After falling into the depths it was all downhill. Downhill towards a cairn to the west of the track (on the biggest corner). This cairn has also been much battered and robbed but several kerbs remain in defiantly in place. An excellent viewpoint, it showed me even more rain coming from the south.
Visited 1/8/2013.
Most of the kerbs of this cairn are in the south eastern arc with several kerbs being displaced in other areas. Sadly this cairn has had it’s punishment thanks to robbery, houking and general agriculture e.g. cattle. Still it survives but how long would be a good question. Other small cairns make a cairnfield which also is getting the treatment.
Visited 1/8/2013.
These hut circles or rectangles are situated near the four poster and are easily seen from the track to the east.
NO12926271 is the northern hut.
NO12866263 the second hut has a possible enclosure as well.
Visited 1/8/2013.
After parking at the Glenkilrie Council Depot (on the A93 north of Glenkilrie House) I headed west on a very sodden track gradually going uphill. Although it wasn’t raining at the start by the time I reach the first gate it was lashing down. Still the track continues and just to the south is Glenkilrie 2, a cairn, but I headed in North West direction, uphill, to ruined farmyard buildings or sheep enclosures. Climb the fence here and skirt cross country beneath the Clach Sgorach crags. Keep heading west until a proper track appears, Glenkilrie 3 can be seen.
From here I trudged north and the rain was getting heavier and heavier. Ditches and streams had become torrents. Not being one to give up I ploughed on. You reach near the top of the Sgorach and the path/stream veers around another crag, Creag An Lair. Follow this past a fallen gate until a supposed junction is reached. This is only spotted because of the greenery. However keep looking west after the gate as the hut circles can be spotted. Slightly to west of the huts is the circle.
Only two stones remain standing along with some boulder kerbs. The atmosphere at this place is almost overpowering but in a friendly way (I thought) despite the monsoon, imposing crags to the east, south is Bleaton Hill, north is the Cnoc Feanndaige and west is the truly spectacular Cnoc an Daimh. Clearly the builders knew what they were doing, unfortunately I chose a brutal day on which to visit.
The nearby hut circles are well worth a look. With that it was back to retrace my steps, I thought, via the 2 cairns. After getting back to Sgorach I proceeded downhill only to slip and topple straight into a recently created wee loch. Still I visited the two cairns before heading back to the car in a very sorry state. Changed into some dry stuff and headed to Kirkmichael for some late lunch and heat (much needed).
Visited 1/8/2013.
I thought I’d visit this cairn then go cross country to Doonies cairn to the north after asking permission to park at Alrick House. Wrong, I was promptly told to take myself and the car somewhere else. To be fair the owner explained that the area had been plagued with robberies and break ins. However the visitor was drenched and bedraggled, obviously his angelic face didn’t work this time.
So up to Doonies then back along the road from which I’d arrived via Brewlands heading west. I parked after the first wood. From here jump the fence and head towards the trees to the north east on the skyline via a bog, by this time it didn’t matter so I plodded on.
Once at the trees head north, past a couple of hut circles. The cairn, or possible stone circle, is 9 meters wide and has had a houking as the cairn has been robbed. Some kerbs remain in their original position.
Visite 25/7/2013.
Several hut circles in various conditions are situated on the side of the hill near the cairn. A lot going on this hill with details on how to get here on the cairn page.
Visited 25/7/2013.
Doonies is a lovely kerb cairn set in the far west of Angus. With the B951 being closed at Lair the only way here is to take the minor road east at Blacklunans and keep going until it’s end at Brewlands. From here head north and move onto the B951. Go past Doonies and park at the first wood north of the farm.
From the wood I walked back down the road until the gate on the western side of the road. Basically head straight up the hill past many rocks to the upper level. Jump the fence and head south west, the cairn should be visible over a small valley. Somehow the rain had stopped, not for long, so I was able to view this site without another drenching.
The cairn itself is about 10 meters wide and 1 meter high. Several kerbs remain in their original places. Some field clearence has been dumped on the top. It is a very lovely place, well worth a look.
Visited 25/7/2013.
