Latest Fieldnotes

Directions are obviously the same with the exception that the stone can be much seen much more easily. It now has guards (3 of them) of honour, the remnants of Pityoulish Woods.

Cheers Strathie.

Re-visited 23/12/2016.

Creag Garten has always been high on my list of places to see being situated in one of my favourite areas looking south on to the Cairngorms.

We parked, nice chap the farmer who allowed us to park and gave us directions, at the Gartenbeg Farm. From there we headed north to some old sheds near a brand new gate which gained us entry to the Deishar Wood/Gartenbeg Plantation without jumping any fences. From here we headed north west and cross country to the top of the hill. Creag Garten has impressive northern defences, a sheer drop. It would have had impressive views north and south, and will again when the trees are chopped down. Sadly most of the walls have fallen, however entrances can be seen to the east, with 2 entrances on the west.

According to Canmore the fort is D shaped, presumably the shape of the wee hill its on. It measures 20m by 15m.

A fine way to start another hike in the Highlands.

Visited 23/12/2017.

What a wonderful place Guthrie Hill is with wonderful all round views with beautiful winter weather to match. Despite the obvious fact that the cairn has taken a severe battering it is an impressive place.

We headed east on the B9113 before heading south on the fourth minor road, signposted Guthrie. Parking just to the south of the Hilton Of Guthrie (farm) we headed south west and uphill to the top of Guthrie Hill. Situated at the top is the well damaged cairn. It was nice to see that the trig was placed a short distance downhill (to the east).

What remains is a site over 20m width and is just over 1m high (south) tapering to 0.3m (north). Some stones can be seen in the south. It is also nice to say that the farmer seems to be keeping well clear of the site. Long may he/she do so!

Great way to start a wee visit to Angus on the way down to Dundee.

Visited 28/12/2017.

I walked from the re-constructed cairn at Cairnwell, Badentoy Industrial Estate back down onto the verge of the A90 heading south to the Cairnwell junction. From here I headed west to Auchlee Farm. Having had a couple of dealings with farmer before I was glad that I jumped the fence just before the farm and headed north towards the cairn which is as Les describes.

From there I headed up to the Boswell Monument to look for more smaller cairns. Sadly most of these seem to have been tree ploughed out. I kept heading west until I could see the junction of two minor roads. Sadly for me before I reached the road I managed to jump straight into a ditch, waist high, near the road.

It was a very long squelchy walk back to the car. Not helping much, it started to get frosty. Still, back in one bit, change of clothes, all good fun.

Visited 14/12/2017.

As Old Sweetie says there is conjecture about what type of cairn this, I’ll go for a well battered Wessex Cairn surrounded by a ditch. Stones can be felt and seen in this cairn. A good time of year to go as I’d imagine this site would have a fair covering of brambles making any description difficult.

Early tourists from Italy appear to have been in the area as the site is locally known as Roman Knowe. In their day this would have been an impressive monument, it still is being over 30m wide, 2m high and a ditch averaging between 2 and 4m wide surrounds. Now it is mainly grass covered but cairn material can be seen.

From the wee village of Knapp head south east taking the second minor road heading straight east. The Falcon Stone can be seen in the field to the south. Follow this road to the junction and take the road south taking the first road east. Car parking is available at the Huntly Wood car park. From here walk east as the cairn is in Huntly Wood, behind a row of houses.

A nice and easy way to end the day.

Visited 29/12/2017.

Not wanting to upset MatTheCat but he did somewhat achieve a miracle by not taking any pictures of the ramparts on this hill. It is most definitely a hillfort. What it was used for is another question though. Sacred possibly, special definitely.

A triple set of ramparts, especially on the west, used to stand here but they have all sadly been much reduced in size. However the outer rampart does manage to encircle the top of the hill. Entrances, and they still have facing stones, are on the east and west sides.

This is a truly fantastic site with superb views south to all of the Fife Forts (on a clear day) and Dundee Law. Adding to atmosphere, for my visit, driving snow, wind and low clouds which made the fort even more life like as it appeared the clouds were surrounding us. (that might have been the previous nights exploits talking!)

We parked at Dron Farm, near the remnants of a church, and walked south back to the junction of two roads. Head west on a farm track and keep going until the track ends. Through the gate and jump a fence then climb to the top of the hill. You will have walked straight into the fort.

