Latest Fieldnotes

Visited 03.06.15

When I drove past the Cock Crowing Stone my curiosity was raised by the bold graffito on the stone. Obviously, I took some pictures and resolved to investigate the unusual stone on Google. The search was not particularly productive as to the naming of the stone. Huddersfield Exposed suggested that “the stone might rotate at the sound of a cock crowing on a specific day of the year, or it might be standing on top of a treasure hoard”. An alternative explanation was that it was a frequent perch for a cock grouse crowing in the morning.

I checked out the photos on Geograph and found that the quoted OSGR for the stone is not accurate: It is located at SE 08202 09036 (or 53.57784, -1.87758 on Google Maps).

Directions to Cnoc Nan Dursainean Cairn: Park up at the Free Church of Scotland Car Park in Garrabost. Walk SE up the single track road for c. 200 yards until it reaches a dead end at a derelict building. Continue SE on a moorland path for c. 450 yards to reach a white footbridge on the left. Cross the footbridge then walk c. 20 yards SW to a triangular standing stone called Clach Glas on a grassy mound. Retrace your steps back to the path then head SW along a vague path winding through the heather for c. 600 yards to reach Cnoc Nan Dursainean, a green patch in brown moorland. There is an arc of several stones in the SW of the cairn probably containing a ruined chamber and a single standing stone in the NE. Walk NW along a rough moorland path towards Garrabost. After c. 450 yards you will reach the outskirts of the village. Head N over a burn towards an open field. Walk N across the field towards the A866. Walk c. 300 yards ENE along the A866 to reach the Free Church of Scotland Car Park. My route is viewable on Garrabost Standing Stone & Chambered Cairn. Walking Boots and GPS Navigation are recommended for this circular route.

Directions to Cnocan Nan Cobhar from Broadford: Take the B8083 Elgol turn in Broadford. Stay on the B8083 for c. 11 miles. Turn left for Old Kilmarie Graveyard. After 0.5 mile on the single track park up at Old Kilmarie Graveyard. Walk c. 280 yards NW back to Kilmarie House. There is a gate on the right just above Kilmarie House. This leads to a path beside a river. Follow the path NW for c. 50 yards to a footbridge. Cross the bridge then walk SE for c. 50 yards to reach Cnocan nan Gobhar Cairn. My route is viewable on Cnocan nan Gobhar Cairn (Kilmarie).

Visited June ‘25

One of those sites that has always been high on my list to visit. We were vaguely in the area, and I really really needed to get to see it.
After heading south from Llanglydwen we parked on the verge of the track which runs down from the north side of the site. I had to manoeuvre carefully along the path which was muddy/skiddy but mostly covered in places by several fallen trees (in an earlier storm?). After perhaps 20 minutes or so I reached the clearing, with the dolmen coming into view.
A big smile crossed my face, as I realised this is going to be as good as I’d hoped. This one will stick in the memory – I’ll easily feel transported back to that clearing.
I walked around trying to take in the wider site – some outlying stones, the orientation of the chamber – but just wanted to sit and soak it up.
Such a visually pleasing monument in a beautifully isolated place.

Dun Canna

June 10, 2025

A vegetated promontory located at the northeast corner of Camas Mor (a kilometre northeast of Isle Martin in Ardmair Bay) bears the remains of this Iron Age promontory fort. To visit, follow the A835 north from Ullapool for about five miles until you see a sign pointing left to Blughasary. Follow this winding road to its end where lies the small Keanchulish car park. From there, head across the stream and follow the signed footpath to “Dun Canna – 1½ miles”.

The footpath leads through a mixture of grassy and bracken covered terrain and finally ends at a breach in the eastern wall of the fort, although Canmore (now Historic Environment Scotland at trove.scot) points out that the true entrance actually lay to the north.

Dun Canna consists of a large, cliff-girt enclosure divided into two sections by a precipitous drop at a narrow neck of land, and is largely surrounded by substantial ruined stone walls, now reduced largely to tumble. In a few locations, it is still possible to detect structure in the walling but little else is visible nowadays.

Visited June ‘25.

