Touchstone

Magazine Overview

Title: Touchstone
Issue: No. 115
Date: October 2016
Publisher: Surrey Earth Mysteries Group
Focus: Earth mysteries, ley lines, ancient sites, and related phenomena.

FILMS OLD AND NEW

The issue opens with a reflection on the increasing accessibility of amateur earth mysteries films through YouTube. The author, an amateur filmmaker since the late 1980s, notes how films previously distributed on video tapes can now reach a worldwide audience. One such film mentioned is "A Walk on Stanton Moor," made in the late 1980s, which documented a holiday in Derbyshire.

Stanton Moor

Stanton Moor, located on the eastern edge of the Peak District limestone, is highlighted for its 150 acres of heather-clad moorland containing significant Bronze Age remains. These include over seventy barrows, stone circles, cairns, and standing stones. The Nine Ladies stone circle, 33 feet in diameter with its King Stone, is noted as the best preserved, having once been enclosed by a stone wall. 27 acres of the moor were gifted to the National Trust in 1934.

The author recounts a walk on Stanton Moor, observing brooding structures and a tower associated with Earl Grey, where dowsing reactions were found around its rocky outcrop. The Nine Ladies circle yielded three ley findings, with one ley identified in the angle of the King Stone, leading to Haddon Hall. A potential henge monument, not marked on the map, was also discovered south of the Nine Ladies. A short video, "The Miniature Nine Ladies," is also mentioned.

The Pitch Hill Project

This section details a year-long project from 1990-1991 investigating a ley named the "E-line." This ley is described as seemingly the widest and most powerful found, crossing Surrey in a generally western direction south of Guildford. It was later found to extend from Cape Cornwall to Leysdown on the Isle of Sheppey and to pass through the Cerne Abbas giant. The E-line was discovered by Eileen Roche and Gordon Millington while investigating a UFO sighting on Pitch Hill. The project aimed to record everything noticed, regardless of perceived relevance. The ley was found to be associated with crop circles at Cheesefoot Head in Hampshire and appeared to obey a rule where its width doubled around sunrise and sunset, growing to a massive 200 paces at South Holmwood.

A Visit to Kingley Vale

A field trip organized by the Travel and Earth Mysteries Society to the nature reserve of Kingley Vale near Chichester is described. The Warden, Brian Savage, guided the group, showing them the ancient yew wood, tumuli, dew ponds, and wildlife. Leys crossing the reserve were observed, one of which leads to Chichester Cathedral. A stone memorial to Sir Arthur George Tansley, founder of the reserve, was noted to have dowsing reactions indicating two energy lines leading into it, connecting to a tumulus and the hillside. The reserve contains four Bronze Age barrows known as "The Devil's Humps."

Ley Hunting in Warwickshire and Shakespeare Mysteries

This section reviews a film focusing on ley hunting in Warwickshire and Shakespearean sites in Stratford-upon-Avon. The film features Gary Biltcliffe and Caroline Hoare leading a tour that highlights the Elen and Belinus ley currents. The town's association with Shakespeare is explored through the pattern of its sites, which mysteriously form the constellation of Cygnus. The film also follows leys encountered at an Oxford moot, including one found by Alfred Watkins that passes through the Rollright Stones and Chipping Norton Church. Other sites connected by leys include Clifford Chambers Church and Anne Hathaway's Cottage.

The Lake Street Ley Centre

The Lake Street centre is described as an unmarked ley centre near Oxford, identified as a convergence of several significant leys. Historical records indicate it was part of an old road. The leys converging here include Watkins' Oxford City Ley, Laurence's Churchill ley, the Rollright Stones and Godstow Priory ley, the Hinton Waldrist and Longworth ley, and the Halford, Ettington and Guild Chapel ley.

