Latest Fieldnotes

Visited 27.8.12

Directions:
We came off the A363 and followed the signs for Ashley. We then went through a maze of lanes until we found the road which winds through Warleigh Wood. An O/S map is required.

Once we arrived at approximately the right place we just about managed to find a passing place to squeeze into. Parking is difficult along this minor road. I looked over the barbed wire fence into deep woodland and doubted I would be able to find the Cairn despite the O/S map showing it to be close to the road. I found a suitable place to hop over the fence (always a bit dodgy in shorts!) and roamed amongst trees.

I was about to give up and when I spotted it! It is not easy to find.
This much mangled Cairn is low and covered in ferns, brambles, several small trees and huge amounts of moss.

Despite this I liked the atmosphere of the place but would say this is one for the dedicated only given the difficulty in access / finding the Cairn.

Visited 27.8.12

My last stop on the way home after a pleasant Bank Holiday visit to Devizes.

We drove north through Cherhill and stopped where the road forks and a sign states ‘no access – private road – footpath only’ or words to that affect.

Despite being dry all day it was now pouring down and I needed to put my waterproofs on.
Karen and Sophie stayed in the car as I donned my wellies and headed up the road.

After passing a barn full of cows (all sheltering from the rain and looking at me as if I am daft being out in this weather) you come to a house on the right. Just before the house is a footpath sign on the right and after jumping over a shiny new metal field gate you can walk along the edge of a field / the side of the house’s garden. Be careful as this field has an electric fence running all around it. Again, cows were in the field sheltering out of the rain under some trees and looking at me as equally strangely as the ones in the barn did!

After crossing the field you come to an old rusty gate. Immediately after this are woods on the left with a sign nailed to a tree stating ‘private – no access’. Obviously I ignored the sign and carefully stepped over the barbed wire fence into the trees.

It took a few minutes wandering around to spot the Barrow but it isn’t difficult to find. It is approximately 3 metres high x 15 metres across. The Barrow is covered in mature trees and nettles. The top of the Barrow has a small hollow in it – presumably as a result of digging?
Due to the trees there are no views to be had although I suspect there would be decent views without them?

Time to get out of the rain and squelch back to the car.
Worth a visit when in the area.

The Werfa

Visited 22.8.12

Despite being warm and sunny in Cardiff, you don’t have to travel too far into the valleys before encountering the expected wind and rain – at one point I could even see my breath!
It really is a different world up here – at least it is every time I visit!

I parked on the grass verge near the locked metal gate, hopped over and headed up the concrete road. Once you come off the main concrete road it becomes a rough track which is easy enough to follow although well worn. Both the road and in particular the track were under water in places and I had to squelch through the grass / mud to detour around the puddles. The rain was falling and in places the track was little more than a glorified stream!
It takes 20 minutes to walk from the road to the Barrow.

As Gladman states, there isn’t much to see of the Barrow which is approximately 0.3m high x 15m across: a rough grass covered mound.
Although there are pretty decent views to be had I wouldn’t really recommend a visit.
If in the area you would be better off visiting the nearby Grug Yr Afan which is easier to get to and there is more to see.

Visited 27.8.12

These four Barrows can be found to the right of the drive leading to Baltic Farm. You can pull in at the entrance to the farm although the Barrows are also easy to spot from the busy A361.

There is no public right of way into the field where the Barrows are so I settled for a view from the farm drive. (I didn’t have time to ask permission from the farm)

