Vintage Stonehenge photos recreated | CNN

<strong>National icon</strong>: It's a prehistoric monument that's become a national icon in the UK. Now Stonehenge is marking 100 years of being owned by the British public by harking back to nostalgic photographs of visits to the site in days gone by. <em>Pictured: Helena Myska's family at Stonehenge in 1971. </em>

National icon: It's a prehistoric monument that's become a national icon in the UK. Now Stonehenge is marking 100 years of being owned by the British public by harking back to nostalgic photographs of visits to the site in days gone by. Pictured: Helena Myska's family at Stonehenge in 1971.

Courtesy English Heritage

<strong>Recreating photos:</strong> Myska was one of several people who were invited by English Heritage to recreate their family snapshots at Stonehenge. Now English Heritage is inviting people to send in their pictures from times past for their digital timeline seen at <a href="http://www.stonehenge100.co.uk/entries" target="_blank" target="_blank">stonehenge100.co.uk/entries</a>. <em>Pictured here: Myska's family at Stonehenge in 2018.</em>

Recreating photos: Myska was one of several people who were invited by English Heritage to recreate their family snapshots at Stonehenge. Now English Heritage is inviting people to send in their pictures from times past for their digital timeline seen at stonehenge100.co.uk/entries. Pictured here: Myska's family at Stonehenge in 2018.

Courtesy English Heritage

<strong>Reliving the past:</strong> Sue Lane recreated an image of her family at Stonehenge in 1966. She was four years old and with her mother and grandparents; she recreated the image with her husband and daughter. "It was emotional to now be able to share my early experience with my daughter and husband," she says. "The old and new photos will now be displayed next to each other at home."

Reliving the past: Sue Lane recreated an image of her family at Stonehenge in 1966. She was four years old and with her mother and grandparents; she recreated the image with her husband and daughter. "It was emotional to now be able to share my early experience with my daughter and husband," she says. "The old and new photos will now be displayed next to each other at home."

Courtesy English Heritage

<strong>Life-changing:</strong> Bob Heyhoe discovered this photograph in his mother's possessions after she passed away. He says the experience of visiting Stonehenge as a young man in 1960 shaped him: "I was only a sort of impressionable 16- or 18-year-old and had never seen anything that big in my life before. It got me interested in the ancient people," he tells CNN Travel. He later visited ancient monuments across the world.

Life-changing: Bob Heyhoe discovered this photograph in his mother's possessions after she passed away. He says the experience of visiting Stonehenge as a young man in 1960 shaped him: "I was only a sort of impressionable 16- or 18-year-old and had never seen anything that big in my life before. It got me interested in the ancient people," he tells CNN Travel. He later visited ancient monuments across the world.

Courtesy English Heritage

<strong>Back in touch: </strong>Heyhoe says it was thrilling to return to the stones: "To get back in contact with the actual rocks themselves was amazing because for the past 20-odd, 30-odd years you've been cordoned off and not allowed to clamber around them," he says. Special permission was given to English Heritage for the purposes of this photography project.

Back in touch: Heyhoe says it was thrilling to return to the stones: "To get back in contact with the actual rocks themselves was amazing because for the past 20-odd, 30-odd years you've been cordoned off and not allowed to clamber around them," he says. Special permission was given to English Heritage for the purposes of this photography project.

Courtesy English Heritage

<strong>Link to the past</strong>: Ian Roure recreated an image of himself as a child in 1970. "My impression of Stonehenge when I was growing up was that it was extremely special -- a tangible link to our distant ancestors despite the mystery surrounding it," he says. "I found this photo after my mother passed away -- it was among many family photos that she had collected dating back to the early 1900s."

Link to the past: Ian Roure recreated an image of himself as a child in 1970. "My impression of Stonehenge when I was growing up was that it was extremely special -- a tangible link to our distant ancestors despite the mystery surrounding it," he says. "I found this photo after my mother passed away -- it was among many family photos that she had collected dating back to the early 1900s."

Courtesy English Heritage

<strong>Stone stopover:</strong> The oldest photograph that's been recreated is courtesy of Rowland Allen and it dates back to 1955. "Every August, from when I was two to about fifteen, my family would stop at Stonehenge on our way to Cornwall," he says. "We'd sit down, get a flask out, have a picnic and muck about."

Stone stopover: The oldest photograph that's been recreated is courtesy of Rowland Allen and it dates back to 1955. "Every August, from when I was two to about fifteen, my family would stop at Stonehenge on our way to Cornwall," he says. "We'd sit down, get a flask out, have a picnic and muck about."

Courtesy English Heritage

<strong>Remembering and recollecting:</strong> Allen is third from left in both photographs. The 1955 picture was taken before the great trilithon, seen behind the family group in the newest photo, was re-erected in 1958. "The visit helped me to remember family members who aren't here anymore -- and to create new memories for the new generation," he says.

Remembering and recollecting: Allen is third from left in both photographs. The 1955 picture was taken before the great trilithon, seen behind the family group in the newest photo, was re-erected in 1958. "The visit helped me to remember family members who aren't here anymore -- and to create new memories for the new generation," he says.

Courtesy English Heritage

<strong>Life-long love: </strong>Jane Vellender was five years old when she visited Stonehenge in the late 1960s. She credits the experience with sparking her interest in studying archeology years later. "Standing in the same spot this summer as I did nearly fifty years ago, I'm just aware of how fast time passes, and yet how the memory of being here then is still so fresh," she says.

Life-long love: Jane Vellender was five years old when she visited Stonehenge in the late 1960s. She credits the experience with sparking her interest in studying archeology years later. "Standing in the same spot this summer as I did nearly fifty years ago, I'm just aware of how fast time passes, and yet how the memory of being here then is still so fresh," she says.

Courtesy English Heritage

<strong>Then-and-now: </strong>American Taney Roniger was only three years old in the first Stonehenge photograph, taken in 1971. Her mother photographed Roniger with her dad, who was stationed with the US army in Belgium. Roniger returned in 2018 with her husband, who wore the same sweater that her father did in the original. "It felt like my parents were with me," she says.

Then-and-now: American Taney Roniger was only three years old in the first Stonehenge photograph, taken in 1971. Her mother photographed Roniger with her dad, who was stationed with the US army in Belgium. Roniger returned in 2018 with her husband, who wore the same sweater that her father did in the original. "It felt like my parents were with me," she says.

Courtesy English Heritage

Stonehenge vintage photos recreated

CNN —

The ancient monument of Stonehenge has entranced and intrigued visitors to England for thousands of years. You may no longer be able to get close enough to clamber over the stones, but it’s still a national icon and a universally recognized symbol of Britain.

Now, to mark 100 years of these striking stones being formally owned by the British public, charity English Heritage is taking a look back at photographs of Stonehenge visits in days gone by.

English Heritage, which manages over 400 of England’s famous historic houses and monuments, invited several families to come and recreate old snapshots from the 1950s, ’60s and ‘70s.

The resulting project is both seeped in nostalgia and looks forward to Stonehenge’s future.

Back to the future

Bob Heyhoe at Stonehenge in 1960, aged 18.

Courtesy English Heritage

Brit Bob Heyhoe was contacted by English Heritage after he posted a photograph on Facebook of himself as an 18-year-old recent Royal Air Force recruit, admiring the stones on a summer’s day in 1960.

“When my mother died I found that photograph in her possession,” Heyhoe tells CNN Travel. “I didn’t even know the photograph existed.”

Heyhoe remembered the day out though – vividly – and looking at the image instantly transported him back to his youth.