Touchstone

Magazine Overview

Title: Touchstone
Issue: No. 93
Date: April 2011
Publisher: Surrey Earth Mysteries Group

This issue of Touchstone, the newsletter of the Surrey Earth Mysteries Group, focuses on the twin anniversaries of ley hunting pioneers Alfred Watkins and Tony Wedd. It delves into their contributions to the field, exploring the connections between ancient sites, earth energies, and unexplained aerial phenomena.

The Twin Anniversary of Ley Hunting

The lead article celebrates ninety years since Alfred Watkins discovered the system of ley hunting in 1921 and fifty years since Tony Wedd brought the subject back into public consciousness. The author recounts a talk given by Tony Wedd, using his slides and voice recordings, which recreated a 1968 presentation in Manchester. Tony Wedd is described as a distant relative of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, born in Langport, Somerset, where Katherine Maltwood discovered the Great Dog figure associated with her Somerset Zodiac.

Wedd's journey into ley hunting began after his father deemed a medical career too expensive. He attended Woolwich Military Academy but pursued radio operation instead, serving on a transatlantic cable-laying ship. During World War II, stationed at Thorney Island in Sussex, he witnessed his first UFO – a moving light. This experience led him to connect flying saucers with leys, viewing them as a single subject. He later met Katherine Maltwood in Canada, who shared cider and Somerset easter cakes with him.

After the war, Wedd worked at a school in Chiddingstone Castle, Kent, where he later built his own house. He pursued a design course and invented the Weddgraph for calculating perspective. His first ley hunt in 1948 was on Hampstead Heath, leading him to Westminster Abbey. He later identified a parallel system of leys in Kent with a 'naming and numbering' system, a concept also found by Laurence Main.

Wedd also researched Stonehenge, identifying a complex seven-point star system potentially useful for free energy apparatus. He also noted a similar pattern on Stonehenge from Robin Heath's website. A member shared a sighting of a hovering silvery cylinder in Stafford in 1969, similar to George Adamski's 'motherships'.

Cumbria and North Lancashire at the Society of Leyhunters Moot

This section details a Society of Leyhunters moot at Yealand Conyers, Lancashire, attended by Gary Biltcliffe. The moot visited the damaged site complex at Shap, which Stukely had illustrated as similar to Avebury. The site includes Kemp Howe, a small circle, and an avenue leading to a Great Circle, 400 feet in diameter, and another avenue to Skellaw Hill. The railway line now runs along the course of the avenue, potentially disrupting the Belinus current.

The group walked along the avenue to the Great Circle, described as the largest in Cumbria and second largest in England. The avenue changed direction at the circle to 315°, midsummer sunset. The circle has also been called the Carl Lofts circle.

They also visited Swinside stone circle, noting its banded stone and the detection of north-south and east-west leys, with a prominent 315° angle. The site offered panoramic views and potentially significant alignments for lunar standstills.

Other sites visited included the Torrisholme Barrow, Heysham Church (St. Peter's) with its hogback stone, and St. Patrick's Church. The area known as 'The Barrows' featured a cave and the Druid Altar, identified as being on a midwinter sunrise ley.

The E-Line in Sevenoaks

Written by Bob Shave, this article tracks the powerful E-line (or 'Energy line') across southern England, focusing on its path through Sevenoaks, Kent. The line's location was identified through map work and computer software. It passes through St. Botolph's Road and Vine Avenue, reaching Dartford Road where the Vine Evangelical Church is located. The article notes the historical connection of St. Botolph's Road to churches dedicated to St. Botolph, a patron saint of travellers, and links this to Alfred Watkins' London leys.

Other Articles and Features

• The Tunwini Cross: Discusses an interesting stone in a church window in Pennington, possibly depicting Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury.
• Woodwell: Describes a spring issuing from a limestone cliff-face near Yealand Conyers, noted for its beauty and potential geological features.
• The Mixenden Treasure: An archival document detailing a treasure hunt involving sorcery in the Mixenden Valley, Yorkshire, in 1510. It involved priests, commoners, and merchants, and resulted in ecclesiastical court proceedings.
• The Wurdi Youang Stones: Alan Bowers reports on a mysterious arrangement of stones in Australia, identified as a 10,000-year-old astronomical survey site.
• Notes and News: Includes listings for London Earth Mysteries Circle Meetings, a 'Green Man' carving discovery at Cleeve Abbey, and an article on Britons building Roman roads on prehistoric foundations.
• Laurence Main walking another long-distance ley: Details Laurence Main and Judith Adams' backpacking pilgrimage along a ley from Portland to Iona.
• Letters: Features a letter from Norman Darwen discussing Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould and a UFO sighting over Morecambe. Another letter mentions the Meyn Mamvro publication.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue are ley hunting, ancient sites, earth energies, and UFO phenomena. The magazine consistently explores the connections between these subjects, often referencing the work of Alfred Watkins and Tony Wedd. The editorial stance appears to be one of open inquiry into these mysteries, presenting research and anecdotal evidence from various contributors. The publication promotes a sense of community among those interested in earth mysteries, as evidenced by the reports on moots and circle meetings.