E.H. state:
‘The monument includes a pair of bell barrows and a pair of bowl barrows which, along with a further bell barrow to the north east, form a round barrow cemetery at Baltic Farm on North Down. This cemetery is one of a number of barrow cemeteries located on the Downs. The barrows are aligned broadly north east to south west. The bell barrow at the western end of the group has a mound 19m in diameter which stands up to 3m high. It is surrounded by a 4.5m wide berm around which lies a quarry ditch from which material was obtained during the construction of the mound. This ditch is no longer visible at ground level but survives as a buried feature c.5.5m wide. The barrow was partially excavated by Colt-Hoare who found a cremation burial near the centre of the mound. Immediately to the east and between the two bell barrows lies a bowl barrow, the mound of which measures c.8m in diameter and 0.9m high. There is no evidence that this barrow was ever surrounded by a ditch and it appears to have been deliberately placed between the two bell barrows at a slightly later date. When partly excavated by Cunnington this barrow was found to contain a cremation burial accompanied by a shale or jet ornament and a bone pin. The barrow may also have been excavated by Colt-Hoare who found a further cremation just to the north. The eastern bell barrow mound measures 17m in diameter and stands up to 2.4m high. Although no longer visible, its outer berm is known to measure c.4m across and is surrounded by a 5m wide quarry ditch. Both Cunnington and Colt-Hoare carried out partial excavations on this mound. At the eastern end of the monument is a second bowl barrow. This has a mound which measures 13m in diameter and 0.9m high. Although no longer visible at ground level, it is surrounded by a 2m wide quarry ditch which can be seen on aerial photographs.‘

There were some marked rocks found in the area in the late 60’s I found some more a few years ago.Two more previously unrecorded ones today , one quite photogenic .

On a fantastic morning at Tullos Hill I was shown the new site discovered by Ian Suddaby in 2004 but only excavated August 2012.

The hut circle is 10 meters wide and is built within a bank at 2.5 meters. There is what looks like an internal ring ditch. Bronze Age pottery has also been discovered here. Not to far away is what looks like the remains of another hut circle and another possible cairn. Hopefully these will be looked at in the future.

Follow the directions as for the Cat Cairn, except head north east on the first track junction. The hut circle is slightly to the south of the path, which only recently resembled a torrent thanks to recent downpours.

Visited 28/8/2012.

An update on the new excavations. The north east sector of the cairn has been excavated to reveal more kerbs revealing a central area some three metres in width.

One unusual thing to report about the area as a whole, some of the dykes nearby are massive. There must have been plenty stones all over the place, nearby cairns haven’t been disturbed to much.

Hopefully I’ll get the site report and post it as a link.

There is also an Open Day on Saturday 1/9/2012 viewing this cairn and the nearby hut circle.

Re-visited 28/8/2012.

Warning !! Extreme Enthusiasm Throughout !!

I first came across this hill fort whilst looking into the three devils quoits and Harold’s stone, Google earth is a terrific tool for looking and snooping about the place before you get there. I noticed this hill fort near to the devils quoit, and clicked on a few pictures and saw all these lovely lily covered pools. I’m going there thought I, and with St Govan’s chapel less than a mile away, the place was high on my list, in fact i’ve been to two out of three of my wish list places for the year, not much of a wish list you might think, a natty fort and a single standing stone, but I want my wishes to come true so Innisidgen and Barpa Langass are on a different list, if you get my meaning.

After a four and a half hour drive we saw our first sign pointing the way to Bosherston, Eric thought it was a funny place name, I didn’t tell him about the villages of Twatt in Orkney and Shetland, Cocks in Cornwall or Bell End in Worcestershire.
As we entered the village of Bosherston (hee hee) the big old church stands out most, but just past it is the Pay and Display car park, 2 quid for two hours, if i’m late back then tough, i’m not paying a fiver for all day, i’ve got other places to see.
It was a bank holiday weekend and the car park was full, booo, lots of people, Booo! but it was a sunny day, not too hot, a nice cool breeze with my son by my side at a place on my wish list, no amount of people could spoil it.
We descended some steps as we enter the woods, and only a minute goes by before we get to the first foot bridge, many many lily pads cover the surface of the lake on both sides of the bridge, we slowly make our way across approaching a couple with biiig cameras, trained on, no way man is that an Otter, it is , It’s a flippin Otter out hunting in daylight, i’ve only seen an Otter once before and that was in Tobermory. I feel very blessed and lucky, this is indeed a very beautiful place, I realise it’s not exactly totally natural, but wow it’s pretty, in the distance two swans are preening, a Heron is on a stealth hunting mission, fish are everywhere you look, dragonflies and Damsel flies, and an Otter, am I in Wales or the Okavango delta.

