Showing 1-20 of 588 fieldnotes. Most recent first | Next 20 
Southeast of Macclesfield is a small village called Langley, head east through the village until you get to a pub called the Leathers Smithy, opposite the Ridgegate reservoir, turn left immediately after the pub and continue up hill until you get to a small 3 space carpark. Now back track down the lane and the stone is in the field to your right..
The stone is about four and a half foot tall, not tall, but a pretty standard height in Cheshire. It is seemingly unworked in any way, there are no holes for gates and such.
The stone is about a mile south south east of Toothills barrow and stands on the edge of a small ridge and seems to ring true to me, in placing at least.
Due to thick cold fog the views were unseen today but on a clearer day would be "quite good".
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Just south of Macclesfield, near the outskirt village of Sutton lane Ends is this cairn, you'll probably need a map to find it, even though it's visible from the road, and on Google street view.
I parked on the side of the icey road and set off across the field, for the first time today I was'nt trespassing but following a designated public path. Blyeck, but that didn't last long as I was forced into the field next door to get to the cairn.
This is one big cairn, I would have been here ages ago had I known of it, not having enough money to get to Wales has it's advantages.
Around 1877 it was dug into, a trench twelve feet long, six feet wide and eight feet deep revealing nothing but boulders, some split by fire.
Again it was mutilated in the name of science by James Forde-Johnston of Manchester University in 1962 finding no primary burial but several secondary cremations.
The big black water trough on top is quite unnecessary, and an awful blot on what is a mighty work of old, Sutton Hall farm....Ggggrrrrrrrr.
As I approached the cairn the sheep legged it, all except one, Tripod was his name (mine) and he guarded the cairn well, but then even he yielded to me. Then as I got closer and the cairns size became apparent it looked like it could be big enough to have a chamber in it somewhere, but alas it is not so. The snow and the fog makes it look cold but i'm all togged up and impervious to such things, in time the fog lifts slightly enough to see the outline of hills, outliers of the Peak.
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This ones dedicated to TheSweetcheat and his Dad and all our Dads without whom we just wouldn't exist.
Parking can be tricky, there is no good place, I parked on the first corner to the south of the barrows on the A34 next to a pond.
A five minute walk up the road brings us to the woods in which is the first of today's sites. A weakness in the hedge was exploited to good effect and I was in the woods, not knowing exactly where the barrows was, only that it was quite big, I simply headed up the slight hill to its highest point thinking that is where it would be. Twas.
It is a big one too, bigger than I thought Cheshire had, shows what I know, and it shows you there's still plenty to see, even in your own back yard, though my back yard is fifty miles across and today it was foggy and snowy but not too cold.
It was a strange one to photograph, from the south it's just another hilltop and there's a lot of dead wood about, especially on the northern side of the barrow, and all the trees about it either get in the way or make an avenue leading straight to it, there is a big mature tree growing right out of it's center. Iv'e driven past it a few times but never spotted it from the road, Iv'e only seen its northern nieghbour.
Back on to the A34 and two hundred yards up the road and I can see the pedestal topped barrow dimly through the thick helpful fog.
It was helpful because these barrows are on extremely private property, Capesthorne park, in thick fog no-one can see you sneak (sorry Aliens is on).
So a quick jump over a gate and a straight to it walk of five minutes is all this trespass takes. The barrow is more plowed out than it's neighbour but is still quite prominent. The two barrows would have been inter visible if not for the trees and a house and the pea soup. The pedestal on top seems to serve no purpose other than to direct the eye across the perfect lawn, past the groups of four trees to the bump, to the barrow that is now only a lawn feature.
I will have to come back in the spring to get another look, especially to the wooded one.
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Down the road southwest one mile from Henbury destroyed stone circle, turn right in lower Paxhill, after a few hundred yards look right over hedge and there it is.
I parked inconsiderately next to a seldom used field gate, crossed the road and jumped another gate, this as I was about to see is not common land or even farmland, but is part of the sprawling over manicured feng shuied garden belonging to Henbury hall. Pretty it is too with the big hall looking on impressively.
