Latest Fieldnotes

My ostensible purpose for starting the walk here is the “Standing Stone (recumbent)” marked on the OS 1/25000. Unfortunately, despite wandering back and forth across the general area for about 20 minutes, I find no stones. The vegetation makes it difficult to see and it could easily be hiding sneakily under a gorse bush. So reluctantly I give up and head on my way. There are good views of the prominent rocky ridge of Llandegley Rocks from here. The ridge is home to an Iron Age settlement, but it’s one for another day as I’ve got quite a walk to my next site.

Visited 6.9.12

What a difference a visit makes.
Last time I was here I was chased by a herd of cows – this time all I had to avoid was the nearby portable loos!
Perhaps I should explain?

For a few years now myself and Karen had talked about visiting a sheep dog trials (as you do). We saw this event advertised in the local paper so thought we would have a look. I then realised that the event also just so happens to be held in a field with a Neolithic Burial Chamber and a Standing Stone. That’s what I call a win-win!

We paid our money and parked in the field.
It turned out that this was no ordinary event – it was the International Grand Finals.
While Karen was nosing at Princess Ann (we wondered who was in the helicopter?) I searched around for the burial chamber – it’s all a matter of importance of course!

There it was; near the toilets, hidden from general view by a trade stall.
I wonder how many, if any, of the people attending this 3 day event will have any idea what they are walking past? Very few I suspect.
It was as I remembered it – still surrounded by nettles.

I did however have a better appreciation of the slight ‘mound’ the chamber sits on.
It is approx 10m long x 5m wide – no doubt the remains of the covering material?
The capstone is about 3m long x 1.5m wide x 1m thick.
There are also 3 large stones and many smaller ones near / under the capstone.

This tomb is in a reasonably prominent position in the undulating farm land.
With Tinkinswood and St Lythams Burial Chambers not too far away this has obviously always been a good farming area.

Worth a visit but normally you will need to ask permission at the farm first.

Standing Stone

Visited 6.9.12

The field in which the stone stands (in undergrowth right next to the road) had been turned into a car park for the day so it was a great chance to have a proper close-up viewing of the stone.
The stone is the other side of a barbed wire fence.

Sophie and myself walked down the field, through the recently harvested crop, to the stone while Karen and Dafydd stayed at the car.

The first thing to strike me was the size of the thing.
It’s a lot bigger up close than it looks from afar – it wouldn’t look out of place at Avebury.
I would say it is approximately 3 metres x 2 metres.
Although I know the stone has been moved to this spot at some time in the past I can’t imagine it has been moved very far due to the sheer size of it.

The stone is just about visible from the road but you need to be this side of the undergrowth to be able to have a proper look and appreciate its size.

As with the Burial Chamber permission to visit will need to be made at the farm.
Worth a visit.

I visited this site several years ago after seeing it featured in a Time Team episode.

You can drive right to the sea wall and parking is easy.

I wasn’t expecting to see anything – and i didn’t as the tide was in! – but it was nice to just visit the place and think of the people who once roamed here.

A couple of previously unrecorded finds from today . One with 8 cups the other with over 30 plus rings , there is also a cross . The stone is midway between the church at Lawers and a possible early one Balnahanaide . This is the first cross insigned of all the Ben Lawers marked rocks .Pic 2 is almost a “before ” but some mud and rabbit shit had been rmoved from a couple of cups .3rd from last is also a “before” for the second rock .

Who’d have thought it, eh? My mum used to stay at nearby Tudeley ‘hop picking’ when she was a kid.... loved it to bits, no doubt passing some of that passion for the British countryside onto yours truly. I’ve also a fondness for the hop, but guess we’ll leave that out of this. I’ve been to (equally nearby) Tonbridge a few times, too, the town dominated by the de Clare motte and bailey castle, the great gatehouse of which is cited as being inspiration for those of that other – incomparable – de Clare fortress of Caerphilly, South Wales. Yeah, but what sorcery is this? Another ‘Castle Hill’ rising above the A21 just outside of town bearing witness – according to the deliberations of excavations carried out in 1969, 1970 and 1971 (see Pastscape, English Heritage, National Monuments Record TQ64SW1) – to human activity ranging all the way back to the Mesolithic, with Neolithic and Bronze Age finds to bring us to the days of Iron. Hey, Castle Hill has quite literally seen it all. However it is the latter epoch which has left by far the most substantial trace, albeit in the form of a paradoxical combination of earth and Kentish chalk. Iron, indeed. As for the Norman barbarians.... Ha! Only yesterday...

