I visited Spetisbury Rings for the first time today, after driving past it hundreds of times.
Well set back from the main Road in Spetisbury, this site is something of a hidden treasure. The site is well known to locals in the village and further afield, there is even a music festival held there in the summer.
However unlike some site so close to housing, this place feels more remote. The walk to it in itself is interesting taking in an old closed down railway line. Modern and ancient ghosts here without even having to use the imagination.
Apparently Spetisbury Rings was a stronghold of the Ionia before the Romans came along, and on excavation it was found that Roman and Britons lay side by side in graves. I had the pace to myself and found the place to contain a real spirit of it's own far removed from the busy Road below, and the modern and old cottages lining the road. An interesting place to visit and sit and spend some time.
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At D21 the Oak tree is also right next to this very well preserved monument. While sitting there meditating on the place I found myself drifting and thinking about the trees. Of course they wouldn't have been their at the time the monuments were in use but there still seemed to be a great relevance to my modern perspective of the monument. I was thinking about a recent permaculture course I took, and about pioneer species, natural succession and Climax community, when the stable community that is reached and no further succession occurs. This seemed very relevant to me when considering these old stones and the people that put them there, coincidental? Maybe but still a beautiful vision of life beyond words and history.
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Charlie and I visited Hambledon & Hod Hill for the first time on saturday. We climbed Hod Hill first, trying our best to avoid the cows coming straight for us. It was a beautiful sunny day and on top of the hill the views were amazing as we walked around the top of the hill with nothing but the birdsong and butterflies to distract us.
Afterwards we made the steep climb up to Hambledon. The hill looks so impressive on the climb up to the top and once there the views are even more incredible than from Hod Hill. We saw a deer on the way up and horses running through fields. There is actually a small lay by by two houses at the bottom of the hill if you want to park as close as possible. If not the car park at Hod Hill is only a short walk away.
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Visited the Harpstone again this afternoon and found that the approach to the field containing the Harpstone has been cleared and is no longer overgrown. The once slippy steep climb down to the stone is no more. The land has been cleared of all the overgrown trees and plants and a railing has been put in place with a "footpath" sign attached. It is so much easier to get to the stone now.
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The relief to be out of the way of all that traffic and up on the moors was enough to compensate for the downpour of rain that greeted us as we were looking for the The Plague Market At Merrivale. At first this proved a little difficult as the mist swept in so suddenly and we could only see a few feet ahead of us and could see no evidence of stone rows or circles as we wandered around, although there were stones everywhere. All of a sudden the mist lifted out as quickly as it had appeared and the sun broke through shining down upon one of the stone rows now stood right in front of me. i waved across to charlie and we made our way in awe walking down these amazing stone rows. the stream running between the rows was really high and made an amazing sound that i wish i'd recorded. we spent the next hour or so looking at Merrivale Stone Circle, the menhir and investigating all the hut circles, what a place! it was very peaceful, maybe it the changeable weather but there seemed to be little in the way of traffic or other people about.This post appears as part of the blog post " Changing seasons on Dartmoor" |
we headed off to The Spinsters' Rock. We found it easily, driving up the tiny lane to the farm at the top and parking in the lay by next to the gate. the site was well signposted both from the road and at the lay by. The field was full of sheep and a beautiful horse that didn't move the whole time we were there. the sun still graced us with it's presence only occasionally dipping behind the clouds. The spinsters' Rock looked perfect, we spent our time just chilling out and pondering on the legends of the spinsters or witches or Mysterious Old Man and his three sons putting up these stones.This post appears as part of the blog post " Changing seasons on Dartmoor" |
We drove to mow cop and the castle built in 1754. there is a suggestion that mow cop was used as a watchtower by the romans although no evidence has been found of their occupation. i could imagine this though standing their looking out as it would make the perfect location for a watchtower. even more than this the place does feel like it could have been an important ancient site, especially because of the hills prominence on the landscape for miles around and the natural outcrop of rock that looks so dramatic breaking the view on the horizon between the earth and the sky. there are also some upright standing stones here within the rocks but i don't know from when they originate. as well as all this though there is the old man o' mow, which is situated on an ancient cairn, before the castle was built the cairn would have been the highpoint of the land and it is though that it was a burial mound linked to the bridestones, although it could simply be a boundry between two counties.This post appears as part of the blog post " below the cloud towards the old man o' mow" |
As we approached the Bridestones the sky was dark towards Jodrell Bank Observatory and the Welsh hills in the far off distance. we did encounter the barking of dogs on approach to the stones although they quickly stopped again leaving us in peace. As we entered the enclosure the sun broke through the sky and created amazing views past the stones and across the landscape. This is an amazing place to visit and in very good condition. By the gate there is what looks like a capstone to the tomb or maybe it is another standing stone which has fallen over at some point, either way it is huge.This post appears as part of the blog post " below the cloud towards the old man o' mow" |
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i visited this site for the first time with charlie and juamei on dec 27th 2004. juamei is spot on about it being very muddy getting to the stone in the winter time, so do wear good walking boots. the stone once you get there is magnificent, a really interesting shape with lots of detail. we found that we could get to the other side of the stone by going to the end of the field and walking back up on the other side of the hedge, this is a really nice approach to the stone as well but if you can't be bothered to walk round you could always slip under the barbed wire.
