Latest Fieldnotes

Visited 13.10.12

We parked in the lay by and I walked up the grass verge looking for the stone – I couldn’t see it. Luckily I had a photo of the stone so knew it was near the road sign – I still couldn’t see it.

I then scrapped around with my foot only to discover I was actually stood on top of it!
The stone was completely hidden by grass and I did my best to clear the surface away as best I could.

There is little so see and not a stone I could recommend a visit to.

It is only a matter of time before the stone becomes hidden for good.

Visited 13.10.12

As a birthday treat we had a weekend away in Weymouth (chance for me to knock several E.H. sites off the list). Looking at the map it soon became apparent that this part of the world is chock-a-block with prehistoric sites and a full week would be needed for a proper visit – never mind a weekend. Still, I was sure I could manage a few sites during our short break!

Heading east along the very busy A35 I kept a sharp look out for the entrance to Wellbottom Lodge where E.H. state you can access the site from. Needless to say we initially drove straight past it – which isn’t surprising given it is a very small entrance surrounded by trees. After a bit of a dodgy turn round using the layby near the Broad Stone we were soon parking up next to the house.

At this point it occurred to me that although access is via Wellbottom Lodge that isn’t the same as saying you are able to park there! Looking at the drive I suspect you are not although as no one came out of the house confirming this I decided to take a chance and park there anyway as otherwise it would have involved a dangerous walk along the A35 from the layby to get to the lodge. Besides, Karen and the children stayed in the car so if anyone did come out she could use her feminine charms!

Opposite the lodge is a small gravel path with a gate at each end – this is the access point to the Barrows. A small E.H. info board is provided. You then enter the fields in which lie the Barrows and home to a lot of sheep. There are several Barrows to be seen in this field; across the road and there is also one near the lodge. This is one of those places where the best view would be had via a balloon flight – or if you are feeling brave a Felix Baumgartner sky dive!!
You actually get a good view of the Barrows by simply driving along the A35.

Despite being an E.H. site access isn’t as easy as it should be due to the parking problems. For most people I would suggest a ‘drive by’ along the A35 would suffice.

Les and I pulled in at the junction opposite the Aboyne Gliding Club on the A93 waiting for the rain to come to reasonable monsoon levels, this after being told by a man in a strange hat that the rain wouldn’t stop for a long time. Strange but true!

Walk a wee bit back towards Aboyne and jump the first gate to the north. The grass covered cairn can’t really be seen from the south but from the east the 20 meter wide and 1.5 meters high cairn can be spotted. This cairn looks like it hasn’t been disturbed and a winter time visit is on the cards. Still several kerbs remain on the western flank.

After a good look round it was back to the car, the longer walk on the A93 proving not to be a good idea as several puddles were gleefully splashed up by onrushing cars. Still a good walk at the Blue Cairn and the sun coming out, it arrived late, soon lifted spirits.

Visited 16/10/2012.

I don’t know what attracted me to this place, I was just randomly street viewing around on Google earth, I saw this massive mound right by the road side and instantly it made the top of the list, from initial discovery to pictures on the internet took about 27 hours, not bad eh ?
I don’t know its Coflein certified name , but I feel certain that the village of Gorsedd itself is named after this massive barrow, from the view on street view I had in mind a kind of road side Marlborough mound, and so it turned out to be.
It must be thirty feet tall if its an inch and it occupies the hill top, naturally, and can be seen opposite a house called Gorsefield. But and it’s a big but, one thing not evident on street view is it’s on private property, in someones front yard, a house called Pen Yr Orsedd. Pah, pesky people.
Theres only a low wall separating the common folk from this throne, so I scaled the embankment and stepped over the wall. Boy this is a big barrow, not slumped or spread in any way, tall and conical just the way I like ‘em. Small ornamental trees have been planted around the mound and in the dappled sunshine this looked a lovely place. A shame its just a garden feature now, but what would you rather have gorse, nettles and cow poo or asking at a house, I won’t/don’t ask, so my sneak peak sufficed, just.
A damn good barrow well worth the trip.

