This is on a tangent but in the big upland pasture where I'm working is an exposed bed of peat. About two feet beneath the present ground level is a bed of sticks and roots. Beneath that is another two or three feet of peat. The altitude is about 1700 feet and my basecamp is nearby. One of the bits of wood I've pulled out - Scotch pine - shows a fairly distinct axe mark where it's been severed from the trunk.

So much for the ring barking and brush burning theories !

Also found a third Black Stone - same site as previously. And TomBo is right - drystonewalling is alive in Weardale. ESA. It's not up to the standard of Alston Moor's but it's not far behind ...