Is Solstice truly a big thing in the UK?
Posted by Sea_Macaron_7962@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 28 comments
I watch a huge amount of British television. Occasionally sitcoms but predominantly murder mysteries. Y’all are the kings of that type of tv.
Every series I watch has several episodes surrounding solstice in these little villages.
I tried searching through r/askUK but I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I’ve always been super curious. Are solstice events mainly a village thing or what?
Sxn747Strangers@reddit
I only know about the summer solstice and the winter solstice, which are huge events, but they each only happen once a year.
It’s possible anything else is just artistic licence.
If there was a particular event from a program you could google it, but it may take a number of attempts for the question to be understood.
In the episode of Midsomer Murders called "The Ballad of Midsomer County", the folk song is fake but Google didn’t give me that answer straight away and it has no basis in reality.
Chance-Bread-315@reddit
Those are the only solstices 😊 The longest and shortest days of the year. There are also the spring and autumn equinoxes when day and night are the same length.
Opposite_Funny9958@reddit
You forgot Spring solstice (in March) and Autumn solstice (September).
Sxn747Strangers@reddit
I was referring to any local solstices from one of those episodes.
I’ve seen a couple of Midsomer Murders episodes or whichever twee cosy crime drama it was that had one of these solstices, but I didn’t take any notice and just presumed it was fake.
Maybe the one where a bloke got stabbed with a trident, I cannot remember.
Opposite_Funny9958@reddit
Gardener says you forgot the spring solstice.
vbloke@reddit
Totally. We love it.
Untrustworthy__@reddit
A lot of responses you'll get will likely be an urban take where solstices and other events are not widely known.
Rural Britain its a different story, lots of traditional celebrations going way back.
JennyW93@reddit
I’m rural and I was a bit surprised at the blanket “no, that’s just pagans” comments. There were only 200 people in my village growing up, so we did summer solstice fetes with a neighbouring village - it was a pretty big deal.
Admittedly a bit Wickerman-ish, tbh.
It doesn’t happen as much these days but the village is mostly interlopers now, so a lot of the old traditions are going away
No_Group5174@reddit
99.9% of people probaby dont realise until a brief segment on the news.
schemmenti@reddit
No. They'll show folks on the news at stone henge briefly each year but that's about it. The only people who actually really do anything for it are the wiccans etc.
heyitsed2@reddit
Reminded me about this clip when you mentioned the news at stonehenge...
https://youtu.be/1uneV5O34e4?si=71iaffWZ6Nzw7ax-
cognitiveglitch@reddit
Depends where you live. I used to live near Avebury rings and the West Kennet barrows, was always a good experience to head over to one or the other for a solstice.
Inevitable_Bid8719@reddit
Ive walked there from across the country a few times for the events, im not alone but its by no means a popular thing to do. mostly nutters and druids/ pagan types
Chance-Bread-315@reddit
I live in Bristol and there tends to be a few events on the solstices and equinoxes because there's a big folksy scene here and lots of hippies, but they aren't long-standing traditions like you get in some rural places.
I'd hazard a guess that the gatherings at places like Stonehenge and Avebury are similarly 'revivalist'. Whether that was initiated by the Romantics in the 18th and 19th centuries, or the neo-pagans and hippy movement in the 20th century. They've certainly been going on for decades, but may not have been happening every year over the centuries since our ancestors celebrated solstices there (we think).
she_is_a_parsnip@reddit
Not massively, but in villages like other commenters have said. If you visit the Uk, please don’t just go to London and the south … SO much history and this sort of thing (if you’re interested in that) is up north, in Yorkshire (at least to that far) for example - and beyond.
Sea_Macaron_7962@reddit (OP)
No disrespect to London but it’s probably last on my list of UK places to visit. I’m dying to visit the countryside.
she_is_a_parsnip@reddit
I wouldn’t care if you disrespected London 😂😂
Oh, please go to the Lake District, the Peak District and (wales and Scotland people - please step in to recommend places to OP). That’s gonna be so much more your cup of tea 😊😊
PipBin@reddit
I grew up in a tiny village. We didn’t do anything for the solstice. They do still do Harvest Supper and walk the boundaries at new year though.
Sea_Macaron_7962@reddit (OP)
Oh interesting! I’ll have to google deep dive that.
Bksudbjdua@reddit
I love summer and winter solstice. I like the winter one because it means we will start to get more daylight and I love the summer one because it's light till midnight. I don't do anything to celebrate it, but I do make a point of acknowledging it and will speak about it to whoever I am with that day
Remote-Pool7787@reddit
Nope, never known it to be celebrated or marked in anyway other than by weirdos at Stonehenge
zombiezmaj@reddit
Not overly. When we have the time we will go to the eastern most point of UK to watch sun rise on the beach.
Lunaspoona@reddit
Not really although a couple of years ago I was into sunrise hiking and went out one random morning at 4am or something. Found it really odd that so many people had got up that morning as well. Some even had a breakfast BBQ. I thought it was so odd we were all there on this random day, until I got back in the car and heard it was the summer solstice on the radio. Maybe more common than I thought
Odd_Scar836@reddit
Yeah in some places. Loads of people near me go and swim in sea on both solstices. A lot of people like to get out in nature on those days, go for hikes in the hills or go to the beach
It depends where you live though, being close to real hills and quiet coastlines in Northumberland helps
xiweyychivxi@reddit
Not any more. When I was a kid i think It was a bit more of a thing in farming village communities or at least our one but now it's just pagans and the solstice pagans (pretend to be pagan on solstice to make up for there lack of personality)
fickle_tartan@reddit
It's probably just used a lot because it fits well with the concept of a mysterious small village murder, and there's only so many strange circumstances for murder you can use.
Most people don't care about it any further than it signalling the days getting longer or shorter.
PootMcGroot@reddit
Not at all, but a few random very old villages have their customs.
But obviously they make good murder mystery settings.
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