Showing 1-50 of 68,253 posts. Most recent first | Next 50 
A cornucopia of photographs dating back 150 years, lots of photos of Ancient sites on Dartmoor taken before modern day destruction/erosion.
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Posted by wickerman
9th February 2010ce
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I saw this site from the valley below while visiting the nearby Setta barrow and five barrow hill. From below it does not look very substantial, sadly I ran out of time so could not get up to it, good excuse for another trip to these parts.
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Posted by formicaant
9th February 2010ce
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A cold grey February afternoon is not the best time to go viewing Dartmoor's antiquities...so we spent a pleasant three hours in the pub and then had a quick drive up the road to view this beast. Size wise it is impressive but it all feels too modern.....
...By that I mean the rebuilding of the quoit somehow takes away the magic..it is after all only an approximation of what was there before and its a bit like a Victorian tourist attraction.
I am sure I have read somewhere that at one time there was a stone row and some circles nearby....
...anyway, this is a very handy antiquity, lying as it does only a few miles from the A30..and on a cold grey day when spending more than five mins out of the car is not recommended it is worth a visit.
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Posted by Mr Hamhead
9th February 2010ce
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Oh Dunnottar... the 'slope fort' (from the Gaelic 'Dun' [fort] and Fothair [slope]). At first sight the gaunt castle ruins, seeming almost to sprout from the living rock upon which they stand (between Castle Haven and Old Hall Bay, just to the south of Stonehaven), promise an interlude from the intensity of hunting the many RSC's in the area. A few hours by the sea to regain some perspective, perhaps? But then the sheer importance of this site, not only to Scottish history, but to the prehistory of this magical land becomes apparent to the interested traveller.
First, the history - the castle was established in the 14th Century, the walls no doubt incorporating elements of the preceding Pictish fort which once stood on the site, and must have been pretty well impregnable before the advent of heavy artillery. Wallace invested it, ditto Cromwellian forces between September 1651 and May 1652. It was during the latter seige that a Mrs Grainger, wife of Kinneff's minister, managed to blag herself an exit and spirit away the Scottish crown hidden in her dress. One assumes she was a somewhat hefty lass... as Private Fraser out of Dad's Army would say, 'wi' nice, firm thighs...'. But I digress.
For me, however, it is the natural defences of Dunnottar, the great crag jutting out into the sea, which make a visit here a must to all those with a passion for the past, a past which, if understood, can perhaps guide the modern Scotland towards a more balanced and confident future. Much has been written about Scots gaelic culture... not all of it to the nation's benefit, in my opinion (the ludicrous Braveheart, anyone?)... coinciding with devolution and the roaring success of the Tiger economy across the Irish Sea before the recent crash. Comparatively little has been written about the people who once inhabited Dunnottar in prehistory, a people who have arguably - to use a modern term - been retrospectively 'photoshopped' out of Scotland's story. The Picts.
So who were the Picts, these people who apparently scared the living daylights out of many a Roman legionnary, yet carved exquisite stones? Theres's apparently not an awful lot to go on. However legend has it Dunnottar was chosen by the Picts due to it's association with 'The Green Lady', no doubt some reference to a Mother Goddess?. Climb upon its rock, with the seagulls a'wheeling around your head in a cachophony of noise and I've no doubt you'll understand what they meant. Well, at least a little.....
Like Dunluce upon the Antrim coast, the castle here is almost an irrelevance compared with the rawness of nature at this site. If you're after a starting point to gauge the spirit of the Picts I'd argue here is as good a place to start as any....
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Posted by GLADMAN
8th February 2010ce
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An official website with details of opening times, plus history of this marvellous site.
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Posted by GLADMAN
8th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
8th February 2010ce
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"The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles" - Lecture
Lecture- 'The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles' by Professor Ronald Hutton on Wednesday 10th February at 7.30pm, with an approximate end time of 9pm.
The event is being held at:
The Powell Lecture Theatre,
University of Bristol,
HH Wills Physics Laboratory, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL
This lecture is now fully booked with a waiting list.
