Latest Fieldnotes

Those of us with a penchant for the perusal of OS maps during the dark winter evenings – and no doubt others – will have noticed that some prehistoric monuments have been accorded the distinction of an association with person(s) thought worthy of perpetual remembrance by the local community; an assurance policy against the collective memory of such notables being lost within the misty annuals of time by irrevocably linking them to immutable features in the landscape. I guess, in many ways, this practice is also a subliminal comment upon the relative value society places – or rather used to place – upon the monuments themselves. I mean it is clearly self evident that only the best cairn would be thought worthy of someone of the stature of Arthur, isn’t it? Trouble is such practices didn’t always work, the monument, somewhat ironically, retaining all the kudos whilst its human patron faded to obscurity. And then oblivion... Consider Carn Richard.

Awaking to an unfeasibly blue sky within Glen Loth, my camp of no consequence in relation to the elegant, stratified façade of Ben Uarie soaring, towering above, I scan the map for places to visit and hopefully occupy the forthcoming day. The bleary eyes rest for a moment upon the moniker ‘Carn Richard’, subconsciously attracted by the association with some bloke formerly bearing such name. Any ideas? Nevertheless I decide it’s worth a look. Indeed, seeing as past generations went to the trouble of selecting and subsequently maintaining such a name within local group consciousness, it would be rude not to pay a visit.

The B877 heads west(ish) from the A897 at Kinbrace whereby, having crossed the Bannock Burn, a large, circular sheepfold will soon be seen below to the left. Spotting a dry stone structure of some description upon the hillside to the immediate north I park up and go have a look. As usual it is soon clear that I’ve put two and two together to get five.... I’ve actually stumbled upon the rather fine remains of the Harvieston settlement, not exactly a problem. The great chambered cairn itself stands a little way uphill to the approx. north-west, the intervening hillside featuring numerous additional small cairns and ‘humps ‘n bumps’.

Sitting overlooking the River Helmsdale a little to the north-west of its confluence with the aforementioned Bannock Burn the positioning of Carn Richard is classic, archetypal of a chambered cairn in fact with the broad, sinuous course of the river indicative of fertility itself. Yeah, a good place to rest out eternity. It is a substantial monument, slumbering away in obscurity within a landscape seemingly beyond the effects of time. What’s more there’s a nice, big slab lying within – a capstone or chamber lintel, perhaps? – whichever the perfect perch to rest up for a few hours and, well, not do a great deal, to be honest. According to the inevitable Audrey Henshall [1963] the monument is:

“a short horned, chambered cairn... still standing 10’ to 12’ high on the south... diameters are 58’ E-W by 62’ N-S but the precise edge is difficult to trace”.

The views up and down the valley are excellent, the profile of Ben Uarie adding some cognition to the skyline horizon. In fact I could happily laze here in the sun all day... if it wasn’t for the (arguably) incomparable treasures of Strath of Kildonan waiting for me, their unseen presence tugging at my consciousness like a Jack Russell upon a leash. Clearly there’s only one way that’s gonna end.

Nevertheless, even in such company, this is a first class site. Thank you for the prompt, Richard. Whoever you were.

Visited: June 18, 2015

Hunebed D24, measuring 6.7 × 2.4 metres, is the most westerly of this trio of numebedden, and originally consisted of four capstones supported on eight sidestones.

Now, alas, only two capstones remain, one still supported on its sidestones, and the other collapsed into the crypt. There was originally an entrance portal with a single pair of sidestones, but no evidence of a ring of kerbstones.
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NOTE
Many of the photographs provided for this hunebed (those dated prior to 2015) are in fact showing hunebed D23. It seems that many visitors assume that D23, D24 and D25 are arranged sequentially as they walk through the woodland.

