The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

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Castlerigg (Stone Circle) — Fieldnotes

Posting this a bit after the event

Visited 21st December 2007 for the Solstice sunrise (ok technically I think we were a day out this year)

Arrived at 7.00am in the pitch black, the sky was clear and Venus was very clear in the sky. We were even treated to a brief meteor shower above Venus.

Some of the stones are roped off at the moment as is the santuary to allow the grass to recover.

Due to the hills don't trust predictions of local sunrise times, if you actualy want to see the sun as it creeps above the horizon you need to add about 45 minutes to an hour to official sunrise time

That said it was worth being there early as there are some wonderful light & shadow effects on the surrounding hills as the sun rises

We were finally treated to a an amazing sunrise at about 9.15

We spent a full two and a half hours at the circle chatting with others and taking in the majestic views, before finally retiring to the cafe in the car park as you enter Keswick - highly recomended after freezing your nuts off at Castlerigg ;-)

Finally thank you to LivingRocks, who we spent ages chatting with and has kindly posted the photo I requested to remind me of the stunning sunrise
Fascinated by megalithic sites since I first saw Castlerigg as a kid.

Never really got them out of my system, and no matter how many I visit Castlerigg will always be my first love

There is so much I still long to see and to learn about megalithic sites

(Photo is Derwent water from Friars Crag - Winter Solstice 2007)

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