This site is gradually vanishing thanks to a rubbish dump getting larger and larger. A massive pile of rotten sticks lies nearby, more disturbingly the west stone is slowly being eaten up by a levelling process. Very sad as this site has some spectacular views up and down the valley, even on a day like today.
I went to the farmhouse to ask for an explanation but unfortunately nobody was at home. So I phoned those who need to know e.g. Historic Scotland. Hopefully they will explain how to look after the site to the owner.
Visited 25/7/2013.
Visited August 3, 2013
To access Bellman’s Stone, start at the entrance to the grounds of Bourtie Old Manse (across the road from the Kirk) and follow the generous field margin to the left of the trees, first northwards then eastward till reaching a north-south field boundary. Follow this boundary northwards for about 100 metres to the boulder, which lies a couple of metres west of the fence.
Two large and two smaller stones in the middle of the peatland to the West of Noup and Vinquoy hills. Just off the Eday Heritage walk.
If you didn’t know it was the remains of a tomb, you’d think it was possibly a circle.
If you weren’t doing the heritage walk and wanted to access from the farm at South Linkataing, the way marks for the walk would still be your best bet for a route onto the moor. Either way, this is pathless moorland with the potential to be quite hard going, and exposed.
As with other chambered tombs in Orkney, the site is below the skyline, and commands fine sea views. Faray, the closest islet has another chambered tomb according to the OS map and I would think they were intervisible.
An elegant dolmen with a whopper of a capstone, a short walk through the steaming woodland on a summer’s day. There is enough of a space to park one car at the brown roadsign. You have to be quick to spot it just to the east of the new TGV line under construction (not on Google Maps yet).
The nearby villages seem to be full of holidaying Brits, what what? If you get a chance, read the heritage information board in Hanc which describes village ceremonies conducted until recently that are straight out of the Golden Bough.
My first time here was quite a while ago now, and I couldn’t remember where I left the car last time, nor did I read Carl’s notes, specifically on how to get there. I started down the track that Carl mentions, but then changed my mind and went the long way instead. I drove down the little road that eventually hugs the Loch’s shore but only for a hundred yards until the road bends sharply right. We got the bikes and the dogs out of the car, keeping two promises with one stone, then rode slowly while taking the dogs for a light jog, down the off turning east track. Immediately I recognised this as the route I took last time.
The approach to a stone circle appears to be utmost to your impression of a place, from on the long route track a gap in the trees opened out onto the field with the circle in, the whole farm estate next to it, but above it and further on some forested hill sides and towering above that the big mountains, Meall Ghaordie and Beinn nan Oighreag amongst others. A Nice little stone circle Or probably the best stone circle in Perthshire
We rode down the main track into the estate, but just short of the entrance absolute there was a sign pointing us the way to the stones, we went that way, it was left.
At one point the stones were just on the other side of the wall, we passed them by, in the corner is the entry into the field. Going into the field keep left by the wall, you have no choice in the matter, a farm line DO NOT CROSS was strung up just like the police version, giving us a two foot wide walkway to the stones, and around the stones, no wandering allowed here, you may trample delicate grasses, or worse still enjoying yourself to the point of wanting to come again or even tell a friend.
But it was easy to tune out, and even ignore completely and wander about, Eric and the dogs slumped in front of the stone with the biggest shadow, taking in fluids, whilst I exhausted my memory card to the max, 844 pictures.
One of the wooden posts has gone that are in some of the older pictures, I nearly took the last one, but it was too hot to even think.
This is the most perfect place in Scotland right now, too knackered and hot to move about and do stuff we just sit and take in the scene, birds seem to be everywhere, a very slight breeze moves the grasses too and fro, and these six big stones perfecting the moment. In future times of hardship, and a “happy place” is needed , this will be it.
I’d still feel better with out the do not cross taper.
I had never even heard a whisper of this site until today, when, as I was going to visit a friend in nearby Delgany, I poked around on archaeology.ie and low and behold, there it was. Giltspur, from the Irish Giolspar, has a cup-marked stone, “…18 weathered cup marks are scattered across the highest point…“.