Fantastic place, fantastic hillfort and added snow making it all very wintery.

Visited 29/12/2017.

Should the somewhat more adventurous visitors to Ceredigion happen – whether by chance or design – to arrive at the hamlet of Ponterwyd, astride the A44, with a desire to head north... I dare say that, upon pondering awhile (as you do) they may well be tempted to emulate the locals and take the single track ‘short cut’ across Pumlumon in lieu of the looping, coastal route via Aberystwyth. And why not, since, although by no means endless, the possibilities that will present themselves are nonetheless multiplex, albeit at the mercy of the not infrequently inclement weather? Particularly for a traveller with a megalithically calibrated mind and/or an eye for an inspiring landscape: one, even today, still infused with legend; that subliminal, pseudo-metaphysical condiment forever seasoning the human story. For this is the land of Glyndwr and Taliesin, where almost every summit is crowned by a Bronze Age cairn, as if echoes of mighty deeds literally turned to stone upon the Medusa’s searing gaze. Ah, if only these mountains could talk, what tales would they tell, eh? Well, perhaps all is not lost in the mists of time, for listen carefully and Pumlumon really does speak for itself: the ‘piping’ call of the soaring Red Kite; the cacophony of the nascent Hafren (Severn, Britain’s longest river), Wye and Rheidol as they cascade from their lofty sources upon the main ridge following heavy rain; the wind audible in ubiquitous long grass concealing wetlands which once ensured Henry II’s knights floundered to their doom...

But what of the green foothills which sweep northward toward Dyffryn Dyfi from Nant-y-Moch, fleetingly glimpsed upon traversing our aforementioned minor road? Surely but a minor diversion before entering the domain of Idris and, on.. er.. somewhat firmer historical ground, Vortigen, Owain Gwynedd and Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, not to mention Edward Longshanks himself? The answer to that is, in every respect, a resounding ‘NO’. Firstly, access to the area is far from straightforward, it being necessary to negotiate the descent of Cwm Ceulan to Tal-y-Bont and approach via very minor roads exiting the A487 to the north; secondly, there is simply so much to see... from one of Wales’ premier waterfalls (Pistyll y Llyn), Moel y Llyn (with it’s very own ‘lady of the lake’ tale, to Cwm Einion. Ah exquisite Cwm Einion, perhaps better known to the occasional tourist as ‘Artist’s Valley’ owing to formative visits from one JMW Turner and, much more recently, home to a certain Mr Plant who (apparently) was inspired to write ‘Stairway to Heaven’ here with some other bloke amongst the ancient tilio-acerion native woodland. Furthermore, with almost every hill top once again crowned by a Bronze Age cairn, stone circle or chambered cairn, the Citizen Cairn’d must really take notice...

Which brings me, eventually, to Foel Goch, a seemingly minor coastal hill overlooking the Afon Dyfi as it nears the end of its short journey to the sea from Creiglyn Dyfi, the latter cradled beneath the mighty crags of Aran Fawddwy. I say ‘eventually’ because I make a farce of the initial approach by car... losing my nerve as I pass Bedd Taliesin and backtracking to the A487 to finally park up, rather sheepishly (appropriately enough in these parts) in a farmyard east of Tre’r-ddol, at Llety-lwydin, Cwm Cletwr, to my mind the only feasible option. Now on foot, the road descends very sharply from here to a T-junction, the right hand selection arriving in due course at a habitation on the left overflowing with free range chickens and other creatures pleasing to the senses. A public footpath sets off to the east ranging above the northern bank of the Afon Clettwr, the initial lush, green pasture giving way to a more coarse, upland domain. That’ll be Foel Goch, then.