Made my way from the road, through the tunnel of branches, through the 3 kissing gates – staying straight/right (but not towards the farm equipment), until Pant-y-Saer appeared. Just. It was trying to hide in the undergrowth, which swamps half of the stones. Although there’s been many skeletal remains, and pottery, arrowheads, etc found here, it looks like the chamber is trying to hide its secrets in the bushes.
Although no real views to be had today, the site still was impressive, with remnants of the edge of a mound and possible forecourt on the visible western side.
Nice big, gnarly capstone too. Yeah, really liked this one.

After hunting about for various cairns on the south of the A836 it was time to drive along the road to park near Ardvannie’s Chamber Cairn, slightly to the north. At almost 26 meters wide and 1.6m tall, it would take a large tree to protect it. A beech provides the large tree which seems to be trying to protect the chamber, situated on the cairn’s south west.

As usual the cairn has been damaged, the access road has removed a chunk on the east side, field clearance has been dumped on top (also around the edges) along with the usual stone removal.

A bit of a ‘what if’ but also enough to let an imagination conjure up an image of what it once looked like.

We would see this site again later in the day, completely accidentally, of course.

Visited 31/03/2025.

Ardvannie Kerb Cairn still survives despite the occasional visit from cows. Several kerbs remain in place and surprisingly not noted by Trove (Canmore) are the remnants of a cist situated in the middle of 6.5m wide cairn.

A superb view of Dun Creich to west and lovely views over Dornoch Firth add to site. The nearby pond much more recent.

From the chamber cairn at Ardvannie we headed west and pulled in at the first gate on the south side of the A836. Over the fence, head west following the pond until it’s end, head south then back east on the pond’s south side. This will lead straight to the site.

Be warned, if wet weather this will be a mud bath, however, for us it was dry and more of an ankle breaker.

Visited 31/03/2025.

18/05/2025 – I was supposed to be looking for big trees near Inverness today but somehow I ended up by mid morning half way down Loch Ness and off to Corrimony Chambered Cairn! I’m not complaining as this Bronze Age Clava type cairn is pretty wow! I like a day that doesn’t go to plan by still turns out OK.

Warning: the following contains a good deal of unwarranted speculation. But then again, what else does a possibly over-imaginative visitor have, thousands of years down the line? For all I know, maybe it really is the burial site of four kings.

I definitely felt these four were in a circle, not a square. Perhaps that’s to do with their shapes – I felt like they were flatter on the inside-facing sides (though inspection didn’t really back this up). My sister compared them to the conspiratorially-positioned knights at Rollright. They’re so sturdy and pleasingly unangular. I couldn’t help feeling that they’d been positioned very deliberately, even though that must have been an extra nuisance. I mean how did they even haul them here in the first place, let alone manoeuvre them into the ground when they’re so close together. It’s a health and safety nightmare.

I liked the spacing of them. The size and consequent feel of the space in the centre felt just right for the size of the stones. Much closer and it’’d be crowded. But any further apart and you’d lose the cohesion of the group.

We sat and tried to draw them. Our eyes were drawn to the view through each gap. The view to the west seemed most lumpy and interesting to me. I’d like to have seen the view to the east, because that’s the line to Hindwell Pool, where the stones go to drink and where the totally massive Hindwell palisaded enclosure was. But that way is blocked by the encroaching hedge.

We amused ourselves by wondering whether the circle wasn’t like an entrance gate where you got your bag checked and your ticket stamped. Or where you had to feel the vibes and throw off your everyday thoughts before you walked to the important place of the enclosure.

It was very quiet here and with the sun shining not far off the solstice we started to feel very relaxed and sleepy. We felt that falling asleep might not be the best idea at such a circle, far too dangerous :)

I don’t believe in dowsing of course, it’s not scientific. But my grandfather could dowse for water. And I keep some dowsing rods in the boot of my car. Just in case, like. So we both had a go. The rods crossed every time I went through the gaps between the stones. But what else would you expect.

I had hoped to go and ‘feel the vibes’ at Hindwell Pool, but it’s all on the land of the farm, and besides it was evidently lunchtime. So we emulated the stones by getting a drink there instead (some local apple juice from the farm shop).

I can’t think of a stone circle I’ve liked better, and would recommend a visit.

I joined an archaeological dig close to here which has been investigating another site with possible usage back to the neolithic. In time I’ll log that but perhaps it’s best kept unmentioned for now since the dig is ongoing – happy to share details privately.

