Another Peak District area I’ve long waited to see. I wondered if I was faced with a big old hike across the Big Moor, but as an old couple and their misbehaving dog meandered past with a smile, I realised how accessible Barbrook I is.
Fantastic views from just above the circle, as you head up towards the nearby cairn, and turn to look back.
Summer grasses tried to block the circle but it’s too well-trodden an area. Not as ‘showy’ as the soon-to-be-next Barbrook II but feeling more atmospheric.
I always thought this was well off the beaten track, but heading up from Beeley towards Beeley moor in the car, I pulled up in the lay-by/parking area, to find about 15 cars and an Ice Cream Van!
Luckily most folks were heading off elsewhere for walks, as I trundled along the track towards the circle. Dark clouds were rushing in overhead and it started to rain as I came up to where I thought the circle should be, which was behind a few young trees, but instead it was further along, near some scrub. I found no obvious track (however small), but just spotted a stone poking up over the long summer grasses, so stumbled over the uneven tufts towards it. Quite hard to make out much at this time of year, until you walk around a bit and remember where the hidden stones sit.
Had really wanted to get to this site for a long time – and although it’s not the most stunning circle, it’ll do for me, for today, in the rain.
After not quite having time to get here in the past, I knew I would have ample time on this visit to soak the Nine Ladies in properly.
On arrival to the clearing in the woods, I could see there was plenty of life around (as I had expected there to be) – a couple of tents, and plenty of walkers passing through after brief stops to look at the stones.
It undoubtedly has an atmosphere here, but it also feels somewhat ‘unloved’, in a way. Even though it was a beautiful sunlit clearing, it felt a bit lifeless. No birds or butterflies – more like a vibe of a public play area – like a swing set or see-saw should have sat there. Again, I guess that may be due to the campers playing nearby – I’m sure another day it would feel very different.
That said, it’s a great little circle itself – clinging on to it’s surroundings – making the best of what it can offer us.
I’ve never ‘properly’ visited this site before – there’s always an obstacle of some sort – killer cows, bits of machinery, other humans (!). I wondered what would interfere this time....
Nothing!
I could not believe it. After looking at recent pics on TMA I expected the farmer’s trailer to be bang in the middle, but it was nowhere to be seen. The cows were miles away in other fields. And apart from a few yells from Robin Hood’s Stride, people were absent. I was free to stroll up and just take my time.
Up close like this, I was surprised at the size of the stones, and of the space they covered (they always look so huddled together in most photos). Such a lovely spot, with the tree seemingly sheltering these four stones from obvious view, but equally kind of framing them perfectly. Every view, as I wandered around, and through, is magnificent.
After a fair night at Dunlichity we continued on our way to Midtown on the banks of the beautiful Lochs a’Chlachain and Duntelchaig following the minor road north west stopping just before the road to West Town, home to a chamber cairn. In one field three wonderful cairns.
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This cairn is nearest the road and has a fairly continuous kerb all way round. Field clearance has been dumped on top, some looking like stones that might have once stood. It stands at 12m wide and is 1m high. Glorious views, like the other cairns, of Loch Duntelchaig and beyond to the high stuff.
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The second cairn I visited in this field was the cairn closest to the loch. It sits at almost 12m wide and 2m high. Field clearance has also been dumped on top.
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This cairn I visited on the way back to the road, it is also the nearest to the farmhouse. Sitting at 20m wide and 1m high this is the biggest monument in the field. Kerbs still stand around the edge along with some field clearance.
Great way to start the day.
Visited 1/7/2017.
Visited 5.8.17
Directions:
In the village of Skipsea. Signposted as it is an English Heritage site. You can park near the field gate which gives access to the site. You walk across a field and then through a second gate. The field had a herd of cows in it.
My main reason for visiting was to knock off another English Heritage site. I have been to many motte and bialy castles over the years but this is one of the most impressive. Both the motte and bails are very large. The views from the top of the motte are impressive over the surrounding flat countryside. I would heartily recommend visiting the site – just watch out for the cow pats!
From the fort at Creag Bhuide it is a very short walk north to the small but lovely cairn at Carn Bheithin.