After looking at the satellite shot and the OS map and noticing there was a discrepancy between the two, with large buildings showing up on the latter and not the former, I didn’t think that it would be an easy find. There was another site right on top of it – a so-called “designed landscape”, “possibly a tree-ring”. Never heard of one of them either. Anyway, sure it was worth a look.
So off we set, turning off the N11 at the first Greystones exit, turning right at the first roundabout and then the 4th exit at the second, into the retail complex (the new buildings on the OS map) and a hard left into the delivery entrance, around the bend and into the car park. This little slip road points directly at the monument – we just had to ascend the very steep, man-made scree slope, 40 feet up and then over a fence.
And then there it was, not 100 feet into the field. Could it really be that easy? The earthfast stone, nearly 3 metres square and standing proud of the ground by about half a metre and sloping eastwards to disappear underground, is at the centre of that designed landscape, a very henge-like ring. The cups are very worn, almost completely weathered away, with only 3 really visible (I didn’t bring water with me, but given previous experience I’d say the panel would come out with a bit of the old side-flash).
The ring itself is strange, almost 20 metres diameter, with traces of a ditch on its outside, and deliberately planted with oak trees. Inside the ring, beside the stone, there is a block of red quartz. There are also the remains of a campfire and the usual discarded beer bottles and cans.
The views from the stone would be extensive, were they not blocked by the ring trees and other plantations further out, many hills that have prehistoric remains being visible.
I mentioned to my friend that we had been here on the way to her place. Oh Giltspur, she said, that’s well known around here – it’s the old name for the Little Sugar Loaf mountain (on which the site lies). After I told her of the signs of partying at the site she mentioned the presence of white witches around there. Ah bless.
So, a cup-marked stone inside an embanked ring that has been planted with oak trees. Archaeological monitoring nearby “did not reveal anything of archaeological significance”, so maybe the ring is modern, possibly thrown up and planted by the previous land-owners. Who knows?
I didn’t expect much here today, and I wasn’t disappointed. This poor battered stone now rests on 3 stones, held there with mortar, and used as a flowerpot. It’s in the grounds of Kilcoole church where it’s been since it was rescued by the parish priest over 50 years ago. Liam Price’s notes from 1959, shown here, tell the sad tale.
I parked just up the road from the stone at the very interesting Eco camping farm/shop and was also greeted by a couple of llamas.
The stone has good views up and down the valley.
Visited 25/7/2013.
Parking is still non existent !
Came here once many years ago, high time for a reacquainting. Parked in front of a gate at the south east end of the stones field. Left Eric in the car as I was only going to be five minutes, because I wanted to spend the last couple of hours in Perthshire at the Kinnel of Killin.
I hopped over one gate, then another, then became unspeakably dizzy and fell flat on me arse, right into a cow pat, see, that’s Karma that is. No it isn’t, but it’s close.
The stones were much bigger than my memory had them, and the scenery was much nicer too, perhaps it was a dull day when last I came. A very nice place with some impressive stones, I shall have to make more of an effort to spend more time here next time, for there will be a next time god willing.
Changing trousers by the roadside is not to be recommended, no matter how essential, some spray called Patbegone, that’s what you need.
I’ve wanted, nay, needed to come here for years, ever since two family trips in the area failed to get me up here. The trick is, not to bring the whole family, no problem there now.
Parked at the bottom of the hill in Acharn and then followed the river up hill, though of course the river is on it’s way down. I like a good waterfall, there’s plenty of them in my not so local Snowdonia, but their not like this one. Lots of small falls all leading to the big one and it is a biiig one, trees overhang the gorge at every opportunity, and across the gorge is a cave like grotto from where one can watch the many splendoured thing that is the falls of Acharn.
But we are here old stoning and one must almost physically tear oneself away, but the loveliness doesn’t end with waterfalls, once your on open ground following the just about driveable track uphill the mountain views start to unfold. And they are very good views, I don’t know the names of them all, nor could I pronounce them if I did, but Ben Lawers and Scheihallion are, well pretty famous, aren’t they?
It is here, just over half way up that we pass by the fabulously placed tumulus called Acharn Burn, it’s nowt when compared to the stone circle but it is a good place to sit and wait for your legs to catch up.