Afterwards I decided go for a walk on the hill and “discovered” the maiden castle [hahaha] whilst checking out the graveyard structure which is basically next to it. The wall of that can now easily be seen from the footpath since the (plantation) trees have been chopped down. If you make your way over the logging destruction, then you’ll see the “castle” behind it marked by a ring of mighty beech trees. I guess it was a dun which has been looted over time?

Maiden’s Castle is a great location, was cool to stumble across it. The mysteries of Bennachie are plentiful!]

” Apart from evidence of non-ferrous metalworking, a piece of early medieval decorated glass and a glass bead, there are three radiocarbon dates from contexts below and above the inner rampart, and beneath the wall of the circular internal building, all of them falling in the range of AD 410-640. ” -hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/records/SC2962.html

Visited 03.06.25

Cairnholy 15 Carved Panel is located c. 6 feet SE of Cairnholy 13 Carved Panel on a rocky knoll c. 0.5 miles NNW of Cairnholy Farm in Dumfries and Galloway. The panel measures c. 2 feet ENE-WSW and 2.5 feet NNW-SSE. There are two eroded carvings on the central portion of the W half: a cup and ring carving measuring c. 4 inches in diameter and 0.25 inches deep and a cup carving measuring c. 1.5 inches in diameter and 0.1 inches deep. The cup carving is obscured by a white patch of lichen but a slight depression can be felt.

Visited 04.05.25

Cairnholy 13 Carved Panel is located c. 12 feet SE of Cairnholy 4 Carved Panel on a rocky knoll c. 0.5 miles NNW of Cairnholy Farm in Dumfries and Galloway. The rock art is carved on a sub rectangular panel measuring c. 5 feet ENE-WSW and 5.5 feet transversely, split in two by a grassy ravine. There are 7 cup carving right of the ravine on the N edge: a group consisting of 2 parallel lines of 3 cup carvings and a single carved cup. On the left of the ravine there are 2 central cup carvings and a cluster of carvings in the SW. The SW cluster has an eroded central cup and ring carving surrounded by several cup carvings. Canmore ID 368423 has further details of Cairnholy 13 Carved Panel.

On the SW corner of the panel there are two parallel deep grooves, measuring c. 6 inches and 1 foot respectively, which may be natural depressions smoothed and extended by domestic activity.

Visited 05.04.25

Cairnholy 14 Carved Panel is located c. 6 feet E of Cairnholy 4 Carved Panel on a rocky knoll c. 0.5 miles NNW of Cairnholy Farm in Dumfries and Galloway. Cairnholy 14 is a flat panel, shaped like South America, on the N edge of the ridge. There is a line of natural hollows running E-W on the S side of the panel. There are 2 carved cup markings in the centre of this alignment. The carved cups are c. 1.5 inches in diameter and 0.25 inches deep, adjacent to 2 deep natural hollows. Further details of Cairnholy 11 are available in Canmore ID 368424.

There are 6 carved panels on the knoll: Cairnholy 4,11,12,13,14&15.

As we walked along Stolinskie and myself talked about sites that could have easily avoided being damaged with a bit of care. Within minutes the Cambuscurrie Wood cairn would provide the, sadly, the perfect example of our conversation.

The cairn is quite literally next to the track, the south side of the cairn looks that it has been completely removed. They speak of large stones on the north side, they maybe are there but are now completely covered in vegetation and dumping of excess earth. The south side has been cleared of vegetation – to allow better views of the track.

A bit of a tragedy, a ‘what if’.

Still, good fun heading back down to the road, washed away paths, steep banks, head high vegetation, the much awaited appearance of ‘jabby stuff’ and paths on the maps that didn’t exist. As usual, eventually a track was found ironically leading us straight to where I had parked.

Visited 31/03/2025.

Heading east through woods and clearings we found the forestry track that would lead straight to the long cairn on Edderton Hill.

It has taken quite a battering. A lot of walls have been built using stones from the cairn, even worse a 2 meter gap has been chopped through to allow a track, now overgrown, to the woods nearby to the north. Plenty of space to go round – baffles me.

What remains is a cairn that stretches over 60m in length, some of it turf and heather covered with the width being 14m in places especially in the east. Other parts are reduced to 7m in width, its height no more than 1.5m.

Easy to spot on the north side of the track.

Visited 31/03/2025.

