By Ross Brewster

Published at 11:37, Thursday, 05 June 2008

CUMBRIA’S leading Druid has become an active member of his local parish council, campaigning on issues ranging from opencast mining to Workington’s Uppies and Downies traditional game.

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Paul Bills, who is Arch Druid of Cumbria, said that the Cumbrian Druid Order was “slowly developing as an active member of the Cumbrian community”.

Later this month he will join with other Druids to celebrate the dawn of the Summer Solstice at Castlerigg Stone Circle near Keswick. The celebration, one of the important times in the Druidic year, takes place on the dawn of Saturday, June 21.

Over the past year the Cumbrian Druid Order has been present at Castlerigg and the ancient woodlands of Miltonrigg to mark the eight sacred days of the Pagan calendar.

And, as a member of Brampton Parish Council, Mr Bills has joined in the protest against the proposed opencast strip-mining at Halton Lea Gate, as well as supporting the Save Lookaround Border TV campaign and voicing strong concerns over the threat to Workington’s Uppies and Downies game.

He said: “The Summer Solstice is one of the most popular celebrations held at the Sacred Stones of Castlerigg, with hundreds of people coming from all over the area, and further afield, to enjoy the beauty of the sun rising over Blencathra, as well as the sense of community that comes from peoples of all walks of life and belief systems coming together to enjoy the atmosphere of this most beautiful of stone circles not only in Cumbria, but in the whole of the UK. Castlerigg is one of Britain’s oldest stone circles, having been dated to around 1,000 to 1,500 years older than Stonehenge, and is unique by having a sanctuary area within it. It is the perfect place to enjoy this most sacred of days.”

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