The stones finally come into view on there little mound/hillock, Eric thanks the Lord out loud, I let out a long windy sigh that agrees with him whole heartedly, it has been a long haul in the midday heat of another typical Scottish heatwave.
We’ve made it, hot and bothered but glad all over, we slump to the ground in a heap in the shadow of the big wide stone. We sit there for an age, then I walk the walk, touch the stones, curse the wall builders and try my best to photograph the site. I must admit that ive not been so giddy and goosebumped at a stone circle since the ring of brodgar. I love this place, it is beautiful in the extreme, and the stone circle, though some stones are down and one is getting buried beneath the grass of ages is more than enough to keep one here for ever, all we need now is a passing Golden eagle to do a fly by, but nature doesn’t do requests, or perhaps it does, but only one at a time.
Brilliant.......I’ll be back.
The walk up to this cairn is quite possibly the best walk to a cairn there is, parking at the bottom of the hill in Acharn then following the river up as it tumbles, falls and splashes its way down. The big water fall is simply sublime, heavy tree cover and this big show offy waterfall really does it’s best to keep one away from the stone circle on the hill above. But the stones are a’calling me away and I must leave this idyllic place. When a farm track crosses the river follow it left then up the hill a touch and there we have it. One of the best sited cairns in all of Pagan-dom, perched on a high shelf with views of Loch Tay and some pretty big mountains, including Ben Lawers.
A very good place to sit and rest while en route to Greenland stone circle.
Coming up towards West Bain in Sandwick (near the Bay of Skaill) and two fields to your left a wall made of oversized stones can be seen at the high point. The side facing the road there is still a rise, and I wonder if the cairn overlay something else or if this is the ONB’s other tumulus.
It does seem strange that having bothered to clear the cairn they then undid their work by building this massive wall – perhaps they had thought the mound purely natural, and on discovering their error constructed a memorial over the cist ?
We parked the car in the wide entrance to the castle, and walked round the big gatehouse, the stones were in the long grass and ferns left of the track.
We were here in July and the plant life was in full vigor, the whole place is very green and verdant, the stones are about head height but only the top foot or so was visible. Perhaps it’s the ideal weather and climate that makes the plants so big and all stone concealing. but once we’d walked around heavy footed for ten minutes we could see a good couple of stones. They are almost aligned on a natural barrow shaped hill top upon Drummond hill, the other side of which are the Fortinghall circles. But only nearly, is it the tress that lend it it’s barrow shape ? could the stones erectors see any barrow shape ? was it anything at all to do with it or is it something else entirely ?
Or am I reading in to it too much.
Carl was bang on when he said that once you’ve been here you just have to come back, and so I am back, it must be close to a decade since we were last here though.
I have no digital photos, only paper ones, and I really don’t want to be scanning pictures, so there’s one reason to come back. Another is on my first time I really couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing, such a complicated history, I wanted another chance to “get it” without the whole family at my heels, this was it.
One last reason was, it’s so close to the road, if your passing you’d have to be insane or willfully ignorant not to stop off for a look.
The days weather started off a bit overcast and I thought the country had reverted to type, but some blue sky has just put in an appearance as we approach the stones and with a bit of luck will spread across the skies.
It’s such a good place this, loads of stones, most of them are still up, there’s cup marks for those who know where to find them. Even the ground there stood upon is man made, it’s got it all here. A kerbed rubble bank, supposed alignments to southern moons and midsummer sunrises, really extreme dates, burials. I think I get it now.
This is not simply a stone circle, this is history, all of it.
On the map, the route looks straightforward, with little in the way of ascent or descent over the three miles or so between Pen Bwlch Llandrillo (north top) and Moel Fferna. The Nuttalls helpfully inform us “a path has developed beside the fence which runs the whole way, making walking and route-finding quite straightforward”. Sounds fine, even on such a fog-bound day as today. What neither map nor guidebook tell us is just how miserable a slog the next three miles will turn out to be. For a start, on heading northeast we have found ourselves more exposed to a wind now blowing in keenly from our front-right. The wind carries with it a stinging rain, quickly lowering our temperature and splattering my glasses to render the already limited visibility almost non-existent. Secondly, the “path” that “has developed” is barely anything more than a boggy rut cutting through heather and mud. The surface is anything but level, every few steps requiring a detour around a crumbling peat hag or muddy pool. The heather drags at our shins, making each lift of the leg a trial.