For some reason I had a bit of a pre-trip ‘downer’ this morning. It happens. Guess I anticipated access issues, what with a brace of antennae crowning the hill top. Probably just a few lumps and bumps to see anyway. Not really worth going? I nevertheless find myself parking at the entrance to ‘The Brakes’ and ascending a track (gated to vehicles, but not pedestrians) through trees to arrive at the aforementioned towering antennae. Veer left here into the trees and some pretty substantial ramparts are not long in coming. This northerly section appears bi-vallate, if overgrown. Nice. The cooling fans of the nearby installation kick into life and I prepare to be annoyed. But I’m not. Not with the sunlight slanting through the foliage, the whole woodland vibe making me very glad I came. Heading east, the banks are overwhelmed in soaking knee high fern for a while before standing proud and defiant once again... only to peter out (presumably destroyed) at Castle Hill farm. The owners of said establishment want you to ‘keep out’. Strictly. However the notices are superfluous since shotgun reports are audible nearby. I’ve no desire to meet such people, let alone dance to their tune.

Retracing my steps and heading beyond the antennae, a sunken track gives access to more substantial defences in the form of a ‘bastion-like’, well, bastion to the approx south-west... all shimmering highlight and shadow, the perfect environment for fungi, the archetypal ethereal vibe. I can handle that. OK, the earthworks lose focus once again as I approach the farm from the other direction, but clearly there is much more to Castle Hill hillfort than I ever supposed. Or rather ‘hillforts’, the excavators having concluded that a later enclosure superseded an original earthwork apparently intentionally destroyed at some point. Before which, or so it would appear, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age peoples had either lost, discarded or deposited their artefacts. The continuity, the sheer breath of human experience boggles the mind. Really, it does.

Some three hours have now elapsed upon this obscure hilltop. So I must leave to – unwittingly – take almost 45 minutes to move a couple of miles because of roadworks on the A21. Such is life. Yeah... life. The word sort of sums up Castle Hill, does it not? I think so.

Best approached from the north coming off the Buxton road, at least four gates have to be opened, the last of which presented me with a wee problem, lots of young calves with a bull for chaperon, it was just about the biggest muscled bull ive ever seen, ring through it’s nose and everything, it was built like a Rhino, and it was standing in such a place that had I got out of the car to open the gate i’d have been nose to nose with it, quick thinker that I am I simply jumped over to the passenger seat and got out that side, stomping elegantly avoided, five minutes later a lilly livered walker of advancing years simply turned round and went back the way he’d come.

The first two stones encountered are said to be a genuine stone pair, Stubob says all five have been used as gateposts but I couldn’t see any holes in one of this pair. This pair, one a tall and bulky stone, with no holes and the other more angular and pointy with two shallow square holes. They occupy a good position looking west to the Cloud and off back home across Cheshire, and east the Roaches, Hen Cloud, and Luds Church. Good views.

The next two are said to be modern stones, they are smaller than the last two, and they dont lean, one stone has a Freemasons mystical mark carved on it, might not be though.
These two stones are the only ones to have a view of Shutlingsloe, and all the others views too.

The last stone was my favorite, it has a seriously low lean to it, leaning towards Gun hill no less. It lies at the bottom of a rise in the hill, none of the others can be seen, from any of them, the lands just too undulating.
This stone like four out five of the others has square shallow holes in it, these are supposed to be gate holes, but why are they so shallow and square?
If stood up straight, it would be four to five feet tall, but after so long on this blowy hill side we can forgive it’s lack luster posture. This is one of those stones you don’t even have to get out of the car for, but for the love of Bob park it out of the way, go over, and say hi.

Gun hill is a large rounded hill (385m) half way between Rushton Spencer and Meerbrook, parking is to the south of the hill at a convenient 5 car space by the road, the footpath begins 50 meters down the road. The footpath is well signposted and two large standing stones mark it’s entrance, not for the first time today re-used stones have me hmming and aaahing.

