Latest Fieldnotes

I had set myself a target for my holiday of a minimum of three site visits per day. On my first day, having only done two – the forts at Corsewall and Portobello – on returning at dusk to my campsite, the excellent North Rhinns Camping near Leswalt, my eyes lighted on this nearby site on the map. The stone looked to be near the road, and I read Broch’s notes. ‘Dammit, it’s going to be dark but there’s a full moon..I’ll give it a go and get my third’. I parked up the side road by the gate, a short distance after the road left that for Portpatrick. In the field I saw some poles for electric cables in the gloaming, then, by the nearest, a smallish dark lump. It didn’t move. Not a cow...or bull. Could it be...? Broch had done well to keep that pole and its pals out of his shots, as it is only about ten feet or so from the stone. I got my camera and hopped over the gate, got to the stone and got some flash shots with my camera and smartphone. The full moon was rising and casting some atmospheric shadows. The stone’s faring well enough..packing stones exposed by livestock wear, but it’s stocky sturdy and still well set. After ten minutes I heard a farm dog bark, not excitedly but.. mission accomplished, time to go. Pat. You’ve got to pat. See you again in daylight.. Number three.

Reiterating Broch, if you don’t fancy making the descent from the escarpment behind, a visit to this site is tide dependent. On the evening I visited the tide only receded sufficiently as light was fading. The main problem is at the rocky outcrop near the bottom of the steps from the car park. Watch your footing and keep your hands free as the seaweed and boulders are rather slippery. I couldn’t find the site on my visit last year, and I wouldn’t say it was late when I did so this time..except I saw a bat. Yes, little of the place remains, but it’s still worthwhile, not least because of the very fine beach, which, out of season, in the evening you’ll like as not have to yourself, and also the view from the other car park up at the lighthouse, where I’ve now come a couple of times to watch the sun go down over the Irish Sea. My site visit was truncated by the fast approaching darkness and also the arrival of a couple of cars in the car park and my ungrounded fear that their occupants may have had designs on mine. Memo to self: must return in broad daylight next time – tide willing. If you like to combine your hobby with chilling on a beach look no further

The main rock ,as noted in canmore.org.uk/event/678047 was discovered in 1966 , what went unnoticed is the rock 1 metre away with 8 small cups ,not quite as obvious as the main rock but surprising it wasn’t noticed .
Btw the local pronunciation of U is often ‘oo ’ so Loondin not Lundin , Cooltoolich not Cultulich etc .

Before setting out on my explorations of Galloway sites in 2015 this was a site that I had decided I would definitely visit for no better reason than that I liked the name. Do not rely on the position indicated on the OS map – I think it is slightly nearer the ‘9’ numeral shown. This was the last site visited on a day spent exploring some superb lesser known sites in the South Rhins, and was the only one featured on TMA. This is being corrected. Parking at dusk in an informal parking area above the shore of Terally Bay I walked up and down the verge of the A716 looking at the skyline of the raised field on the landward side of the road and, after a few minutes, ‘aha!’ I spotted the top of the stone against the fading light. Access to the field, which had been freshly shorn of its corn, was via an ungated entrance, on the south side of which was a very distinctive gorse covered mound, of which more shortly. I made my way along the field edge to the stone, which is about four feet high, roughly rectangular, and compared to all the other stones I visited, unusually thin, at its top being about six inches thick, rather reminiscent of a tombstone. As the last rays of the sunset waned I carried on photographing using flash. It hadn’t images here, deserved to.. and would. I gave a pat and made to go, and then a thought struck me: was its orientation significant, a pointer? Aligning my eyes at either end of its top in turn I found that one pointed to the summit of Inchmulloch Hill to the southwest, while the other seemed to point to the highest point of the Mull of Sinniness on the other side of Luce Bay. Coincidence? Returning eventually to the field entrance in the gloaming I couldn’t help investigating that gorsey mound.. I groped my scratchy way to its summit. A perfect cone. Animal disturbance revealed that it seemed not to be composed of field clearance material but finer stuff. A cairn, I’ll be bound. A stream flows gently by the base of its southerly side to meet the shores of beautiful Luce Bay. A fine place for a final rest. A migrating corncrake flew over, calling in the dark. I descended carefully, walked back to the car as a golden near full moon rose over Whithorn and the water and drove off slowly to my campsite. It had been a good day.