As usual I haven’t done my homework – note to self: don’t... it’s far more interesting this way – so, having found the ‘Cairns’ depicted upon my map here, upon the southern flank of the hill/mini mountain, to be less than convincing, I head for the obvious, large cairn crowning the skyline to the north-east. Clearly this must be Pen y Foel Goch. Except, of course, it’s nothing of the sort, being in actual fact Carn Wen, a little below and to the west of the summit monument at SN68979274. According to RCAHMW (Dave Leighton, 30/7/12) this, one of numerous ‘White Cairns’ to be found in Wales measures “13m (N-S) by 17m (E-W), its shape distorted by slippage of material down steep west side of the summit; height 1m-2m.” Yeah, it’s a pretty substantial cairn... but the compelling reason to come here is the location which, to these eyes, is extraordinary for the relative low altitude. It really is. The stunning Dyffryn Dyfi, its river meandering to its all-inclusive conclusion, takes centre stage... but there is much more: the brooding, central ridge of Pumlumon surmounting the horizon to the south-east, Cadair Idris – with the seriously be-cairned, tautological Tarren Hills to its left – soaring sentinel to the approx north. Things (arguably) get even more interesting nearer to hand, initially just across the Afon Clettwr at Caer Arglwyddes, ‘The Lady’s Field’, where there are a number of cairns, one with impressive cist still in situ visited back in 2012. But why ‘The Lady’s Field’? Well, according to Dr Gwilym Morus (Welshmythology.com)... “All became clear when I had a conversation with an old lady who’s father had been born at Cae’r Arglwyddes, and according to her the name of the farm refers to a ‘lady of the lake’ folktale about the small lake up on Moel-y-llyn”. Things begin to fall into place... since Moel y Llyn, rising due south-east of Carn Wen, possesses a quartet of cairns in addition to its legendary feminine bathing facility.

A short, yet sweet scramble brings me finally to Pen y Foel Goch, featuring a further substantial cairn at SN69519285, that is a little to the approx north-west of the actual summit. Again according to Dave Leighton, this “measures some 10m across, allowing for distortion caused by slippage of material down the steeper west side. Robbing has left the eastern perimeter of the cairn as a grassy ring, its height 0.3m”. If anything, the vista to be enjoyed from this monument is even more impressive/expansive than from its neighbour below to the west. The fundamental difference, I guess, is the sight of yet another cairn, upon Cerrig Blaencletwr-Fawr (aka Esgair Foel-ddu) just under a mile distant to the east, beckoning the footsore modern antiquarian onward with its silent siren call. Nevertheless, what with a significant height loss to contend with – all too often the tired hill walker’s nemesis – I immediately give up any notion of an attempt today as falling within the ‘so near, yet so far’ category... only to find my impetuosity, if not curiosity, has decided otherwise and launched me half way down the slope before counter-revolutionary reason can react. Ha! Emotion over reason? Right on!

The intervening terrain is rough, trackless, featuring areas of severe bog. Standard practice for Pumlumon, to be fair. However the cairn is worth the not inconsiderable effort and is again exquisitely sited, this time gazing down into the equally compelling Cwm Einion at SN70779256. Now I’ve no idea whether Mr Turner made a foray up here – to this very spot – to be similarly entranced by the ever-changing light playing upon the legendary Moel y Llyn to immediate south-east. I doubt it. Hey, perhaps Timothy Spall might know? But if he did, it would explain a lot, methinks... for his work invokes, nay encapsulates the vibe I feel at places such as this. Mr Leighton reckons the much more mundane technical specifics are “11m NE-SW by 9.0m & 0.9m high”. Unlike both Foel Goch’s cairns Cerrig Blaencletwr-Fawr’s monument has unfortunately been defaced, given a hollow centre. The reasoning behind this is even more obscure than the usual ‘built by ignorant muppets’ since, clearly, no such fool has taken shelter here in a very, very long time, to judge by the presence of a tenacious tree of indeterminate (to me) type occupying the space. Now that, together with the other ‘Plant’ life formerly found within The Artist’s Valley, I can live with. Way to go, my woody stemmed friend! As if to mark the moment.. a rainbow arcs across the valley. Time to leave. Since it is a long way back... and who knows what other legendary idiosyncrasies these unassuming northern ‘foot hills’ of Pumlumon have up their collective ‘sleeves’ to bestow upon unsuspecting punters after dark? Hey, perhaps some of the more artistic people associated with this magical area were brave enough to find out? Perhaps.

Hill Of Dores is a hillfort associated with Macbeth and a castle. The castle apparently never existed, the hillfort most certainly does.

From Dronley we headed west back onto the A923 and made our way to the car park near the bottom of Dores Hill. It is also the car park for the Laird’s Loch fishery. By this time the weather had completely changed.

With snow getting heavier and heavier we made our way along the track to the fishery. Just as we neared the end of the track we headed uphill through the trees to summit, which houses the fort.