The first bridge is crossed and the path goes up, ahead I can see people on a high rocky lookout and make for that, passing an apparent short cut path on our left. Upon the lookout we can see the whole length of one of the lakes, I turn my gaze away for behind us somewhere is the fort, but to my horror it seems to be amid the densest thickest woods you’ve ever seen, I wonder if a picture of trees is all we’ll get. Leaving the lookout we head for footbridge number two, more dragon flies than you can shake a bee hive at, god I love’em, fantastic little creatures, unchanged since forever. Then more light and airy wooded paths to the last of the bridges, at this point we break away from the path and trek off in the direction of the Devils Quoit. It wasn’t easy to find, but we did in the end, now it’s time to go and have a look at the fort if we can.

Back across two bridges, all the time looking for more Otters we reach the lookout point and see once again the apparent short cut path, we take it, I ask Eric to keep an eye out for any paths going off to the right, what like this one he says, ummm yes like that one.
A neatly trimmed grassy path worms its way through impenetrable undergrowth, and I begin to think we might get to it after all. At a right angle in the path is an information board with an artists impression of the fort, a woad painted man and a clothes pin on it. Gold dust.
Ten meters on and my gaze inexplicably turns to my feet in time to see something else wonderful, a little baby toad, we pick him up and take a photo, I don’t know how many toads you’ve seen but this is only my third, I want to see him good. Less than a minute later and were at the fort. Despite all the people, we obviously have the fort to our selves, they all like the ponds and the beach, no time for history nowadays.
The fort is still a bit overgrown, the grassy path passes straight through the fort, ending with a gate into a field, right by the two ramparts, the outer one is still very big, maybe ten feet high, the inner one is lower but still six feet tall at least. There are banks at the sides of the fort too but its too overgrown to get a good look. In the winter or after a good clean up and the fort would look really good. But as ever and here particularly it’s the surroundings that blow you away.

we slowly make our way back to the main path Eric is looking for the Toadlet again and I tell him it’s well gone by now, just as it hops into the grass right before us, Huh, nature hey, it knows nowt.
On the last bridge the Heron is much closer, hunting again, it doesn’t seem to mind all the folk looking on, and we get a really good zoom picture of it, I wish I could show you but this is a History place not nature. Then it’s back up the stairs and back to the car park. The information board asks us to watch out for Otters as they sometimes come out to hunt in the day light. No shit.
We were more than two hours almost three and a half , but the nice lady doesn’t say nowt and were soon gone. Gone to St Govans chapel and well. It’s so close it would be a crime not to go see it.

This was a superb place, one of Wales lesser known gems, and possibly the most beautiful place in the whole country, and I’ve seen quite a bit of it.

26/08/2012 – Parking area at end of public road to Boath (NH 5724 7410). Track heads west to shore of Loch Morie. Canmore have this as a crannog (possible). It’s 50m from SE shore with a causeway visible on Bing aerial view leading towards it. Don’t know if it is a crannog but it’s a pretty nice area to visit.

Artificial Islands in the Highland Area by Rev. F. Odo Blundell from 1913 makes mention of this crannog. Quite interesting reading.

25/08/2012 – Parking area next to loch at NH 4732 5765. Quite big, tree covered crannog in centre of Loch Kinellan. See link below for details. Easy access. Nice setting. Loch is good for Slav Grebes in summer.

I came here once before a couple of years ago, but didn’t get the chance to see the stone, I’ve seen the other two stones that apparently make up a long alignment, but they aren’t in a perfect line, this stone is slightly out of line, like somewhere else that i’m afraid escapes me at the moment.

Probably the easiest route to the stone would be from the car park to the north east at Stackpole quay. But then you’d miss out on the lovely Bosherston lily ponds and the hill fort there, come that way.
We actually took a wrong turn at the settlement across the third bridge, costing us about twenty minutes and me a pound, in the end I asked two walkers if they’d seen a big standing stone, they were able to point me in the right direction and five minutes later we were at the stone.

