Latest Fieldnotes

Visited 4th February 2017

There’s surely nothing better than a pasty, a pint, and the prospect of seeing a hitherto unvisited stone circle. So as we finish up our lunch in the Tors Inn in Belstone, and I peruse the O.S. map, I couldn’t feel more content.

Leaving the car at the pub we head off up the road past the old chapel/telegraph station (honestly!) towards the moor. It’s been a while since I’ve tried to track down a new site with a map, and I’m hoping my navigational skills are not totally rusty, particularly if I’m looking for somewhere on a trackless moor, but at least the Nine Stones looks reassuringly close to the village.

Soon we reach the gate which opens on to the moor, there’s space to park here if you want, but it’s only a couple of minutes closer than where we left the car. Now checking the map I can see that we just need to head south-west to find the circle. It’s been so long since I’ve been out in the field that I couldn’t find my compass before setting off, but never fear, with modern technology to the rescue I turn to the compass function on my phone, only to discover that I first need to ‘calibrate’ it, which of course, requires a phone signal. Drifting between half a bar and emergency calls only, I manoeuvre the phone around as if attempting to signal by semaphore or perhaps deter a particularly persistent wasp, until just enough connection is made that the compass will now work.

Striking off across the moor we pass several walkers coming the other way, and quite a distinct and well-trodden path to follow. It’s a crisp cold day, but blue skies soar above us, and the horizon is given a gauzy, soft focus look by a lingering vague mist in the distance. It’s not long though before the stones of the kerb circle make themselves visible to our left, and I realise I probably didn’t need the map and compass after all, so close are they to the path.

The first thing I’m struck by is the setting. The granite tops of Belstone and Higher Tors commanding the view as they overlook the circle, the landscape seeming very ancient indeed as you stand here amongst the stones.

Although called Nine Stones there are at least twelve by my count, and probably at one time even more. Nine I’m sure relates more to the sacred trinity of the number three in Celtic myth, as I’m sure does the etymology of the name Belstone itself, after the Celtic god of fire and the sun. Inside the circle there is an obvious depression in the centre, probably the remains of a cist, but it’s really the setting and sense of place that affect me here.

Dramatic and windswept it feels remote, but is actually only about a ten minute walk from the village, hidden atop the moor, with the only sign of life a remote farmhouse to the west, a small stream and waterfall glistening as it cuts across the deeper green of the fields below us, and then of course the huge tors, like the fossilised remains of ancient leviathans as they dominate the moor.

Sadly I note that I must have missed the stones capering’s, as it’s 1pm now and everything is still, but you can’t be too disappointed. It’s a perfect place on a perfect day, the sky remains, dare I say it, a hazy shade of winter, but Bel must be pleased someone is taking an interest in his stones, as standing in the circle, the gentle warmth of the sun reminded me that the first stirrings of spring are at hand, and as life returns to the land, so I too feel alive here, such is the power still of ‘old stones’.

I parked at the Banchory Hospital, now almost completely flattened, and headed uphill on a path at the northern end of the car park. Follow the path uphill until the top of a small hillock can be seen a few metres to the north east of the track.

This stone setting could be an incomplete ring or kerb cairn or, a long shot, the beginnings of a RSC. The site is about 12m wide. Whatever it was it had views to the hills just to the south of the River Dee.

Several large stones make up a semi circle with some smaller stones creating a smaller inner circle. Both of these are set facing the south east.

These woods are full of prehistory, including the nearby cairn, sites at East Brathens and a long cairn which so far has eluded me.

Visited 17/1/2017.

From the ring cairn at Blarourie head south west from back to the track and jump over the gate into the forest (the northern edge of Fetteresso Forest I think). Follow the track downhill until it meets up with another track heading south. Follow this until the trees clear on the eastern side, a weird wooden but ‘n’ ben can be seen with three outside toilets (they looked like that anyway), until a track veers south west. Until now the tracks have been in pretty good condition. Heading through the trees in a zig zaggy route the track basically resembles the bottom of a very rocky river, other parts have been washed away completely leaving deep ruts so the need for the Nordic sticks is a good idea to keep balance. Eventually the zig zags end and the tree line is reached. After a small climb the summit of Kerloch can be seen to the west.