But this is not the case. Precedence in numbering hunebedden runs from North to South. So the middle hunebed of the three, being the most northerly, is D23, The other two are then numbered in sequence from west to east.
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Visited 26th June 2015

We weren’t intending to visit any megalithic sites today, a thick sea fog blanketing everything in a damp muffling duvet of cloud when we awoke this morning in St. Just, but during a day spent in Falmouth the clouds finally burnt away leaving blue skies and blazing sunshine. So over a pint of Hobgoblin in ‘The Grapes’ a quick check of the TMA site on the phone (isn’t technology a wonderful thing!) produced a list of nearby candidates for a visit.

By far the most promising was Halliggye, somewhere I’ve never been before, and an impressive looking site to boot. So setting course for Garras on the B3293 we soon managed to find the Trelowarren estate and driving up the main drive (beware of the stealth humps though, which nearly ripped my car’s exhaust off!) soon the information board and layby appeared. It’s then only a short walk to the lovely enclosure surrounding the modern steps which lead down into the fogou.

As soon as we stepped inside we could tell this one was going to be something special. Ducking down to get through the entranceway, the passage soon rises enough to just about stand upright, and the feeble glow of my torch, desperately in need of some new batteries, struggles to illuminate the end of the corridor. Inching my way along due to the uneven floor, a long curved passageway soon opens up to the left, and I’m straight down it like a rat up a drainpipe.

The curve of the walls is disorientating as you carry on walking, the corridor seemingly wending its way into the depths of the underworld. It reminded me of the Tumulus de Rocher in Brittany, which had a similarly long and winding interior passage. Like Carl mentions in his fieldnotes, the stygian gloom of the surrounding darkness seems to suck the very light from my torch as I proceed, and only Ellen bringing up the rear with the light from her phone helps to penetrate the dimness.

Soon we reach the ‘stumbling block’ a raised stone ridge protruding from the floor, which marks the passage’s end, and I shuffle forward, crouched over, down the southern creep to the end of the fogou. Here I sit, Ellen waiting in the corridor nearby, and we turn off our lights. The darkness is all consuming. Total blackness surrounds you, and the atmosphere of the place becomes even more tactile. I become very aware of the sounds of my own breathing, and nearby an occasional squeaking sound, possibly from the bats that often roost here. I was expecting a damp, dank place, but it’s nothing like it. I can smell a faint but lingering scent of incense, then overlaid by a subtle lilac fragrance, and through the darkness I become more aware of all my other senses. If ever anyone needed help in practising mindfulness this is the place to come, something about it is affecting, sharpening your awareness of your place in this place, only the here and now seemingly existing as you float in the comforting darkness which surrounds you.
After maybe minutes or maybe hours, it’s hard to tell, the pinpricks of our torches come back on and we head back toward the entrance. Before leaving I wedge myself into the smallest northern creep, toward the original entrance to the fogou. It’s tiny but I can just squeeze in, although so wedged I fear I’ll ever get out! Happily after a bit of scrabbling I manage to ease myself back into the more spacious passageway, where we take more photos, before reluctantly taking out leave.

Although there is a suggestion fogou’s may have had a purpose as a place of storage this just doesn’t make sense to me, why construct such an elaborate and impractical cellar? I imagine it would be one hell of a hassle for an Iron Age farmer having to nip down the creep each time they wanted to retrieve an item! Visiting Halligye just strengthens my view that there was more likely some form of ritual purpose involved, seeing how an experience of the fogou can affect you psychologically I can only imagine the impact it would have had on people in that long ago culture.

Well I might have gone on a bit about this place, but it’s just that I haven’t been so blown away by a site visit for some time. There’s certainly a power here, and even for those less enamoured with the mystical mumbo jumbo a visit to Halliggye provides you with possibly the finest example of a fogou you could wish to see, so it’s a definite must visit.

Visited: June 18, 2015

Right beside the roadside, just a kilometre to the west of the village of Bronneger, stand two conspicuous Bronze-Age Burial Mounds. The larger (eastern) of the grass-covered mounds is 15 metres wide and rises to a height of just over two metres; its companion, 60 metres to the west, is ten metres wide and two metres tall.