This small kerb cairn is oval shaped being just over 6m wide, tapering to just over 5m wide and 0.4m tall. It has at least 12 kerbs still sitting in place. A slight disturbance on the east has tumbled some stones but on the whole it appears, to me, to be in fairly good condition with its turf covered flattish top.
Lovely site with lovely views, especially those looking over to the nearby fort.
Visited 30/6/2017.
After the misery of the Tomfat walk it was good to get on different footwear and carry onto Craig Bhuide.
We headed south of Farr on the B851 and took the first minor road heading north east. After crossing the Sputan Dubh burn and the cattle grid that follows pull in on the first real sharp corner. This will mean you are parked between the approach to the fort and the cairn Carn Bheithin, just round the corner.
There is a gate near this corner on the west side of the road. This leads to the fort and a tricky climb to the fort.
Perched on top of a rocky crag the view is wonderful especially over the Tordarroch area. A very ruined wall almost surrounds the site, bits that aren’t wall are sheer cliffs. Two hut circles have also made use of shelter and hollow provided by these rocks.
With proper boots on the bogs on this walk had no affect so it was on to the nearby cairn.
Visited 30/6/2017.
Visited 30.7.17
Directions:
Along a minor road, east of Kirkham Priory (EH site). OS map required.
The long barrow is in the field adjacent to Westow Grange farm. There is no public access into the field which is overlooked by the farmhouse.
The barrow is visible from the edge of the field as a grass covered mound approximately 1.5m high by 30m long.
Visited 5.8.2017.
Three and a bit years on since my last visit, which was a claggy Easter day with visibility truncated by hazy mistiness. No such problems today, a rolling front of thunder has pushed its way up from the Black Mountains across Herefordshire, and the skies are clear and views are long in its wake.
No plan, just an entirely spontaneous diversion, jumping off a train at Hereford and catching a bus at Ledbury to emerge at the foot of the hill as the rain carries on to soak Worcester.
I decide to follow the lower rampart round the west side of the fort, which gives a great view of the ranks of earthworks climbing the flanks of the hillside, as well as beautiful unfolding panorama of Herefordshire. When I first came here in 2009, I hadn’t explored the Black Mountains, or Radnor Forest, and my memories of the Clee Hills were from my childhood. All of these are in clear view today, as well as the Cotswolds escarpment to the southeast, Bredon Hill to the east and the ridiculously ubiquitous May Hill to the south. Three English counties and quite a bit of Wales to admire then.
In the years since that first visit I have come to recognise these distant hills, and the Malverns ridge is the common landmark visible from where I grew up and where I live now. The fort itself overawed me when I first came, and this third visit does nothing to diminish the impression of what must be one of the finest hillforts in these islands. The presence of other visitors, tiny specks against the serried rows of banks and ditches, serves only to enhance the sense of wonder.
I spend an hour walking the perimeter and up to the top, before reluctantly deciding to continue my broken journey. The thunderheads have broken over Worcester, and magnificent rainbows over Bredon and Cleeve Hill will follow later. Sometimes England is really very lovely.
Visited 30.7.17
Directions:
East of Sledmere on the B1253
The field was in crop (wheat). The barrow could still be made out as a low, long mound. It is only a matter of time until it has been completely ploughed out.
Visited 1.8.17
Looking at my previous fieldnote I am back here exactly 2 years later – I had no idea!
When you are anywhere near the area of this hugely impressive stone you just have to visit. And it is just as impressive the second time around (no doubt also the third, fourth, fifth etc).
All was quiet in the churchyard (we were the only visitors), the sun was shining, the birds chirping – very peaceful on this late summer evening.
The stone still dominates the church, as it has always done. Rudstone is one of those special places that everyone should try to visit at least once in their lives.
*** Don’t forget to check out the cist and Roman coffin lid in the corner of the churchyard under the trees.
Visited: July 17, 2017
On this, my third visit to the superb Hunebed D50 at Noord Sleen, I was at last blessed with warm summer weather and was able to enjoy the stones in glorious sunshine (last year heavy rain and gales forced me to retreat).