The standard of the track greatly improves as a wee path heading north west to top can be seen. Go past the two walkers cairns and the cairn, which has a trig plonked on top (as usual) for good measure, can be seen to the west of the summit. How this site like Pittenderich (and a few others) has been missed is beyond belief.

The turf covered, with stones jutting out, cairn must be at least 15m wide and is over 2m high. Possible kerbs are dotted about here and there with a wind break built on the north western side. Stunning views, Aberdeen can be seen to the east, all the way south almost to Dundee, north to all the sites mentioned at Blarourie and to west the Grampians/Cairngorms. This truly is a stunning place! Closer to hand is the more modern wind turbine site to the south.

Thelonius had said this site would be worth a visit and he was most definitely right. With that it was back to the zig zags and the long trek north avoiding the drones.

Update

The site and a report has been submitted to Historic Scotland and Aberdeen Archaeology (who also said they would look into the condition of the zig zag track).

Visited 10/1/2017.

Take the first minor road heading east, signposted Stonehaven, on the B974 just south of Strachan. (Cairn O Mount road) I parked at the small car park at the Knockburn Activity centre opposite Knockhill Cottage.

From here head south past the airport for models/drones, past the quarry, until the way south is blocked by a closed gate. From here head east again, go over another gate following the track as it veers south west and uphill. Worth having a look at various hut circles and enclosures near the track. (as mentioned by Thelonius) Just before this track ends go a small distance north to the top of Blarourie Hill.

After spending some time clearing branches and site became clearly visible. At least 7 earthfast stones remain in the ring and a cist of sorts remains in the middle. Sadly people have also used this as a place to have a fire. The width of the site would be 8m plus, being about 0.5m high. Superb views from this site. Mulloch, Shampher, Buchaarn, Tillygarmond and the mountains to west are all clearly visible. The shoulder of Little Kerloch can be seen to the south west, the neighbour of its much larger relative Kerloch.

Visited 10/1/2017.

Visited: May 3, 2011

Hunebed D29 Buinen stands just 37 metres south of its twin, D28, in the same wooded area. Measuring 7.5 × 3.1 metres, this passage grave consists of a full set of eight sidestones and two endstones and still possesses two of its original three capstones and a two stone entrance portal.

Interestingly, these capstones (one of which has slipped into the interior of the grave) are exceptionally flat, and some archaeologists consider that they were once part of the same erratic boulder. If this is the case, then the hunebed builders must have possessed advanced fission techniques in order to be able to cleave the boulder in two. How is unknown, but one suggestion is that the boulder could have been repeatedly heated by fire then cooled with water until it cracked in two; another is that wedges could have been driven into existing cracks. It is a fact that many of the hunebedden throughout Drenthe are built from stones with almost perfectly flat sides.

Visited: May 3, 2011

Hunebed D28 Buinen is a medium sized monument with impressively bulky capstones. It measures 7.5 metres long by 3.4 metres wide, and is almost complete, consisting of a full set of eight sidestones and two endstones. The easternmost of the original four capstones is missing but the other three remain firmly on their supports.

Although this hunebed lies within the administrative area of the village of Buinen, it actually lies much closer to the town of Borger than to Buinen, and can be reached by following the main N374 highway for exactly one kilometre eastward from its junction with Hoofdstraat (in Borger). A walk of under 15 minutes takes you past the Vakanzieparck Hunzedal recreation park, where, on the south of the highway, surrounded by arable farmland, lies a small grassy area surrounded by mature trees. The hunebed is clearly visible beneath these trees, just 110 metres from the roadside, with its twin, D29 a further 37 metres to the south. (Note: D28 is the northernmost of this hunebed pair, and is the one you encounter first: not D29 as stated by Jane)

During a 1927 investigation of D28, Albert van Giffen discovered—in addition to the usual finds of pottery and flints—two coils of copper wire, which proved to be the oldest pieces metal jewelry ever found in Dutch soil. The copper coils indicate that some objects in use by the Funnel Beaker farmers had come from distant places, since these rings most likely originated from somewhere in either central or southwest Europe.