It is a wonder that this stone has not toppled, and I would be very surprised if it has not done so within the next ten years. Parking on the verge a short distance along the minor road that leads to Low Clanyard after it leaves the A716, adjacent to a solitary static caravan to the rear of the corner house I found a broad holloway – perhaps indicative of a former sizeable human presence – with a disused farm track in its middle that climbed up onto the pastureland that overlooks Luce Bay, and the stone came into view on ascent as the holloway opened out at its crest. Although the stone, some five feet in height, looked in good order as I approached, the side view of it told a different story, as it is leaning southward at an angle of approximately sixty degrees, and I am totally convinced that but for some chocking stones on that southward side it would have gone already. The culprits are undoubtedly cattle, as its packing stones are exposed and its corners blackened by the grease from their rubbing. The stone is top heavy and seems to be tapering to a point at its lower end, and I doubt if that is now embedded by more than a foot. I gave it a gentle pat, but fear its standing years are very nearly over.

Like CARL, I failed to find this despite a prolonged search. I do wonder if the position indicated on the OS map is entirely accurate, as subsequently I found one or two instances where this seemed to be the case, eg Low Curghie. What I did find, though, were four very large stones set vertically at regular intervals set into the wall of the field below that where the wind turbines are. They seemed very out of place compared to all the other stonework, and I wonder if they were there as a consequence of a site being tidied away. I did not think that they included a recent addition to their number. They were not visible from the minor road that leads to Whirlpool, being on the far side of the first brow, but should be visible with binoculars from the road that leads to Clachanmore and Ardwell. I regret not having a look in the top ‘turbine’ field, but the increasing interest of cattle made me decide it was best to withdraw. I hope to have another crack next year..my only failure to find a site out of the thirty or so visited in western Galloway in October 2015. Hi ho..

This group of barrows have been greatly reduced by the landscaping of the golf course. You can make out the shape of one or two but they have been much altered.
If you walk around the hedge behind the golf course, there is a complete bell barrow where all the spirits hang out.
This corner of the common was traditionally where all the gypsies, travellers and migrant farm workers use to stay when they travelled through the Marlborough area.

Visited: September 9, 2015

This promontory at Kilmore once bore an Iron Age fort, Dun Faich. Canmore tells us that an outer face of walling over a metre tall still stands on the landward side, but by the time I gained the fence below the summit, I had lost all inclination to investigate.

Access to the dun was via Kilmore churchyard, which extends a long distance towards the sea, and thence over its rear wall on to a rough path that completes the journey to the rocky shore. Working round to Dun Faich was easy: the difficult part was the ascent of the steep vegetated slopes leading to the dun. What, from a distance, looked easy, proved to be a painful and drawn out battle against thick bracken, laced with abundant concealed thorny brambles. Certainly not a route to recommend in late summer. Do it in spring. After reaching the fence below the summit, I retreated back to the road along the driveway of a large house.

The only saving grace of the adventure was the superb views across the Sound of Sleat towards the mountains of Knoydart. On a very warm day, I was wearing shorts, and bore the scars of battle for a fortnight thereafter!

Just had a short break in north Devon, walking on Exmoor; along the coastal path from Lynton; and the green paths around some of timeless, unspoilt villages. I was aware before going that apart from Bronze Age barrows there was no exceptionally impressive prehistoric archaeology on Exmoor – we did manage to find the Long Stone and associated barrows, Longstone Barrow and Chapman Barrows. The Long Stone stands in very boggy land about half way between them. A local man who worked in the Exmoor Visitor’s Centre down in Lynmouth told us he understood there was as much of the stone beneath the surface as there was above – the stone stands approximately three metres high (nine feet) and slim in width.
We started our walk by walking uphill towards the Pinkery Exploration Centre from Goat Hill Gate where there is a small road side parking area. The path up to Pinkery Pond was by and large a good one – once at the top it became considerably cooler and windier in the autumn sunshine. We then followed the fence line path to Wood Barrow Gate where we had to climb over a tricky barbed wire fence as the actual path was on the other side of the fence. At this point our progress was watched by a herd of Highland cattle as this was true moorland. The ground very boggy – good walking boots essential (I was very glad I changed my mind about going up there in light walking shoes). We stopped for a bit at the Long Stone Barrow to have a drink and a snack before going over to the Long Stone, which is quite well camouflaged against the moorland grass. It’s an intriguing stone and we couldn’t help speculating about why it was there, I imagine its purpose is closely related to the large barrows on either side of it. As we retraced our steps back to Pinkery Pond we saw a pair of red deer in the distance, one of them definitely a stag. Walking downhill into the warm afternoon sunshine following the course of a moorland stream made our walk an enjoyable experience indeed.

