At first light on Sunday 21 December, cheers rose across Salisbury Plain as the sun slid above the stones. Several thousand people gathered to welcome the winter solstice at Stonehenge - the year’s shortest day.

Many came in thick coats and boots, some in Celtic dress and leaf‑twined headdresses. Druid and pagan groups led moments of song and stillness, watched by families, night‑shift workers and the simply curious.

Built by distant ancestors and aligned with the movements of the Sun, the circle still draws crowds when the seasons turn. Midwinter marks the point from which the light begins to lengthen, a small but welcome change felt in homes and high streets alike.

Although the stones stand in Wiltshire, this isn’t a London spectacle. Visitors travelled from across the UK - including the North - and many northerners mark the date closer to home at Castlerigg in Cumbria, Long Meg near Penrith and the Nine Ladies on Stanton Moor in Derbyshire.

For readers here, the pull is familiar: a shared sunrise, no VIP sections, just a cold morning and a crowd united by timing and place. It sits alongside our own northern midwinter habits, from first‑light sea dips to hilltop lantern walks.

Between the drumming and the quiet there was care for the setting, with people taking their time to leave and stewards keeping paths clear. The ground was slick underfoot, breath hung in the air, and the sense was of a gathering more communal than performative.

Meanings differed - ceremony for some, a fresh start for others - but the mood stayed steady and welcoming. The old stones remain a meeting point for modern lives, proof that tradition can be open‑door and everyday.

As the sun lifted and the cold bit harder, the crowd thinned and the Plain fell quiet again. From here the days stretch out, minute by minute - a promise packed into cars and coaches heading north for Christmas week.