NB: I have just had to cancel my place so if anyone wanted to go and couldn't get a place, you might want to contact the person below asap.
Lynda Bryant
Events Officer
Bristol's Museums, Galleries & Archives Service
Tel: 0117 903 6173
Acknowledgement to Rhiannon who made the original post regarding lecture.
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Posted by tjj
8th February 2010ce
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On the steep climb to the tomb you are grateful for a few flattish bits but don't pay much attention. Yesterday, however, whilst taking shots from Wideford Hill it was evident that these result from a couple of very large 'platforms' (seen in outline on the north side of the images). First thought was that these are connected with the tomb, which they dwarf almost as much as Heddle Hill. Second thought is cultivation terraces related to the nearby Neolithic settlements.
Prepared to be shot down in flames.
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Posted by wideford
8th February 2010ce
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From the Drum of Wartle crossroads, an excellent pub on the B9001, take the road west to Colpy, the A920. Turn south a couple of miles further on at Kirkton Of Rayne signpost. Keep going up the hill until the Smiddyhowe croft/farm the cairn is in the middle of the field to the west. Easily spotted thanks to the 4 ash trees.
To the south is Bennachie, to the north Rothmaise Hill and the Black Cairn. Further west is the similar cairn at Mellenside.
Nothing much remains of this cairn. It is enclosed by a dry stane dyke probably made from boulders from the cairn. It stands at a half meter in height. All in all rather sad, given it's fantastic location. At least the farmer seems to leave it alone another faint memory of a once proud past.
Still the pub at the Drum is nearby and I'm no stranger so I'd better say hello.
Visited 8/2/2010.
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Posted by drewbhoy
8th February 2010ce
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Finally got around to taking some photos of the site, had to wait until winter as it's obscured by undergrowth in summer. It is a slight hillfort and is best seen from the valley below, I have walked up it but didn't today as it was far too muddy.
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Posted by formicaant
8th February 2010ce
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CABE hits out at plans for the proposed £20m visitor centre
"Its footpaths are "tortuous", the roof likely to "channel wind and rain" and its myriad columns – meant to evoke a forest – are incongruous with the vast landscape surrounding it."
"So says the government's design watchdog over plans for a controversial £20m visitor centre at Stonehenge, the megalithic jewel in England's cultural crown. CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, has criticised the design of the proposed centre, claiming the futuristic building by Denton Corker Marshall does little to enhance the 5,000-year-old standing stones which attract more than 800,000 visitors each year."
More here – http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/feb/07/stonehenge-city-garden-visitor-centre
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Posted by Littlestone
8th February 2010ce
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A large swamp called Leachfield, situate about a mile from Baslow, on the road from that village which leads to Sheffield, is said to be the site of a buried village. Some people say that this buried village once belonged to one man who saw it all go down into the swamp one day as he stood on a hill. I am told that near this fen or swamp are two stone circles and two rows of unmistakeable stone-built barrows.
In Glover's Derbyshire (vol. ii. p. 86.) the following lines occur about this place:
When Leach-field was a market town,
Chesterfield was gorse and broom;
Now Chesterfield's a market town,
Leach-field a marsh is grown.
I have heard the last two lines repeated thus:
Now Leach-field it is sunken down
And Chesterfield's a market town. From 'Household tales with other traditional remains' by S O Addy (1895).
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Posted by Rhiannon
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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I visited this site today in a misty drizzle as the light was falling. Huge coal lorries flew past. Yet this mighty stone exudes a real timeless peaceful authority over all the passing traffic. The site stands in a landscape shaped by grassed over pit bings and slag heaps, old mine workings and deserted railway lines. The mining hasn't completely left and there are huge opencasts in the vicinity (one a few hundred yards behind the stone).
There are two massive stones on the skyline a few hundred yards above the Lightshaw stone which may just be there as a result of field clearance or the opencast. I'll check them out on my next visit. Forgot my camera today!
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Posted by Howburn Digger
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
7th February 2010ce
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