Visited: September 6, 2015

Standing at the precipitous southern end of a heathery ridge that rises gently from just opposite the entranceway to Lyndale Lodge on the A850 between Skeabost and Edinbane, Dun Creagan Soillier has little of the character of the nearby Dun Suladale.

Nevertheless, it is worth a visit, and still exhibits stretches of external walling courses on the north and west. There is nothing of note to see in the interior, which is heavily vegetated.

Access to this Dun is by either of two gates (about 100 metres apart), on the opposite side of the A850 from the entrance to Lyndale Lodge. The easternmost gate provides the less boggy ground and, as its access path is disused and overgrown, provides a small off-road parking space. To avoid thick gorse that blocks a direct line up the ridge, head through the patch of woodland to the right, then immediately make for the highest ground, a low heather-clad hillock surmounted by a powerline pole. Continue uphill, on short, springy heather, and the dun is on the summit of the second rise, about 200 metres ahead.

26/09/2015 – Good access from Dunnet Forest car park. Only a short walk across a field to this one. Down as a mound on the maps but excavation has found it to be a broch. Not much to see, just a small grassy mound with the odd stone. Just north of the broch is a hut circle I really liked. A few remaining stones make up a nice little cell within the hut circle, maybe a place to sleep.

26/09/2015 – Two cairns marked on the OS map just next to the main road and to be honest, not the most exciting. Both small grassy lumps in an area of larger grassy lumps and bumps. Be good to know if they are definite cairns.

Visited 1.10.15

Our last site of the day. What a great place to finish at the end of a long but highly rewarding day out in the mighty Brecon Beacons.

This is one of those sites that I had been longing to return to for a number of years – ever since my original visit in fact. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge in that time!

We parked at the end of the road / start of the track and I pointed out to Danielle the nearby cairn with the trig point on top. We then walked along the track, chatting about all things historic /prehistoric and enjoyed the views. The bright sun caused the water in the reservoir to sparkle and shine. It was only the cold breeze which stopped you from thinking it was the middle of summer.

We first headed for the Roman Camp works and then out across the moor to the stone circles. Despite having been here before it still took me a little time to re-fing the circles. The stones are only small and the ground undulating with many tufts of ‘spiky grass’ to block the view. But find the circles we did and soon settled down for a small picnic my sister had kindly prepared for us (thank’s Lisa!).

I then noticed that one of the stones had fallen. I was able to re-errect it and temporarily pack it with a couple of stones I found. It did the job for now but a proper re-packing will be required for the long term.

As we munched out rolls (or cobs as we say in this part of the world) a couple of red kites hovered high overhead in the thermals. All was quiet except for the bleet of the nearby newly sheared sheep. As with every other place we visited today we had the place to ourselves. We sat and ate and drank and took in the fine views to the north. We sat quietly and tried to take it all in. For me at least, there is no better way to de-stress from the trials and tribulations of everyday life.

It had been an excellent day’s ‘old stoning’. I am pleased to report that Danielle enjoyed her day as much as me and is looking forward to our next ‘adventure’ – as she calls it. I may have mentioned Avebury...................

Visited 1.10.15.

A visit to Maen Llia is an obvious stop-off when showing someone the prehistoric highlights of this part of the Brecon Beacons. After reading Cerrig’s notes on the damage recently caused I was fearing the worst.

To my pleasant surprise and relief I couldn’t see anything obvious. In fact, at first, I couldn’t see any damage at all. I then saw the initials T D chiseled into the stone (the side opposite the road) but (thankfully) these are small and looked old to me. They certainly didn’t look fresh, nor was I able to see any others. Perhaps the sun was at the wrong angle?