On three sides there are steep slopes but we approached from the west which, fairly difficult because of the trees, is less steep. The massive fort is almost 100m in length and well over 50m wide being oval shaped. A lot of the rampart has been destroyed but the forestry people have marked the ramparts by leaving parts of tree trunk giving an idea of a wooden palisade. Good idea this!

With the snow getting heavier we made our way back down, still heading south west but via a different route taking us back onto the A923 about a 1/2 mile west of the car park.

It is no secret that I love the snow. Along with heavy cloud the snow gives a different otherworldly atmosphere. Fortunately Macbeth did not appear.

Visited 29/12/2017.

To the south west corner of Dronley House Wood there is a very large artificial mound measuring almost 30, wide and 3m high. Unfortunately it has received the normal houking but it still retains its shape. It is completely covered in turf. Some people still use it, offerings of holly and flowers have been attached to the branches of the trees.

In the middle of Birkhill, on the A923, take the minor road heading north. Keep going north over the split crossroads until the first wood. The mound can be seen from the road to the east.

Nice easy start to the day.

Visited 29/12/2017.

I first tried to find this stone over a decade ago, due to whiny family and failing daylight I gave up and left the site for another day. That day came on the winter solstice of 2017, not a sunrise to be had on this day, Nine stones close to Gibbet moor to Wigber low to here, Bradbourne.
My map is only 1:50,000 not much information at all, parking by the cenotaph in front of the church, which is weirdly set back away from the road behind a house, there are two gateways, but no way of knowing which way is in, I guess right, Phil and me had to walk past a car full of people who must surely live here, but we get past them unhindered and through the gate into the church yard.
I have photographed Emma’s directions off the computer screen at home with my phone and now dig them out, but the battery has died and it is of no help at all, except maybe for a game of catch.
Fortunately, it is winter now instead of summer and I can see the stone through the branches of the trees that would otherwise be laden with leaves, fortune favours the bold, or in this case the tired and muddy.
Over a gate, down hill to another fence, over the fence across a slim brook, over another fence and your at the stone.

The stone leans, and then some, it’s on the short list for England’s leaniest stone. The top of the stone curves inwards making the top one big notch. But the most curious aspect of the stone for me is the weird J shaped groove on the edge of the stone, is it natural?
Is it carved? is there any way to tell?
On the other side of the stone are the fossils, they are small, get on your knees, get close and peel off the, the, lets call it mud.
Crinoids, they are called, an absolute mystery to bronze age man, these fossilised ones are very pretty but not a patch on a living specimen... upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Crinoid_on_the_reef_of_Batu_Moncho_Island.JPG

I first tried to find this little stone circle well over a decade ago, failed miserably too. But seeing as Alkens visit was so fruitful I decided to give it another go.

Gibbet Moor is right across the road from Gardom’s Edge, it could be loosely argued that this stone circle forms part of a vague linear thingy, that’s the correct terminology I believe. Looking at the map there’s stone circles and bunches of cairns stretching away to the north and the south. There was a lot going on round here in the past.
Unlike today, the place is forlorn and ghostly, I have the moor and the mist entirely to myself.

Daughter locked in the car, dozing under heaps of blankets, I start the long walk up the track, it seems to take forever, there should be a warning on maps, something like “places on the map may seem nearer than they really are”. After an age or maybe two I reach the building on the map along the track. The tentative cross on my map suggests I walk east and slightly south from the farm building. So I do.
It doesn’t take long for the building to melt away into the mist, all landmarks have now gone and I begin to wonder how on earth I will find my way back never mind the precious stones I’ve come to see.
I’ve photographed a few pictures off the screen at home with my phone in the hope they will be of some use in finding my way round but to no avail. Then I see the pallet standing up in the photo, then looking around desperately for a stood up pallet, still not availing. Then, and this is the last then, then I see the pallet. I stride towards it confident of finding stones, but there are none. Not far away is another stood up pallet, I wade over to it, it must be there. Nope
From this pallet, I can see a fallen one, I imagine the line going further and find another fallen pallet, from here I can see one stood up, it must be there, nope. Vaguely through the mist another pallet, I wonder if it is here, or did I go the wrong way at the first pallet, over I go. The pallets have numbers on them, this is number 4, it must be here I seem to have reached the end of the pallet line.
Explosive joy, I can see them, not twenty yards away, I squelch over to them.

It should be renamed Pallet stone circle.