Upon our arrival Eric fair dumped himself on the floor leaning against the stone, while I took a few photos, ok a load of photos, then I joined him for a well deserved rest. The stone has a sticky out bit on the lower northern side. The stone is a white colour with yellow and white lichens on it. on one side of the stone there are a lot of pits and depressions, they look like fossilized footprints. One long deep gorge runs up it’s southern shoulder, terminating in a notch.
Open heathland to the south and dense woods to the north, with the sun shining and a cool breeze it was a damn good visit, to a damn good stone. Too many damns?
About 150 yards to the west are one or two barrows, I could only make out one, and a slight one at that.

As with the nearby One Ash round barrow there’s nothing to see here its so ploughed out. Supposedly 40m long and 10m wide perhaps its the long grass that masks its presence but I somehow doubt it.
A trench was dug across the barrow within the last 30years but the findings were never published.
As with Harrod Low, the barrow for its type, is in a relatively low lying spot.
Pottery and flint have been found in the mole hills around the monument suggesting a camp perhaps.

Marked as Tumulus on the 1:25000 map of the White Peak this barrow deserves its badly plough damaged label in Barnatt’s Barrow Corpus. In the ankle length thick grass there was nothing to be seen.

Arbor Low’s banks are visible on the near horizon as is Chelmorton Low farther away in the distance; the two barrows that crown it just about visible.

Situated on the high point of Crackendale Pasture is this odd little barrow that has previously been described, by Bateman, as lobated and, by J. Barnatt and the NMR, amorphic and badly disturbed.

On the ground it looks pretty much the same as any other Peak barrow except for the three spokes or limbs that protrude from it. A square set stone as also been set on the barrow for some reason.

Fine views towards Fin Cop and Longstone Edge.

Visited 24.8.12

Directions:
Next to the minor road north out of Ponthir – near Caerleon.

The road is narrow and despite the hedgerows being high the site can just about be seen from the road. Access to the site can be made via a field gate near the farm drive.

There is not a lot to see although the field has clearly been levelled off and this can best be seen on the eastern side.
This site does not strike me as being a Hillfort – more of an enclosure of some sort.
But there again, what do I know?
Not much to recommend a visit I’m afraid.

COFLEIN states:
‘A defended low hillock defined by traces of internal scarping on the N, berming on the N,S and E, and counterscarping on the S and W. The enclosed area measures about 100m (N-S) by 75m. The scarp edge which defines the interior rises to a max of 4m above the surrounding slope. The N end berm has been turned over by grazing horses’.

Directions:
See directions for Twyn Cae-Hugh Barrow.
These two Barrows are a lot closer to the cattle grid and only require a short walk.

Twyn-Yr-Oerfel (A)
This is the first of the two Barrows you come to.
This is a great spot for a Barrow and the views are excellent.
The Barrow is grass covered with a small amount of gorse and ferns.
Several stones stick out of the grass within the central depression.

COFLEIN states:
’11m in diameter and 1.5m high. At the centre is an excavation hollow 3m across and 0.5m deep’.

Twyn-Yr-Oerfel (B)
A little further along the track from Barrow (A)
This Barrow is in a sorry state.
There are clear tyre tracks right over the Barrow and a great deal of damage is being caused.
Already a large depression has been made and many of the stones constructing the Barrow have been revealed and dislodged.
This area is clearly used by ‘off road’ bikes etc and I am afraid to say this Barrow is bearing the brunt if it.
I will be looking to see who I can report this destruction to and hopefully prevent further damage? It is sad that a prehistoric monument is being treated this way.

COFLEIN states:
‘Constructed on a small rocky outcrop, cairn 16m in diameter and 2m high. Central disturbance indicates its slab construction’.

Failed visit 24.8.12

Directions:
North West of Twyn Cae-Hugh Barrow – on open moorland.

I couldn’t spot this cairn as the terrain in undulating moorland which has large areas covered in ferns.
There were several possibilities for the cairn but they all turned out to be natural as I could find no trace of the cist.
No doubt a winter visit would make things easier?

COFLEIN states:
‘A turf covered stony mound measuring 15m in diameter and 0.8m high. A cist has been exposed at its centre. The capstone lies a few metres to the north’.