Before arriving here I was at Rhiwiau and Blaen y Cwm, two very large barrows separated by a small stream, naturally if you follow the stream it will get larger and lead to the sea, and it will lead you here to Plas Newydd round barrow.
From way up on the B5382 it looked very interesting, fencing is usually bestowed on the more famous and distinguished of prehistoric works, and after Chances excellent posts I decided that I just had to come back and take a closer look, someday.
Two and a half years it took, Ive got a big list to get through, but it’s better late than never.

I parked off the B road in an access lane into some woods, they are for sale too, so I wouldn’t have got in the way. I had already passed the entrance to the farm some way back, and running low on time (sitting under a tree waiting for the rain to stop) I decided a sneak viewing was the way to go. There was no one around, and keeping trees between myself and the farm, I got there and back without any hinderance.

Despite all the knowledge garnered from excavations and finds from the dig and some good stone chambers with in the mound, it is very sad to see the way this barrow has been treated. The fence is far too close, concrete posts form the corners, sunk into the barrow itself. Sad tutting. The black silage bags do nothing for the aesthetics of the place either. A stile has been thoughtfully provided to gain access to the grassy mound. No stone work can be seen, and nor is it round any more , but distinctly squarish.
The barrow stands about a hundred yards from the Afon Aled just above the flood plain, as many barrows round here do, denoting tribal boundaries or adoring water itself, who knows, not me.

It’s been a long time coming, I added this site the first time I went to Rhiwiau barrow across the river, I think, over two years ago. But I was barrowing in the vicinity so here I am.
The shortest route to this behemoth is past the other whopper to the east. Passing Rhiwiau go down the hill a bit and you should be able to see it low on the skyline. It was raining on my approach so I sat for a while under a tree, one of my most favorite pastimes, unfortunately my map is still there, usually I would have gone back if not for here then for where I’m off to next, luckily my memory is good and I know my way around . Crossing the river watch out for very boggy muddy ground then up hill to the barrow, you are now on public access land so say goodbye to fears of trespassing, if you had any.
Unlike it’s oversized brother this barrow seems to have suffered none of the same depredations, no modern brickwork and still round and shapely. Slightly smaller and covered in heather and mosses this is more like what we’re used to.
South , the hills rise up to the peak known as Moel Bengam, but north the views are long all the way to the coast. A very good barrow well worth the effort, on a nice day it would be good to sit atop for a while

I’ve been up here before, but I was looking for the more north eastern pair, and failed miserably, or so I thought.
Having seen the place with more seasoned eyes, I reckon I did find them or at least one anyway.
This time I concentrated on the very highest pair of barrows, the trig point being on top of one of them I thought it would be easy to find, it wasn’t.
The hill top is rolling and undulating and it isn’t immediately obvious which part was higher than the others, looking for a trig point we’d just go high. I backed into the trees , protecting my eyes, I blundered round in concentric circles and eventually came back out into daylight, it was flippin dark in that forest. After my first attempt I realised the top of the hill was back further the other way so I retraced my footsteps and barged back into the fray. It was hard going but eventually I came out into a light splashed clearing and there it was barrow trig point and all.
Firstly I stood atop the concrete pillar, and found no views at all, just a circle of trees surrounding me. In former times the vistas would have been mind blowing, looking south would reveal the heavily cairned valley that will become Llyn Brenig. Far to the west Snowdonia, and far to the east the heavily forted Clwydian range.
Next I strode off again through the trees looking for the other barrow that the map promised was close by, I even found the appropriate clearing , nice and round, but no barrow. Gone or so slight as to disappear under the copious covering of heather and mosses. I retreat back to the trigged barrow sit atop the concrete point, I whooped a bit and noticed an amazing echo, I howled and shouted and yipped listening to myself shout back. Is this because of the trees or is it an original feature of the place.
This would be such a good place if not for the blasted forestry commision, even if they all came down tomorrow it would still be ruined, i’ve seen the devastation the felling can cause, so this is as good as it gets, in this lifetime.