The well trodden path goes right past the menhir, just two meters away at most, and then carries on up to the trig point and presumably beyond. This is my first destination, for at the top of Gun hill we can see many sites of interest, the best one is the dip in the high ridge where the Bride stones burial chamber is, then moving along it’s The Cloud, sacred hill, then Bosley minn with it’s standing stones, then in no particular order, Allgreave standing stone, the Bull stones, Shutlingsloe, moving round, the big rocky hill that hides Luds Church, the Roaches, the Bawd stone and Hen cloud and Leekfrith barrow, and many more. After sitting and staring for a bit, I stand atop the trig point and take some photos, and notice a lady with two dogs approaching, I slip down soundlessly, ninja like, (unlike the struggle to get up it) and look nonchalant, we bid each other a good afternoon and I make my way down to the standing stone.

The stone is perhaps four feet tall, and leans just slightly to the north. Made of sandstone, (round here everything is) it has two distinct colours,
yellowy and orangey , not including bird poop which is a pooey white, in the rain and wet it will take on a different look i’m sure, the stone is quite lovely, the poo wasnt though, perhaps a wire brush should be in my kit bag, just kidding. I really should have been here before now. Great views and a nice little stone.

Leaving Leek north bound on the A53, at Blackshaw Moor turn left towards Meerbrook, before you get to Meerbrook watch out for a bridge over the river Churnet and take your next right onto Whitty lane. At this junction watch out for a strange standing stone standing by the edge in a small pool, the barrow is a couple hundred yards up the lane in the field to your right.

I parked at a right angle bend in the lane, two gates and four standing stones, modern , but interesting to see big stones still having a role to play even today. On the floor by these gates and within view of the large barrow are lots of large stones lying in a jumble. Here with a perfect view up to the Roaches and Hen Cloud one cant help seeing a good spot for a stone circle.

The barrow is maybe six feet tall and really quite far across, it must have been a very big barrow before becoming slumped out over the field, mostly to the east. A slob of a barrow is this, large and slouching in it’s field, with terrific views over to Gun hill and its menhir and trig point, turning round the Roaches and Hen cloud huddle together, the Bawd stone themodernantiquarian.com/site/4721/bawd_stone.html nestles between them. A great place for a big barrow, and imaginary stone circles.

BOSCAWEN-UN
Site visit 3rd September 2012
Travelling westwards on the A30 toward Land’s End and just prior to the turning right to Sancreed, you will see a rectangular double-brown sign at the entrance to a driveway on the left with Boscawenoon and Chyandwens Farmhouse written on them.
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/Sign?authkey=Gv1sRgCMeCmdr3uuGXOg#5786107750162643298
It is a public footpath but a driveway as well up to the aforementioned properties. I drove up very nearly to the farm until reaching a very nice long pull-in on the right adjacent to a tall pointed standing stone built into the hedge/wall.
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/PointyStandingStone?authkey=Gv1sRgCO_L6YO00rLDkQE#5786072636533751618
We (the dogs and I) then walked down the driveway passing some farm buildings on the left and followed the driveway around to the right and past a house and a building described as a ‘goat shed’ on a sign. We continued on and came to a divide in the driveway with a vertical sign between the two declaring Boscawen-un was straight ahead!
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/Sign02?authkey=Gv1sRgCLLD6ZmL68AS#5786075139480626370
Take the path to the right which is like a high-hedged alleyway. Midway along you will come to a stile on the left showing the right of way but don’t go over it keep straight on up the alleyway until reaching the Boscawen-un stone circle gate and sign on the left.
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/Sign2?authkey=Gv1sRgCPauu9LBseqOmwE#5786077122101774018
MAGICAL was the word that popped into my head on seeing the circle as it truly is. This is a ‘good place’ as indicated by my dog Chief who ‘reads’ sites really well and immediately ran from stone to stone investigating in a happy manner. It’s not always like this with him.
Not a soul other than us present and quiet as could be and the site as tidy as I have ever seen one. The message may be getting through at last! The circle itself in a lovely sheltered setting sat there in complete serenity. The stones are pretty much regular in size/height with just either one missing or the space an entrance possibly and of course the well-known leaning off-centre stone such a feature. It looks ‘worked’ to me with a central spine forming two upper faces. If I know little of a site prior to a visit, I tend to not swot up on it so that I go with no preconceived ideas in my head, so that I can form my own opinion first before it becomes polluted with the usual bog standard interpretations. The spine on the leaning stone certainly gives one the impression that it was meant to be ‘pointing’ but that is pure speculation on my part. Whatever, it is a truly wonderful site to visit.