After the Morangie visit we headed west leaving the A9 at the Dornoch Firth Bridge roundabout to follow the A836 heading further west. We parked at the first available place that resembled a lay-by next to the beginnings of an old forestry track. From here we headed uphill and south west, reasonably steep and plenty of vegetation, cutting through marked and unmarked tracks to reach a track of sorts which seemed to find a way through small gorges to eventually reach a clearing. At the southern end of the clearing is the impressive Red Burn Cairn.

It’s measurements are impressive as well – 23m wide and 4m high with superb views to north over the Dornoch Firth. Canmore suggests a cist on the north side but a lot of the stones could suggest that. On the west side a stone that might possibly have stood seems to be having a rest. Elsewhere some serious houking or a possible trench has taken place. As with a lot of these places tracks have clipped the sides of the track – you’d think there would be plenty of room to get round. Much worse examples were soon to appear as we headed east.

However, this is a superb site, damage is restricted so plenty to admire. Also, fair play to the people re-building the the old ‘but and ben’. Great to see such restoration.

Visited 31/03/2025.

It’s not everyday you drive through Cullen, stop at the town’s Square and meet a new TMA’er with a pole and a copy of the The Modern Antiquarian stuck to the top of it. With Stolinskie safely on board we headed towards Inverness, north over the Kessock Bridge to stop slightly north of Tain.

We parked in a lay-by just to north of the famous Morangie Distillery, walked, west, past a huge stone with engravings (see Folklore) to the junction of two fields, next to the A9. Over the gate, follow the fence and dyke, jump over another fence then over a wee burn, the dun is straight ahead to the south. The dun can be seen from the A9 which in turn has superb views north over the Dornoch Firth and Edderton Sands.

The walls of the dun still stand at over 2m wide and in some places the turf covered walls reach 1.5m. As usual field clearance has dumped on the site, however this doesn’t hide the site’s 15m internal width. Sadly, a lot of stonework has been removed to build ‘dry stane dykes’, there are plenty marking nearby fields.

A nice and easy way to start the day. That would slightly change later on. :-)

Visited 31/03/2025.

This stone is about 50m uphill from and in full view of the abandoned cemetery and ruined chapel that stand on the high ground between Balnahard and Balnahard Bay. Just follow the fenceline from the graveyard. It has mistakenly been called a stone of penance for the nuns who once lived hereabouts but it is millennia earlier than the date ascribed. I felt that it was on an track to possible sites on the higher ground beyond and on examination of satellite imagery has now revealed a wealth of old rig and furrow that starts about 600ft north of the stone and extends for a wide area on the hidden uplands here and I was therefore right. There is also a dun on the OS East of this area of cultivation. At time of writing I have yet to cross reference with Canmore and give that its correct name and add to this site.

As for the Balnahard area, it is a hard slog along the track from above Kiloran Bay, the nearest place to park: an hour and a half walk each way. If you want to do any more exploration of the archaeology on the hills around then be fit or bring a tent. I hope to return next year – there is so much to see….

The following is quoted from Gregory, Donald., Country Churchyards In Wales, (2002); (2015), pp. 223-224:
“There is no churchyard in Wales where there is a longer history of burial or where there is so obvious an example of the continuity of the religious use of one particular site. … All the churches built in this place, from the earliest religious settlement in the llan to the present early nineteenth century edifice, have stood inside a Bronze Age alignment of stones. This calculated choice of sites by early Christians adds weight to the arguments of those who believe that in former times great importance was attached to the magic powers associated with circles. … the present-day churchyard wall at Ysbyty Cynfyn contains five stones that belonged to a Bronze Age circle, of which probably three are still in their original positions, the other two having at some time been moved to act as gate posts. There are no ifs or buts about Ysbyty Cynfyn, which provides an impressive example of the continuity of religious association in a burial ground.”