Seahenge. Of course it is not a henge, not even a stone circle but built with wooden posts around the spring of BC 2049. The diameter of the circle was 21 feet (6.6m) with 55 closely fitting posts the circle averaging out at about 10 foot high. The land on which it stood would have been different, saltmarsh protected from the sea by sand dunes and mud with a mixed oak woodland nearby. Tis a place of sacred unknowingness, you may laugh but that central upturned trunk its roots reaching out to the sky must hold some sort of secret. The archaeologists think that it was used for excarnation, either for a great chief, or maybe for the small group or clan who lived here.

When I first saw the upturned tree, my initial reaction was that it was somehow a dinosaur, not quite dead, still throbbing with slow life. It has PRESENCE this tree, blackened and deeply fissured with age and a few model carrion crows perch menacingly on the edges of the mock-up wooden circle help create the drama. The tree stands in its glass cage watching over the recovered wooden posts of the circle as they curve round on their stand backed by a large photographic representation of the beach on which the circle was found.

This beach at Holme-Next-to-the-Sea must be your first port of call, drive down to the village and turn left at the crossroads, (where it says Peddars Way) and there is a car park further on. Walk over the wooden boardwalk by the dunes, the sand stretches for ages down to the sea, and on the horizon about 50 sea wind turbines stand like ghosts, blades idly turning. No mention of where the posts were found on the information boards, and I suppose if you were lucky and walked further on and the tide was out you may find the second wooden circle, called Holme 2.

There are several theories mooted on the boards that accompany the timbers, one is to do with the stripping and non-stripping of the bark off the posts, most timbers had their bark left on but one had been stripped, this one called ‘timber 30’ had its outward facing bark stripped, maybe to represent an important person, maybe because it had been struck by lightning thereby leaving a white bark. Firstly, it was said that the closeness of the posts could be that the whole site was supposed to represent a tree stump, or maybe each individual post represented a person, there were 55 posts in all. The orientation of the first timbers sunk was to the Midwinter sunset in the south-west and the Midsummer sunrise in the northeast.

About half the timbers were placed upside down, it could have been due to the fact that if driven into the ground right way up the circle would have leant inwards towards the centre. By placing them upside down they cancelled this inversion, but there again at other Bronze Age sites inverted objects were associated with death and human remains.

The narrow ‘entrance’ double pronged timber was labelled 35/37 in the initial excavation because it was thought to be two separate posts, there is a blocking timber 36 in front of the entrance.

The great central oak stump, over 50 axes were used on this tree, and 3 holes bored into its lower trunk show where it was dragged by honeysuckle ropes. Measuring about 2 and half metres high by approximately the same width, think I read somewhere it was 150 years old, there are two suggestions for why it was used, one being the excarnation theory the other “a symbolic representation of the fruits of the earth and the magical powers of trees, or perhaps a gateway to the underworld”

What to make of it all? Firstly, one has to agree with the decision of digging the timbers up, if only to help keep them for future reference and safe from further destruction by the sea, and because of their special uniqueness. The heart does stop for a few seconds as you view these old monster wooden posts, my first impression was of the old wooden Scandinavian gods found in the bogs – strange twisted and shaped… Alien, scary and dark! Imagination can run easily with Tibetan ‘sky burials,’ especially as part of the exhibition houses another upside down tree trunk to make the point that the roots easily cradle a human being.

Lynn Museum can be found to one side of the bus station, so simply head for the train and bus station and park in the car parks round there.

Just as I came into Norseman Village immediately to my left I could make out mounds on the coastline to my left. Missed them before because of the gorse, saw them now because I was looking for something else. Walking between some houses brought me a fraction closer, but as I had the length of the Redland Road from the Lyde Road to Finstown alredy to do contented myself with some photos (better than nothing I hope).