Discovered in 1881 .
A deposit of flint arrowheads was found in a  small pit on the left hand side of the corridor . Other finds were remnants of a bronze awl and some pottery .
Fwiw declination of chamber is -29.8 , therefore close to major standstill .

East Brathens is an area that has many cairns, some are clearance but many are burial cairns as I discovered whilst walking through the woods. Most are around 6m to 8m wide as Canmore says. What Canmore doesn’t say is that the underfoot conditions are a complete nightmare as quite a few times I fell into hidden holes.

One of these hidden holes might be beneficial in the prehistory department. In the middle of the cairn I fell, one foot making it over the stone, my left foot catching it ensuring a roll about the heather. After a wee bit of cleaning up a rectangular shape was discovered (on the cairn not me) but no sign of a capstone. Several kerbs remain dotted around the site which is about 10m in width and about 0.5m tall.

Take the first minor road heading north west after the war memorial on the A93 at Banchory. Plenty space to pull in at the first junction. From here walk north east past several cairns into the trees. A small hill will appear with the site sitting on top. This whole area is worthy of a good look.

Visited 17/1/2017.

Just north of Rickarton on the A957 (Slug Road) take the first minor road heading south. I parked just after crossing the Cowie Burn on a very sharp corner but fortunately well away from the road.

I walked on the track heading west going past Whitehill until I reached Clachanshiels. From here I walked south east in an area clear of forest. When the trees re-appear take the track which goes west. This eventually heads south with the standing stone at the east side of the track.

Standing no more than 1m high and 1m at its base it is a triangular shaped stone with no markings. I wonder if it has anything to do with Mergie and Hobseat much further into the forest. Another day for them.

Visited 5/1/2017.

What a lovely cairn this is and what a lovely view of Campstone Hill and its various Raedykes cairns. Wonderful setting.

I parked at the Lang Stane and walked northwards (pun intended), thru the gate and up the hill. Take the track that veers north east towards Southward and skirts past to the north. Keep going past the ruins of another Southward and basically walk in a straight line which should lead straight to the cairn, near the tree line. Now this is what you should do, I found an alternate route via bogs and burns to the south and found this track on the way back.

Canmore says 4 kerbs but I counted 7 in the 13m wide cairn. Whatever it is this is a beautiful place.

The road back to Lang Stane also involves walking on the ancient trackway, Elsick Mounth. Its also good to see that Thelonius seems to find awkward routes to places as well :-)

Visited 5/1/2017.

28/01/2017 – Snowy walk to Hillend hillfort today. We came from Caeketton Hill. Easy access from the north as well. Nice fort with good views.

28/01/2017 – I posted a photo of this cairn a few years back but to be honest I remembered little of the cairn and the photo seemed to only show a little bit of it. I’ve been wanting to go back and have another look for a while.

Starting from Edinburgh we took the 101 bus to Silverburn. From here we had a grand walk taking in Gladman’s cairn on South Black Hill, Scald Law, the big cairn on Carnethy Hill, the little cairn on Turnhouse Hill, CastleLaw fort & souterrain, Allermuir Hill, this cairn on Caerketton Hill and finally the Hillfort on Hillend. Finished a long day at the Ski Centre for a cup of tea and then took the bus back to Edinburgh.

A good walk over the tops and a bit snowier than I thought it would be.

Three of the four cairns we visited are on Canmore. South Black Hill isn’t but as Gladman has mentioned elsewhere, it really looks and feels the part. This cairn on Caerketton is smaller and has a fence running through it. Good views on a clear day!