The Bowl barrow, for it is of this variety, is cordoned off by a rickety fence that nearly fell down as I climbed over. Inside the fence the barrow is covered by rough untouched grasses, fallen branches, three trees and a sapling, standing in stark contrast to the neatly coifed lawn.
Finds include a collared urn with a lid made from a
round based vessel containing an 18yr old male, over 100 flint flakes scattered across the surface of the barrow, and a crude leaf shaped arrow head. The urns are now in Grosvenor Museum in Chester.
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Like Gawsworth henge a couple of miles southeast, this stone circle is now utterly destroyed. I'd heard that maybe one stone survived, and was hiding out in the local hedges, near where he once dwelled with others in circular fashion.
Despite it's good hiding place I still found it, quite easily about thirty feet from a metal stile in the hedge. It doesn't look dumped, it is earth fast with no wobble, light grey in colour, perhaps limestone? it certainly looked the part anyway.
But there is a big open field, so the circle could be shifted about for a hundred yards in any direction.
I shall return at a later date for more rummaging in the hedgerows.
Until then, any more information anyone.
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I parked near the junction of the A523 and the Oakgrove Fools nook crossing, just by the canal, the barrow is up the lane one hundred yards and in a field to our right.
I crossed into the field by a yellow road side grit box, though this is trespassing, but as it's Cheshire's only beaker barrow a quick cloaked survey was well on the cards.
It was crowded with sheep as I approached but these soon scattered into the next field, leaving us alone. About one meter high and about fifteen across it is not a mighty work of old but it is in a good position, Gawsworth henge and Broad Oak barrow are almost visible and from on the barrow (sorry) I can see the snow in the Peak district not far away. Oh for a few dollars more.
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Just a couple of hundred yards down the road from the destroyed henge, is this apparently well preserved round barrow, with what we may take as a mature Broad Oak tree growing out of it.
With the big posh farm and the whir of a quad bike nearby I settled for a gander from the road. it didn't half behoove me but settle I did.
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Off the A523 at Oakgrove, the henge was in a field behind the Fools Nook public house, I parked at the corner of the field at the junction with the old Leeke to Macc road and a small upwards pointing little lane.
The only hint of this henges existence is hearsay at best really, it was apparently finally destroyed in the 1980's by my old buddy agriculture.
There is one picture on the megalithic portal (and some minor information) a picture of some trees, Iv'e recreated it here, but I don't know if its a picture of the field in general or weather the trees mark the henge. There is a seat carved from a tree stump and by it there is some sandstone rubble at the foot of another tree, but niether of these miniscule scraps of information reveal the henges former where about's, or if it was a henge at all.
To be better safe than sorry I took to wandering the field up and down looking for anything suspect, a couple of features caught my eye and iv'e supplied a picture of each, but at the end of a fruitless search we can only confirm that it is most decidedly gone.
After I'd quit the field I was having a further shufty nearby when I watched an unsuspecting fox come trundling over to within ten feet of me it saw me almost too late and yelped and careered off into another field, it fair gave me goosebumps and kind of repaid me for having no henge .
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This time I parked about a hundred yards further down the road from the trig point, the shortest point between the road and the barrow, just a quick hop over a barbed wire fence and whilst Bob isn't technically my uncle we're certainly good friends.
In the same field as me and the long barrow were some ponies, as soon as they saw me confidently striding across the field they all came galloping over,
some getting a little too close for comfort, eight of them there were, big muscular ponies, that looked me straight in the eye, I looked back and radiated masterful intentions, then I jumped over a small stream and left them behind, they seemed unwilling to cross the very small stream but I was glad they had lost interest so quickly, move along nothing to see here.
Now, in the winter, the barrow is more visible and easier to traverse than in the summer, eighteen months ago was my first visit and i'm happy to be back so relatively quickly. The north-western end is larger than its southeastern partner, higher and wider, but I don't know whether these things have fronts and ends, only that it points south east vaguely towards the Bride stones and the winter solstice sunrise, closer inspection may yield a more definitive picture. The long barrow also sports three sets of rabbit holes, nothing outside they're entrance but sand, is this an indication of they're build and make up.
I also jumped across the loach brook and scrambled up the opposite bank for a wider view of the small river valley, the long barrow really stands out, looking good even in the mid afternoon gloom of perhaps the greyest day of the year so far, weather wise.