With no visibility, it becomes near-impossible to gauge how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go. Instead, we concentrate all our efforts into placing our feet and forcing ourselves on into the soaking, freezing wind. Although there is little real up-and-down, each minor rise becomes an impediment of cliff-like proportions. By the time we reach Cerrig Coediog, we’ve pretty much had enough, but we’re so close that it would be a waste of our efforts so far to turn back. We plod on down to the bwlch, from where one last climb to the summit awaits us.
At first a broad, muddy path heads away north, but soon reaches an area of waterlogged, impassable bog. The only option is to divert around to the west, but this involves leaving the path to force a way through the tough heather that characterises these Berwyns slopes. Progress is very, very difficult. G/F’s leg is playing up at the constant lifting needed to negotiate the vegetation. Despite waterproof boots, her feet are now quite wet (mine aren’t much better) and there is little in the way of enjoyment to be had from any of this. Eventually we hit a narrow path running laterally across our route, we still can’t see the summit so it’s difficult to know how far we have left to go. We take this and soon meet up with the main path again, still making its way north and upwards.
The final straw looms out of the mist in the shape of a stile. You know those stiles that you sometimes find on uphill routes where even getting your leg onto the lowest board is a struggle? One of those. I have been with my G/F for a long time, but never have I seen such an expression of “I’m going to kill you” as I do when she sees this stile. Any comment I could make along the lines of “nearly there” is unlikely to help now. But we climb the stile and plod on, across yet more featureless bog.
At last, a shape looms out of the mist ahead of us. The unmistakable shape of a sizeable summit cairn. We’ve made it! It’s taken us 1 hour and 50 minutes since leaving Pen Bwlch Llandrillo (north top) but it feels like several weeks have passed. Much as I dislike the idea of a Bronze Age summit cairn being turned into a shelter, we have little choice but to embrace its waiting charms. The only solution now is hot tea, and quickly.
Perhaps it’s because we’re British, but the restorative power of hot tea, even the metallic variety from a cheap flask, should not be underestimated. Out of the wind and rain, we start to feel like we may survive the walk back to the bus. Suitably envigorated, I also take some time to have a look at the cairn that we’ve come so far to see. It’s a big bugger, despite its mistreatment over the years. Slumped on one side, there is still a substantial amount of material here. Just a shame that the undoubtedly superb views are absent today. Some snow still clings to the base of the cairn, a reminder that it’s only February and we’re above 2,000 ft here.
We take the bus towards Llandrillo, passing the visible remains of the Tan-y-Coed chambered tomb. The driver very obligingly drops us off at Pont yr Hendwr (“Bridge of the Old Water”), from which a minor road takes us southeast, climbing steadily at first, then with increasing steepness up into the Berwyn foothills. By the time we reach the end of the road to join a rather muddier bridleway, we are both out of breath and overheating under our waterproof coats, while the mist has thickened into a fog that reduces visibility to a hundred yards or so. We hear rather than see some voices ahead, presumably other walkers heading off to the main Berwyns ridge, their voices brought nearer by the weird sonic effects of the fog.
The final approach to the ring cairn is up a steep, grassy slope. The circle doesn’t come into view until we are almost at the top – luckily the fog is thin enough to at least show us where to go. The local sheep look on, bemused by the stupid humans coming into their midst in these conditions. Sadly, the far-reaching views from the ring cairn are entirely absent, but we do at least get plenty of solitude to enjoy the stones themselves.
The name, pronounced “Moil Tee Ickavv”, translates as “house on the highest bare hill”, which certainly seems apt today, when the undoubtedly higher hills normally visible in just about every direction are blanked out.