There are many routes and paths to link up the tops and cairns in the Pentland Hills. Pick any, you can’t go wrong. A magic day.

From Allochie and the Huskie car park I headed south on the B979 and parked at the Ury North Lodge, on the west side of the road.

Follow the track (a mud bath on this day) for a short distance. When the trees thin out look north a mound can be seen, this is the wee kerb cairn. Thankfully no vegetation of a sharp nature gets in the way, only vegetation of a gentler persuasion.

The site is almost 10m in width being almost 1m high. Some kerbs remain in place though difficult to find.

A nice wee place to stop and have a look round.

Visited 5/1/2017.

This site, which is just to the west of the B979 (to the locals this is the Netherley road), is a nightmare to find. However it is easy enough to find a place to park, the car park at the Huskie Training Centre is ideal.

From the car park head to the track over the hump to the north west. Follow this west until the electricity wires overhead. From here simply batter into the gorse and batter a way through to a square clearing, heading north west if possible. Take protection for the legs and the head as the vegetation was way over my height. This, from experience, would have been a good idea.

The site is in the west of this much needed clearing. This must have been a very large cairn and still sits at well over 16m wide. Some kerbs are still in place and cairn material pokes through here and there. Confusion with hut circles can explained by the fact that the cairn has been dug into, Canmore says the letter D for the shape. Good views over to the North Sea at Muchalls, to the south west are the Raedykes and to the north Old Man, Altries etc. all in an area with plenty prehistory.

Once there, a lovely place to be!

Visited 5/1/2017.

Crap pic , but it does show the horizon before the trees blotted it out . Worth comparing with Thelonius’ pic to see the changes 10 yrs approx can make .
This a one of the rare cases of a possible henge entrance orientation towards the winter solstice sun rise .

Directions – Do as Carl says.

It’s just over a hundred miles from my house, at the far end of another country, but I’ve just had my malfunctioning car fixed so I had to go and see some stones. I’m sure you understand.
I didn’t have an OS map and that worried me greatly, but after reading Carls notes twice, looking on street map and Google Earth I was confident I could find it.

After slowly slipping and tripping up the steep sandy path I reach the summit cairn, all but unrecognisable now, I pause only long enough to acknowledge the ethereal beauty of the fast moving swirling mists and take the Carl path to the stones, my daughter is waiting for me in the carpark at Wentwood reservoir so no time for sitting around.
Some major forestry? work has occurred up on the common, all the trees have been cut down leaving meter high stumps as far as the eye can see, with massive piles of said cut down trees here and there, it was a bit unpleasant. But I suppose it did help me to spot the tall outlying stone, so it’s not all bad.

The tall furthest out outlying stone is rather a good one, if it was nearer to home I’d have come just for that alone, but from here I can see the other outlier, which stands right next to the stone circle, and I’ve been waiting an age to make it’s acquaintance so I go straight over and introduce myself.

The right next to it outlying stone is another impressive tall stone, a small tree with nice clumps of bushy lichen on it stands by the stone, I sent monkey boy up it and another to get a looking down photo of the stones but branches get in the way, I should’ve brought the drone, but frankly I’m a bit scared of it. The sun is beginning to get through now and the mists are lifting, I’m warm so I disrobe slightly and set to tidying up the place prior to photographing the site thoroughly. That can be hard work for my poor back, and if anyone were to see me pruning and whatnot I might get a bit embarrassed, so I keep an eye out for other people. Once, I looked up at a nearby thud and two ponies were being led back home by a grey haired woman, escapees she explains. Right, ok, that’s normal I suppose.

After a tidy up, the sun hits us with it’s full winter force, well, it was bright and sunny, so I dashed round taking pictures, it looked really very nice, the colours seemed to leap out at me, and now the bridges are visible it adds a new dimension to the scene, I don’t like what people do to the planet, but for some reason I do like these big bridges.
Time has run out sadly, the time which I suggested to daughter has been and gone, so I thank the stones, tell them they were good, (they like that sort of thing) and they are good, and take my leave.

