Before Stonehenge, there was the Golden Road. This ancient ridgeway, which traces the spine of the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire, South Wales, was once part of a thriving Neolithic trade route connecting England with the goldmines of Ireland’s Wicklow Mountains.
But for all the gold that was ferried along this bustling merchants’ road, it is another, humbler mineral for which the region is best known today. The dolerite bluestones that make up Stonehenge in southwest England, are believed to have been mined here in the Preseli Hills, some 150 miles west of where they ended up.
Exactly why the builders of Stonehenge went to such a gargantuan effort, hauling tonnes of rock along these mountain passes, remains a mystery. It’s likely the motivation was
