Latest Fieldnotes

This site was a complete surprise and ultimately far more satisfying to visit than the easy to find and well preserved Cloghanmore. Firstly, we weren’t really aware of it except it was listed in Michael Herity’s little book ‘Gleancholmcille – A guide to 5000 years of history in stone’ as one of the stations of the turas – number 9 in fact. His book was first published in 1998 (reprinted 2005) so some things may have changed. We had gone to Glencholmcille on the first full day of our week which happened to be a Sunday. Wandering around in the sunshine, partly to dry off from an early soaking while visiting Cloghanmore we noticed a large number of young people walking from turas to turas. We walked to a few of them out of curiosity as much as anything – gradually soaking in the ancient atmosphere of the place. Turas number 9 was an unremarkable mound of stones with a cross-pillar but no sign of a more ancient monument.

Just as we were about to leave Glencholmcille, my friend drove back to ‘station 9’, then while driving slowly uphill along a narrow road I spotted something in a field that looked like a portal tomb. We left the car and walked back downhill, really just following our feet and came to a narrow gate into a field. Still following our feet we walked uphill to another gate into a stone walled enclosure. Here were two what looked like very fine portal tombs – now for the surprise. Next to this stone walled enclosure was another enclosure with a separate gate – here, completely out of sight to the casual observer, was an unreconstructed court tomb facing towards the two portal tombs. The front court still very much intact. All facing down from their hillside towards the rocky hills surrounding Glencolmcille.
This must have been where it all started in this area, with early Christians following in the footsteps of people far more ancient. I was moved in way that just didn’t happen at Cloghanmore – here, amid all the early Christian cross slabs and history was something far, far older.
The atmosphere at this site was wonderful, it felt as though the day, which had got off to an inauspicious start, had suddenly given us a gift. I really didn’t want to leave.

Pics don’t do this site any justice, so i’m not going to post any. just visit if you can, it’s well worth the trek through the heather. There’s also abundant inter-visibility going on.
Stunning and weird little site. There’s nothing else like it in the area, or anywhere i know of.

Visited Cloghanmore Court Tomb on the first day of my week in Donegal. The sky opened and we experienced that Donegal phenomenon ‘four seasons in one day’ just as we reached the tomb. We stayed quite a while though in truth were preoccupied with trying to get some shelter from the torrential shower. My friend had left car in the carpark at the Gleancholmcille Woollen Mill about 100 metres from Cloghanmore’s own small car park but eventually decided to go ad get it while I waited huddled by one of the chambers. It felt a bit eerie standing alone in the rain in what is probably Donegal’s largest court tomb.
Paid a return visit on the Friday, this time it was warm and sunny. There were a couple of people already there so I went and sat on some higher ground slightly above the tomb until they had finished taking photos etc. This turned out to be a useful thing as this very large court tomb probably seen better in its entirety from above.

See Gladman’s excellent fieldnote for a full description of the tomb.

Information taken from leaflet obtained from the Heritage Centre at Raphoe.

Beltany Stone Circle (also spelt Beltony):
“On the summit of Beltony Hill just over a mile from Raphoe there stands one of the finest stone circle in Ireland. Reputed to be older than Stonehenge, it consists of 64 standing stones out of an original 80. The stones range in height from 4’ to 9’ (1.2-2.7 mts) while the diameter of the circle is 145 ft (44.2 mts). To the S.E. of the circle is an outlying stone 6 ft(2mts) high.
Beltony is a corruption of Baal Tine – the fire of Baal, this suggests the people who lived in this area worshipped Baal the sun god – ‘ruler of nature’.
Tradition tells us that the principle ceremonies were performed at Summer Solstice. A sacred fire was lit in the centre of the circle. The circle of stones were supposed to represent the stars and the fire in the centre the sun god Baal.
The Irish word for the month of May is Bealtine and on the first day of May two fires were lit. The cattle and other domestic animals were driven between the fires so as to gain protection against diseases. This custom is also practiced in parts of Brittany and Scotland.
One romantic tale with a puritanical flavour suggests that the outlying stone is a musician whilst the circle of stone are dancers who are turned to stone for their revelry during the Sabbath.
A more credible theory suggests that the outlying stone as well as other features of the adjacent horizon were used by these ancient peoples to determine astronomical alignments. Various alignments have been pointed out including the Winter and Summer solstice. The Spring and Autumn equinox and early November sunrise marking the beginning of the Celtic festival of Samain. But the most persuasive alignment must be from the tallest stone at the S.W. to the triangular stone decorated with cup marks at E.N.E. This alignment points to a small hill about five miles away known as Tullyrap where the sun rises over its small summit on the first day of May – the Celtic festival of Bealtaine from which this stone circle gets its name.”

