Showing 1-50 of 451 posts. Most recent first | Next 50  
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English Heritage have now helpfully nailed a very small disk with their logo on to a fence post as you take the bridleway towards the Grey Mare & Her Colts and Kingston Russell stone circle. This I presume in case you don't notice the very large sign warning that the other trackway from the road leads to private property.
Today the ground is frozen solid and the long grooves left by the farm vehicles and cattle are frozen solid.
It begins to lightly snow as we reach the long barrow.
This is a place well worth seeing, the structure of the site may no longer be intact, slightly ruinous even but still very much here within the landscape, and a truly amazing place it is!
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Maybe it's just the time of year but Kingston Russell seems much more visible on the approach from The Grey Mare & Her Colts than last time I was here, perhaps when the tree leaves , and hedges grow back and the grass is longer it would be as I remember it.
There was no sign of the sign here anymore either, a circle without the sign, even better!
Along with Hampton Down what I noticed most on this trip was the other ancient monuments all in view from each of these sites, their interconnectedness in the landscape. You might argue that this is because a lot of the monuments are on hills but the view between them only really opens up within the circles themselves.
From standing in the center of Kingston Russell I have a view all the way across to Abbotsbury, Golden Cap, Seatown and Lyme Regis.
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This must be one of the very best locations for a Stone Circle. The view across to Chesil Beach is very clear, as are Chapel Hill Abbotsbury and The Hellstone seen here and on the walk all the way down to the Portesham Hill Road, as well as Black Down Barrow Cemetery
As said previously the condition of the circle itself is quite sad, although in recent years it does seem that the site is being maintained better than perhaps it has been in the past.
Given that though this is a splendid place to have to yourself for a while, a stone circle with an incredible view on the crest of a Dorset Hill.
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How often Winterbourne Poor Lot must be seen from speeding cars and not up close. It's as true for me as anyone. It's only the second time I've stopped off here to have a closer look. It's not an easy place to stop at. There is no obvious easy access from any direction. The road is fast and the fences don't exactly invite you in. For all that this is a site managed by English Heritage, on their site it still says access via Wellbottom Lodge and this is probably the only place to park. Even then the road is so fast that stopping there and getting back out again in one piece feels like quite a mission!
Once up there on the hill though and it's a different world, albeit one that shares the main road. Maybe the fact that people usually pass by instead of stopping here adds something to the place, it's certainly nice to have the place to oneself for a little while.
The view across to Long Bredy is very good and looking back in the other direction knowing that Broad Stone and The Nine Stones lie just around the corner
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Long Bredy is one of the most accessible sites in this area, it even has it's own bus stop! From the bust stop it's through the gate and up the concrete trackway to the top, and you're there. This site is a pleasure to visit since the site on a public right of way, the bank barrow itself magnificent and the views also. It's just high enough up and away from the road for it to be possible to just lose yourself here for a while. Today I only had the company of a few cows, the custodians of the site perhaps.
The Winterbourne Poor Lot round barrows are in full view from the bank barrow and this is one of the better perspectives to see Poor Lot from.
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The good news for juamei is that the other stones are still there. The stone right next to the road is not too covered as of today, It looks like people go there to keep it clear. The main covering today was of some roadside litter that I took away.
It wasn't possible to make out the shape of the circle that Moth saw here a few years ago, maybe at a different time of year it will still be possible to see the outline of what once was.
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Rawlsbury is magnificent and affords spectacular views is all directions from it's highest point.
This place isn't just about the views though, the earthworks still retain their power and would have made any unwelcome visitors have to work extremely hard if they wanted to gain access, not least because of the climb up, which is approaching vertical in places.
Today it's windy, very windy, especially here on the exposed height of Rawlsbury. My view is of the farmland below, the Stour, hundreds of sheep, field after field after field, squared off with fences and walls and small tracks and roads. Once inside the enclosure it feels much calmer, away from the howling wind, much more sheltered from the elements.
From here the other hills are neighbours, permanent fixtures on the horizon, everything else is far below, moving in a different time zone, a different world entirely.
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The walk to King Down barrows from the Blandford Road, the B3082, makes the arrival here all the more special. Badbury Rings can be a very busy site to visit, it's well used in all senses from dog walking to ritual activity and (it would seem) everything in between.
If you take the bridle way past the rings you will find yourself walking on an old Roman road as well as an ancient green road as you walk around this beautiful and comparatively remote countryside. Along the way you will be offered different perspectives of Badbury Rings, pass 700 year old Oak trees and leave all sounds of traffic far behind you.
The Barrows themselves are just of the bridleway on the crest of a hill within a freshly planted field. They are well visible at different points in the landscape. When up close with them they are found to be in good condition considering there is no trace at all of the other barrows that once shared this space.
I would recommend putting a day aside to walk these green lanes and to follow the Roman road, get lost in it all, eventually you'll find your way back to Badbury rings as we did but feeling much more connected to the place and with a greater understanding of the positioning of it in the landscape away from the national Trust car park and country roads.
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