A very special guest at Woodstock festival (From Witney Gazette)

A very special guest at Woodstock festival

9:00am Wednesday 18th October 2006 in Witney By Jo Duckles

WOOLLY mammoths once roamed Britain alongside humans, according to expert Chris Stringer.

That is why a 30ft-high model of the elephant-like creature was hanging out in Woodstock's Market Square during the town's literary festival.

The aim was to promote Mr Stringer's new book, Homo Britannicus - The Story of Life in Britain. The book tells the 700,000-year history of humans, from their first footsteps through to the present-day Britain.

The festival, which was taking place from Thursday to Sunday, had a wide range of talks and events.

Over the weekend, the authors appearing included Barry Unsworth, Frederick Raphael, Kevin Crossley-Holland, and Martin Kemp, author of Living with the Da Vinci Code.