Our visit took place on Thursday 26th May –
after stopping off briefly in the nearby town of Raphoe we followed the brown heritage signs to Beltony about 2 km outside of the town. There is a small parking place and a rather lovely wooded walk uphill to the Circle. The stone circle is one of the best I’ve seen, in my view comparable to Castlerigg and Sunkenkirk in Cumbria as, like them, it is surrounded by hills. There is an outlier stone similar, though not as big, to the Heel Stone at Stonehenge. A wonderfully atmospheric place in the lush green fields of east Donegal.

Visited 30.5.16

Directions:
A short distance north of the Addington and Chestnuts long barrows – east of Trottiscliffe. As this is a National Trust site a small (free) parking area is provided. Another site in this area where an O/S map comes in handy – at least you only need the one map!

From the parking area, myself, Dafydd and Sophie walked down along the obvious wooded path and out into the open fields. It is a lovely walk in this weather and we strolled along with not a care in the world. Unlike the local land owners who clearly have concerns judging by the proliferation of ‘private’ ‘no trespassing’ ‘private road’ type signs we have seen in the area – welcome to Southern England. An Englishman’s ‘home’ may be his ‘castle’ – although the drawbridge always seems to be raised!

Anyway, the path is well sign posted and after about 10 minutes we reached the N.T. info board at the bottom of the rise on which Coldrum stands. At this point we could hear the beating of a drum and it was obvious that someone was already at the site. We hurried up and upon reaching the summit were met by several people who were watching a lady sat within the wooden fenced off area playing an African drum. The lower branches of the large tree at the top of the rise were covered in clooties. I also spotted the remains of a fire which someone had made next to the stones but other than the grass appears to have made no damage.

Once she had finished most of the people wandered off although we ducked under the fence to have a closer look of the stones. The stones are enormous and many wouldn’t look out of place at Avebury. The two square ‘walls’ are particularly impressive, some of the best standing stones I have seen. Although I note they have been concreted in to help keep them up.

Whilst the children played around the stones I got chatting to the lady with the drum. She explained all about the drum and how she liked to visit Coldrum to take in the atmosphere and try to ‘connect’ with the ancestors. She said she also liked to visit Stonehenge and Avebury at the solstices but preferred Coldrum for the equinoxes. We spent quite a while chatting about all things ‘old stones’ before I left her to get back to her drumming. I did say that the music certainly added to the atmosphere of the place and there is a fair chance music would have been played at that very spot when the barrow was in use. As I looked down the valley across the farm land it was comforting to think that these were the same fields that the ancients would have farmed.

With these thoughts and with the sound of the drum it was quite easy to form a ‘connection’ with the past. It is surprising how music can help bring the stones to life. Stones can often seem quite sterile places.

Before I knew it we had already been gone an hour and I am sure Karen would have been less than happy sat in the car waiting for us. ‘I won’t be long’ being my usual last words before disappearing into some field or other. I suppose she is used to my definition of ‘long’ by now! However, we did have a long drive back to Cardiff ahead of us and we both had work the next day so it was time to retrace our steps.

Coldrum is a place I have really wanted to visit ever since seeing the site in Neil Oliver’s wonderful Ancient Britain series – I am so glad I finally got to visit. This was the last site of our long weekend in Kent and my favourite place we visited. Coldrum is a ‘must see’ site – particularly given its current status as the oldest long barrow in Britain. As Neil Oliver said – ‘It all starts here………..’ ?

Visited 30.5.16

Directions:
Along a minor road between Addington and Wrotham Heath – immediately south of the M20. An O/S map would be handy although the barrows are signposted from Addington. Parking can be had at the entrance to Rose Alba.

The entrance to Rose Alba was closed and locked. The sign on the gate gave a telephone number you could ring to make an appointment for a tour of the barrows – £1.00 for adults / under 16 free! I rang the number but there was no answer so I walked back along the lane to have a look at the Addington long barrow.

From the lane you are really quite close to the stones but a barbed wire fence prevents you from getting too close. The stones were a little overgrown with long grass all around. However, the stones are large and can be easily seen. In fact, I am sure I was standing on the edge of one of the fallen stones which comes out to the edge of the road. By standing on the stone you are a couple of inches higher to look into the field. Dafydd and Sophie were none too impressed with the stones – I can understand why. No doubt had we been able to have a ‘tour’ things would have been different.

From the road you cannot see the Chestnuts long barrow which I assume is the other side of the house? Pity there was no one home, I would have loved to have seen the Chestnuts………..

