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"First published in 1925, this book outlined its author's concept of "ley lines," supposed pre-Roman pathways consisting of aligned stone circles, standing stones, and prehistoric mounds, used for trading and ceremonial purposes during the Neolithic era. Based on his surveys of the Anglo-Welsh border country, Alfred Watkins believed that in ancient times the country was crisscrossed by a network of straight-line travel routes, with prominent features of the landscape used as navigation points. Watkins's theories have intrigued and inspired generations of readers, from historians to hill walkers, and from amateur archeologists to new-age occultists. This new edition, with a substantial introduction by Robert Macfarlane, and retaining Watkins's original atmospheric black-and-white photographs, introduces a classic antiquarian text to a 21st-century audience. It will appeal to all who treasure the history, the contours, and the mystery of ancient landscapes." -- from Amazon.com.
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A beautiful new edition of a classic work of landscape history, in which Alfred Watkins introduced the idea of ancient 'ley lines' criss-crossing the English countryside. First published in 1925, THE OLD STRAIGHT TRACK described the author's theory of 'ley lines', pre-Roman pathways consisting of aligned stone circles and prehistoric mounds, used by our Neolithic ancestors. Watkins's ideas have intrigued and inspired generations of readers – from historians to hill walkers, and from amateur archaeologists to new-age occultists. This edition of THE OLD STRAIGHT TRACK, with a substantial introduction by Robert Macfarlane, will appeal to all who treasure the history, contours and mystery of Britain's ancient landscapes.
Alfred Watkins, who was born in Hereford and lived all his life (1855-1935) in Herefordshire, is perhaps best known for the discovery of ancient tracks - 'ley lines'. The core of this book is a previously unpublished manuscript by Alfred Watkins called The Masefield Country, written in 1931. Alfred Watkins' text is prefaced by an introduction to his life and work by Ron and Jennifer Shoesmith and followed by a section on his pioneering photography and developments in photographic equipment. (A light meter of his invention was used to good effect by Herbert Ponting, the official photographer on Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole.) The book ends with a selection of Alfred Watkins' photographs of Herefordshire from those held in Hereford City Library, whilst others are used to illustrate the earlier sections of the book, some of them being specifically referred to in Alfred's own text, for he intended to publish this book himself and had planned how to illustrate it.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
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Leys are as elusive as beams of starlight. They are everywhere, you just can't see them. They may be compared to the hidden knowledge of a secret tradition. On public display and freely available to those in the know. Invisible and unsuspected by those who aren't. Thus the ancient wisdom at the basis of leys is encoded within the land for future generations to discover anew, if they possess the vision. London's leys can lead you to magical places, to the soul of the city and to an understanding of the hidden unity which connects our ancient sacred sites to each other and also links our spiritual dimensions to theirs. To our ancestors these locations were places of the gods, places of healing, places of power, places of vision initiation, inspiration and revelation. They still are.