In the Google Map above, the burial mounds are indicated by red markers. For reference, the blue marker shows the location of Hunebed D25.

The information sign beside the larger mound states:

This burial mound, like the one located slightly west, was investigated in 1948.

In contrast to the other mound, the research here yielded tangible results. The excavators established that the mound had been raised in three phases during the Bronze Age, between 2000 and 1200 BCE. Around the foot of the first and third phases a wreath of stones had been placed. This appeared to have been partially demolished by stone robbers.

In the center, a shallow stone-covered grave was uncovered, belonging to first phase. Other graves did not come to light.

Visited: June 18, 2015

Hunebed D25, measuring 7.5 metres in length by 3.6 metres in width, is the biggest and best of the trio of hunebedden situated in woodland just over a kilometre west of the village of Bronneger and a hundred metres or so west of the two Grafheuvels (burial mounds).

This hunebed, unlike its two companions, D23 and D24, is quite intact, with four large capstones perched on eight sidestones. Two end stones complete the monument. There is no evidence that there ever existed either an entrance portal or a circle of kerbstones.

D25 appears rather squat and low in the ground, but this is because it is still surrounded by the remains of its earthen barrow: the sidestones could be up to two metres tall, but are almost totally buried under the ground.

Although never totally ruined, this hunebed did receive a degree of restoration from Professor van Giffen in 1960-61. However, it is believed never to have been excavated, so a wealth of grave goods could well remain within it (as was the case with the excavated D19 at Drouwen).

Follow the directions to Creich Manse and keep going until the ruined Creich Church. Opposite can be seen Creich Castle. The fort is at the top of the hill to the north of the church.

We opened the gate just to the west of the church and headed straight up the hill to another gate which leads to a small track leading up the hill. Traces of rampart can be seen but it is very low and hard to detect. Evidence of a couple of hut circles remain but apart from that nothing much remains. What does remain is steep natural defences on the northern side and the beautiful views. Today the Tay was mirror like reflecting both the city and the Sidlaws. Also to be seen to the south and west are many hillforts. Looks like a busy time for two legged and four legged hill climbers.

This isn’t a steep climb but well worth the effort. Careful of the northern defences, there isn’t much room for error after the ruined fence.

Visited 8/6/2015.

Visited: June 18, 2015

Note: This Bronze Age tomb has been relocated to the Exhibition Area of the Hunebed Centrum in Borger, Drenthe.

In 1983, just a year after the discovery of Hunebed G5 Heveskesklooster during excavations at the site of an ancient monastery in the village of Heveskes, a second stone grave was unearthed. Briefly considered to be yet another hunebed, it was soon realised that this was a steenkist (stone cist), measuring approximately 5 × 1½ metres.

The difference between a Steenkist and a Hunebed is that the latter was a grave for a number of people, whereas a Steenkist (stone cist) was a grave for a single individual.

To protect and preserve the cist, it was relocated to the Hunebed Centrum at Borger, where it was restored.

22/06/2015 – About 10 years since I was last on Schiehallion. It was a lovely blue sky day last time. Today was windy, misty and cold. I even sat next to a patch of snow for my sandwiches and cuppa. It didn’t feel much like the end of June!

What can I say about Schiehallion that you need to know apart from it’s just a great hill with a fantastic view. If you are in the area and like a walk, it’s a must visit. Good parking, nice path and great boulder hopping to be had near the top (if you like that sort of thing).

This hill must have been special to people since the first time humans laid eyes on it.

A good day.

Visited June 18, 2015

Yet another Galgenberg, this one located amongst the heath and woodlands of the Sleenerzand reserve, just south of Hunebed D49. And it’s a huge burial mound, over 20 metres wide by between 3 and 4 metres in height.