Visited 30.5.16

Directions:
Park at the ‘vineyard type’ place opposite the Countless Stones and (carefully) walk up the busy road towards the junction. Then (equally carefully) cross the junction and head for the obvious path up into the trees. There is a small wooden sign pointing the way once you reach the trees.

I left the children in the car (with their mother!) as I decided it was a bit too dodgy to walk them up the lane and across the junction. I was amazed how bust this minor road was – perhaps it’s a Bank Holiday thing? However, once in the trees it was a lovely walk up the hill towards the Dolmen. The sun was shining through the trees and the weather was nice and warm. A lovely late spring day. Fortunately it hasn’t rained for a while so there was no need to don my boots although it wet weather it would no doubt be a bit of a squelch. The walk was a bit steeper than expected and my legs soon started to grumble – I am definitely getting old!

Once you reach the top of the hill Kits Coty appears ‘as if by magic’ as Mr Benn would say (ask your parents!). And a magical sight it is. I didn’t realise how large and tall the stones were, I was quite taken aback at their impressive stature. The only thing spoiling the sight of course is the large black railings surrounding the stones. I assume this ‘protection’ is required? I would have thought that the Dolmen was sufficiently far enough away from urbanisation to deter your average riff-raff from taking the trouble to come so far to get up to no good? Perhaps not? Either way, how do ‘officials’ access the stones? I couldn’t see a gate. I assume they use ladders? Someone had clearly scaled the fence (not an easy task I would have thought) as they had left a corn dolly inside the chamber.

There are fine views across the countryside. The siting of the dolmen was clearly set to impress (as these things often are). Approximately 5,000 years later the stones still impress. I doubt there is much we build today which will still be impressive in 5,000 years time?

Kits Coty is a famous site which I had wanted to visit for a long time. Despite being a long way from home it was certainly worth the drive. This is a ‘must see’ site if you happen to be anywhere in the area. In fact, this is a ‘must see’ site even if you are not in the area.

As an added bonus for me this is another English Heritage site ticked off the list – only 130 to go!

Visited 30.5.16

Directions:
Along a minor road north east of Aylesford. Although this is an English Heritage site there are none of the usual Brown signs to be had. An O/S map is useful. The best place to park along this surprisingly busy lave is directly opposite the stones. There is a ‘vineyard type’ place opposite where you can park at the entrance. Look for the 6ft high green metal fences!

Once parked, a quick scamper across the road (look both ways!) and you are in the safety of the enclosure where the stones reside. The small information board tells you a little of the history of the stones and you are free to clamber over them as much as you like. E.H. call this site Little Kits Coty House. I was able to count the 20 stones said to be here – although one of them is mostly buried

As there are so many of these large stones remaining I wonder if any thought has been made to re-erect them? I don’t know if it is possible to work out which stone goes where but it seems to me that would be better than leaving them in their current jumbled state? I know not everyone would agree with this idea.

All in all not a lot to see other than a pile of large stones, but as I always say – ‘it’s not what it is, it’s what it represents’ that counts!

Certainly worth a look when visiting the nearby famous Kits Coty.

There are some places that I hold dear due to memories of antiquarian stomps with my late dad in days of yore, places that I have not returned to since his passing twenty years ago. Minninglow is one such. We first visited not long after the rails of the Cromford and High Peak line had been lifted at the turn of the ‘70’s, our feet crunching along the limestone ballast as we trekked in from Newhaven crossing. The atmosphere of the place on that blue sky day captivated me the way that the arid calculation of azimuths never will. I had last been there about ten years later. After marriagr,lthough moving much nearer than when on holiday jaunts, life had precluded a return. I had, though, seen Minninglow from afar countless times, as it hove into view on the A621 south of Owler Bar near Barbrook. Some people always greet magpies... I always silently greeted the sight of that beech tree topknot that never failed to raised the spirits. “Hello Minninglow!” The tree profile changed with seasons and time, but always had the same effect. So near but so far.

The hankering for return had been increasing steadily, a must. I had read after the passing of TMA’s Stubob that his ashes had been scattered there at his wish, and this had made me smile. I understood. It also acted as a nudge. I had wanted to go earlier in the season at budbreak, but the demands of fieldwalking in the soon to awaken bracken had precluded this..a race to at least cursorily survey a list of sites I’d been given where the Peak Park did not hold much archaeological data took precedent, and at weekends my nose had been to the gritstone. This had been brought to an abrupt halt the previous weekend, when seven hours of tooing and froing in the sprouting green menace wearing new boots, although productive, had resulted in a huge heel blister and a bad viral ‘do’. Time to have an enforced break. My allotment this Sunday had been my intended limit. I’d then remembered that a steam engine would be visiting my former preserved railway haunt at Matlock, and I couldn’t resist a look and a picture of its departure back to London. Just in case I put the OS Explorer in the car. I needed some limestone. News of further damage to Stanton’s Nine Ladies, another haunt with dad, had upset me too. A further defilement of memory. I needed the antidote of a place where such acts would be unlikely, away from the maddening, gormless crowd. Only one place would do, if I felt up to it. Soil was turned for a while on allotment, then, yup, I reckoned the drive south was doable.