If it is a stone circle.
So here I am, no wonder I didn’t find them last time, I think I was further along the track from here, and they are so low that I would never have seen them from where I was looking.
I wonder if any actual investigation has ever been done here, beyond the odd stoner turning up for a quick visit. The addition of another stone would indeed make it a perfect four poster stone circle, but with just the three, it is only strongly suggestive. Taking into account the number of other similarly aged monuments, especially Hob Hurts house, a curious square barrow barely two kilometers south, tips the scale in our favour. I reckon.
After a sit around and the obligatory tidy up I photograph the stones and take my leave. Rewinding my approach I notice the numbering on the pallets are nonsensical, they don’t follow on.
Just a small point.
I liked it here, despite the mist and lack of view, despite the cold and wet, I got a good vibe from the place, that more than anything else sells it to me.

23/12/2017 – Proper rubbish weather visit to Warton Crag. Low mist and fine rain. Didn’t really find too much of the hillfort and it was just too wet for me to be bothered looking about much. Just a quick up and down to the trigpoint really.

We started and finished our walk at Carnforth train station (lovely tea room). Quiteish roads to Warton and then a lovely climb up through a wood to the top. Nice rocky bits as well. I guess on a hot summer’s day this would be a lovely place to be.

Overall I did enjoy my visit even if my time spent at the fort was just a brief encounter :-)

Now it might be considered paradoxical – in the extreme – to talk of a ‘Green Desert of Wales’. Particularly when an already saturated ground simply can not absorb any more of the seemingly incessant torrent of water issuing forth from looming nimbostratus. Nevertheless I understand where that celebrated Welsh raconteur and walker, Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, was coming from when he employed the epithet to determine the wild, upland region of Mid Wales between the military domain of Mynydd Eppynt and Pumlumon, doyen of Welsh rivers. Yeah, despite only breeching the 2,000ft criterion in a handful of places, these deceptively brutal hills demand the utmost respect. Paths, where they exist at all, possess the disconcerting habit of luring both the wary and unwary alike into lugubrious bog, the ‘industrial strength’ grass the very antithesis of terrain suitable for ageing knees and ankles. Tell me about it.

So why do I return again and again to submit myself to such privations? Well, aside from subscribing to the teachings of Marx – Groucho, that is... not the dialectical German, nor his modern far left ‘disciples’ – and not wishing to belong to a club that would willingly have me as a member, I guess it is because the implied feeling of ‘wilderness’ here is – arguably – without parallel in all Wales. Even the UK, perhaps? And nowhere is the aura more apparent, for me, than at the highest point of Cwmdeuddwr, the summit ridge of Drygarn Fawr itself, crowned by the remnants of two ancient cairns in turn surmounted by massive, idiosyncratic beehives worthy of association with the soulful jazz canon of Amy Winehouse. Yeah, it was whilst chilling out here last year that I noticed a small cairn below to the east... Carnau... with another a mile or so further north. Duly noted for future reference. Intrigued, it seemed to me there is no end to the Bronze Age sorcery of Mid Wales?

The great reservoirs of Cwm Elan have their southern terminus at Llanerch y Cawr where a restored medieval long house still affords a glimpse of times past... right here in the present. However to briefly shine a light upon an aspect of the human story a little more obscured by the mists of time – and, usually, the aforementioned nimbostratus – it is necessary to don walking boots and follow a track westwards above the access road for Rhiwnant farm, subsequently veering south to head for the exquisite Nant Paradwys. After approx a mile the cascading river is my cue to scramble up the flanks of Esgair Ceiliog to the left (east) in order to visit a fine cairn at SN897599. To be honest this is a more than adequate prime destination; however my curiosity gets the better of me and... well, you know how it is?.... I find myself continuing along the bank of the river toward Bwlch-y-Ddau-Faen upon a path that is, in reality, more stream than anything else.

Bwlch-y-Ddau-Faen – the ‘Two Stone Pass’ – is an enigmatic place. Assuming wild, windswept moorland a couple of miles from the nearest road is your thang? Firstly there is a natural spring here amongst the peat hags; secondly, a number of standing stones protrude from said peat to varying degrees forming an irregular ‘ring’, as opposed to ‘circle. So why the colloquial reference to ‘Two Stones’ when there are substantially more than a pair of stones here? As I said, enigmatic place, augmented by a fine, sweeping view toward the Great Escarpment of South Wales dominating the southern horizon. Reassuring to find everything in its right place, so to speak. For what it’s worth, I’m tempted to think what we have here is a typical, if disrupted upland Welsh ring. With numerous diminutive orthostats barely breeching the current surface it just feels ‘right’, you know? It is difficult to hypothesise a satisfactory reason why these tiny stones should otherwise be here. But there you are. All is silent now, almost overwhelmingly so; however the location is significant, the past cacophony of untold drover’s agitated cattle seemingly hanging in the wind just out of human audible frequency.