Although it lies just a kilometre beyond the more famous hunebed D49 (the Papeloze Kerk), the way is not obvious. I have never actually seen instructions for finding the way there from this starting point and there is no signage to guide you. But the map below will take you there with ease.

Start at Campground/Recreation Center Rijmaaran, just beside the Voshaar No 21 bus halt (top right on the map below), follow the ‘Hunebed’ signs, and make your way to the Papeloze Kerk. Although the path slants off to the left at this juncture, walk round to the far side of the hunebed and continue in the same direction as before, now along a much narrower but fairly obvious forest footpath for another 100 metres, until it intersects with a wide forest road (blue marker).

Turn left, and follow this road for about 350 metres until the trees on the right give way to a prominent clearance (an ancient Celtic Field). Immediately past the far edge of this clearing (yellow marker), another wide forest road heads to the right: follow this for about 300 metres till you reach a tarmacked cycle track.

Finally, turn left and follow the cycle track for 200 metres until it emerges from the trees and curves around the base of the Galgenberg (red marker).

A plaque beside the Galgenberg states that:

Research conducted in 1934 and 1938 showed that this burial mound was raised in three phases. This took place in the Bronze Age, between 2000 and 1200 BCE.

A ditch was dug around the mound during the first period, then a circle of poles surrounding the base of the mound was added in the second and third periods. Several graves were uncovered.

The central grave from the second period is among the richest in Drenthe. Besides bronze objects this grave contained two golden (ear) spirals. Although the research did not yield any concrete evidence for this, it is very likely that a gallows stood on the mound in the Middle Ages. The name of the mound indicates this.

It is possible that a relatively recent human skeleton found in a nearby burial mound may have been that of an executed person.
In 1996, the ring of poles of the final period was renewed.

The Chipping Norton triangle, a triangle whose sides are 4,5,and 6 miles long, the north point is at the Rollright stones, the south west point is at the Churchill stones, and the south east point is at the Hoar stone burial chamber near Enstone. Along the south line of the triangle is Knollbury hill fort and the Hawk stone. All completely meaningless of course but it’s broadly true.
Not been here for ages, I liked it then, and I like it now, you don’t have to share this site with any long views, it’s just you and the stones. A very private place, despite the crossroads, I even like the fact that it’s at the crossroads, many strange things occur at crossroads, I imagine.
What is it with Hoar stones round here, there must be half a dozen, and that’s not including the Thor stone and the Hawk stone both surely deriving from Hoar, and what is a Hoar, and do they moan?

What a brilliant standing stone this one is, gnarled, pitted and worn beyond belief, but that’s not all it’s got going for it. With long agricultural views east and south, the many wild flowers everywhere there aren’t crops, the skylark giving it some high above, the stones size, over seven feet, and the early morning sunshine, but that’s not the stones doing, that’s probably Sod’s law, the sun was late coming out at the Rollright’s on this summer solstice morning.
I drove past it once, then had to go back, then move up a bit further, there’s no clue as to where the stone is, but a bit of perseverance will pay off, it’s not a long road.
What a brilliant stone.

I parked in the wee lay by to the south west of the fort, from here the south bank of the fort is a mere ten feet away. Over a very flat topped wall that’s made to look inviting to climb over and up the bank to the top, inside the fort a large brown Doe spots me and bounds away to the far bank and up onto it, it turns to watch me for a minute then it’s gone over the other side.

I set off on the obligatory walk around, clockwise. The grasses are very long and it doesn’t take long to get soaked from the knees down, I plod on. Turning the north west corner to where the deer was, I can see where it was sat in the grass, but no tracks because of the way it bounds over the grass.

The east end is very disturbingly open, ploughed down to get into the fort is my thought, but I don’t know.
The fort is very rectangular for the Iron age.
This would be an amazing place to lie in the grass of an evening and watch the clouds float by, and perhaps get up to some shenanigans below the grass line, but not in the morning though, that would be weird, and wet.