A rounded boulder lies a little way to the west, described by Burl as an outlier of the circle. The circle itself is made up of chunky stones, some round shouldered, others squared, not graded but nevertheless very aesthetically pleasing. There is a “gap” at the SSW, although the ring continues across it by use of seven or eight much smaller stones. Inside the ring are the remains of a cist or central cairn, on the largest stone of which someone has scratched a crude pentagram. Other than that, the place is devoid of signs of human intrusion, no litter or offerings (tat), just the stones on their grassy hilltop. Perfect.
The fog makes for a strangely intimate visit, not exactly claustrophobic, but there is a sense that the world may not extend much beyond our immediate surroundings. I’m reminded of the Doctor Who story “Warrior’s Gate”, where the TARDIS becomes trapped in a slowly-shrinking, featureless void between universes. A wonderful site this, but a return on a clear day is now assured.
We make our own escape from the void by dropping off the hilltop to the southwest, to investigate the two cairns shown on the map, somewhat unusually placed in the saddle between Moel Ty Uchaf and the rising ground to the east. The two cairns differ greatly in construction, the northeastern being a wide, low platform, kerbed liberally with small blocks of local quartz that stands out brightly against the turf covering much of the contruction. The southwestern cairn is much smaller, covered in several flat slabs of stone and overgrown with reeds. The stones of the circle standing proud on the hill above are visible from the cairns, an obvious relationship between them all.
Visited 6th July 2013
Maen Crwn is unmissable, no quite literally. If you are walking up to the Druid’s Circle from the Two Pillars car park, the large boulder like stone, close to the only house seemingly for miles around, will give you a prominent landmark, and also point you toward the diminutive stones of the Red Farm circle.
It’s the first time I’ve ever come along this path, which provides a fantastic walk, from the first glimpses of the stones of Y Meini Hirion on the horizon when you leave the car, to these great bonus sites as you walk atop the high headland looking out over the sea, and the slumbering wyrm of the Great Orme. By the time Mean Crwn is reached you are about two thirds of the way there, and since you have to walk right past this fine megalith it would be rude, nay obligatory not to stop to say hello.
The stone is a satisfyingly chunky boulder-like affair. Burl describes it as ‘playing card’ shaped, in which case he must play with an odd deck as I think the Welsh name of Mean Crwn (meaning the round stone) is more descriptive. It reminds me greatly of Cae Coch, not far away from here along Tal-y-Fan.
Nicely screened by a line of trees allowing some separation from the nearby farmhouse, I’m free to give the stone a hug without embarrassment (not that I’ve been put off before!) and without the vague feeling of intrusion that can be felt when a monument is too close to someone’s house.
I ponder Cefn Maen Amor in the background, the stone seeming to nicely line up with the top of that hill, mirroring its shape in the landscape. I also try to look for alignments to the Red Farm circle in the next field, but sadly the annoying stone wall blocks my line of sight for a direct view. I later read that the wall contains a suspiciously standing stone like gatepost, but in the excitement of our pull toward the ‘main event’ of the Druid’s Circle I didn’t think to go and check out the fieldwall, a good excuse though to come back this way again, and where megalithic sites are concerned the more excuses to return the better!
Visited 1st June 2013
Having only ever seen these stones from the road, and at quite a distance, we took advantage of a lovely sunny day to get a bit closer and have a walk up to them. Parking up overlooking the sea near to the Earl’s Palace in Birsay, we walked back up the main road to Kirkwall as far as the small signpost to Vinbrake. Taking this lane to our right it’s not long before the stones are visible on the horizon, an open gate into their field inviting us in.
The two stones stand at either end of a low mound, a rough measurement taken by standing next to it, shows the taller of the pair must be around 6’ tall, its companion around half the height, due to having snapped in two, the broken half lying mournfully not far from the diminished stone.
Fantastic views are to be had from here, the two stones framing a range of amazing vistas out over the Brough of Birsay, and Boardhouse Loch, and again it strikes me just how well these sites were selected by the people who built them for their place in the landscape. As I ponder the views I notice a very prominent alignment with the Wheebin standing stone across the loch, which although only a tiny point in the distance, directly stands between the two Stanerandy orthostats.
We spend some time in the gorgeous sunshine just taking in the views and soaking up the atmosphere of another top quality Orcadian monument.