Ironically enough Danielle was quite taken be the carved initials G Hay 1869? on the other side of the stone. She liked the quality of the ‘work’. It has to be said it is well done. However, that was then, this is now. No defacing (however well done or not) is excusable in this day and age. I hope the initials I saw are the ones Cerrig reported and that I haven’t somehow missed something much more serious.

Maen Llia is an outstanding stone and one of the gems of prehistoric South Wales. I just wish everyone had as much appreciation for it as we do. At least we now have one new member of the Maen Llia appreciation club!

Visited 1.10.15

Next stop of the tour led us to Maen Madoc, an impressive stone which is well worth the walk.

Thanks to the recent fine weather most of the track leading to the stone was dry (a first for me) – no need for the wellies I wore then!

When we arrived at the stone the sun was in the perfect place in order to see the Latin inscription. The sun cast a shadow across the letters and it was really easy to make them out. Far easier than my previous visitis.

The sun was shining brightly, the sky a deep blue and a near full moon was also on display. The wind had eased and the temperature was warming up nicely.

Danielle was pretty much ‘blown away’ with the size of the stone and its inscription. A definite win-win. When passing (to visit the nearby Maen Llia) make sure you take the time to visit Maen Madoc. You won’t be disappointed.

Visited 1.10.15

The second stop-off on my mini tour of Brecon sites with my niece. When I tried to find this cairn 5 years ago I failed due to the trees. This time, as mattbotwood informed, the trees have been ‘harvested’ and the cairn is easily see from the road running past it. I can now see that the last time I visited I was looking in the wrong part of the plantation – no wonder I didn’t find it!

There was no forestry work going on, the trees are all gone and only large piles of stacked timber remain. We parked on the grass verge and carefully picked our way through the sawn tree trunks and branches.

We soon reached this large cairn of grey stones which has a large hole in the centre where it has previously been dug into. I climbed right to the bottom (a fair drop) to look for any signs of a cist but couldn’t see any. This is a fine (if mangled) cairn and well worth a visit. I am glad to have finally seen it.

I noticed that when the trees were growing thay had been planted in a circle around the cairn to protect it. Hopefully the same will be true when they plant the next generation of trees?

Visited 1.10.15

The beautiful weather this week had given me ‘itchy feet’ and I was desperate to take advantage of it. A day off work and here I was, back up the Brecon Beacons for the first time in many months.

This time I had my neice for company as she is very keen on history/prehistory and also managed to get the day off. She had only previously been to a couple of prehistoric sites so I thought I would treat her to a day out up the Beacons.

The first port of call was Cefn Sychbant Cairn. Easily found and easily accessed. The recent dry spell of weather had made the ground pretty dry underfoot and we crossed the moor from the road without difficulty or wet feet.

The hill cloud had not as yet lifted and the breeze was cold. Danielle was suitably impressed by the cairn and I did my best to describe what it was, when and how it was built etc. This was Danielle’s first ever cairn – not a bad one start off on!

The only down side was the amount of rubbish along the side of the road. The usual stuff – plastic bottles, beer cans, wrappers etc. I filled a bag to take home with me but there was still a lot left behind. What’s wrong with these people? They don’t realise how lucky they are to have the wonderful Brecon Beacons on their doorstep. At least there was no litter at the cairn – couldn’t throw it that far no doubt :(

Although I haven’t really got much to add (in descriptive terms, at least) to previous posts I still feel as if I should say something about how the ruined magnificence of this majestic monument somehow transcends the godawfulness of its current setting, so much worse now than Julian’s description in TMA as noted by my predecessors. As if the proximity of the A55 (new since Julian’s notes) and the aluminium plant wasn’t bad enough, now in the field next to it you have an apparently abandoned development site loaded with rubble etc; with no signs to guide me, I parked on the stump of a road presumably intended originally to lead into whatever was going to be built there, guessing that I must be somewhere near the monument which I then espied about 60/70 yards away to my right through a gap in the trees. It’s impossible to envisage just how prominent it must have been when constructed but now it feels sadly marooned in its wasteland although its power to enthral is amazingly undimmed.

27/09/2015 – Felt a bit fed up midweek, so as we had the next Monday off, we decided to revisit Dunnet Head for the weekend. I’d been before but after seeing thesweetcheat’s photo on here a few years back I couldn’t remember if I’d actually been to the top. Still it’s a fine place and well worth another trip, so off we went.

