Balvraid Chambered Cairn View all content for Balvraid

Fried, fried. Take it in the side. Yeah, tell me about it. You might say the act of sheltering beneath the capstone of a chambered cairn in order to escape the overwhelming direct effect of the sun's solar energy - and not the usual, inexorable... and rather wet... result of convection - is a rather alien concept to this perplexed amateur antiquarian. And that would be putting it mildly, indeed. But 'tis the case alright. Glen Beag swelters under an impossibly blue sky this afternoon and I'm only too happy to take advantage of the shade afforded by this excellent megalithic structure. Now I've been to Glen Beag before - a decade or so ago during one of my earliest trips to Alba - in order to check out the pair of wonderful brochs that are Dun Telve and Troddan. But curiously I never ventured that little bit further to just before the road's terminus at Balvraid; in retrospect that was no bad thing, the ommission duly presenting me with a good excuse to return, then? Needless to say it is worth the effort. Not only is the capstone supported by a couple of large orthostats, themselves resting upon a deceptively substantial cairn.... but the landscape context, standing above the lively, crystal clear waters of the Abhaim a' Ghlinne Bhig, the towering crags of Druim na Daise themselves rising above to the approx south, is truly exquisite. And since the road is a dead end - in just the 'physical' sense, you understand - only the locals, or the very inquisitive traveller will pass by to momentarily disturb the vibe. Hey, this is the kind of sun-bathing I can do. I swear you could spend all day at Balvraid ... if it wasn't located within a Glen Beag also featuring the remains of three brochs and rock art, that is. Next on the agenda is the highly recommended extension to Dun Grugaig about a 1/4 mile further along the valley..... hey, it'd be rude not to.

Posted by GLADMAN 9th July 2012ce Edited 9th July 2012ce

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