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After a fair soaking at Gwern Gof Isaf hut circle near tryfan, I was not quite reluctant to get back out of the warm car, but the idea of waiting for a dryer day had occurred to me that's for sure. But that's not the postal way, I opted for walking boots (that are still waterproof) instead of wellies, picked up the shears and strode of into the misty wilderness.
I parked by the cattle grid this time and followed the wall down to the river which had more water in it than the first time I came, I was almost certainly going to slip off a rock and get wet., well, wetter than normal, but I made it across, grumbling but no wetter than when I started. From the other side of the river it's just a case of finding the big rock and the four poster is about 50yards away. River crossing aside no problem.
You may have noted that I was carrying shears with me, my first visit had been somewhat frustrated by two inappropriately placed gorse bushes, they are right on the cairn itself and half obscure two of the four stones.
The smaller of the two bushes had all but died and the entire plant was removed easily in less than half an hour. I hasten to add that absolutely no damage occurred to the structure of the cairn or to the stone. The ground isn't too pretty where the bush was , but I'm sure that a good summer will green right over the brown patch.
It's not like anyone but me ever goes there, If you feel like complaining feel free, (I may have a go at the other gorse bush if no-one does) but I feel the site is better off for having me as a friend, and now the only four poster in North Wales has 50 % less gorse coverage and will soon look the better for it.
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I parked in the small car park near Gwern Gof Isaf campsite, it was raining, but as it wasn't too far from the road I was unperturbed by the crappy weather. Wellied feet, waterproof trousers, and old trusty coat, just follow the rocky ridge up, how hard can it be ?
Half way to the hut circle I was in such a good mood I stopped on a prominent rock to show the world my genius at air guitar. The world didn't seem to care too much and I didn't blame it, i'm not very good ....musically, but ask me to find a little hut circle on a big mountain side and I can really shine at that. From the prominent rock that has to be stood upon, you have to walk through two low walls and pass a sheep shelter(?) and the hut circle will appear on your right up against a vertical sheet of rock.
First of all I paced round it giving it a wide berth, like a tiger waiting for the right moment to pounce, or a Top Gear enthusiast jealously surveying the newest Ferrari. Either way, half an hour passed before I even stood next to it let alone enter the little circle.
From most angles the hut seems to have a difficult to understand interior, the southern arc of the circle wall is wider than the rest, and inside the circle that is a little bit too square to be a real circle, is another circular setting of stones with a rectangular depression inside that. It seemed to be more cairn like at times, with the central depression being a cist rather than a hearth, but I guess they that know, know best.
The mist never really lifted much during my stay, Tryfan was half draped in misty goodness, across the valley Pen yr Helgi Du fleeted by for an instant. Today was never about getting to the top or having a great view, it's just about being there, dry or wet, today my coat was really not cooperating in defeating the fine sideways rain, and it was wet. Back to the car, before my tolerance of cold and wet were all used up for the day.
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This was to be Eric's first real mountain climb, his slack jawed expression of disbelief when I pointed out where we were going wasn't very encouraging.
We parked as close to the dam on Llyn Cowlyd and started the walk, we probably spent too much time at the dam, messing about as children are wont to do, but then we got going.
There is no certain path from where we started, so we were free walking a path of our own choosing, through bogs across deep icy snow drifts, it's his first snow of the year so this was particularly fascinating. (long drawn out wistful sigh)
All the way up thus far the low clouds had veiled the summit, and Eric had his first taste of mountain walking, that is, when you crest a ridge thinking your nearly there and then thump, still loads left yet.
We got right under the summit, only a 150 vertical meters to go and Eric had his second mountain lesson, heights are scary.
So scary in fact that he didn't want to go right up to the top, I tried some gentle persuasion, some bribery, then some reverse psychology, but he had become firm, Pen Llithrig Y Wrach summit would have to wait for another day.
He said at the bottom, back at the car, that he regretted not going all the way to the top, Daft head Bear Grylls was on the radio after and he convinced Eric to trust his Dad and give it another go, so the first Sunday with money and good weather, we'll give it another go, only without the two mile stone hunting walk beforehand.