Gray hill stone circle is a good one.

From the Clashmach Ring Cairn I headed over the fence and kept going west until I reached the meeting place of two gates. Sadly for me the electric fence was switched on which enabled me to clear the hurdle more comfortably than normal. At this point the views are stunning (as was my language), Tap O Noth is having a blizzard, and to the north west are numerous cairns near the A920 on both sides of the River Deveron.

In the middle of this bowl made up by the hills there is a bog preventing a straight walk to Allrick. Fortunately a track skirts this leading to the site in the north.

This is another nice wee cairn. It is 6m wide with several kerbs still in place and stands at about 0.4m high. It is at the eastern end of a small ridge. Nearby there are a few rocky outcrops which I had a good look at in the hope of finding rock art.

Luckily the weather didn’t close in and I headed towards the summit of Clashmach to have a look round.

Visited 2/1/2017.

After the A96/97 roundabout on the Keith side, at Huntly, take the first minor road heading south signposted Tullochbeg. I parked at the mart car park a few yards down this road.

From here follow the minor road and continue on the track heading up the Clashmach Hill. Today it was wintry and very cold but at least it wasn’t windy. The condition of this track is variable at the best of times but the frost had at least stopped a mud bath. About 2/3s of the way up there are some sharpish corners, from here I jumped the fence and headed south.

Climb another fence and follow the next one, it leads straight to the site. This is a beautiful location for a cairn. Stunning views north to Knock Hill, down onto Huntly and almost the whole north east. Very easy to see why this place was chosen.

The site is about 6m wide and has several earthfast stones still in place. Some stones have been dumped in the middle but the site seems relatively unharmed. What might be a cist still sits in the middle of the strewn clearance.

A truly stunning view from this place and I look forward to coming back in slightly warmer conditions. With the weather to the south apparently heading my way it was time to walk to Allrick Hill and it’s bonny wee cairn.

Visited 2/1/2017.

Heading North East from Tarland take the B9119, going past the Culsh souterrain, take the first minor road heading north after this show site. Les and I pulled in at the forestry track at the Hallhead Plantation. These tracks head eventually to top of Pressendye and we followed one of them as a path indicated on our maps had vanished, we assumed it was thanks to the new track we were on.

We kept going on through the Hallhead Plantation looking for a crossroads which never appeared. Pittenderich is to the south and we hoped this road would lead us to a clearing. It didn’t so we kept going a short distance until the road headed sharply north, we headed south cutting through the trees, jumped the fence and landed in a field just to the north of the ruined croft of Burnside.

The track at Burnside is a boggy mess but at least it led over the burn onto a track heading south up Pittenderich. Shortly after the track veers west a small track, today covered in snow, heads steeply upwards to the flat summit of Pittenderich.

There is a huge cairn on the summit. It sits at over 20m in diameter and is at least 3m high. As usual hill walkers have plonked their cairn on top. Four wind breaks (used as benches) have also been built into the cairn. All round this site are hills covered in prehistory – Pressendye, Morven, Mulloch, Cairn More etc etc – all with similarly large cairns. How this cairn isn’t listed anywhere is unbelievable. To me, it is one of the best Aberdeenshire cairns I’ve seen. (I’m sure Les was impressed also)

On the way down we retraced our steps to Burnside. This time we followed the tree line east as a track of sorts did exist. After field of heather a newish track appears which led us back to the new forestry road. The old track hadn’t vanished, they had simply built a new road next to the older which hid the original track round the side of forest from view.

It should be said that Thelonius encouraged me/us to have a look up here as did the Mad Man of Glass. So after a day of looking at nice wee cairns it was good to look at an absolute belter.

Update

Historic Scotland have been informed about this site. Aberdeenshire Archaeology are going to the survey the site. Also a track will lead to the summit of Pittenderich later this year.

Visited 29/12/2016.