Carnau rises a little further on, the route, somewhat ironically perhaps, marked by a couple of boundary stones clearly of relatively modern genesis. Although not in the same league as its neighbour overlooking the cascades to the north, the cairn, although dishevelled, is substantial enough and, unexpectedly, features an arc of kerbing still in situ. Although, in retrospect, its very isolation is probably to thank for such welcome preservation. With Drygarn Fawr looming to the west and Gorllwyn to the east it soon becomes apparent that, far from being in the middle of ‘nowhere’ as the map, not to mention my preconceptions suggested, Carnau is in fact an integral piece of the Cwmdeuddwr Bronze Age jigsaw situated close to a main thoroughfare across this landscape. Furthermore, what a wonderful, invigoratingly wild vibe this place possesses! A rarefied, somewhat esoteric atmosphere further amplified by a succession of progressively more brutal weather fronts sweeping along Nant Paradwys. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but there you are. Needless to say this contrary Englishman duly satiates his thirst with coffee.

Time marches on toward inexorable darkness ensuring I must all too soon leave and retrace my soggy steps to Llanerch y Cawr, boots long since succumbed to the sheer volume of surface water. Yeah, The Green Desert of Wales is no place to be benighted without shelter. As Vaughan-Thomas would’ve known only too well.

On a beautiful and chilly Aberdeenshire day I walked back down the hill, from Craighead, and along Badentoy Avenue to beautifully reconstructed Cairnwell Ring Cairn.

The snow highlights and enhances the ring cairn. Some of the stones for the reconstruction were ‘gifted’ by the farmer Auchlee. More likely he wanted rid of them and this was convenient.

Well worth a visit if in the area. Plenty prehistory nearby!

Visited 14/12/2017.

I parked at Portlethen Golf Course and walked up the track, or skating rink, heading north up School Hill, the other name for Craighead.

It is a strange site and every time I come here I think something different. Three of the stones are probably from the original circle, the tallest of which could well be in its original place. Sadly three others were taken away to become gateposts or had a meeting with a stone crusher. The fourth, more pointy stone, was put up during the mid 1850s. According to the farmer at Auchlee it was a rubbing stone removed from a nearby hill.

A beautiful clear day with some snow. Wonderful!

Visited 14/12/2017.

With Storm Caroline for company obviously the best place to go for a walk was Clerkhill Wood near Bridge Of Don, Aberdeen.

From the Bridge of Don take the B997 north west taking the first minor road heading south, signposted Whitestripes (love that name!) and Grandhome. Go past the next minor road and pull in just at the next wood. There is a forest walk and it can be easily found. Sadly just look for all the empty tins (and other evidence of a fairly wild party) and you have reached the start of walk.

Follow the track straight west following the dry stane dykes which lead to Clerkhill Wood, once past the rubbish dump at the start, a very nice walk.

NJ 9078 1190 This is the best preserved hut circle and is an impressive size. It is almost 10m wide with walls well over 4m in width and in some places almost 1m high. The trees standing on these walls almost mark out the site. To the south the front door is almost 1.5m wide.

NJ 9079 1192 Going by my ratings this is the second best hut circle and is only a short distance from NJ9078 1190, only just over 20m to its centre. It also is 10m in width but has seen better days. The walls are about 3m in thickness and almost 0.3m high. Once again trees sit atop these walls.

Both of these sites are just to the north of the track. The third hut circle is to the south.

NJ 9077 1183 On the ‘drew scale ratings’ this is least preserved hut circle. Difficult to find it is just over 6m wide and has walls up 3m wide which come to height of 0.2m at its highest with trees sitting top. From its neighbours it is 60m to the south.

I walked to the southern edge of the wood, following the track, and found a view of the place were I used to work except instead of an office and a couple of warehouse there are thousands of houses stretching from Stoneywood, all through Mugiemoss (home to quite a few paper mills), Danestone and up to Bridge Of Don with more going up all the time. Sad really!