I have been unable to Coflein certify the site name for these two barrows, they still won’t let me play, I named it after a rather enigmatic oldy worldy name seen on the 1,25000 map. Forgive me if i’m wrong but Carreg y Llech lead me to belive a stone of some sort would be found, but no.
To the west of Treuddyn are these two once large barrows. One a bit more together than the other. A hedge separates the two, but a handy gate is placed in such a way to be able to see both at once. But really there are much better examples not very far away. At least the views down to the sea and up to Nercwys mountain were good.

I have been unable to Coflein certify the site name for this barrow, they still won’t let me play. I named it after the nearby village of Pant.
Sadly this barrow is fairly out of bounds even for the most hardened stone hunter, behind a house but within its “property” . Covered in nettles and the muddy stomping ground for two noisy dogs, I decided to stay out of the rain amongst the trees that cover the bridleway 80 meters north of the barrow, house and dogs. I could have knocked on the door and asked for permission to take a closer look, but it didn’t really look like it would be worth the bother. Moving on.

I have been unable to Coflein certify the site name for these two barrows, they still won’t let me play, perhaps its me, perhaps its them, perhaps its this damn computer. I named it after the nearby farmhouse.
On the busy A525 between Pant to the west and Four Crosses to the east are these two nice fairly large barrows. Almost paradoxically the roadside barrow is twice as big as its higher neighbor. But its position now is constricting to say the least, crammed in the corner of the field besides the road and the driveway to Maes Maelor house. A big likeable barrow stuck in the corner to be forgotten, but not by us.
Across the road is the smaller more reduced grass covered barrow, its location has a better view than its neighbor, looking down the valley, below llantysilio mountain. Clouds, sunshine and being “out” may have made me soft but I think this is a good place.

14/10/2012 – Harvey’s Cairn is pretty close to Tyrebagger stone circle. We took the track that runs SW- NE until we were just north of the cairn then made our way through the trees to the cairn. The cairn is quite wide but has suffered over the years. There are a few bigger stones around the base. Tucked just inside the wood with lots of thick green moss on the stones gave it a bit of an enchanted feel today.

Aberdeen Council site record for Harvey’s Cairn

Has no-one been for 6 years?

Recently harvested (the farmer was still baling) access was easy to the field, but less so to the circle which was head high in weeds in places.

The noise of the tractor and the height of the weeds made it hard to get a handle on this circle, but the setting is stunning and the view to Mither Tap (minus the trees) would have been amazing.

One to return to on a cold, frosty sunrise I think.....

Visited 9th August 2012

For the impatient this site can be visited within minutes of leaving the ferry after arriving on Orkney, which is what I did on my first visit to Mainland, overwhelmed as I was by the excitement of finally being here.

In fact I would recommend coming to Unstan first for two reasons. Firstly it allows a great vista across the Loch of Stenness to take in the heart of the Neolithic Orcadian landscape, Maes Howe, the Stones of Stenness and Brodgar are all visible from here. Secondly it’s worth remembering just how impressive this site is, something which can be overshadowed by the sheer grandeur of its more famous nearby neighbours, or after the megalithic overload of the surfeit of ancient sites on Orkney leads to complacency.

Today I take the opportunity to sit atop the mound and take in the wonderful views while I write my fieldnotes and Ellen sketches. Inside the cairn is a good size and an interesting hybrid of stalled cairn, with a side chamber such as those found in the tombs such as Maes Howe and the Fairy Knowe. Fortunately there are no smelly offerings inside today, but the covering of green algae colonising the stones seems to be getting ever greater. When I first visited in 1999 I remember there being hardly any on the stones, now it’s everywhere. Probably the horrendous excavation methods courtesy of archaeological cowboys Callander & Grant in 1934, which ripped off the original roof before slapping on a concrete dome, is leading to the problem. The concrete impeding ventilation, whilst the skylight in the roof raises the temperature inside enough to increase the interior humidity. I hope Historic Scotland are monitoring things to prevent any permanent damage to the stones.