This site has been languishing in my to do list for years, so after a solstice sunrise at the Rollright stones I’m looking for a few other places to get to, Churchill......oh yesss!
The remembrance bench is too close, the stones are said to be this, that and the other but no one knows from whence they came.
It’s still very early, there is no one out besides a determined jogger a squirrel and myself, and the jogger is gone, leaving the squirrel and me, it’s a funny word squirrel the more you say it the less meaning the word has.
A very slow stroll round the church later and still all is quiet so I sit on the aforementioned bench and lap up the peace and stillness.
Phil said the place looked like something out of Midsomer
murders, I kept my back to the church.

Visited 21.6.15

Directions:
On the A466, north of Monmouth.

St Weonard’s is only a small village and it is easy to spot the church. We parked outside the church and bought a sunflower from the church’s ‘honesty table’. (That morning we discovered a slug had eaten Sophie’s sunflower she had from school and was very upset so this was a ‘must buy’!) I like ‘honesty tables’ and try to buy from them as much as possible. It restores my faith in humankind. The church is pretty and well worth a look around. There is a 15thC wooden chest and some kind of wooden stretcher which I assume was used for carrying coffins? I like an old church………..

Anyway, onto the Tump. It is easily found, just outside the church, next to the primary school. There is a pavement which runs around the base of it. Two ends have a fence around it (part of someone’s garden?) but the main bit is open from the pavement. It is very large and completely covered in trees, bushes, nettles etc. The sides are steep and the soil loose. When I climbed up the soil was giving way with each step. Due to the trees there is no view to be had but I suspect when the Norman fort was built it would have commanded the surrounding area.

If you happen to be in the area it is well worth stopping off for. I would strongly suggest combining a visit with the not-to-far away Kilpeck Church, with its fantastic carvings and famous Sheela Na Gig.

For reasons beyond my control I had to choose somewhere easy to get to and on a main road for this years summer solstice sojourn, definitely not Stonehenge, Avebury is too hard to park at, the weather dissuaded me from going to Castlerigg, Anglesey didn’t interest me somehow. So I decided on a trip to Oxfordshire, the mountain man in me just laughed and scoffed at my far too flat idea, Oxfordshire ? surely you jest.

But, it’s been a while since my last time, and I wanted to see how the stones are faring eleven years after their yellow paint attack, there’s also some other sites I’d like to see again, and some for the first time.
We got there with some time to spare, but the other people had all got here early, parking was now in a field next door to the King stone field, there was lots of cars, that’s never good.
Phil saw all the people and decided to stay in the car, I didn’t blame her, it was 4.30am, and there must have been 150 people at the Kings stone and the circle, not my ideal way to see some stones, scuse me.
I completely ignore the King stone and stroll down the lane to the Kings men, for a minute I wonder why they are all gathered here rather than at the stones, then I realise that the suns coming up in the wrong place, or rather my memory of the place has got turned round, like a compass that doesn’t know which way is north the stones have messed with my mind and the suns coming up in the wrong place. Oh well, who am I to argue with where the sun comes from.

There was a lot of people here, it wasn’t to my liking, I made my way to an empty corner and stood under a tree and took in the scene, there was much to take in. Many conflicting thoughts chased each other round my head, if there was something happening here on the summer solstice in prehistory, is this what it would be like, to see a stone circle being used is a strange thing, usually we hope for solitude and peace, but then you only get quiet stones. Today the stones were singing.