This excursion was pursued in a manner designed to allow several hours of pleasant woodland walking, and is one which I thoroughly recommend. I took the No 21 bus from Assen and alighted at the Voshaar bus halt, beside Recreation Center Rijmaaran (just south of the village of Schoonoord).
The walk started by entering the grounds of the Center and following the Hunebed sign directing visitors into the woodland and on to Hunebed D49 (the so-called Papeloze Kerk – blue marker). After inspecting the hunebed, I continued in the same direction for about 110 metres to a forestry road and headed south to Galgenberg, a large Bronze-Age burial mound (red marker).
From here, the walk continued through airy woodlands until the N381 highway was reached. Here a path leads left to a stile at the point where the woodland gives way to fields.
Cross the highway and straddle (or duck under) the single strand fence on the far side to gain the metalled road (Hunebedweg) leading to Hunebed D50, 400 metres farther on (green marker).
The total distance walked was just under 5 kilometres.
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To complete my day, I continued south to the end of Hunebedweg and turned left along Zweelooerstraat into the village of Noord Sleen to catch the No 21 bus to Emmen, where I spent a further hour visiting Hunebed D43 Schimmeres (the langgraaf) and Hunebed D45 Emmerdennen.
Camping at East Dean a few weeks back I noticed on our OS map a small collection of barrows nearby just off a trackway. One of them was evidently bigger than the others as the symbol for it was a star with a surrounding dotted line. Intrigued we set off into the woods, the setting sun behind us.
Waltham Down barrow cemetery sits on the edge of the South Downs near East Dean, consisting of an arc of four reasonably large barrows and one particularly large mound. They’re quite well hidden in the deciduous forest there and it’s quite magical as you wander through and one by one they’re presented to you, but the trees were only planted just after World War Two, so it may have been quite open originally and easily seen, not too dissimilar to the relatively close ‘Devil’s Jumps’ site further West just off the South Downs Way. The largest barrow in the group is slightly isolated from the other four and has been dug into at some time and almost hollowed out, giving it the appearance of a sleeping volcano. Still standing over 2m in height it appears to be unusually constructed of flint nodules, more like a cairn than a barrow, as most barrows in this area are chalk rubble and earth constructions. We wandered around for a while and followed a sort of fossilised cart track through the woods until we came out into the opening overlooking Heath Hill, then retraced our steps through the woods into the dying rays of the setting sun.
Visited 26.7.17
Directions:
Signposted from the village of Milfield, on the A697. There is a free carpark immediately adjacent to the site. Access is via a gate or the site can be viewed via a raised viewing platform.
This is an excellent place to visit. Access couldn’t be easier and there are several information boards which have rather amusing cartoon-like drawings on them. You basically follow the path, reading the boards as you go. This reconstruction really gives a feel for how a henge would have looked like when originally built.
Alas the Mesolithic hut has now gone, although the information board relating to it is still there.
Visited 31.7.17
I guess a Summer holiday rainy day out in Scarborough is as close to being typically British as it is possible to get? Even down to the two smiling ladies enjoying their ice creams whilst sheltering under a brolly during a torrential down pour with thunder and lightning added as a bonus!
On the walk up to the castle myself and Dafydd sheltered in the porch of St Mary’s church – during yet another down pour. Whilst there I spotted the grave of Anne Bronte – one of the famous writing sisters – although the closest I have ever come to any of their work is listening to the classic Kate Bush song!
Anyway, upon reaching the castle and looking around there is a series of information boards showing the history of the site. The first board shows an artistic impression on a Bronze Age settlement which was discovered during excavations. There is a well within the castle (also called St Mary’s I think) which is thought to have been a water source for the Bronze Age folk. (From my experience of Scarborough all they would have had to do was tilt their heads backwards and open their mouths if they felt thirsty!)
There is also the remains of a Roman lighthouse at the castle -if you like that sort of thing?
Great coastal views to be had in all directions. No wonder the ancients set up home here. I wonder if they had problems with the seagulls nicking their chips as well? :)
Visited 28.7.17
To be honest the real reason I visited the site was in order to knock another English Heritage site off the list. From the castle sweeping views along the coast are to be had and it comes as no great surprise that this was once the site of a promontory fort.