The bird carving and twig runes are still visible thankfully on the lintel to the side chamber, and despite its increasingly verdant interior, it’s nice to spend sometime inside a light and spacious cairn. I’ve a soft spot for this place, as it always reminds me of my first trip to Orkney, and I think of it whenever I look at my reproduction Unstan ware bowl I bought all those years ago on my first time on the island. Although often overlooked don’t pass it by, you’ll be missing out if you do!

Found a couple of days ago ,the rock bears at least 40 cup marks .There’s a group of eight cairns ,almost certainly not clearance , on the same terrace 60 metres to the west .

Visited 11th August 2012

We set off early from Kirkwall to catch the first ferry of the morning to Hoy, taking advantage of one of the extra sailings taking place that day due to the Kirwall County show being on. It’s severely foggy as we drive to Houton to get the boat, although I’m putting my trust in the weather forecast which is predicting a fine day later. I’m hoping this is the case, having experienced the bleakness of Hoy in grim weather before. My previous visits to the Dwarfie Stane have been via the foot passenger ferry from Stromness, and it’s nice not to have the long walk on foot to reach the tomb, with the ever present threat of missing the boat back and having to emulate Mr Mounsey by spending a night inside the Stane itself.

Arriving at Lyness is like entering an eerie otherworld, as the shapes of the large WW1 era oil tank, and the battleship guns outside the Scapa Flow museum loom out of the mist. The three other vehicles present on our crossing zoom off, and within ten minutes of disembarking we are alone, not a soul visible anywhere, and the feeling of being marooned on a deserted island all pervading.

By the time we have driven to Betty Corrigal’s grave the mist is thinning, and the lonely white gravestone is just visible away from the bleak road, which as it climbs higher breaks out above the fog to a gorgeously clear sunny blue sky. The Dwarfie Stane is well signposted from the road, and pulling into the nice roomy layby opposite the path, you can just make out the stone block of the tomb hunkering beneath the cliffs of the Dwarfie Hamars. Once again I’m struck by how remote this place feels, although now with sunny blue skies and the sparkling azure sea in the background things don’t feel as brooding as when I was last here.

The path to the stone is well defined, although rocky and occasionally rough going, and seems a further walk from the road than I remember, but once you reach the tomb it is so worth it! Such a unique monument, and I love the rich and redolent folklore surrounding it. It’s a truly magical location. Inside things are just as spectacular, surprisingly roomy and comfortable, I waste no time in reclining on the stone ‘bed’ and if I were camping in this desolate landscape I can think of worse places to shelter. I could certainly see Snorro the dwarf making a comfortable home here!

It’s also worth mentioning the incredible resonance of the acoustics inside the stone, in one particular area near the centre of the chamber the bass reverberations, even just from normal speech can be felt as a physical thing. It also looked as if there might be at least one large cupmark on the interior face of the blocking stone, which interestingly enough would have meant the carving was for the benefit of the interred occupant, rather than any sort of external decoration, and reminded me of the positioning of cupmarks on the interior cist slabs of tombs in the Kilmartin valley.

To echo Carls fieldnotes, this place is a definite must visit, and if you’re ever on Orkney it would be remiss not to visit the Dwarfie Stane, although taking the car over to Hoy is not cheap if budgets are tight the Stromness foot passenger ferry is more reasonable, although it would involve a long fairly strenuous walk to the stone, it makes it feel even more of a pilgrimage when you get there! (I think there may have been a place that hired out bicycles near to the ferry pier at Moaness on Hoy, last time I came via that route, but that was quite a while ago!)

It’s hard to leave on a day as glorious as today, but we pressed on to Rackwick, a few miles further along the road, and as beautiful a setting as ever you’re likely to see, surrounded by the sea and mountains, in splendid isolation with the islands of Orkney stretching before us, it reminds me again just how wonderful these islands are.

Visited 26 Sept 2012.

West of Ronda, marked on most road maps and easily located with a big sign from the road to a parking area with info boards.