As I left the site through the gated entrance a couple of young ladies with multi-coloured hair:-) were approaching from further up the ‘alleyway’ loaded up with camping gear, so presumable the public footpath also extends back to a road somewhere further along the way.

A few photos:
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/BoscawenCircle?authkey=Gv1sRgCPbanpf0mPnnygE#5786080117076506018

Roy

Zennor Quoit
Site visit 4th September 2012
Well I couldn’t have chosen a better day if my intention was to not find this iconic Penwith site as it was completely fog/mist bound!
I had approached the area via the B3306 road from the east (St Ives end) heading for the Eagle’s Nest house which thesweetcheat had mentioned was in the area marked as Higher Tregarthen on the OS 1:25 map (102). It was so foggy that I drove past the house three times looking for its name and never did see it, even when I walked by after parking up.
So, coming from the east, I parked in a small parking place on the left about a hundred yards prior to the house which is on the right on the very brow of the hill. As you climb the hill you will notice an outcrop of rock not unlike a small tor on the left very close to the parking spot picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/ZennorLandmarks?authkey=Gv1sRgCPar6of71Z_COQ#5785902295554289986
Walking from there with my two dogs Chief and Indy, I stood near a building to the right-hand side of the house
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/ZennorLandmarks2?authkey=Gv1sRgCKz4vK2l1-3D3QE#5785903498007072818
and looked directly across the road. It was so foggy I could barely see across to the other side, although when I took the photos on my return it was much clearer! Across the road was a collection of boulders that had been placed across a ‘path’ that went off into the distance.
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/Zennor3?authkey=Gv1sRgCL2fy5_i9LLVKg#5785905121013105186
It wasn’t even a track as such as it was so overgrown but I felt I ought to try it as I could see nothing else remotely like a track due to the fog. As we ventured into the mist the thought went through my head that I must be nuts to even consider venturing out into unknown territory in such conditions…but we did! After about two hundred yards the track came to an ‘entrance’ flanked by two stone posts which I passed through. So far so good.
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/Zennor4?authkey=Gv1sRgCJSx8-y3xdPRyQE#5785906039772289314
On and on we went and it was noticeable that this tiny track only some 18” wide at best was bearing around to the right in a large curve. Other than that I could see zilch. The gorse is impenetrable so you just have to stick to the path and make sure you are wearing tough old jeans or leathers.
After about 20 minutes of pretty slow going we arrived at a derelict building called the Carne I believe. TSC suggested turning left south-east here and I took that to mean you walked alongside the building before turning, but I was wrong as it is just a dead end after the building. At this point I thought it too risky to carry on because only metres from the building it was lost in the fog and I felt a complete idiot for even attempting it.
So I decided to turn back but had only retreated about 40 yards back down the track when I saw Chief disappear off to the right. Aha I thought, is this the ‘left’ path? So, following close behind the dogs I ventured on and after another 2/3 hundred yards the track widened right out to something like 20ft wide with the tiny worn path still running down the middle of it. That cheered me up because I knew we were now on the right track but why it took so long to widen out was a bit of a mystery to me!
After about another two hundred yards the dogs suddenly shot off to the right again up another track. I saw them start but they soon disappeared into the fog so I decided to follow. Lucky I did, because within a few seconds Zennor Quoit loomed up out of the fog. Phew, we’d made it but what a journey. It wasn’t the distance so much but the tension of not really knowing where I was that slowed everything down and put me on edge.
But, we were here and it was magical and if as by magic, the fog suddenly began to lift and actually added to the experienced and I quickly got on taking pix and shooting a vid.
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/Zennor5?authkey=Gv1sRgCKeUkKCcztKgFA#5785907009353388146
All sorts of questions were going through my mind about this quoit as I filmed and my first impression was that the capstone had only slid to the rear and to the right-hand side and not off a tall back-stone as shown in Borlase’s sketch of 1769. I wondered why they had gone to the effort of shaping huge side flanking stones if the slope on them was not to be accommodated by the capstone as it is now as such. Looking inside the chamber where bones or cremations would have been placed, there is a stone leaning the full width of the chamber that if raised fully would fit exactly where a back-stone should be as it would be level with the top of the sloping section at that point. But, if the lid was really up high then we have to accept that unless Borlase drew what he assumed it would have been like originally, then that’s how it really was…at that time at least! It does puzzle me somewhat though that he shows the now missing rear support as being almost needle-sharp and very slender for a stone that is supporting such a vast and heavy capstone that other than that only rested on the front closure at the opposite end.
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/ZennorQuoit#5784957939740525794
Another puzzle is why he assumed it was completely covered at one stage seeing that there would have been such huge gaps that would allow the ingress of cairn material into the burial chamber. If it was to be covered then it would have been boxed in full height surely and not have sloping sides. Its complete covering had to be pure speculation on his part, possibly spurred on by the material he shows to the lower regions which to my mind (more speculation) would only be there to add rigidity to the base.
That apart, it is a wonderful sight to behold. Heaven alone knows how long it took them to shape those angled side flankers and prepare the front closure and raise the lid. The façade stones are just as big and you can only admire the tenacity of the builders for undertaking such a task without the benefit of the machinery at our disposal today. I assume the main orthostat is earth-fast otherwise it would have been down now for sure.
It was disappointing that the fog prevented me from observing the landscape surrounding the quoit but that’s how it is sometimes on the Cornish sites so close to the sea, but I will return. Getting there for me was a challenge when the fog blanked it all out but it tested and confirmed my great will to still defy the conditions in the quest to appreciate what our great ancestors left behind for us. I hope it never leaves me for what is life when your sense of adventure and thirst for knowledge is no more!
Photos:
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/ZennorQuoitPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCL2kwqWT76aaOg#
Roy