I drove to Matlock, thence Cromford, limped to a vantage point, got my shot, rued not paying in an almost deserted out of the way car park at six on a Sunday evening, then dammit, I had to do what I hadn’t for nigh on thirty years. Up the Via Gellia, past Grangemill, then the Parwich turn off the A5012 to the car park at SK195582. As I neared there were swallows wheeling in the sunshine round nest sites in the huge limestone railway embankment that shielded my goal from view. Only two cars in the car park. I wondered if they’d gone to where I was heading...and also wondered if my goal was accessible. There had been no TMA fieldnotes since 2012, and Stu had posted that concessionary access was to end. One way to find out. I struck out, wincing from my blister, from the car park. Once out of a cutting and atop the finely engineered embankment there, to my right, was Minninglow, drawing me on. There too was the farm. Were eyes watching me? Had Stu’s nearest and dearest had to ask for access? Would I be confronted with an unsurmountable field wall near my goal?

I pressed on, Minninglow ever larger, as larks sang above and lambs bleated around in the early evening sun. A runner passed, then a cyclist. That was it. Such a contrast to Matlock Bath’s bustle. Through a cutting which opened out into a lineside quarry, then, yes!!! There was a metal gate to my left, and, adjoining, a small wooden one...and a recent sign confirming a concessionary path uphill to my destination. The limping w a s worth it. There were no bootmarks in the mud. Perhaps people are offput by there being no path marked on the OS, perhaps this place just seems too far out the way. Perhaps this is a blessing. No voice would shout ‘get off my land!!’ from the farm..just the sound of happy children playing drifted uphill. Lift the catch, through that gate, past the woolly mums and kids, past the limestone scarp, and there was that encircling wall with the open gate. It had been too long. I confess emotion. I had known here when the encircling tree belt was but the tiniest saplings, and prefer it with just the central beech sentinels.. surely the builders had meant here to be seen. If others prefer the present day seclusion so be it. One day the trees may be gone but those capstones and mounds will remain. I kicked and scraped a few molehills, ‘just in case’, and then, taking a breath, through the gateway. Back. The bronze age cairn, with young nettles starting to conceal Bateman’s stone exposures for the summer, was to my right. I stopped, thought of my dad and then, mindful that Stu’s ashes might be underfoot, walked slowly and lightly as I could to the main mound and those great capstones again. So good to return after all this time. No carved names, no paint..just everything as it had been and should be. After another pause and contemplation of my own mortality I took stock. There were one or two small stones protruding through the grass. Had Bateman excavated everything here, I wondered. I photo’d, then went through the gate on the low’s furthest side.

The footpath veers to the right. I walked a little way straight ahead to get a view of another nearby cairn marked on the Explorer. A small green mound, no discernible stonework at that distance. I decided my blister should take precedent over curiosity and instead opened out the map to try and ID the other see for miles highpoints...if sheep have a sense of humour they would have enjoyed the battle. Paper won, but was mishapen. Back to the capstones, a quiet pause, taking in the lowering sun streaming through the beech trunks and branches..then time to go. I wiped my boots. Stu remains where he wished. Downhill, out into the evening blue. Turning right on the uphill side of a wall that cuts along below the scarp I wanted a look at another cairn marked on the OS. Close inspection was not possible due to a wire topped wall barrier, but I found a stone that seemed of interest embedded in that wall below the scarp. It was of wall height, and seemed to serve no demarcational or structural function. If anything, it was a structural weakness, as the wall was toppling either side. With some possible packing visible, was this contemporary with the hilltop sites? Had it been noted? One to read up on in due course.

I retraced my steps to the Midshires Way..somehow my steps felt lighter. No kids voices from the farm now. As I walked back along the black ash I scanned left and right, looking for signs in the close nibbled fields around of those who had built Minninglow for their loved and revered. On the north side of the farm and uphill? Who knows. So much remains hidden still. We do not know it all, never will. What I do know though is that, yes, Minninglow still is a special place, four square to time, part of the fabric of the landscape and my life, and I felt recharged and fulfilled by my visit. I hope others will too. Don’t believe the map. Go. Once will not be enough. I walked slowly back to my Landy, past the cowslips and curlews, lambs and larks. An hour later I was back at my allotment, picking rhubarb in the gloaming. Better. Date of visit 22nd May 2016.