It is a fair old walk to the castle from the car park in Craster (about 1.5 miles) but well worth it, particularly on a bright and breezy day.
As we passed the lifeguard station on the way back to the car the alarm went off and the RNLI sprang into action. A tiny tractor pulled the RIB out along the beach and into the water. Within minutes the rescue craft was roaring out of the harbour and out into sea. Apparently a swimmer had gone missing further up the coast. Hopefully it was a happy ending?
Visited 30.7.17
This impressive barrow stands next to the village of the same name. Despite its size we somehow managed to drive past it on first approach!
Access was no problem as the field had been harvested although the barrow itself was covered in fairly high rough grass so had an ‘unkempt’ look about it – a bit like me really – and only a bit older! ;)
Visited 30.7.17
Directions:
A short distance east of Sledmere, next to the B1253.
Although the field was still in crop (wheat) it was just about possible to spot the barrow as a long, low ‘bump’. No doubt that within a few years it will have been completely ploughed out.
If you are in the area take time to visit the fantastic First World War memorial in Sledmere. It is also next to the B1253. A superb piece of stone masonry which tells an important story.
Visited 29.7.17
This is what I call a ‘win – win’, the chance to visit a new English Heritage site and see an ‘old stone’ at the same time!
The stone is just outside the door you pay to get into the castle (gratis for me due to my trusty CADW card!). There is a metal sign next to the stone which gives basic information. The cup and rings are quite worn but as far as I could tell (the light was not ideal) the top two cups had two rings around them whilst the bottom one had a single ring?
Well worth visiting if in the area – as is the castle. If you only wanted to see the stone you could get away without paying to get into the castle!
400m north of themodernantiquarian.com/site/18310/gladsax_91.html and clearly visible from it .
The passage ,at 136 degrees , is one of the few with a possible winter solstice sunrise alignment .
The capstone has 11 ships ,animal figures and 90 cup marks .
Finds included a large amount of ceramic, flint fragments, 5 amber pearls, 3 arrows , 2 pins and a slate pendant.
One day I manaaged to walk from the pier on Rousay as far as Scockness. After navigating a field gate I followed the irregular shoreline to reach one of those enigmatic traditional ‘Picts underground houses’, which sits on a spit of land between Mae Sand and a tidal pond. From my visit it looks like as if it has been excavated at least once, with a slight hollow on the top and the pond-side rather too regular for simple erosion to my mind, and I fondly imagine the removal of a rectangular feature.
On the other side of the hill, by the N end of the Loch of Scockness, and only seperated from the sea by South Sand storm beach, is the Taft o’ Faraclett Broch excavated in 1857. And up on the hill at Scockness Farm in 1994 an excavator hole showed that the chapel and burial ground had been built on a settlement mound also probably Iron Age. The Yetnasteeen standing stone is on the opposite hillside, a hill topped by the Faraclett mound that may be simply ‘natural’.
Failed visit 25.7.17
How many churches can one (relatively) small place have? Clearly one too many for me as I failed to find the right church!
I visited 5 – one converted to appartments, one in the process of conversion and 3 wrong ones!
If you happen to know which is the correct church perhaps you can provide the name and directions on how to find it – for people like me! :)
Visited 25.7.17
Directions:
Immediately south of the A72 – signposted Cardrona.
The stone was visible from the road – just! Access is over an old wooden field gate.
Since the photos were taken nature has taken over and the entire field is now covered in chest height vegetation, including brambles, thistles and nettles-far from ideal when wearing shorts! (at least I found some wild raspberries to pick – although the children ate them all!)
The stone is a decent size, approximately 4ft high x 1.5ft wide. The stone has a pronounced lean and is covered in white and yellow lichen. A large yellow snail clung to one side.
Worth seeking out when in the area.
Visited 25.7.17
The stone is easy to spot being on the main road out of Peebles. Parking is also easy.
It is nice that this stone has been respected and cared for all these years. It says something that there was no sign of any graffiti or litter spoiling the stone. I would put the stone at approximately 1metre round.
Well worth looking out for when visiting Peebles – which is a very nice town. (and has an Historic Scotland site – that’s another one off the list!) :)
