To update the the access situation, the 'unofficial' side entrance from the adjacent farm field is now shut off by fencing, so all visitors must follow the official route from the car park.
In winter the path is very muddy and the steep slope leading down to Coldrum Lane from the car park track is very treachurous, so wear good boots and if possible take a walking staff.
The access to Coldrum Longbarrow is now effectively non existent for people of limited mobility, particularly in winter. :(
I would prefer to see some special arrangements made for people with walking difficulties so that they could gain access to at least the lower part of the site by driving up Coldrum Lane, but a key to the gate would have to be made available for such visitors by the locals.
Whilst in general the gate on the lane is a good idea and keeps too many people from driving up the lane, (and has thus reduced vandalism and littering thereby), in this day and age of allegedly improved disabled access policy the changes of late to Coldrum are a retrograde step. :(
Many Blessings.
Oriondruid.
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As a matter of general information it is no longer possible to access Coldrum Longbarrow by driving up Coldrum Lane. There is now a gate shutting it off to vehicles with a "Private Road, No Access" sign.
All visitors in cars must now use the official car park and footpath. However there is still a gap at the side of the gate wide enough for pedestrians. I am not yet able to ascertain the legal status of the new gate, but I believe that the lane may be a bridleway.
In any case at present the Barrow is therefore no longer easily accessible to disabled people, as the footpath is muddy and uneven and runs through a hollow that gets very swampy when it's been raining.
At one time the chamber stones could be viewed without even getting out of the car, this is no longer the case.
Many Blessings. Oriondruid.
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I stayed overnight at Coldrum Longbarrow this Friday evening, as I often do. I was camped out in the lane beneath the trees of the site and it was a beautiful moonlit evening.
Unlike the moronic idiots who are constantly setting fires in the middle of the stones my small campfire was, (as always), on a raised metal fire tray. In the morning this leaves no trace, since it is set up on bare earth and there is no grass to suffer scorch marks. Despite Coldrum's isolated setting a couple of lads showed up at my camp at about midnight and we had a good chat around the fire and a few swigs of 'Druid Fluid'.
The fence damage has now been fully repaired and some worn out posts replaced by Piers, the hard working NT Warden for the site. However I fear that it won't be long before the idiots come back and smash up all his good work. In fact I'm not convinced that the fence needs to be there at all since it isn't designed to keep people out, (thank the Goddess), and to the idiots merely acts as a handy firewood store.
I will be ringing the NT local office to negotiate about filling in and turfing over the rapidly deepening firepit in the centre of the stones. As long as it remains it is a temptation to moronic vandals to use it.
Bright Blessings.
John Pullin, (Oriondruid).
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The tree dressing at Coldrum and other Sacred Sites is quite common and has been going on for years. Tree Dressing and such are not specifically a Wiccan idea, as similar Well Dressing was very much a Christian practice (though possibly of Pagan origin). Many Pagan visitors to Coldrum continue this practice and as long as no plastics or metals are used then I don't find it a problem.
The more serious vandalism such as the severe spray painting of the chamber a few years ago and the cracking of one of the outer stones by fire (which also caused a large chunk to fall off which subsequently dissappeared) is a far greater problem. This beautiful place our Ancestors made thousands of years ago is now being destroyed by idiots and if they continue it will all be gone, with nothing left for our decendants to see.
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