Sunday 20 January 2008

Chiphenge



For all the Wonders of the world, there are thousands of other architectural or geographical marvels that are forced to remain in their shadow. If it hadn't been for the Great Wall of China, Hadrian would probably be the Don of mural accomplishments and the pin-up boy for the Lego generation. Were it not for the Great Pyramid of Giza, Chitchen Itza might have found itself top of the pyramid of pyramids. And without the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Essex grandmother Vera Roberts would probably have received more acclaim for her Hanging Baskets of Basildon. But such is life. There can only be one winner, unless it's a draw of course.

Another overlooked marvel is Chiphenge, a henge of such magnificence that it deserves far more attention than it currently receives. Thought to have been conceived by early Greek settlers as a place of worship, many mysteries surround the construction of Chiphenge and in particular how the chips themselves were transported to the site. One theory holds that they may have been transported several miles in the back of a minicab from the Apollon Kebab House on Wakefield high street, although this is unconfirmed and cannot be verified by the owner, Dimitri Popadopolous.

Chiphenge is a miracle of hengineering and an exact copy of the more famous henge which can be found on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.


Stonehenge: less tasty with fish

Archeological experts have suggested that the original idea may well have been the construction of a Donerhenge, a concept that may have been abandoned at an early stage due to pitta balancing issues. Back in the late eighties, a large crimson stain was discovered on one of the horizontal-lying chips giving credence to the theory that it might once have acted as a sacrificial altar. A conflicting theory proposes that the red liquid could well have been tomato ketchup or chilli sauce. Tests have proved inconclusive.

On a recent visit to Chiphenge I snapped the photo above from the south east side and I've decided to submit the shot as my entry to this Food Blogging Event which calls for images of the humble potato. I don't think much of my chances though. I'm sure photos of Chiphenge are all too common.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice attention to detail there Pete. In the meantime, I've tagged you. Check out my latest post (http://helengraves.co.uk/?p=168). Helen.

Anonymous said...

Dude, you just made me laugh water through my nose! A

Pete said...

Glad you like it Jasmine.

I'll try and get round to some tagging soon Helen, thanks for tagging me!

Alex, hope you are not too cold over there. Did the water freeze instantly when it came out of your nose?

Brilynn said...

I adore this! I so want to visit Chiphenge...

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

I was going to say 'Brilliant!', but someone beat me to it - so I'll say 'Fantastic!' instead. Great work!

Unknown said...

This is fantastic - if you don't come in on the shortlist (I expect you to win it) then the world has gone mad!

Anonymous said...

Well done, Pete! I never would have thought of a Chiphenge myself. Thanks for taking part in Snackshots, check out the roundup soon and don't forget to vote!

Pauline said...

Just saw this photo on Greedy Gourmet's Snack Shots. You are my potato hero.

Anonymous said...

As a sort of expert on Stonehenge replicas of all kinds, I can tell you that chiphenges, while some do exist, are much less common than cheesehenges. You can search chiphenge on Clonehenge.com to see. At any rate, well done on this henge!