The first thing I did was check the stones for yellow paint, but it seems to have all gone, has it naturally weathered off, or did they clean it off?, with what? Either way it’s nice to see them back on top form
I stand behind the tallest stone, a natural magnet for solstice offerings. Then a god awful racket started blaring out, it was like a cross between a strangled cat, and ghost that’s getting busted, but it was, after all, only some bagpipes. The piper was now walking clockwise just inside the circle, towing behind him duckling like some other people, I could see on their faces that some took it all very seriously, whilst others obviously felt a bit silly. Then after two or three circuits they gathered in the middle and called out “blessings upon the land”, I couldn’t help giggling a bit. Of course I want the land to be blessed, but I can’t help feeling it’s all far too little far too late. Honestly, if you want to honour this land, get out as often as you can to as many different place as you can, climb high, walk far, delve deep, not walk round a stone circle a few times a year.
As if to make my point, as soon as the sun had risen, invisibly behind low cloud and thick trees, more than half of the other people left, is that it I thought, I wondered how far they had come, my house as the giant throws is 89 miles away.

I decided to leave the other hangers on and sloped off to the Whispering Knights. I prefer to have the stones to myself, but I’m warming to the idea of sharing them with folk who appreciate them as much as I do, though maybe not in the same way.
After the portal dolmen had further expanded my mind, I went back over to the circle and it was just then that the sun made an appearance round the trees between clouds, silently I bidded the luminary welcome to the day, then someone called out ” hello suuuuun” same thing I suppose, but only one of us looked daft.

The directions are as the other site visits describe. Sadly if there is a minister at Creiche Manse then he or she doesn’t like to look after the place.

We parked at the parking area at the manse and knocked at the door but no reply came. The path to the ring cairn is a shambles, covered in rubbish tip stuff, dogs leftovers etc. In short it is a disgrace.

Even more sadly the site hasn’t been looked after, a certain amount of growth is expected at this time of year but this is beyond a joke, nobody has cared for this place for ages.

On the plus site the actual site is still superb with its double ring, centre stone and slab still in place. If looked after properly this would be a magnificent site but it might vanish under a pile of weeds.

Good people reconstructed and looked after this place, their heads would spin if they seen it now.

Visited 8/6/2015.

Green Hill is the next hill to the west of Coultra Hill and looks like a nice easy stroll up a small hill. We parked Coultra Farm, headed up thru the field and thru the gate to north.

From here the walk took a somewhat difficult turn. We headed back east then swung north looking for inroads to the centre of hill. After much searching we headed west on the north side which didn’t bring any more luck. The gorse got thicker and higher making it impossible to break thru. So we headed back to the trees on the north and this proved equally difficult. Eventually heading south on the west side of Green Hill I had to crawl along on my knees as standing was impossible. I re-emerged as Treebeard’s cousin, covered in twigs, gorse etc ALC faired little better emerging with a nest haircut, only Buster the dog was content and his cairn finding scanner had gone missing.

Still on the southern side a path was found at last. I headed north , the dog south. Heading north led straight to the cairn. This cairn has literally taken a hammering. It has been houked, trenched and quarried. Remarkably kerbs remain in place, on the east side something resembling the remnants of a causeway exist and somehow parts of the turf covered cairn remains at over 1.5 meters high 18 meters wide. Cairn material also pokes it head thru in several areas. This must have been some sight/site originally and despite the battering it still is.

The path Buster had found leads back down to the minor road, always the same as we all know the easy path is found last.

Visited 21/4/2015.

Visited three times in the last week and the cotton grass is looking particularly nice up there at the moment. I’ve posted a few images including this which were captured as part of my ongoing visits to the stone (twitter.com/search?q=%23maenllia2015&src=typd&vertical=default&f=tweets)

The cairn is now completely exposed and visible from the road. Currently inaccessible due to forestry operations but I will get a new image uploaded sometime soon.

Not sure what I can add to previous fieldnotes so this is just a record of my visit last week 2/6/2015.

Spent the morning walking up to Aber Falls which are truly spectacular. After lunch in Abergwyngregyn we made our way to Llandudno and the Great Orme. By now it was a bright afternoon but very windy – I mention this because the wind on the Great Orme headland was too fierce to stay out in for more than a short while.