A series of uneven and slippery-when-wet stone steps lead from the car park up to the cave entrance and ticket hut (which also serves drinks in season), where there is a covered waiting area. The entrance fee varies by total group size – 8 euros pp reducing to 7 if there are more than 15 people on a tour. The maximum tour size is 25.

By 4pm, a group of 20 or so had gathered and the entrance was unlocked so we could all move into a foyer area, where the guide lit and distributed battery lanterns for the visitors, and filled his paraffin lamp. I had a small head torch which came in handy, though your own torch is far from essential. The tour was mainly in Spanish with a few words of English added; one of the other visitors was leading a group of Scandinavian and German tourists, and he kindly translated a fair amount of info into multiple languages for everyone.

The tour lasts just over an hour, progressing through the cave system looking at the rock formations, explaining history and discovery, with fabulous cave paintings along the way. The end point is the painting of a huge fish .... then a faster walk back along the same route to the entrance.

There are lots of steps within the caves, so I would recommend to reasonably sure-footed visitors. On the way back, we crossed with the next tour starting .... which included family groups, one with children of around 2 and 5 years, and another with screaming baby in papoose .... the latter changed their minds and left .... it’s really not a visit for little ones imo.

Please note – no photography past the entrance area, you will be asked to leave if you try to sneak a few shots. This may be to keep the light levels reasonably constant, but also repeated camera flashes would have ruined the ambience of the visit.

I don’t know if there was some sort of settlement up here or whether the area was used for seasonal camps or what. But the amount of flint I found milling about the fields on the common for a hour suggest something was going on here.

The fields are ploughed regularly each year and have been well manured in the past judging by the amount of ‘blue and white’ pottery and bits of clay pipe that are also to be found here.

Minninglow’s trees are visible on southern horizon; only a stones throw away really.

Supposedly two ring cairns next to each other (confusingly called Beeley North South 1 and 2) – this one is the obvious one which is a clear rubble ring once you’re on/in it. It’s hard to see from a distance though.

The other one should be adjacent, but there’s no discernible ring there, although there are some stones on the ground which might mark a bit of it (I forgot to take a photo though!).

Had a bit of a job finding this as we’d headed too far to the east and ended up amongst lots of quarry lumps and bumps and thigh-high heather (tough going if you have short legs!). We found the triple cairn eventually though and it’s unmistakeable once you’re there. Wonderful views – barrows galore on the horizon.

The disused quarry for parking is at SK 282662 not SK 282684 as stated below. There is also a little layby further along the road to the west.

29/09/2012 – On the way back from Cornwall to Aberdeen we stopped off to have a walk on Long Mynd. Starting from Carding Mill Valley we made our way west to Pole Bank. A few good tumuli on here to look at but once I saw Bodbury Ring I had to make my way over to have a look. Great hillfort in a superb location. Big wall on north side, steep down to valley on south. Great view to the Wrekin and beyond.

27/09/2012 – For weeks to come I’m going to be having nightmares about this one. It looked so easy on the map. Park in the layby (SW 68763639), take right of way on west of hill then stroll up last 300m to cairn, job done. All was going fine until the last bit. The final 300-400m is a hellish bash through bramble & gorse. Finally getting to the cairn we were left battered and bloodied and we still had to go back down. The cairn is a good one though. Spoiled slightly by trig, mast and reservoir. There must be a better way up then the one we took.

27/09/2012 – I like this one. Castle Pencaire fort sits on top of Tregonning Hill (boring fact alert – it’s the most southern hill in Britain with a drop of 100 metres or more on all sides). Because of the drop, the view is very good. Quite overgrown but the walls of fort are easy to make out. Parked at Balwest, waymarked path to top.

26/09/2012 – The round barrow is situated on the top of Hensbarrow Beacon hill and it’s the oddest hill I’ve been to. Hard to feel you are at any sort of summit as you stand on the top surrounded by china clay spoil heaps that tower over you by 40 meters plus. Really interesting place. The barrow is huge and worth seeing. Small car park by road at SW 99205755.