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We visited the cloud on sunday the 14th 2004. This used to be a local walk for me for years, as I grew up in this area. The views from up top are incredible, whatever the time of year. This is one place where you can't help but feel alive after the walk to the top. From a distance the cloud is always there on the horizon, huge and magnificent!
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Dragon Hill is an amazing place. As we walked down from the White Horse the sun shone through the cloudy sky illuminating it as we made our way down. There are great views from here of Uffington White Horse and Uffington Castle and of the surrounding Oxordshire countryside. It's a great place to sit and gather your thoughts too, whether contomplating the slaying of dragons or anything else for that matter.
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Charlie and I visited this site again today. This time it was late afternoon and the sun was setting fast as we got out of the car and took some photos of the henge on this Halloween night. Last time we we here in the middle of the day and the ground was covered in snow. Today the place took on a completely different feel as night set in, and we saw the place for the first time in relation to the night sky. There is some work going on inside the church at the moment, and the scaffolding inside from some angles somewhat spoils the overall vibe of the place, as does the portaloo right at the entrance to the henge. However this didn't detract from our time, walking around the henge in the dark, lit only by the moon and stars with the sounds of owls hooting and far away farm dogs barking into the night.
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A beautiful Autumn day was spent yesterday at Waylands Smithy. The orange leaves falling all around on a gentle breeze, in this most tranquil spot. People came and went as we sat there and moved around taking our photographs, a popular place for those on foot or bikes and passed every now and then by huge off road vehicals powering down the ridgeway. Sstill this didn't bother me as I sat inside each of the chambers totally switching myself off from the world outside. This place is an absolute treasure.
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Charlie and I visited the white horse for the first time yesterday, and what a place! The views from just above the horse on the hill are breathtaking. We walked down past the horse looking at the chalk close up. The actual outline of the horse makes no sense at this close range, but it seems really well looked after and maintained. On reaching the bottom and climbing up to Dragon Hill the white horse figure takes on it's full shape and the dramatic landscape all around adds to this viewing pleasure.
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We visited the castle yesterday Saturday 30th October 2004. The landscape here is so dramatic and exciting to view. The views are truly inspirational from any point you choose on top of the castle. Over Dragon Hill and way into the distance. As the afternoon went on the sun began to lower in the sky and the silhouettes of people walking over the other side with a full red sun setting behind them was a beautiful sight.
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We visited this site for the first time a couple of months ago with Pete G and his friend Mick as our guides. The views of Silbury and West Kennett long barrow are fantastic from here as is the whole of the landscape. Just a short walk up from East Kennett long barrow, though i would never have found the place without Pete. We parked the car at a farm below East Kennett longbarrow and didn't have any real problems although we were warned we were on private land and that we left our car there at our own risk of the threat of runnaway tractors! Although the stones are scattered it is still a great site due to it's views of the landscape and great positioning.
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a very beautiful walk, with stones of interesting sizes and shapes. this place is also within walking distance of the hellstone and hampton down stone cicle, all of which can be walked between easily if you park in the layby next to the farm in between the hellstone and hampton down stone circle. when we were there the weather changed between snow and bright sunshine and the stones seemed to change dramatically with the light.
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an interesting stone just a few minutes from where i live. the new housing around the stone doesn't really help to appreciate the stone itself, it almost feels like it was placed under the tree as an afterthought of a housing developer. Although it's great that the stone remains there for all to see.
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there were lots of other stones scattered around the field as well as the main stones. the main stones are right by the roadside and had lots of coins as well as some beads and feathers left around on the stones. they have an amazing texture with lots of really interesting cavities within them. we actually found it quite difficult to find the stones at first although if you find the sign for nine barrows down the stone circle is in the field just to the right at the begging of the pathway. you will find the stones amongst all the trees.
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this barrow cemetary and rempstone stone circle are two of the closest places to where i live that i've visited. nine barrows down is signposted from the road and is situated in the field at the top of a really nice walk climbing up from the main road. there are a couple of small lay-by's near by if you are travelling by car.
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http://www.texlahoma.com
http://www.apollolaan.co.uk/
http://www.fougou.org
http://ifjusttoday.blogspot.com/
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