Visited 24.8.12

Directions:
Travelling east along the A468, as you go down the hill into Machen, take the first turning on the left. You then go under two railway arches and up a VERY steep hill. Keep on this narrow road (hoping that nothing is coming the other way) until you go over a cattle grid and onto Mynydd Y Grug common – park here. You pass Penlan farm on the right shortly before the cattle grid.

First impression I am afraid are not good as there is plenty of rubbish strewn around near the cattle grid. All the usual suspects can be found – take away cartons, cans of alcohol etc.
Why do people make the effort to come to this fairly remote place only to despoil it?
I can probably half answer my question as the views over Cwmfelinfach to the north are splendid. Would someone able to appreciate the location be the same type of person to drop litter?

Don’t let this first impression put you off and follow the track north west to the fine Twyn Cae-Hugh Barrow. The walk from the cattle grid takes about 25 minutes and you pass the two Twyn-Yr-Oerfel Barrows along the way as a bonus.
The Barrow is easy to spot on the right of the path just after you come out of the other side of the trees. It is fenced off but a gate gives easy access. Judging by the amount of scrambler motorbike tyre tracks around it is just as well it is protected by the fence.

The Barrow itself is large and covered in brambles, ferns and foxgloves.
The top of the Barrow has been dug into.
The views are not too good – particularly when compared with the smaller nearby Twyn-Yr-Oerfel Barrows.

Well worth a visit.

COLEIN states:
‘A large round cairn on the edge of a forestry plantation measures 25m in diameter and 2.5m high. A central depression measures 4m across and 1.3m deep. There is now no trace of the surrounding ditch’.

Having just been to the Lily ponds at Bosherston I couldn’t not go here, there’s maybe a mile in between them. Like Carl I’d wanted to come here for years, but I hadn’t known exactly where it was, until I was looking into the hill fort barrows and stones near Bosherston. Parking was had in the big car park above the gorge and its well and chapel, we didn’t have to pay, but i’m not sure if you had to or not.

We start down the steps, and the first surprise came quickly, the chapel completely blocks the way down to the sea, you have to go in one door and out another, inside is a weird cell in the corner, it is basically a doorway to the bare rock of the gorge, many strange legends are attached to the rock. Out the other side of the chapel and it’s big boulders down to the crashing waves, two types of boulders, one a volcanic dark rock the other a light grey colour. There is a very small hut, big enough for a ten year old to squeeze into, this is apparently a well, but has no water in it. By the sea on the left is a big natural arch, on the right a smaller longer natural arch and above it a tall rock spire. whilst we sat watching the waves bashing against the rocks two seals came by, they popped up took a look around then sank back down below the surface and were gone, Ive only ever seen seals once and that was on the isle of Mull, again. Brilliant.
Superb site, even if it might not be old enough.

A fine and easy to get to fort, west of St Twynnells east of Warren, north of Merrion and south of North lane. Cant go wrong.
A single rampart is all that defines the fort, no ditches at all, just a single wall of stone and earth with a west facing entrance. Doesn’t sound great so far, but that single wall is, on the outside, ten feet high in places. The inside of the fort is higher than the ground level outside, I walked a circuit of the ring and made to sit down against the entrance wall, but frightened of a snake, it looked like a smooth snake, it was brown and longer than a slow worm (but you do get long ones), it could have been a brown grass snake, do you get them ?
The fort isn’t on the hill top, but just down the slope west a bit, with it’s single rampart it was more like a henge, but mostly I was reminded of Old Sarum, smaller obviously and not really similar at all, but there you go.

Southwest of Hundleton, where the B4320 kinks round a right hand bend, and a side road shoots of left to Castlemartin. There is a footpath marked Dry burrows bronze age round barrows, and indeed they are very visible in the field next to the road. Further, a blow up of the OS map is right next to the stile into the field, but the thoughtful farmer has his gate blocking it.

The name Dry burrows is a bit of a misnomer, the field they are in is anything but dry, boggy would be my choice, boggy burrows barrows, the bog is everywhere, and the water has an oily sheen on it, perfectly gross.

