I understand that you cannot get into the circle of stones (Stonehenge) these days
That is true for the normal vistor. It is a shame but I totally understand that normal wear and tear plus vandalism was causing too many problems. I believe that there are a limited number of educational visits which allow close contact, and special solstice arrangements are made for Druids and pseudo-druids.
As for the tree question, I remember seeing programs about ancient civilisations (not specifically British) having far more ingenuity at using their limited technology than we give thenm credit for. Also, some of the British landscape has been fundamentally unchanged since pre-Roman times. I know this doesn't go back to Stonehenge, but the forests, roads, field layouts, were well established by then. I am still looking for a link, book, someone who was around at the time, that can tell me whether Salisbury Plain was a scrubby moor in those days or not. Certainly the current soil depth will only support scrub with the occasional copse.
Rod