Discovered in 1947 . Only finds were small amount of ceramics .
90 metres from
themodernantiquarian.com/site/18047 /dolmen_de_vinyes_mortes_1.html
, horizon very similar , orientation of chambers differ by 60 degrees .

Discovered in the early 1970’s. A Flint Knife and small amount of ceramics were found when excavated . Orientation of chamber and passage is 170 degrees and therefore not facing any solar or lunar set or rise .

I called here on my way to my parents near Swindon and hadn’t been here for more than 20 years prior to this. It’s very easy to locate owing to the Lansdowne Monument, a 38m stone obelisk on Cherhill Down visible from both the A4 and the A361. Because of its proximity to Avebury, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow, et al., the area is littered with sites from the Neolithic to the Iron Age and also includes more recent works like the white horse cut in 1780. I parked at the run off East of the hill fort in what must have been the Old Bath Road before it was metalled and straightened somewhat and made my way past the gallops and up towards the top of the Down. The path isn’t very obvious from this direction, but you do get to see a lot of earthworks which may, or may not, be connected with the hill fort. Some may be hut circles or animal pens, others might be dew ponds or slightly unambitious chalk quarries. Reaching the South East corner (it’s not round!) of the hill fort you get great views of the surrounding hills to the South and West including the linear Bronze Age barrow groups on Morgans Hill and also an impression of the scale of the mighty banks and ditches of the fort itself. Early evening is almost always the best time to visit these kind of sites, particularly if you have low raking sunlight. It brings out the best definition and colour in the landscape and makes it almost heartbreakingly beautiful and, for me, tinged with nostalgia. Moving around the earthworks in a clockwise direction you come past the Lansdowne Monument and get a good view of the long barrow, the oldest element in the vicinity, standing on a slight promontory just below it. By this time it’s becoming clear that the Western horizon is filling with rain clouds and so I head North East again taking in the white horse and then exit via the hill fort’s Eastern opening descending back towards the A4. As you get to the bottom of this track you’ll notice a fine barrow in the corner of a field (Cherhill 4 – not very romantic is it?) and if you turn right you’re back on the Old Bath Road track which is where the parking place is. By now the weather was going into overdrive and though the torrential downpour I’d been anticipating hadn’t yet materialised, the sky was now leaden and a fantastic rainbow appeared at the end of the track urging me onwards. Before you get to the parking spot there’s another large barrow right beside the track which, although I didn’t notice at the time, has a World War Two bunker built into the North side of it. This makes strategic sense in terms of the now disused Yatesbury airfield just the other side of the A4. I reach my car just in the nick of time as the raindrops descend. What luck! What weather! What poetry!

Discovered in 1986 by Josep Tarrus and Miquel Cura . Finds were 170 pottery fragments ,some of which were decorated , a flint blade and fragment of granite millstone . At 278 degrees this is the most westerly oriented dolmen in the region

From the Cadhach Burn cairn we headed north past the deserted ‘ferm toun’ of Lochans crossing over a few gates and burns but mainly on old farm tracks. The destination is fairly easily spotted as it is a small mound with trees on top set in the middle of the valley near Stroin Cottage. Just to the north of Stroin Cottage there is a lime kiln with an old car rusting away to nothing in it. Odd!

From the old car the cairn at Torr Na Sithinn is a short walk north west and is situated in the southern end of the small wood. Boulders or kerbs are set in a circle, indicating perhaps a stone circle?, (both Les and myself had similar thoughts) that is about 10m in width. The bank between some of these stones has smaller kerbs poking thru the turf especially at the southern end. It reaches no more than 0.4m in height. Animal damage has also revealed some stone work.

A very beautiful area with three nice cairns. Well worth a visit but park in the small car park before entering the land belonging to Birkwood if you don’t want to be questioned by the farmer.

Visited 29/12/2016.

25/12/2016 – If you are in the area Lunt Meadows nature reserve is worth a visit for a little leg stretch. Site of Mesolithic settlements (see link below). Car park and decent track round. Good place for owls if you get lucky.