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Mount Pleasant

Round Barrow(s)

<b>Mount Pleasant</b>Posted by spencerImage © spencer
Nearest Town:Guisborough (4km E)
OS Ref (GB):   NZ558165 / Sheet: 93
Latitude:54° 32' 25.62" N
Longitude:   1° 8' 14.75" W

Added by fitzcoraldo


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<b>Mount Pleasant</b>Posted by spencer <b>Mount Pleasant</b>Posted by fitzcoraldo

Fieldnotes

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Me and Timmo decided to check this fella out this evening.
We packed our picnic and set off to eat our tea at one of Ormesby's houses of the dead.
We parked up at Flatts lane and followed the footpath through the woods and into the cowfield.
Crossing the field I noticed a bunch of cows and calves checking us out from a distance.
Half way up the cowfield is a stile, don't take the one at the bottom of the field...believe me ...experience ( I gotta stop kidding myself that I can find sites using intuition alone).
The middle stile will lead you to the site.
The weather was beautiful, the path was dry and dusty, the grass was parched, the crickets were in excellent voice and there was an acrid smell in the air, a mixture of pigs and cows, the vibe was definitely continental.
The woods beyond the cowfield are full of pigs, they just roam around looking for shade and make a hell of a racket when you disturb them.

Anyhow, the barrow is at the top of the hill and on the edge of a field. The land is private and I suppose you should seek permission from the farmer before venturing on to it.
The mound itself is fairly impressive and totally shagged. The first thing I noticed was the large axle, sub frame and wheels that had been dumped on top of it - they resembled a sort of modern exploded chariot burial!
The excavation trenches are open but as they were dug in the early 70's they have now become the kingdom of gorse and are on the whole, impenetrateble. There is still enough there to see some sort of structure.
There was a carved rock reported here but I couldn't find it. I know Graeme C has been up here and also turned up with nowt.

The thing about this mound is the setting - 360 degrees of beautiful Cleveland. To the north is the Teesmouth the as you track east, the nearby Eston Nab, the rock art site of Airy Hill, the mesolithic site of Highcliff Nab. I could go on but the list will only bore you.
Needless to say you have views of the Cleveland escarpment and the vale of Cleveland with westerly views to county Durham and the Pennines beyond are excellent. A fitting place for a grave.

On the way back we got spooked by pigs and chased by half sized cows. As I had my boy with me I had to show a little bravado as he ran for the stile, I turned and faced the curious calves and give them a good bollocking for daring to chase my lad and me...hey it worked, the calves turned and fled but then their mams starting looking a bit pissed and slowly started to head my way..time to leave.
fitzcoraldo Posted by fitzcoraldo
5th August 2003ce
Edited 30th November 2003ce