However Clerkhill Wood, worth a further visit I think.

Visited 7/12/2017.

Why is it that I look at the pictures of circles on this website but then what I actually encounter sometimes ends up looking quite different? I’m thinking Lundin Farm, Lamlash and Gunnerkeld to name but three and now here’s another one, the reason being the same in all four cases, namely that they’ve all turned out to be much more overgrown in the flesh (so to speak) than on the screen. I guess I’ve just been unlucky in each case, the respective custodians of the circles just not having got round lately to a bit of cutting back of the shrubbery/undergrowth and that’s a particular shame in the case of this delightful little ring upon whose merits others have better held forth than I can probably manage. It’s also particularly surprising given the care which has obviously been lavished on cultivating the field in which it stands on its little mound, a local walker who I spent a few minutes chatting with aptly describing the surrounding area as being populated by ‘The Good Life’ types with much evidence of small-scale self-sufficiency going on. Anyway, it’s still well worth a visit and I daresay if I come back again I’ll find it shorn of all its encroaching foliage.

I think it’s taken me this long since our visit to Cornwall yet again, to properly absorb this place. It haunts me. If I’d followed my instincts over the years id have walked the dragons back long before now..only ever viewing it from a car driving past.
Viewing it on tma i knew I’d wasted a lot of time. It was a glorious September day. We walked from the pub. The gently sloping field down to a monster of a place. It is truly monumental. On one side of the cliff roaring raging sea & the other side calm rolling waves. We alternated between being blasted with delicious sea spray & an absolute wind blasting roar to calm white topped rollling waves with seals playing in the swell all in the span of a  few metres. Truly amazing. Looking up & down the ridges of this place it appeared to me as a dragons back. I saw what I presumed was a concoction of arranged stones on the way & then thought how could this be a place to inhabit for any time. But sitting & drifting away under the shelter of the uppermost rocks, choosing wether or not to be blasted or becalmed depending on which side of the outcrop i chose was astonishing to me. I know this is presumably a defensive hill fort but this place sent me into a trance with its absolute beauty. It was a particularly balmy day; I’d still tackle it when slippy but be very careful, those spines could be vicious:)

The last stop of another fine say in Fife was at the Norrie’s Law cairn with its magnificent views of the Firth Of Forth to the south, Craig Law to the east, the flaring of the refinery at Grangemouth and the River Forth to the west. Some less than superb views of fir trees are to the north. Still 3 out of 4 is pretty good.

Situated right next to a farm track, the cairn is housed in by a fence which looks equally prehistoric. I jumped the fence as if I opened the gate it looked like it might never recover. Despite being overgrown it is an impressive place and with night fast falling the views and silence added to the atmosphere. The flare to the west only indicating how dark it really was, also it indicated how beacons would have worked back in olden days.

It still sits at almost 20m wide and is around 4m high.

From the centre of Ceres take the minor road south then take the first minor road east. After a wee wood take the first farm track south which will lead straight to the cairn. A nice way to end the day.

Visited 27/10/2017.

Down Law is situated to the east of Bowden Hill but it reminded me of the fort much further east at Sales, near Trieste in North East Italy. The big difference being Sales is covered in trees and Down Law is covered in short grass. Like Sales, Down Law has huge ramparts/ditches all over the place covering the top of the hill except on the north. The north side makes use of the natural defences with other defences being simply attached.

The entrance is on the south side and it is impressive in size. At least 3-4m wide, the ramparts are easily 2m in height and 3-4m wide. More but slightly smaller ramparts can be found to the west. Sadly, clearly visible quarrying has destroyed part of the western section. Even on top of the hill there is a small ditch that surrounds the fort. Also dotted round the edge are boulders which, presumably, would have been used to bolster a wooden palisade. Inside the fort there appears to an enclosure of sorts.

Sadly you sometimes have to wonder at the positioning of buildings and masts, right next to the fort to the north are the aforementioned eyesores. Still they do provide an excellent location marker.

Maybe not as big as some forts, but for Fife this is massive and it made me wonder how important this place was.