We took the train up. It’s a nice journey and my neck was aching a little by the time we reached Thurso from looking out for all the old stuff we could see from the window. I gave a little nod to Citizen Cairn’d as we went through Strath of Kildonan. Even saw a few of its cairns as we went by.

Started the walk from Dunnet the next day. A lovely circuit up the road to the Lighthouse then looped back west along the clifftops to Dunnet. About 12 miles and a really fine walk.

The cairn, at the high point of Dunnet Head, has been built over by a viewing area, so it’s not in great shape but the location is amazing. We were lucky with the weather and the view over to Orkney was great. Hoy looking so near. My GPS told me as I sat by the cairn that Ring of Brodgar was only 38km away in a straight line, not that you can see it from here but it felt close.

A fine visit and well worth going to if you are in the area.

We took the train home the following day. It always seems longer on the way back.

Visited: September 9, 2015

Situated on a small promontory at Ardvasar, Dun Acardinon has to be visited by a somewhat circuitous route, as a direct assault along the coast is difficult (large rocks, cliffs etc.). Parking is available adjacent to the bus stop (yellow marker ‘B’), from where you must walk on 100 metres to a road on the left labelled ‘Knoydart’. Follow this short road to its end where a gravel path leads to a gate with a ‘Please Shut Gate’ notice on it (blue marker ‘G’).
Pass through the gate into rough pasture and either follow the clifftop or cut across directly to the dun (red marker ‘D’).

When I visited, in September, Dun Acardinon was so thickly clad in a mixture of hazel scrub and head-high bracken that I could not fight my way on to its summit; and if I had, I doubt I would have seen anything of interest.

The shore surrounding the fort is easily reached down a gentle grassy slope, and the best views are obtained from there. The fort is well defended by sheer cliffs, and as you walk around it, the huge cleft that almost splits the headland in half is apparent.
If you look hard, there is ample evidence of walling blocks, but again, they were well hidden behind a veil of brambles, bracken and other vegetation.

Visited: September 6, 2015

Dun Adhamh is a small, unremarkable fort perched on an oval, flat-topped eminence, southeast of the Kingsburgh junction on the main road between Portree and Uig. Although it lies just under 600 metres from this road, as the crow flies, you will have to walk the best part of two kilometres to visit it, as the nearest spot where a vehicle can be parked is opposite the Kingsburgh junction (see Creag nam Meann for details).

Dun Adhamh sits out of view as you walk the kilometre or so south along the Old Road to the point where it merges once more with the Main Road. There is one place where the dun can briefly be seen up a shallow valley to the left, but as it still sits below the skyline, it is hard to identify. Once you reach the end of the section of Old Road, head generally northeast until you encounter a broad heathery ridge with steep rocky crags at its east. Make your way on to the ridge, and you will see Dun Adhamh beyond, on the far side of a 3-metre deer fence. Turn right at the fence, and walk to the corner of this enclosure, where there is a gate that provides access.

Dun Adhamh is now easily approached, and large blocks—the remains of a stone wall that used to surround the fort—are passed on the ascent to its thickly vegetated summit.

Visited: September 11, 2015

There are two cairns near the standing stones at Kensaleyre. The southern cairn stands in the same field as the Eyre Standing Stones, and cannot be missed. At the time of my visit, it supported a small flock of sheep. Canmore attributes it a height of 1.8 metres and width of 21 metres.

From the standing stones, the shapely northern cairn, 2 metres tall by 18 metres wide, can be seen 350 metres to the northwest, just a few metres in from the shoreline. Access is easiest along the shingle at the edge of Loch Snizort Beag, the nearby field gate being conveniently wide open at the time of my visit. But the shapeliness of this cairn is an illusion: some time in years gone by the eastern flank of the cairn was extensively excavated and a house (now gone) partially inserted into it.