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With Eric in tow we arrived suited and booted and on time for the winter solstice sunrise, I know it's tomorrow but i'm off work today so it will have to do.
Unfortunately the weather doesn't give a damn what I want and the sunrise remained stubbornly veiled behind cloud. I bet the sun shone at Stonehenge.
Unable to prove or disprove any solar alignments, which are most likely to be casual and arguable rather than obvious and easily proved.
Oh well winter comes round every year, but I don't.
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Just a quick nip out to my nearest hill fort on a sunny winter Sunday afternoon.
A lesser known Maiden Castle on the Sandstone trail, it was cold and windy and with both dogs pulling me all over the show it was not a mellow visit. But it's always a worthwhile visit when the fort is named after you, or you after it or both from the same Bee keeping tradition. (so i'm told)
A short time ago an experiment was performed, on the line of the Clwydian hill forts fires were set, to test intervisibility, they said the fires may have been visible from here at Maiden castle, and I can well beleive it, the view west into Wales is extensive to say the least.
The view North to Beeston crag and its Iron age fortifications is blocked by more sandstone crags, the information board proclaiming Maiden castle as an historic monument is either overgrown or gone.
Plenty of people up here , even at sundown in the winter, S'goood.
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After showing Alken ( Thesweatcheat) some of the wonders and delights of my hometown and county we sped our way to Snowdonia, which is somewhat more well endowed when it comes to wonders and delights.
Iv'e seen and felt the presence of Moel Siabod more than a few times, from afar and closer to, but today was the day we got up close and personal.
The weather reports had lied through their teeth at us forecasting mostly sunshine, it was cloudy. Not so much that you couldn't see the mountains, just enough to hide their peaks, and whilst it didn't rain it did hale at us once and on top of the top it was, it's fair to say a bit nippy.
We started at the outdoor pursuits center at Plas y Brenin, with it's rather nonsensical dry ski slope. Crossing a bridge over the edge of the eastern of llynnau Mymbyr, the water comes rushing out of the llyn as if anxious to get out, little knowing Swallow falls or anything.
Then it's through some old moss covered woods and out on to the north east slopes of Moel Siabod proper. After the dark under the trees the mind craves a view, and the first to offer itself is Pen Llithrig y Wrach, its behind us all the time growing slowly further away but getting bigger all the same.
Then the big mountains come into view, Yr Wyddfa and its near neighbours, the Glyders and the Carneddau, the pointy bits are just higher than the cloud line, but it doesn't really matter, like a good scary film it's what you don't see rather than what you do see that gets you.
Contrary to the majority of cairns round here is Dyffryn Mymbyr, nestling neatly next to a river the Nantgwryd at the bottom of the valley, but from half way up the mountain it more than strains the eyes to find it. The same can be said of the Cefn Glas cairns on the other side of the mountain to the west, an estimate box of two hundred yards is needed, its there somewhere, finger points downwards vaguely.
The Nant y Llys longcairn is similarly lost in distance and bad light to the west. So it would seem that the mountain should be seen from the cairns but the cairns melting into the background need not be seen from the mountain, mountain rules all.
Fifty meters north of the cobbled frozen trig point, is our destiny for the day, Moel Siabod's bronze age cairn. It's been reshaped by walkers unknown, surprised maybe by a cold wind ? But rather fortuitously and sadly there is a big flat stone inside the cairn resting, nay slumped uselessly against the cairn material, it's presumed to be the large cist cover that lay above our ancient mountain lover, it's broken, but only two small pieces have come off and it's still able to bring me out of myself, to, for an instant lose myself in the moment. But it is pretty damn cold and my fingers are hurting, bringing me back to reality, wonderful Snowdonian reality, the icy wilderness above it all.
Seeing it all spread out before you , these mountains can become infectious, from the top, we could i'm sure feel the connections being formed in our minds, the list getting longer, as we looked around it was i'm going up that one, that one then that one.
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Leaving Craig yr Aderyn behind I drive past Castle y Bere, then past Lady Jones' chapel, and then past a farm called Gwastadfryn. The track leads one higher and higher, through two gates until we reach Hafotty Gwastadfryn. This really is as far as you can safely drive, it is an appreciable percentage of the climb and not wanting a full bore hike I settled for this half drive half walk affair.
