@tonethetallbaldy5039]

Interesting stuff Rick and I will put this on my to visit list. I'm not far from Swindon so getting to the historic site would be ok. Only found out the name of the county of Wiltshire originates from the traditional county town of Wilton.

[@ashropshirelad]

Me again! Have another question, I'm fascinated by the quality of your footage, What do you do to the settings from the Go-Pro4 after you've imported it to get those lovely colours and sharpness etc? You may have done a video on this already so perhaps you could point me towards it?

[@rickvanman]

A Shropshire Lad The go pro 4 does produce some great quality footage, I usually add a little colour saturation in postproduction which helps make things look a little rosier

[@ashropshirelad]

rickvanman I thought so! I use the same camera. I’d love to know what you do?? Maybe a tutorial video one day????

[@jonock1]

Trees were going over as you say, and then the wind blasted the leaves off. Some even literally went over no doubt

[@petemoring67]

As for the constant colouring of the ruins, I think you'll find almost 'all' of those structures have been rebuilt by modern man using the materials found all around the site. A bit of a 'Time-Team' project, where they find a smidgeon of pottery and build a whole town from them. Of course they need to use modern-day materials in some areas (Like those 'perfectly formed' concrete blocks) and then spray the whole cabudle with a light 'Concrete-yoghurt-Wash' to give it that 'aged' appearance that was baffling you :-)

[@petemoring67]

Hey Rick. when you go to these sites of remarkable historic significance, surely a quick shuftie through related google searches on your phone would give you 'more' than enough info to chat about? Love these trips of yours ... Keep 'em coming :-)

[@inventor1v]

I think you're right about reusing the stone from the Cathedral. A lot of Hadrians wall is missing because the locals robbed the stone to build with.

[@underwaterdick]

The road past StoneHenge has been shut because of the volume of traffic using the local roads and the impact they claim it has on the stones. The tarmac its self will be completely removed soon too, I think the junction at the other end has been returned to grass. They have been talking about putting the A303 into a tunnel past the stones to further protect them. Lets face it, a lot of it is to do with revenue and ensuring that they keep charging people to get close to them. - As you said, you were able to stop by the fence in the past and view it. Years ago you could chip bits off the stones, they also rebuilt stone henge several times, and in WW1 it had an airfield and associated buildings built around it.

[@FrancisDarracott]

I like the van shot! audio is good. Are you using a lav mic?

[@rickvanman]

over-ear mic

[@underwaterdick]

Nice video! A part of the world I am very familiar with. Can I please ask what gimble device you used to film the walk around Old Sarum? Love the quality of the HD gopro footage, such bright green grass!

[@rickvanman]

underwaterdick The gimbal is a Z1 evolution :)

[@athertg]

Like a long sketch from the Fast Show. Which is nice.

[@jakobhovman]

Hello Rick...Nice tour...The windscreen do help, but are you using your external headset mic? If so, You need a tiny dead cat with longer soft hair for that (fingertip of a furry glove). PS: Each layer, or layers, of the square castle stones (outer skin) And backfill is set with lime mortar at the same time. After hardening, you can make new layers. Arches are set over form work.

[@djdidge]

I went up that road to stone henge on the week before the official closing of it by English Heritage - 2013 i think.

[@Micks.barbelfishing.adventures]

who's your business partner rick? are you a gangster lol great vid rick nice viewing ✌😎

[@lufferov]

I've not been able to bring myself to watch Discovery yet. Everything I've seen has led me to believe everything you've just described. Hearing your thoughts has affirmed my belief. Start Trek has a very specific art style. They've tried to make traditional Trek using modern gritty story telling. Evidently, it doesn't work! It's not the vision Gene Roddenberry had for Star Trek, some may argue Deep Space 9 wasn't either. They are correct in that regard, but it did hold true to the style so it felt like it belonged in the same universe. My feeling is that the sort of Star Trek you and I want wouldn't be commercially successful today.

[@rickvanman]

Lufferov totally agree, but also, what’s with the prequels? Enterprise was a prequel and only lasted a few seasons because people didn’t like it, and now discovery is a bloody prequel again! would have been nice to have a series set, I don’t know, maybe 10-30 years after voyager or ds9.

[@davidbrewer5329]

Hi Rick like your videos you mentioned your reversing camera I have been trying to set up old mobile phones as security cameras but just can not get it working it would be great if your tech mind might do a video or two on the subject let us know kind regards David

[@GreenRunningLama]

ricky can you send me a link to the stickers you got on dashboard ? kind of wooden effect? did you do it yourself of van was already like that - warm regards

[@rickvanman]

polasheck I did it myself, I just got a bit of Fablon and cut out curvy rectangular shapes :)

[@ashropshirelad]

Hi Rick, Have to ask, whats going on with your radio while you're in the van? It seems to have a mind of its own!!

[@rickvanman]

A Shropshire Lad when it’s switched off, it just runs through a sequence of various screens :)

[@annekershaw2825]

,hi the facing stones are all robbed out and used in local building s, what you're seeing is the rubble and lime mortar infill,...:)

[@ShiresMatt]

Old Sarum is English Heritage like Stonehenge, is EH & National Trust yearly memberships are good. You have to pay for Stonehenge, they totally revamped the site, when the road tunnel comes you won't see it from the road. It's all about revenue.

[@theurbangardener9549]

Have a great day!!.....what planet you on!!....today my shed was broken into...my guinea pig died...the washing machine blew up and then the television went up in smoke...a great day??....no way!!