7th September 2012.

Today marks a return to Avebury after a lengthy absence of 30 years or so. I’ve been assured that I visited as a child, but the experience must’ve been lost on so young a mind, unable to appreciate the cultural and historical significance of the stones.

Today is different. And what a day to attend – without a cloud in the sky and a host of visitors equally keen to experience the stones. Where such large numbers might prove to be a hinderance at tourist hotspots such as Stonehenge, here things are different. All have gathered for quiet and happy contemplation, giving space to others and a smile to those whose paths they cross. Here, you can walk among the stones and touch them, an experience not lost to those who do so.

The overall mood is one of welcome, the stones offering shade to sheep tired of the midday sun. Despite the cruelties suffered by generations intent on destroying the stones for religious propaganda or to build homes, Avebury stands proud, her toothless grin possibly as charming as her once full smile, one which the mind can only imagine.

In comparison to the energy and freedom offered by a stroll among the stones, the nearby National Trust centre is a stifling experience – with overpriced stale scones and attendants barking at visitors to show their passes, or touting membership of the organisation. For those looking for an untainted experience, the centre is best avoided in favour of researching Avebury before or after your visit – and of course, by strolling among the stones.

My next visit will be so much sooner than 30 years, perhaps even in the next few days while the weather holds. For a fleeting visit offers only a fraction of the mystery held by Avebury and I look forward to exploring it in greater detail.

Visited 23.8.12

Directions:
Drive north along the B4255 through Trelewis and turn left at the sign for Trelewis Park. Stay on this road until you reach Tirlan Farm and the sign which states ‘Private Road – permission only’ – park here.

The O/S map shows two Cairns south of the farm, two north of the farm and a further two further north. Although the road is private it appears to be a public right of way if walking?

Time was against me so I settled for a look at the two Cairns south of the farm.

Walking a short distance up the ‘private road’ the Cairns can be quite easily seen over the drystone wall on your right.
The most southerly cairn is about 0.5m high x 3m across and quite well defined.
The Cairn a short distance away is in less good condition and has a fence running across it and a couple of trees growing in/around it. It is approximately 0.5m high x 8m across.

Visited 23.8.12

Directions:
Take the minor road north out of Treharris which is sign posted Merthyr Vale.
(This road is tricky to find but you need to turn left at the church up a very steep and poor quality road)
Keep going past Tir Cook farm and the Cairn is on the right.

The Cairn is now little more than a rough grass area.
Not worth the effort.

COFLEIN states:

‘A cairn formerly 7m in diameter and 0.4m high in 1956 has all but been ploughed out, surviving as a patch of undulations 7m across’.