One barrow immediately stands out several feet above the others, it is square in the center of this end of the field. It is surrounded by seven others, of varying heights, four of which are in the same field, two of them are large distinct mounds, one is only a very slight bump, and the other is ploughed out utterly. In the next field is another slight bump and one more utterly ploughed out and half under the hedge. The last slight bump is across the road in a ploughed field, on my way there a car full of youths beeped me and pulled a stupid face, cretins everywhere you go i’ll tell you.
The last barrow is a ploughed down slight bump, camouflaged amongst it’s ploughed field surroundings.

Five hundred meters south beyond the lake are two more barrows, one wonders if the lake covers a couple, perhaps linking the two sites.

Back in April, Eric and me visited Lawhaden castle, whilst there we learned that the not too far away castle at llansteffan was built within an Iron age fort, Four months later we are back in the southest of Wales so which castle shall we go to ? Well really I’d have preferred Pembroke castle but that one is a payer where as llansteffan is free to enter .

We parked by the beach, ignored the mobile chippy and the ice cream van, but not the lyrics to the Bosses song from last year, we’re by the beach, you know which song. In the corner of the car park is the signposted start of the path up to the castle, as we are passing a natty creepy model of Pegasus Eric starts complaining about a hurting leg, I think of Sweetcheats leg and I hope it isn’t a torn hamstring. After much limping and stopping and starting we reach the top and stand before the entrance to this impressive castle. I like castles, not as much as my brother though, he cant see the attraction of a cairn or a menhir and sometimes laughs at my somewhat frugal rewards for long drives. He doesn’t get it at all.

We backtrack from the castle entrance and peer round the corner. I’m a bit gob smacked, are they really iron age ramparts ? It could just be a moat, but the authorities assure us they are iron age and after climbing the fence we can see that after the first rampart there is a second ditch not as deep as the first, but, it is proof of the iron age, castles don’t have two moats.
We follow the ditch round to where it fades into the undergrowth and down steep crags. The view out across the wide river mouth is a good one, and what a place to watch over the area controlled by our iron age folk.

We run out of earthworks and Eric drags me off into the castle, stairs to climb, nooks to explore and walls to clamber on, GET OFF RIGHT NOW.
It is running very late and we’ve got a very long drive home, strangely, as we ran back down the hill side his leg isn’t bothering him at all, nothing torn here, just growing pains, my dads catch all explanation.

I visited the 12 apostles having parked in Ilkley and walked round the cow and calf. This is not a route for those who are not hardy or physically fit. It was a demanding route with steep parts and chest high vegatation in places.

The stones are also very difficult to find without an OS map. I didnt have one that day and I had to ask a fellow walker. Turned out I had strayed right past the stones and didnt notice them just off in the distance.

Once you do find them it truly is a magnificent place. It oozes history, it has a wonderful feel to it almost as if the stones want to talk to you. The stones are very small and some of them not standing naturally now. The stones almost say to you that ‘we are small but still proud to stand on this moor’. The place is very quiet, eben some of the locals dont know its here. A wonderful place where one can relax and reflect on times gone by and what must have gone on in the past at this place, worth a visit. Only ruined by the noise of the planes at Leeds Bradford.

What is also beautiful is the view north towards Menwith hill. The air force domes sitting proudly on the hill. Looking from the 12 apostles over to that is the ancient and the new sitting together on the moors.

I visited Castercliff on a wet miserable day. Not recommended. Views are limited and it can be very muddy.

Generally I was disappointed with this place.

Difficult to find and it doesnt seem to resonate history and its very difficult to make much out. It doesnt command any great views.

Check it out if you are in the area but for me there are other places nearby that are much better.

A great place to visit that has wonderful views in most directions. An especially good view south towards St Michaels Mt of which I have added a pic. Unfortunately views to the north are limited due to the lack of height that Trencrom has.

Easy to get to. Park in Trencrom village and it is an easy approach over a field and then up to the top with very limited ascent.

The fort itself is spectacular. It is easy to see why it was chosen as it has good 360 degree protection and offers decent views of the local area. The rocks also provide shelter in places. Trencrom is a very special place. You can feel the history in the air. Especially where the two stones show where the entrance into the fort was. Very serene, quiet and reflective place.

Definitely worth a visit.