As we made our way back down we all noticed that the temperature had dropped considerably. From double figures it had plummeted to down to 4. Away to the north west a friend had texted from Aviemore to say that it was snowing. My favourite conditions are on the way :-)

Normally I would have gone cross country from Bowden Hill as there are no real obstacles in the way but since there was a group of us we took to the road. Head north from Bowden following the road as it swings east until a crossroads. Take the road south, very twisty, until the aptly named Fort Fishery is seen. Plenty room to park, head down the hill looking for a gate near the office and then head back up hill through the entrance into a series of wonderful ramparts.

Fantastic site!

Visited 27/10/2017.

Bowden Hill has wonderful views of The Lomonds to the west, Down Law to the east, Normans Law/Green Craig to the north and the Firth Of Forth to the south.

Sadly there is very little traces of fort now except for some on the western slopes which are almost impossible to photograph. However changes of colour in the grass give an idea of how large the fort was. The builders also had the good sense to use the slopes on three sides to their advantage. To the east Down Law might have given protection or a place of safe haven. Whatever Down Law was to Bowden is uncertain but it was going to be our next stop.

Just south east of the village of Balmalcolm on the A914 take the next road east which will then swing south. Follow the sign to the small village of Kettlehill and keep going till this road ends. At the junction head north, Bowden Hill being the first hill. At the bottom of the hill there is a track that provides enough room to park. Stunning all round views at the top.

Visited 27/10/2017.

Lady Mary’s Fort must have been some place back in the Iron Age nestling under the summit of nearby Walton Hill. Also in the fort is a mausoleum which is in various states of decay.

Despite the vegetation I thought the ramparts and ditches were easily enough found especially to the south east were there are multiple lines of defence and a possible entrance. Another possible entrance is to the north west, our entrance, with an inner rampart almost encircling the whole fort. Steep slopes to the east also were used in the construction. Canmore must have had a bad time of it but we certainly found more defences despite the vegetation. Perhaps falling into them helped.

Head south east from Cupar on the A914 taking the second minor road south. At the first corner park and look north. Inside the wood is the fort (and mausoleum). Follow the track through the field until the wood. Unwittingly we walked all the way round and approached from near the top of Walton Hill and therefore took a more northerly approach which also showed the steep slopes of the northern section. Near the small lakes eastern end look for a small path which leads straight to the centre of the fort over one of the ramparts we found (or fell into).

From the forts east side take path to the edge of the wood which obviously was the path we should have taken but it was a good mistake to make. Heading back south west towards our parking spot we were treated to beautiful views of The Lomonds, the dominant high spots of Fife.

Visited 27/10/2017.

Just to the south west and slightly downhill from Dearduils highest point, home to the wonderful North fort, is another fort. This one, however, hasn’t aged quite so well.

A lot of the walls have fallen down the slopes but rough boulders still surround the fort especially to the south. Canmore suggests these walls could have been up to 5m wide surrounding an area up to 31m in length and 26m wide.

After that it was find a nice spot for something to eat and a easier route in which to walk or fall down the hill. Mr T and myself showing how to fall down holes and Mrs T showing how to stay upright.

Visited 24/10/2017.

Follow Mr Brands directions and you will find that the stone and its cup marks haven’t moved. We couldn’t see the man on the stone so presumably he has moved on. Quite what this man was up to I’m not clearly sure but it looks like some kind of fertility symbol. The picture on the link seems get a grip of the situation.

The stone has been fenced in and the entrance is near the wall.

Visited 26/10/2017.

During my planing for the next trip around the Iveragh Peninslua, I found an interesting ring structure on Google Earth near Caherdaniel West.

After checking some books and the great Historic Environment Viewer from NMS I realized that this must be Caherdaniel Ringfort. Actually there are two ringforts (KE106-063001- and KE106-062----) only 100m apart from each other. But the first one is the far better one. As access to the ringfort looked quite easy, I decided to include it for my next drive around The Ring of Kerry.

You can park your car on the N70 at N51 46 16.2 W10 06 33.3 between Ballycarnahan and Caherdaniel West, where there is a sharp right bend and a small access road. Walk along the access road and you can already see the ringfort.

I wonder, why I never noticed the ringfort before, as I drove The Ring Of Kerry several times, but always clockwise. To my apology, I have to say that the ringfort is much more visible, if you drive The Ring Of Kerry anti-clockwise.

Unfortunately while visiting the ringfort, it rained heavily, so I just stayed for a short time to make at least some (fuzzy) photos.

Visited November 2010