However, the Great Orme mine was sheltered from the wind and needless to say non-existent underground. This was somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for a long time so was able to put my usual claustrophobia aside. Before going into the mine you have to select a hard hat and are invited to watch a short introductory video – which proved to be helpful, informing us that the ancient mines were unearthed in 1987. We were joined by a couple from West Yorkshire and let them lead the way down into the narrow 3,500 year old passages leading to a massive, prehistoric cavern which is lit by coloured lights. The passages eventually come back out into the 4,000 year old Great Opencast.
To say this place is awesome is no exaggeration – the visitors guide to Llandudno quotes Current Archaeology Magazine “Stonehenge is certainly a world class site but now it is joined by the bronze age mines at Llandudno.”

In the Visitors Centre there are displays and artefacts depicting mining, smelting and life in the Bronze Age. The gift shop and second hand book shop are staffed by archaeologists and historians working on the site – all profits go back into the project.

For anyone visiting from Llandudno without a car there is the Great Orme Tramway – which apparently is Britain’s only cable-hauled street Tramway. The first stop is Halfway Station and probably where you should get out for the ancient copper mine.

Visited Thursday 5th June, as part of a walk taken from ‘Best Walks in North Wales’ by Carl Rogers. The famous Victorian ‘Fairy Glen’ just above the Afon Conwy was at the start of this walk and of course a visit was compulsory on this beautiful warm June day (the best day of the week in weather terms). After visiting the Fairy Glen we crossed the lane to start the very steep zig zag walk up through a wooded area to eventually arrive on a peaceful lane leading to the village of Capel Garmon. Before entering the field to the tomb we had to run the gauntlet of a very barky border collie belonging to a nearby farm.

Capel Garmon burial chamber is described as “... one of the best examples of a Neolithic burial chamber in the locality and also has one of the finest settings – backed by a panorama of Snowdonia’s highest peaks.”
Very similar to some of the burial chambers to be found in the Cotswolds.
“The remains consist of a triple chamber faced with drystone walling as well as large upright stones using the post and panel technique.”
A wonderful site in a stunning location.

Last visit of the day on 31/5/15.

I was starting to feel tired by now when I spotted a sign pointing uphill. My companion (the driver) kindly turned the car around and we went to investigate. These stones pleased me as much as anything I had seen earlier in the day. Early Bronze Age, standing in the middle of a field on top of a very windy hill. Visually aligned with Holyhead Mountain in one direction and Snowdonia in the other. These stones reminded me of the stones at the Ring of Brodgar – their narrow shape and height. No circle though, just two solitary tall standing stones.

Visited 31/5/2015

The interpretation board informed us that Barclodiad-y-Gawres means ‘Giantess’s Apronful’. I cannot add much in the way of field notes as we were not able to arrange a visit inside the tomb and could only look through the metal gate (which gave the tomb a cave like ambiance). A fabulous spot on the headland by a small bay, the entrance of the tomb faces towards the Irish sea and Ireland. The walk up to it was lovely, strewn with sea pinks on the day of our visit.

I understand there are engravings on some of the stones inside the tomb and these can be viewed by prior arrangement. I’m afraid we weren’t that organised.

This is a lovely ancient site to visit. Visited on 31st May as part of our little road trip around the south west side of Anglesey. Down a quiet, narrow lane with abundant wild flowers growing along the banks. The day was starting to warm up after a chilly start and it was a real pleasure to walk over to Bodowyr – the dolmen itself stands within protective railings but with the magnificent views towards Snowdonia, the railings melted away.

Wonderful!

This was the first site we visited on Sunday 31/5/2015. Easy access via quite a long path up to the burial chamber – to get to it involves crossing a small bridge and river, there was something about this that reminded me of Stoney Littleton. Anyway, suffice to say it lived up to expectations in spite of being extensively restored. The stone pillar was of course an enigma; the mysterious stone with spirals is in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff – a day trip I can make from home soon to take a closer look (see photo of information board).

The midsummer solstice solar alignment is well documented on the interpretation board over in the small car park.