Kilclooney More Portal Tomb
Visited Monday 22nd May 2016
Notes from the information board at the nearby Dolmen Eco Centre.

“The tomb is 4000 years old. Unburnt and burnt human remains with remains of plain and decorated pottery vessels and flint tools and weapons including arrowheads.
Consists of two chambers about nine metres apart: within a destroyed rectangular cairn lying north-east the base of which measures about 25 metres long. The smaller chamber in the south-west, faces roughly the same direction and into the remains of the cairn. The larger tomb has portals about 1.7 metres high with a sill 50 centimetres between them. The backstone supports a small padstone on which the back of the great roof stone, 4.2 metres long rests. This is set to slope upwards over the portalled entrance and to oversail it, making a very impressive monument even in its present state. The side stones of the monument are set on their long ends and are lower in height. They may originally have supported corbels which would have sealed the chamber to the level of the roof stone. The second smaller tomb is similar in design but has an unused lintel above the portals which increases the slope at which the roofstone is pitched. There are the remains of roofing corbels (now slipped down from their original position) outside the side stones.”

The visit: We followed a grass path at the side of Kilclooney Church through two or three fields (one containing four donkeys). Kilclooney Portal Tomb was clearly visible in silhouette on higher ground in front of us. It is a spectacular site – as described in the Dolmen Eco Centre notes the two tombs sit within a large, though incomplete, rectangular cairn enclosure. As always seems to be the case there were hills in view. All we could do was stand and ponder a while with no small amount of wonderment. An couple with their dog came, took photos and went while we stood there.

Very bitter sweet visit today. My last visit was with stubob. Good company kept my spirits up though, and searching for the weird “banana” cairn along Harland edge. That’s a very strange site indeed. Glad i made the effort to push on as we debated turning back twice.

As for HHH it was looking fine today. No rubbish laying around, no offerings etc bar a couple of flowers. There is a geocache in one of the corners, not that i mind of course, suppose it gets people to the site that wouldn’t normally visit. :)

This was a complete surprise. Stopped off in Co. Tyrone to visit some old friends of the friend I was travelling to Donegal with. They just happened to know Mark Bailey the Director of Armagh Observatory who holds the key for Knockmany. He and his wife very kindly accompanied our small group up to the cairn which sits at the very top of a reasonably steep hill – commanding 360 degree views in all directions. Going inside the chambered cairn was a real thrill – my first close encounter with Irish rock art. Mark Bailey has the theory (a good one I should think) that the skies were once far more active in terms of comets and visibility that they appear to be now. And that the spiral shape with a ‘tail’ replicates a comet tail structure. We decided that the cairn was aligned north/south orientated due south towards Slieve Gullion and the Mournes. The cairn now has a clear glass covering and is not accessible without the key to the grill gate. However, most of the tomb can be seen quite well through the gate.

Visited: May 23, 2016

As you walk towards Greshornish Point following the eastern shore of Loch Greshornish, you encounter, after approximately two kilometres, a steep rocky eminence, almost cut off by the sea. Oval in shape and girdled by steep cliffs, particularly on the north and east, its summit slopes significantly from north to south. A tumble of fallen masonry marks the western rim of the summit, although several sections of original walling, several courses deep and up to a metre in height can be identified, as can the entranceway.

You can read much more about Dun na h-Airde on Canmore.

Last time on The stone hunters guide to Wales.....

Snow and ice coupled with miles of difficult walking meant the stone hunters missed the freaky settlement site of Maes y Caerau, and it meant they didn’t have a really good look at the pair of cairns nestling under the rocks of Y Gyrn, so after three years of tripping elsewhere our intrepid explorers are back in the hills above Harlech for a more in depth look around.

21st May 2016.....

