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Fieldnotes
| Visited 10.6.12 We took the minor road to the top of the hill and parked near to where the road takes a sharp right. From here a ‘path’ can be seen which heads north, across the hill, to the chambered cairn. I didn’t feel up to taking Dafydd with me and I ventured out alone. The ‘path’ starts fairly flat and it gradually descends down the far side of the hill. You can see the fenced off tomb from quite a distance. Although the weather had been mainly dry for a week the ‘path’ was still very muddy in places. Luckily the weather was again fine although it was a bit windy – not surprising given where I was! On the way towards the tomb was a wooden gate festooned with what I guess were some sort of woollen ‘offerings’ – teddies, woollen squares, bits of material etc – all very odd. Somebody had left a name attached to one of the ‘offerings’ – Hegasaer. Going through the gate I went straight to the H.S. box to get the torch. Unfortunately the torch was broken (looked like it had been dropped) but luckily I had my head light with me. I slid the metal hatch back and descended down the ladder into a large puddle of water. The tomb was a lot larger than I was expecting – particularly given the size of the original entrance. The stonework was of the high standard I had now come to expect on Orkney – these builders certainly knew what they were doing. There were lots of names and dates scratched into the stonework. In terms of location I would say this is the best burial chamber I have ever visited. The views from the tomb are fantastic and are worth the walk in their own right. I now had the task of walking back to the car – this time uphill. Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem but the way I was feeling it felt like I was walking up Mount Kilimanjaro! I huffed and puffed, stopping more than walking, my legs felt like they had turned to lead. By the time I got back to the car I wasn’t looking my best! I was glad I made the effort to see this site as it is most certainly worth the effort. It is just a pity that I wasn’t feeling too good to perhaps fully appreciate it. At least it wasn’t raining!! |
Posted by CARL 19th July 2012ce |
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