The first time I came here was about a decade ago, the day before my son went to nursery, the day before I began to lose him, that’s what school does, it peels away your fingers from gripping his little hand one by one, and smiles in your face while it does it. So I decided we would go somewhere good, somewhere far away, somewhere far removed from organised schooling, so that at least I could remember him in his natural surroundings. But that was an awful long time ago, he thinks for himself now unfortunately, muuum he’s thinking for himself again, tell him.
I borrowed a library map last time, and would’ve this time too if they didn’t keep such wimpy hours. So I bought one, a tenner it cost me, you can have it if you want, I left it there, knowing that the next people to visit the three brothers would get horribly lost and there would be this map, like a gift from god (small G) probably.
My daughter came out with me, but as with the other four places I went to today she stayed in the car, I blame the schools whole heartedly.

I’d forgotten how steep and narrow the path gets on the way up, but I do like a nice walk in the woods, and this is one. Turn right at the gate and stile in the wall, take note of the map on the wall, it wont help much, but it is reassuring to know your in the vicinity.
The terrain changes much depending on the time of year and which decade you go, ten years ago there was no trees growing out of and next to the brothers, no brambles choking the southern brother, they were all perfectly intervisible, not anymore.
Passing through the gate take the second turning left, ignore the path, it wont take you to the brothers, look for some small white rocky cliffs on your right, the brothers are above and to the left of the bright white cliffs, I don’t think any of that will help, call out loud to the stones, ask any and all animal life for directions, if in doubt a big tree will always help you out, you probably think I’m being daft, give it a go next time your failing to find your way.

The three brothers is a quiet and beautiful place, the endless peace was only interrupted by bird song, gun fire and car racing noises, ok so it was just beautiful this time, but normally........

I really hope this place hasn’t been abandoned to nature, it wont look after the brothers, the southern brother was almost entirely covered in brambles, I removed as much as I could without cutting myself to ribbons, again. It is all just too overgrown to appreciate so I climb up onto the middle brother, and sit quietly contemplating this little world, now that I can see all three brothers, I can also see my map on the fence and remind myself not to forget it.
But I do anyway, I blame the schools.

I found it on my first attempt, and with no OS map either, I google earthed the crap out of the site at home first though.
Heading north on the A683 out of Kirkby Lonsdale, take first right turn to High Casterton, keep going over two crossroads, the second of which has you going up a dead end road to Bullpot, near the top of the hill look for a footpath going left. Parking for two or three. The rest is easy, up the path the circle is in the fifth field on your left.
Ta daa!
A lovely little stone circle is this, perfect in it’s littleness. It is very similar to a lot of Welsh stone circles, same size, same small stones, similar setting, the more things change the more they stay the same, or some such bollocks. I counted 18 stones, then 17, then 18 again, then I lost count half way round, gave up and lay on the floor.
Erect once more I circle the ring inspecting it 360 degrees, the mound/platform is a bit weird, why bother? just put it twenty feet that way, unless there is some overwhelming reason to put it exactly where it is. Who knows the mind of ancient man? they were all bonkers.
The view down into the Lune Valley is pretty good, lets be honest there’s thousands of them in England alone, but not many of them have a fine stone circle to appreciate them from, that is why were here of course.
The hillside directly behind the circle is in my opinion a bit untidy, a tadd scruffy, unkempt, there’s loads of big clearance cairns made into half shelters, but one lone rock caught my eye on the way back, it had some cup mark like thingies on it, I presume they must be natural, but only because they’ve not been mentioned before, til now.

Visited: September 8, 2015

Dun Raisaburgh, a rather ruinous broch, stands near the south of a 15 metre high rocky ridge a short distance due south of the house at Raisaburgh, near the southwest shore of Loch Mealt. From the Kilt Rock car park, a tarred road leads right round to Raisaburgh, and it’s then just a matter of skirting the outbuildings on the left and working your way up to the broch. The near slope of the ridge is quite steep, and it is probably wise to skirt round to the south and ascend from there.

The eastern side of Dun Raisaburgh is mainly a tumble of fallen stones, but elsewhere around the periphery, courses of the the outer wall face can still be seen. Two well constructed parallel faces cutting through the broch wall on the southeast may well be remnants of the entrance passage. The inner foundation courses of the broch are largely submerged in rubble, except for a short section in the north, which stands six courses tall.

Like so many of the Skye brochs, Dun Raisaburgh is a terriffic vantage point. On a fine day, the views across Loch Mealt, and towards the northwest highlands on the mainland, are breathtaking.