From the A496 a mile north of Talsarnau turn east up hill towards the little but lovely Llyn Tecwyn Isaf pass it by and take the next right, we parked just across the river and walked from there. The map is a bit confusing after here, you could try following the footpaths or just strike out on your own heading for the right side of big and obvious rocky Y Gyrn.
The leaves are back on the trees, the streams are all full of dark water, birds are singing and the weather is trying it’s best not to rain on us, as per our request, likable, to say the least.
After much map reading, some serious leg work, spotting the freaky settlement site across a falling stream and a lot of staring at the views we arrive at the two cairns. Map still says there are three cairns, but we can still see only two, the third is either buried or it’s some kind of mistake.
I head straight for the higher of the two, it’s a nice little kerb cairn with an opened cist at it’s centre. One of the two side slabs has fallen inwards obscuring a proper scootch about in there, I cant even tell if the two end slabs are in attendance,
the kerb stones now free of snow stand out much more. Y Gyrn looks like a really good play ground from here, no swings and slides, but rock and boulders, nooks and crannies, distant views and in your face nature.
Over a little stream about a hundred yards is the other cairn, we knew it was a ring cairn but in the snow three years ago that was not very evident but now the ring is naked and brazen and she is showing it all and we can see it all. She is definitely a ring cairn, and one with a view through a gap in the hills to the sea. Why are they always female ?
No prizes.
After butties under a rock shelter with a view of both cairns, and a walk over to Bryn Cader Faner we climb up to the top of Y Gyrn, where a long eye full reveals all three sites, looking down to the ring cairn is as always especially rewarding.
A revisit to these cairns and the freaky settlement site has been high on the list for over three years, now we’ve done it I can cross them off, it’s not a physical list, but excising them from thought should make the whole thing run smoother, just like my lovely car.

Visited: May 23, 2016

Just two kilometres north of Dunan an Aisilidh at the tip of the Braes peninsula, and just north of the mouth of the Ollach River, stands Dun Vlargveg, which consists of a stone wall positioned along the top of a rock outcrop overlooking a cliff-girt promontory.

This wall is almost twenty metres in length, and its outer facing rises to three courses in places. Canmore states that Dun Vlargveg is connected to the mainland by a natural rock arch, but the topography is so steep that I dared not descend from the neighbourhood of the wall towards the level grassy area to confirm this. I would suggest that safety ropes would be required by those wishing to make the descent, which is down steep grass on which a slip could well prove fatal.

Visited 28.5.16

Directions:
In the village of Eynsford, outside Bridge House (which is a sweet shop!), next to the ford and medieval pack horse bridge. This is all opposite the church.

Eynsford is an attractive village and on this beautiful late spring / early summer day was looking its best. We had just visited the nearby Roman villa (E.H.) and had stopped off for a drink and a sit along the river bank. There were lots of families about and many children paddling in the water next to the ford. Of course, it didn’t take Dafydd or Sophie long to join them!

As they splashed about I walked over the narrow bridge to where the stone resides. I initially walked past the stone and back-tracked until I spotted it wedged right up against the wall. In all honesty the stone is not much to look at – small and a bit pointy. Easy to miss and easy to dismiss. However, it has been preserved so I assume it has importance? How old the stone is and what its importance is I have no idea.

Still, if you happen to be in the area and fancy visiting this pretty village it is worth a quick look – and you can stock up on your sweets at the same time! As an added bonus the remains of Eynsford castle (another E.H. site) is only a short walk from the stone :)

Visited 27/05/2016

I had a few hours to kill in Peterborough so thought I would head off to Flag Fen rather than aimlessly around the shops. My expectations were low as I do not usually enjoy these reconstructed educational parks, however, it was a nice day and so I decided I might as well at least enjoy a walk there and back. I headed for the Perkins Industrial Estate, down Fourth Drove and soon found myself in open countryside on a pathway that led directly to Flag Fen, through an open gate and into the park at the opposite end to the visitor centre and payment desk free to wander round at leisure. It was a Friday and with the exception of a school trip I seemed to be the only other person there which left me a little worried as to whether the place was closed to the public and whether I should be there or not. In any case I spent a most enjoyable couple of hours there, the place is really dedicated to trying to show how fen people may have lived in the iron age and includes a reconstructed round house, a building housing remnants of a wooden walkway across the fen and a building housing a movie hall and the preservation site for wooden boats discovered at the nearby Must Farm. A further building held exhibits featuring articles found during excavation and various archaeological digs. For the school kids there was also a building housing a mock dig site where they could indulge themselves and run off some energy. The park included a reconstructed Drove and marked out the line of the old Roman Road from Peterborough to Norwich. Pleased I had decided to visit, and surprised how much there was there, I slipped out the back gate and was soon swallowed up by the Industrial Estate and eventually spat out into the Queensgate shopping centre all of which rather left me wondering which time period I would rather be living in. I resolved the little matter of entrance fee just in case you thought I was freerolling!

May 27th 2016
Oh what have they done to Dunbeacon Stone Circle. I hadn’t visited it for a few years now and was looking forward to catching up with this ancient, wild, enigmatic circle.
Nice suprise to start – a stile signed Dunbeacon stone circle – leading along a newly constructed path (with several more stiles). So far – so good. Then the last stretch, and I can tell that it’s not going to be good. The wire fenced avenue turns into a wooden fenced coral. The stones, imprisoned in a begrudgingly small pen. The wildness has gone, the mystery has gone. You might just as well be standing in a sterile museum environment. What have they done ?