[@johnowen5622]

Hi Rick, Good video but you should of taken your telescope for bonus views from the stonehenge location. The sky looked good for observing the sky there. I hope you get some more views of the sky with your A152 . I like your telescope and i might get one some day if it is one of the best refractor telescopes out there.On the USA Amazon site there are no 5 star reviews of your telescope also i have heard the A152 telescope has a lot of CA when you view far objects. Do you have the same problem with your telescope having a lot of CA when viewing? I will keep checking for a good telescope to use with a camera with no Ca interference. Have a good week. Take care. P.S. The original star trek was the best.

[@leesmith9299]

Rick - I'm completely with you on Discovery. I too loved Next Gen and Voyager, not so keen on DPN. Discovery is just not Star Trek. I've been watching The Orville. It's supposedly a spoof Next Gen, but I actually think it's a much better Star Trek than what they say is the real thing. It's very much like a Next Gen with a sprinkle of humor. It's Seth MacFarlane but not rude like Family Guy.

[@GreenRunningLama]

hi Rich -- come to Bournemouth - will drink beer and chat about life and Uk :)

[@MarcusTDM]

What about the original series and films? Also the reboot films? I love Star Trek, but same as you, I like TNG, DS9 and Voyage but also the original series.

[@ricksallotment5923]

Your looking smart Mr Clark.

[@rickvanman]

Thank you :)

[@nettyvoyager6336]

its that tardigrade with the spore drive dont worry they are going to put you in the navigation array instead :P

[@universal7564]

greetings and salutations to you too

[@lmaoluhmow4020]

Quick question rick, Are bringing back the Astrophotography in winter or... Like... Ya... But when you do bring it back could you try to photograph the Butter fly cluster? Or Venus

[@rickvanman]

Nathan Universe / The Space Nerd I can only do astrophography videos when the weather permits. The intention has always been to do them as often as possible. In real-life practical terms that amounted to about 5 nights in total throughout the entire spring and summer of 2017, The rest of the time it has been cloudy :-( Im hoping the winter will bring clearer skies so I can make more videos.

[@lmaoluhmow4020]

rickvanman Ya I know it sucks... But I live in Pennsylvania where the skies tend to stay clear so my dad got me a 500 Dollar but guess what? It’s broken... So your a lucky duck!

[@WestcountryYokelOnYoutube]

We just came back from that way to. ;-) enjoyed those Cotswold villages. We must try jackbarrow cottage campsite it's a nice spot. :-)

[@rdtradecraft]

Probably heard this suggestion before, Rick, but check out The Orville, if you get it in the UK. It's on Fox in the US. Discovery has been a complete disappointment. We could have had Axanar, speaking of fan fiction, and instead we got STD.

[@peeayouel]

I've read that the Romans invented concrete and the common sense way would be to build the stone work first which would act like a mould and then pour in the concrete.

[@BadgerBotherer1]

Great video, Rick; love to see the countryside round there. I went on a bus tour to Stonehenge with my mate a couple of years ago, and we too were flummoxed by the changes. We went through the visitors' centre expecting to Stonehenge nearby, but it was nowhere to be seen. In fact, it is now about a mile away (I presume they moved the visitors' centre and not Stonehenge!). You have the choice of catching a shuttle bus to the stones, or walking. As it was freezing with a gale blowing, we caught the bus. As you said, the road that used to go past the monument is closed, so you can't just drive past for a glimpse any more. Here's a video I made of my visit, if you're interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWO9mI18obh3fZI

[@chrischeltenham]

You guys should do a halloween shoot :)

[@mewendy1]

You sit so high up in your vehicle, it looks like you'd hit your knees on the dashboard. Is that how it is in England?

[@ricksallotment5923]

mewendy1 Yes people in the know drive vans and adjust the seat to its max setting, once you've tried it there's no going back.

[@mewendy1]

Ricks Allotment my van (Toyota) won't adjust that high. Also, I've never seen a standard van. Not sure you can buy anything but automatic vans, unless commercial, here in U.S.. Driving along the hedgerows freaked us out when we visited the Cotswolds area the roads were so narrow, but we loved the hedgerows anyway. We thought they were pretty, people used to them probably think we're nuts. Also, we were out in the country & there was a camera for speeders ( or so the sign said). Was that for real, do you think, or are they dummies to freak people out? Here they sometimes put an empty cop car by the road so people will think there's someone in it shooting radar.

[@angelambca]

mewendy1 In Canda we have speed cameras and speed planes. The planes are usually in more remote areas. :) There are painted lines on the highway and they time the vehicles between the various lines.

[@rickvanman]

speed cameras are everywhere here in the UK, it's the government's favourite way to legally mug people :o(

[@charliemac54]

Need to start up a Gofundme site to pay for Rick's car park charges. :-)

[@angelambca]

Hi from Canada. I came across a KZbin video on how people walked in medieval times due to not having shoes like we have today. So given that you visited some medieval sites and talked about LAARPing, I thought I'd share it with you. m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6TdqIyEq9t2oLM I really enjoy your country drives. :)

[@rickvanman]

Really interesting video, Thanks :o)

[@newtonuk]

You *digress*, not diverge

[@69Phuket]

I've lost interest in anything Stonehenge ever since it came to light it was heavily excavated after the war and basically reproduced...It's been tainted. If it ever was real in the first instance!

[@gilbertdougans4184]

I wish you would stop looking behind you when commentating..Imagine you're driving a coach with 50 passengers and pretend to talk to them in your rear view mirror

[@rickvanman]

G Dougans actually I’m only glancing sideways like I would a passenger, the 170° wide angle lens exaggerates how it looks :-)