I parked in a one car spot by the footpath , just down the road from the fancy entrance gatehouse to the extremely extravagant Victorian folly Peckforton castle, now a hotel and wedding venue, and very nice place.
Two sandstone monoliths stand by the footpath entrance, and on the other side of the stile is an information board telling us about the Meres.(but not the fort) There are many remnants of the ice age in Britain, moraines, U shaped glacier cut valleys, Chesil beach, but in Cheshire and parts of Shropshire and Staffordshire we have Meres. A mere is where ice blocks from the retreating ice sheet gouged out the soft glacial deposits to form basins (‘kettle holes’) which hold today’s meres.

It was a nice walk in the countryside, in one of, if not the nicest place in Cheshire. But as Rhiannon points out there isn’t much to see here, I couldn’t even see a single earthwork. Perhaps it was in the turnip patch, a patch as big as two football patches.
So without much to go on at all, nothing but an arrow on the streetmap facility, and no noticeable earthworks, I still reckon that I was stood in the middle of an iron age settlement. I channeled the genius of Stuart Ainsworth and set about walking to and fro with map in hand, glancing at it now and then. Three hundred meters south of the forts position is a piece of obvious high ground, but it looks like it’s got a low barrow on it, is that why they shunned the higher ground, or was it just about the water. Walking about the field and looking down on Google earth I think I found part of the course of the old river, a boggy patch with that crappy reedy grass all over it defines the forts southern extremity, the mere still guards the western side and the now rather weedy stream is on the north.
From here we would have been able to gaze up at our sacred hill Beeston crag, surmounted with the bigwigs impressive hill fort, and a mile or two south on ‘my hill’ Maiden castle, and above the fort is Stanner Nab, a two hundred meter high mound shaped hill. Rhiannon was right this is an interesting place, even in it’s utter destruction.

Visited 23.8.12

Directions:
From Abertridwr take the minor roads west until you come to a cross roads and you see a church to your left. Best place to park is at the church as the lanes here are very narrow. From the church walk back to the cross roads and head straight up the rough track. It takes about 20 minutes to reach the Barrow.

This is a fairly remote spot yet there was so much dumped rubbish around it beggared belief – sofas, armchairs, mattresses, shelving, litter, bottles, cans etc – all on the way up to the Barrow. Why do people take so much trouble to dump stuff in these places rather than take the junk to the council tip? They really should be ashamed of themselves although I doubt they give anything (other than themselves) any thought at all. Rant over.

Despite the off-putting rubbish I carried on up the path to be met by a farmer on his quad bike and sheepdog rounding up some stray sheep who had escaped from their field. We smiled and went on our way.

When I reached the point where the Barrow is I couldn’t find it!
This is a rough, lump-bumpy, area of land with much spiky grass about.
There were several possibilities for the Barrow but I can’t say for sure I spotted it?

Hopefully when you visit you will have more luck than me and that the rubbish has been cleared?

COFLEIN states:
‘A much denuded round cairn located close to field walls is represented as a stony area about 18m in diameter with a height of up to 0.4m at the edges’.

Visited 23.8.12

Directions:
Take the A465 west out of Merthyr Tydfil and when you come to the junction with the B4276 there is a hotel on your right. There is room to park next to the hotel – park here. The Cairns are North West of the hotel.

This site has been on ‘hit list’ for a while and at last I was here.
That’s pretty much as far as the good news went!

The O/S map shows a public footpath running from the side of the hotel straight past the cairns – what could be easier? Problem is the footpath doesn’t exist in reality!

The area is completely overgrown with head height grasses, nettles and brambles.
Not only that but the ground is completely waterlogged – a bit like a bog.
I battled my way through all this for about 50 metres in the hope that things would improve but alas id didn’t. In addition it looked like a fence was blocking the way a bit further on. It really was pretty grim.

In the end I gave up and went back to the car.
Perhaps a winter visit would make progress a bit easier?
If you do decide to come in the winter – make sure you bring your wellies!

COFLEIN states:
‘A group of small cairns and possible vestigial enclosures located on a ridge just North of A465. Nine mounds were noted, none more than 3m across and 0.3m high’.