We were here a few years ago, but we had to pass it by due to deep snow and the approach of the dark of the night, for those three years it was on my North Walean wish list. On the map, coflein and google earth it looks very good, three stony rings one inside the other, I was very much looking forward to seeing it from above on the rocky prominence named Y Gyrn, and closer up too of course.

We first caught sight of its rubble rings on the way to the Y Gyrn cairns, waterfalls barred the way so we decided to see it on the way back down. So, after many stony treats we found ourselves stood upon the rocky towers of a mini mount, the views, even on this murky kind of day are expansive, many different things can be seen, collectively they are known as North Wales. But closer to and below us is one of the oddest settlements I’ve seen for while, I can make out the three stone banks but its half grassed over and as the ground is falling away from us, and the rings are on the hill, they are kind of pointing away from us, spoiling the birds eye view I had envisaged. The voodoo priestess laughed and gave me a slap across the face, I had to agree, we had uncannily missed any and all rain, staying dry and happy, and not to mention you get what you get, not what you wish for.

Three concentric rings of dry stone walling one and a half to two meters thick, the innermost ring is thought to be a round house. The entrance to the two outer walls is at the south west, in places the walls are still half a dozen courses high. I thought it strange that the Iron age homesteaders hadn’t leveled the ground before building, maybe I’ve seen too many stone circles, either way I quite liked the way the whole place is draped over the contours of the land and apparently early cultivation terraces.

I liked this place, the green valleys, the mountains, the ancient places, but I reckon a bit of de-turfing would really benefit the site, if it is left to itself it will disappear, just like it’s apparent twin 600 yards south west Bryn-Melyn, twin? did I not say.

30/04/2016 – It was supposed to be a quick bob up Ros Castle and back on the way to Wooler but this area had other ideas for us. We started from the car park just past Hepburn. Short walk up the road and then a climb up to Ros Castle. The views from here were good. We had just driven down from Aberdeen in the morning and had made better time than I thought we would. A quick look at the map showed a hillfort, cup and ring marked rocks and a cairn to the south. With still plenty of day left, we left Ros Castle to take a look.

It’s a nice walk over Hepburn Moor to Blawearie Cairn. The cairn is very good. I can’t think of another like it that I have visited before. Great big stones surrounding a ring made of small stones (containing cists) with a small cairn of stones in the middle. The location is good and the whole site has a very peaceful feeling to it. I liked it very much.

We carried on to the excellent cup and ring marked stones and hillfort at Old Bewick.

On the way back we just had to visit this cairn again as the sun was still shinning and the stones did look good. Finally we left to head back to the car via the Hillfort at Hepburn Crags.

What should have been a half hour walk turned into a 10 mile plus day out with hillforts, cup and ring marked rocks and cairns in a wonderful landscape. I love days like this.

Helpfully signposted off the A2 in the village of Glen Mona this is easy to find though the single-track road is very narrow with few passing-places and there’s a ford to cross before the final section. As Kammer says, parking is tight; given that I’d found a postcard with a picture of the monument, and it’s clearly the biggest of its kind on the island, I had expected a layby at least but hey, I’m not complaining, I’m just glad to have made it here before the rain starts with the wind whistling through the high branches in the copse of tall trees nearby lending the site an appropriately ethereal atmosphere. My only real gripe is that the surrounding fence is just a little too close (shades of Torhousekie and Cairnholy in Galloway), it would be nicer if the site were a bit more open like its better-preserved English brethren at West Kennet and Wayland’s Smithy. I’d had the same feeling earlier in the day at The Mull Circle, another fine monument seeming just a tad hemmed-in by its fence.

This four poster, sadly threatened by trees, lies on an island marked Knockacappul on the OS map, in Kilmakillog harbour on the south shore of the Kenmare River. We were informed that it is owned by Lauragh Gardens, but didn’t check.

You can get across to the island at low tide wearing wellington boots, or paddling, but be warned that the channel is over a metre deep at high tide, and the water moves quickly with the tide running. We used the tide tables for Bantry Bay, and crossed 40 minutes before low tide there (ankle-deep at worst), which gave us more than enough time on the island to get back safely with the water apparently no deeper.

