Stonehenge Druid King's New Crusade: Free Parking

King Arthur Pendragon is fighting with group that runs site
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 22, 2014 4:12 PM CDT
Stonehenge Druid King's New Crusade: Free Parking
Druid leader Arthur Uther Pendragon looks up as people face east to watch the by Stonehenge, England, on the annual Winter Solstice, Friday, Dec. 21, 2012.   (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

King Arthur Pendragon is displeased. But before you start worrying about attracting the wrath of Camelot, this King Arthur Pendragon is a 60-year-old British guy who the Wall Street Journal refers to as the "Druid King of Britain." "I work at Stonehenge as a Druid," says Pendragon, and that work is being complicated by English Heritage, the group that runs the site—and the same group that wants him to stop parking his trusty steed, er, old Kawasaki on a dirt track a short distance from the site. Citing vehicles as a "a significant visual intrusion," English Heritage wants visitors, including Pendragon, to park more than a mile away at a cost of $8. "English Heritage," says Pendragon, "are acting like spoiled brats."

Pendragon isn't taking the move lying down, telling the Journal that he's summoning the Druids' "warrior arm." He's writing sternly-worded letters, researching traffic patterns, yelling at politicians, running for office, and generally trying "to start an international debate," he says. Or more succinctly: "I bang Druids' heads together and fight English Heritage." He's thus far raised zero dollars and one second-hand motorcycle engine for his crusade, but he thinks he's got the original Arthur on his side: "He would have said 'Go for it.'" Pendragon is a busy guy, notes the International Business Times: Tonight he's celebrating the autumnal equinox at Stonehenge. (It's not the first time Pendragon has made waves.)

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