Network of Ley Hunters Moot at Stratford-upon-Avon

This section reports on a Ley Hunters Moot held from September 9th-11th, 2016, in Stratford-upon-Avon. The preliminary walk included Clifford Chambers, where the Elen dragon current and a ley found by Alfred Watkins intersect. The main tour of Stratford focused on sites associated with Shakespeare, including Holy Trinity Church, the Guild of the Holy Cross Chapel, New Place, and Shakespeare's birthplace, with connections to the Elen and Belinus currents and the constellation Cygnus.

Other Locations and Ley Connections

Further explorations include a visit to the church at Atherstone-on-Stour, noted for its pentagonal churchyard, and the Four Shire Stone near Moreton-in-the-Marsh, potentially inspiring J.R.R. Tolkein's "Three Farthing Stone." Another ley from the Lake Street centre goes through two Elen churches and the Guild Chapel in Stratford. The church at Langley is mentioned for a window possibly containing a code related to the Knights Templar's treasure.

Six Degrees North of North-East by Tony Wedd

Tony Wedd discusses his hobby of combining local topography with UFO research. He describes a personal connection to a curly sycamore at Tye Cross, where a friend experienced a psychic communication from "Attalita" referring to the tree's healing power and a ley. The message emphasized working around a 6 degrees N of NE alignment to find healing power centres.

The article details how this alignment and subsequent ones reveal a pattern of healing centres, including a chalybeate spring at Tunbridge Wells, the Spa Hotel, a pine clump at Burrswood, and Spring Hill in Whitley Forest. It also describes a cruciform cave at Highfields, possibly Mithraic in layout, with features interpreted as representing Celtic calendar points and solar events.

Notes and News

Tony Robinson's Ancient Tracks: A Channel 4 program featuring Tony Robinson walking the Icknield Way is mentioned. Robinson's previous dismissiveness of leys is contrasted with his more positive engagement in this program, including dowsing with Maria Wheatley and an experiment in automatic writing related to Frederick Bligh Bond.

Light box at Petra: A report on the ancient city of Petra, Jordan, mentions a midwinter sunrise "light box" in a building identified as a "Monastery." This site is associated with a lion-shaped rock showing a "double sunset" at midwinter, illuminating an altar. Petra was a city of the Nabateans, a matriarchal society.

Films on YouTube

A comprehensive list of films by Jimmy Goddard is provided, covering various earth mysteries topics, including leys around Berkhamsted Castle, Guildford, Kingston, and Norfolk. Other films explore UFO sightings, ancient sites in Kent and Surrey, and dowsing experiments.

Meyn Mamvro

This section advertises "Meyn Mamvro," a publication focusing on ancient stones, sacred sites, paganism, ley paths, pre-history, culture, megalithic mysteries, and folklore in Cornwall. Subscription details and availability of related guides are provided.

Books and Booklets

The Hidden Unity and Beginnings: Two booklets are described. "The Hidden Unity" explores the subconscious siting of ley points and the tendency for places of worship to be located on leys, discussing environmental and philosophical implications. "Beginnings" presents discoveries in earth energy detection, natural antigravity, and subconscious siting, including a chapter on cognitive dissonance.

Earth People, Space People: This booklet is a more modest version of Tony Wedd's unpublished manuscript "Earth Men, Space Men," detailing extraterrestrial contact claims, the history of the STAR Fellowship, evidence for life in the Solar System, and extraterrestrial language.

The Legacy of Tony Wedd: A CD-ROM is available, containing Tony Wedd's research and findings on flying saucers, landscape energies, and lost technology.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue of Touchstone are the exploration of ley lines, ancient sites, and earth energies, often viewed through the lens of dowsing and psychic perception. There is a strong emphasis on fieldwork, field trips, and the documentation of these phenomena through film and written accounts. The magazine appears to support the investigation of unconventional theories and historical mysteries, encouraging readers to engage with these topics through personal exploration and participation in groups like the Surrey Earth Mysteries Group and the Network of Ley Hunters. The editorial stance is one of open inquiry into phenomena that lie outside mainstream scientific understanding, connecting landscape features, historical sites, and personal experiences with subtle energies and ancient knowledge.