Visited 22.8.12

To be honest I don’t know if I found this Cairn?
There are several patches of stones hidden amongst the ferns and they all looked pretty much the same.
Was one of these the Cairn? – I honestly don’t know.

Perhaps a winter visit would be best?

On the plus side there are decent views down the valley to be had.

Visited 22.8.12

This took a bit of effort to reach.

Directions:
Head north along the A4061 towards Treorchy.
Just before the B4223 junction there is a place to park on the right in front of a locked forestry commission? access road. There is room to park without blocking the gate.
Head along the access road which zigzags up the hill until you are amongst the trees.
(When you come to the fork in the road go left)
When you come to a stone lined drainage ditch (about 1 metre wide) you have to jump across it and scramble up a steep bank. At the top of the bank is a barbed wire fence you need to negotiate. You then come out onto the Hillfort which is clear of trees.
No doubt there is an easier way to get to the Hillfort but I always seem to find the hard way!

It is a steep old climb and takes about 30 minutes. Given the obstacles it is one for the fairly fit and mobile only I would say. I was pretty knackered when I got to the top!

There is not too much to add about the Hillfort. It is fairly flat and mostly covered in ferns. There are also lots of groups of stones and rough grass covering the site.
An oval bank about 1 metre high is the most discernable part of the Hillfort.

One for the enthusiast only.

Visited 22.8.12

Didn’t think I would find this one but for a change I did!

Directions:
At the junction of the A4107 / A4061 there is a view point with a large car park.
Park here. (If you are lucky there is sometimes a burger van parked there)
Looking down the valley there is a ‘path’ running along the hillside to the right.
This is the ‘path’ which runs close to the Cairn. You cross a small stream on the way.

Looking at my notes and the terrain in front of me I didn’t expect to find this Cairn but thought I would try anyway.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the site and the Cairn is quite difficult to spot.
It is in amongst ‘spiky’ grass and consists of a small mound of stones.
Despite being a pretty bleak place to visit there are decent views to be had.
One best to visit on a nice day – if they ever have nice days up here?

02/09/2012 – From the car park at end of Glenesk we took the track into Glen Mark and made our way to the cairn. This was the last cairn we visited on a great day but it’s probably the least exciting in this area. But for my GPS I would have walked past it. Covered nearly completely with heather. It’s a lovely glen but there are better cairns. Worth mentioning that the OS 1:50,000 map has this cairn in the wood, it’s not, it’s just east of the track.

02/09/2012 – Mile cairn is on the east-west track that connects Tarfside to Wester Aucheen. Roughly one mile from Tarfside which might explain its name? The cairn is 10m in diameter and the view back down the glen is very good. We sat for a while, watching Ravens and Red Kites fly above the cairn. Magical. Worth mentioning is the Glenesk Retreat & Folk Museum, south of the cairn, on the main road through Glenesk. Coffee and homebakes are always welcome but better still, in the small museum they have a drawer containing flint arrowheads and Bronze Age axes from the local area. Well worth a visit. Glenesk has a different pace of life.

02/09/2012 – We came from White Cairn to the north but this could make a nice short walk from Tarfside, with a visit to the monument on Hill of Rowan (great view) on the way back. Hill of Rowan has hut circles and field systems. Hill of Milton cairn is a good one. Heather has been burnt back recently which makes the cairn easier to see. Well worth a visit. Great cist and capstone.

02/09/2012 – Parked in Tarfside. We took the track on the west side of the Water of Tarf. Passed Burnfoot and Baillies and made our way to White Cairn. 10m in diameter and quite low lying. Kerb visible. Very good position in a lovely part of the glen.

Visited 27.8.12

Saw this on the map (tumulus) so thought I would check it out despite E.H. having nothing to report on the site.

Directions:
Taking the A363 south we turned north following the signs for Monkton Farleigh.
Drive north through the village and past the manor house.
Take the first left and you will shortly come to the public footpath signs pointing north and south. You can park at the southern path but take the northern path to the Barrow.

You walk along the edge of a field which was full of crop – wheat.
When you reach the second field you will just about be able to make out the much ploughed out remains of the Barrow.
It is now a slight mound about 0.5m high x 20m across.

So not much to see but this is such a pleasant part of the world that a walk in the countryside here makes the visit (just about) worthwhile.

On the way back to the car the sound of not too distant shotguns could be heard.