Visited here today. The stones still exist, and are in the garden of a small cottage, protected at the rear by a large hedge. Canmore states: "Two standing stones 10' apart W of the main road at Dowally. They are respectively 8'7" and 7'8" high and 8' and 10'11" basal girth." In 1975 it was noted that one stone had fallen, otherwise the description is correct. This has since been re-erected, and I was unable to find out which one - presumably the one hit by the bus, however!
The western stone has a huge line of quartz running vertically down the west side of it. They're quite a decent size and impressive standing out pale against the dark hedge.
Clachan More Two-Poster, Dowally
Wednesday 3/4/02
When I was at the house of the very helpful woman enquiring about the nearby St. Anne's Well, I also asked about the exact location of the Clachan More standing stones. or Two-Poster. I had kept my eyes peeled for them on the way down off the hills, but to no avail. The exact location is indiscernible on the OS map. I was told that they used to stand over the other side of the A9, but a bus hit the only remaining upright of the pair in recent years. On my way back along the path next to the extremely fast and busy A9 I scoured the fields opposite for any sign of the megaliths, but nothing- just some houses and caravans. As I was passing a row of cottages I decided to ask one more time. I was greeted by another friendly old woman- she know of the stones (but not by the name of the Clachan More) as she had lived in Dowally for 50 years- long before the A9 screamed a matter of metres from her front door. 'Aye', she said, 'they used to stand where those new caravans are'. Apparently the new owners of the houses over the road saw fit to demolish the rains of the stones and clear the site. I certainly wasn't crossing the A9 to check out the site- it would be easier and less messy to just shoot myself than attempt a crossing on foot! However, I could clearly see that the ground around the caravans had recently been landscaped with some large boulders- probably the remains of the once great Clachan More.
I leave Dowally with its Holy Well now a rockery and Two-Poster now a mini caravan site. I head for the hills and the forest as the sky darkens and the air gets colder.
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