Gladman poses the question as to whether this is the most remote of all stone circles, even more so than its northerly counterpart White Moor. I made the trek to the latter 12 years ago and was inspired to write my first (self-congratulatory) fieldnote. Amongst the responses was one from The Sweetcheat suggesting Stall Moor as my next serious quest and four years ago I finally got round to making the attempt. Alas my companion at the time was in the process of recovery from Long Covid so had run out of puff by the time we’d made it to Stalldown stone row so continuing on to the circle was out of the question.
I’d been promising myself another go ever since and it finally came about yesterday with my daughter and her partner volunteering to accompany me on the expectedly lengthy but massively worthwhile expedition. The notes about suggested walks on The Cornwood Inn website indicated that parking between the village and the gate to the water treatment plant was a no-no; four years ago I’d been able to park the other side of the gate but this time I didn’t want to risk driving up there and finding it padlocked (as it was) so we parked in the village and walked the lanes which added a good couple of miles to what turned out to be at least 3/3 and a half from the gate to the circle.
That bit was relatively easy, a gravel path following the river all the way to the weir then picking our way steadily uphill until with the aid of my trusty binoculars I spotted what had to be the circle on the horizon to the north. We crossed the Bledge Brook and trudged through the tussocky grass, giving a Dartmoor pony and her foal a decently wide berth, and there it was.
OK, it’s not the prettiest of circles and bar one the stones are on the small side but for its setting with a tremendous sightline all the way down the Erme Valley it’s second to none. The Sweetcheat says it better than I can in his fieldnote; its very remoteness and the majesty of the surrounding landscape give it a presence that belies its appearance. Yes, the sense of achievement in getting to it – I still can’t decide if it’s technically more remote than White Moor but there can’t be much in it – undoubtedly amplified the exhilaration I experienced in my final few steps. To think it’s been here for 4.000 years, largely undisturbed and unvisited for probably at least three quarters of that timespan.........it’s a special place and I feel privileged to have briefly intruded on its solitude. A big thankyou to my distinguished TMA forerunners for pointing me in its direction.

Visited 26.04.12

It was 13 years ago so I don’t have good recall of my visit to Carn Liath (Morangie Forest). I used OS Mapping to plot a route to the cairn. It is 2.2 miles from Aldie Burn Car Park with c. 95 yards total ascent. Walking and cycling are permitted. The main unknown is access from the forest track to the forest clearing due to fallen trees obscuring the forest rides.

Directions to Carn Liath (Morangie Forest): Take the Scotsburn turn off the A9 Tain Bypass. Follow the road for c. 1.8 miles to the right turn for Aldie Burn Car Park. Turn left into the car park after 50 yards. You can proceed from here on foot or by mountain bike. Take along a forest track heading NW which winds W along forest tracks for c. 2.2 miles to reach NH 7296 7969. Look for a forest ride heading NW then turn N towards a stony cairn in a large clearing. My walking route is viewable on Carn Liath (Morangie Forest).

A glorious day, filling in time waiting for the Colonsay ferry departure from Oban, with the great Dun Chathach already under our belts. I was only using an old OS49 map and hadn’t referred to Canmore so it wasn’t initially easy to spot.. but once you do you can’t miss it. Just look for the only tree in the field to your left when you take the Achaleven road. It is atop it. In May this wild apple(?) was a delight. A fine sight. And a damn sight more easy to find than all those cairns and sites around North Connel which defeated me, being behind housing. A better map needed for those…

I drove my car right up to the The Bothy and parked beside plenty of other cars. In the distance I could hear shooting so it was reasonable to assume another ‘pheasant shoot’ was finishing.

The gathering clouds I’d spied in the North East on the Hill of Edzell had ventured south to add the perfect covering of snow at the stone circle. It must have been thirty years since my last visit, another winter’s day, it was good to be back – almost nothing had changed including the snow.

No going over the Cairn O’ Mount for me on the way home, the snow gates had been closed.

Visited 04/01/2025.

Trantlemore is an isolated crofting township in the far N of the Scottish mainland. It is accessed via the A897 running 40 miles from Helmsdale to Melvich. The A897 is a single track road with passing places. It is a scenic route up to the N coast of Scotland with 16 Brochs included in the 32 sites on or near the A897 listed in TMA. That is 0.8 sites per mile!



Directions to Carn Liath (Trantlemore): Take the A897 Melvich turn off the A9 in Helmsdale. Follow Dunrobin St for c. 0.2 mile to a roundabout. Take a right turn onto the A897 Melvich. Follow this narrow road for 31.6 miles to a sharp cut-back left turn signed for Trantlemore. Follow the narrow lane for c. 0.1 miles to a car park beside Trantlemore Cemetery. Walk c. 100 yards W then turn right up a grassy bank to a gateway into rough pasture. Carn Liath (Trantlemore) is c. 50 yards NW of the gateway. My walking route is viewable on Carn Liath (Trantlemore).