To get there, drive past the post office at Lauragh (at the northern end of the Healy Pass) in the direction of Ardgroom, over the stone bridge, and turn left on the road signposted to Shronebirrane circle. After a few hundred metres there’s a driveway on the right, with a gate a short way up, leading to a large house. This lies about 100 metres from the best crossing point, though it’s not easy to get over the fence on the opposite side of the road (the access gate being completely out of the question) and then through the trees.

We stepped over the fence about 50 metres further along the road, where the bank drops, walked back to a point level with the driveway, and struck out for the island, eventually coming upon a ditch that leads to the channel and crossing point.

It’s an easy drop off the bank – but be careful of slipping on the seaweed that covers the rocks. The circle is in the trees, slightly to the south of the centre of the island, just short of where the trees thin out. It has one very tall stone and a very low stone at north, and two others of medium height at the south.

There’s an outlier some 13 metres to the north, hidden from the circle by closely packed trees. We also noted a large stone (probably not an outcrop, perhaps a fallen outlier?) about 35 metres to the east.

To celebrate a safe crossing, and actually finding the stones, we treated ourselves to a delicious coffee and freshly baked pastries at the post office/café at Lauragh.

Once more the weather Gods smile on me; looking at the forecast a few days earlier it was so grim I toyed with the notion of postponing my visit planned a couple of months beforehand. I’m so glad I didn’t; to echo previous comments, and allowing for Julian’s need to limit the number of sites featured in TMA, I still can’t quite understand why this amazing complex didn’t make the cut. To employ a term I’m sure he’d approve of, it’s a veritable megalithic mindfuck of a place, the moorland scattered with cairns and circles in various states of ruination/preservation. On this wondrously sunny afternoon I can’t think of anywhere better to be, Scafell Pike looming majestically over the wide sweep of the landscape within which these monuments sit. With my customary inability to read a map correctly I not only take the wrong (and very steep) left-hand route up the hillside (instead of the gentler path to the right of the gate out of Boot) but also go left instead of right at the top, certain that the circles lie in that direction. When fruitless encounters with bits of rock sticking randomly out of the moorland scrub fail to produce any sighting of the object(s) of my quest, I take heed of the advice given to me by the proprietor of The Boot Inn to ‘get up on one of the lumps and bumps’ and spot what just HAS to be a stone circle way off in the distance to the east. The nearer I get, the more it reveals itself as White Moss, a beautiful little circle, much-better preserved than I’d hoped and the perfect introduction to this wonderful complex. It reminds me very much of Machrie Moor albeit without the big showstopping monoliths that lend that site its aura; here, that’s provided by the stupendous views, the setting of the circles operating as a focal point for the aforementioned Scafell Pike and other surrounding hills (cf Castlerigg). To my eyes it looks very much as if the line of sight through White Moss and its more ruined companion is designed to draw your eyes towards the gap through which the sea is visible far away to the west. Brat’s Hill is big circumference-wise even though its many stones are smallish and might be less visible later in the summer when the scrub’s grown a bit more. The two Low Longrigg circles are a bit more battered and not immediately easy to spot but do provide a wonderful vantage point for views back towards the others. I end up spending a couple of hours wandering backwards and forwards between all the circles, the only person in this vast landscape, thrilled to bits and marvelling at my good fortune in being able to enjoy it in such perfect conditions. I leave with huge reluctance and a fervent desire to communicate the majesty of this site to the world at large. If you’ve thought about going but haven’t got round to it yet, start making plans now, you won’t regret it. It’s not the most accessible of sites but the effort required isn’t that great when set against the pleasure to be gained.

01/05/2016 – In the end I gave up looking for this one and decided to make my way back to the path through the heather. Of course, as soon as I stopped looking the rock appeared at my feet. Sometimes you can try too hard, better just to let fate decide :-)

This was my favourite rock on the hill (which is covered in cup and ring marked stones). The rings are nice and dobby. It’s worth the effort and good fun trying to find.

01/05/2016 – I’d been looking forward to this one. A quick look at the map showed a hill jam packed with stuff – cup and ring marked rocks, hillforts, settlements and even a stone circle.

We started from Wooler. Walking over Weetwood Moor via the St Cuthbert Way (passing a few cairns on top) then crossing the Weetwood bridge to start the climb up Dod Law. Good paths all the way.

After reading the fieldnotes on here, I was a little worried that there wouldn’t be any stones still standing. Seemed like another one had fallen each time someone visited. Pleased to say that the one remaining upright stone is still hanging in there. I would loved to have seen this one complete. It’s a lovely little circle and a fine spot.

We left the circle behind to make our way uphill, looking for cup and ring and visiting the forts on top. Fantatsic hill.

Looped back to Wooler via the rock art stones on Weetwood Moor (great site). Good day out.