Checking the compass, I set off in the easterly direction it indicated, naturally it is all up hill and it did'nt take long to start huffing and puffing. With plenty of breather stops to turn and take in the scenery, which is dramatic to say the least. Only the highest peak of Cader Idris was visible for an ocean of fast foamy clouds were spilling over the tops, looking like an otherworldly Niagara falls.
There are two grassy tracks leaving Hafotty Gwastadfryn one leads eventually to the cairns of Tyrrau Mawr , and the one I was treading leads to Moel Gallt.
I got fed up with the even easy track and struck off at an angle up the boggy and uneven slope to try and reach the cliff tops of Craig y llyn. After a great deal of huffing and an unhealthy dose of puffing, I arrived at the top, half way between the cairn of my desires and the peak(ish) of Craig y Llyn.
The view north, east and west were free of clouds and the view was as ever stunning, but the southern aspect was stubbornly remaining completely engulfed in cloud. The cloud bank periodically sent a few tendrils of wispy cloud my way but the wind which was'nt as bad as last time but still quite strong quickly did my bidding and kept the hill top cloud free.
At the eastern end of the mother hills just before the gradient goes steeply down is this cairn, it's been badly scooped out and the wall next to it is probably to blame for its disheveled nature. But enough remains of it to deduce that it was once a big big cairn, it's best view is down the Dyffryn Dysinni to the sea, but with a watchfull eye to the godly abode of Cader Idris over it's shoulder.
The clouds came and went, sometimes thick and veiling but mostly thin and ghostly, the sun just seemed to highlight the shimmery beauty of nature. But to the south always cloud, and the cloud still poured over the mountain tops, I have spent too much time here now and it's time for a short walk in Tyrrau mawr's direction before I loose my mind completely to this heavenly scene.
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Praise be to Rhiannon for finding this one, as a birthday treat to myself I took myself out to find this cup marked rock in some of the most exquisite countryside North Wales has to offer.
I've driven past here maybe half a dozen times on route to stone rows and cairns and such, had no idea it was there or i would have been here long ago. Follow the many many gated road that slithers along under the Cader Idris range, and stop before you enter the forestry commision type place that has Bedd y Brenin in it. Look over the gate and a small rocky outcrop is about a hundred yards away, the cupped boulder and the kerb cairn are below it.
The kerb cairn is a little cracker, totally unexpected.
Well I knew about the two cairns but you just don't expect such a nice little monument, whilst photographing it I noticed that the cairn and cupped boulder lined up nicely with Pared Y Cefn Hir, as there are no coincidences, this can't be one. The boulder is about five foot square and although there are supposed to be eight cups I could only see seven. I'm not sure if it's my over active imagination or not but they were laid out it seemed in a phallic sort of way, two next to each other and four bending away towards the mountains.
The other cairn, which can be in no way said to be the other side of the cupped boulder looks down over Barmouth and the Mawddach estuary. Though much crapper than its near nieghbour it still has a fantastic view.
So glad that Rhiannon added this site, got any more anyone?
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After a long wait and much pondering over the weather reports, the day finally came, it was November the 3rd, The Sweetcheat and me were on our way to Cader Idris.
As we approached the expensive pay and display carpark (2quid for 4hrs or 4quid for all day) we could see the Peaks of Cader Idris were covered in thick grey cloud, par for the course to me. We donned our weatherproofing and set off up the pony track.
At our first breather stop we could see the tumbled Hill fort of Craig y Castell, I wondered if we would have a moment to go up and have a quick look after we came down.
Nearing the steeper part of the walk we noted how there was blue sky coming in off the Irish sea, most unusual, Alken said that by the time we get to the top it will have moved in above us. (he couldn't have been more right, but we didn't know it yet)
The path zigzags up to the top of Rhiw Gwredydd, past a large strangely cut block with a seam of quartz showing, from above here we could see where the cairns were, so we mozied on over as best we could in the ferocious winds that seemed to be somewhat single minded about pushing us over the edge.
We were both amazed, we've both seen many many cairns, but these were big. The biggest one , the southern one was so huge we couldn't really tell if it was one big one or two that had slipped into each other. The other two were smaller but only when compared to the big one, but they did have the peachiest of positions, looking down into the valley of the Afon Mawddach, and beyond, Iv'e seen many beyonds too but this one will take some beating, from here I could zoom in on Craig y Castell and the cairn on a woodland saddle, off in the distance, below dark clouds was Snowdon and the Carneddau and the whole was lit by a patchwork of dappled autumn sunlight, goosebumped and hairprickled, we sat and watched a while before tearing ourselves away, away up to the top of the still cloudy peak of Cader Idris.
On, on and ever upwards, with the crap wham song with the words "take me to the edge of heaven" intermittently invading my inner sanctum, I carefully didn't mention this for fear of being pushed over the edge. Wham and mountain walking sooo don't go together. We were getting higher now and the summit came into view, it was now that Alken's shrewd weather prediction came to fruition, he is not only a Sweetcheat but mixed with a postman becomes a bad weather repellent.
The view from the top is jaw dropping to say the least, we sat in silence for some time just drinking in the splendor, all around us the views went for miles, here and there low clouds dropped their watery cargo on inoffensive Welsh villages and beaches, but we stayed gloriously dry and content.
The sun was getting low and bathed Craig yr Aderyn and it's whole valley in a golden autumnal light, it was with this view foremost that we tripped and staggered our way down, still dry.
A darn good day out!!!
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Parking for plenty next to a pond called llynheilyn on the A481 near the junction with the A44. Follow the bridleway up into the hills, when the bridleway turns into a footpath branch right and make for the top of the hill. Monolith is at the southeast end of the summit.
It was really really windy up here today, just standing still enough to take pictures was a chore, but there was room for two to crouch out of the wind behind this big stone. This megalith would be about the same size as the nearby Cwm maerdy stone, but much much easier to visit. It has lost none of its appeal by lying down, indeed after a few thousand years on its feet we can grant it a brief reprieve, have a lie down my stoney friend, take a brake. The top of the stone must be the pointier of the two ends, it has faint runnels running half the way down from the pointy end, from its long time standing.
From this stone we can almost appreciate the large number of megalithic sites in the vicinity, Bryn y maen stone row, Fedw stone circle, the van barrows, Llanerch cupped stone, Llandegley rocks settlement, Cwm Maerdy standing stone, and Graig camp, are just a few.
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After descending Bryn y maen hill from the fallen monolith, it was just a matter of crossing the road and driving up to the farm. At the farm there is a fork in the track, left had a sign saying free range children and animals, so not wanting to run over any animals, we went right and parked up at the farm house next to two other cars. I knocked on the door but to no avail, just then I heard a motor and turned to see the gap toothed farmer on his quad bike, I asked about the cup marked stone and could we have a quick look, he said leave your car there and follow me.
We followed him for maybe fifty yards when he looked at the ground and indicated the stone with his wellied foot, I thanked him very much and he returned to his farming labours.
The cup marks are on the whole faint and worn, as would be expected on this exposed hillside, only about a dozen were obvious, two of them looked to be micro cups barely a couple of centimeters across, The Shropshire Traveller on the other side says there maybe thirty two, but I can't see them. I photographed the stone took a quick look about the countryside and we were done, on route back to the car we came across the farmer again, he asked if it was what we expected, did we have much experience with them and how did we know of his stone, I answered yes, yes, and the internet, thanked him one more time and then it was off to the Giants grave
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Showing 1-20 of 588 fieldnotes. Most recent first | Next 20 |
After visiting more than nine hundred ancient places and driving between fifteen to twenty thousand miles every year I can only conclude that I'm obsessed with these places, and finding this website seven years ago only compounded that obsession, at least I'm not alone anymore.
My favourite places are:
Ring of Brodgar
Callanish
Balnauran of Clava
Torhouskie
Swinside
Nine stones close
Bryn Celli Ddu
The Druids circle (penmaenmawr)
HafodyGors Wen
Gwal y Filiast
Grey Wethers
Boscawen Un
La Roche au Fees
Drombeg
Uragh
Talati De Dalt
and these are only the ones that immediatly spring to mind, so many stones and not enough lifetimes.
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