Latest Fieldnotes

From Lacra D a gateless gap in the wall shows the way to this the best of the complex. Volcanic ash is once again used to form a circle, fifteen meters across, and once of maybe eleven stones, only six remain, the missing five leaving obvious gaps in the ring. Three of the six stand over a meter high, two of the stones are very egg shaped and nice to look at, rough to the touch but gentle in curve.

A very nice circle despite nearly half of it is gone, in the center one stone pokes through the grass, perhaps part of the cremated bone containing kerbed central ring. From here the possible stone row can be seen, though I didn’t know it at the time, yet somehow I still managed to photograph it.
I rolled my camera bag in my cardigan and used it to impersonate one of the missing stones, to good effect I reckoned too. See last pic.
Considering we started the day at Swinside, well known for being one of the best stone circles in the world, I still hugely enjoyed this complex of circles, rows and avenues. Well worth a visit

I saw without seeing, looked at but did not find, recognised without knowing this stone row. From Lacra B I was surveying the surroundings and spotted this three stone alignment just fifty or so yards down the hill a bit, I took a picture and made a mental note to mention it to Alken, then immediately forgot all about it, distracted by the lovely little ring behind me. D’oh .
Looking at my picture and the few others, I’ve got to go along with stone row rather than the surviving arc of a circle. Also it is at a similar alignment to the Giants grave stone pair not far to the west from here, that is north east to south west.
Wish i’d been less daydreamy and gone for a closer look.

From Lacra A the obvious place to go to next is the widely dispersed collection of disparate stones approximately east from there, about two minutes away, dodging the wet ground in the hollow between the two.
We quickly and easily identified Lacra D amongst these stones, and running by it the maybe avenue mentioned by Aubrey Burl, so far he was being a bang up guide, if a little vague in directing us from circle to circle.
Our guide describes this circle as a very ruinous oval
with a large flat slab in the circles center, but no other central features were found, that means, I believe, that we do not know any more about it, was it once up right, or is it one of those famed druidical sacrificial tables. All the stones like Lacra A are of volcanic ash‘
Despite it’s ruinous state I quite liked this one, the stones are all at least twice as big as the other circle we’ve just come from, well three of the circles stones are, on the other side of the circle the stones are much smaller, if they are even circle stones at all, they could be from the avenue.
The avenue, which Burl says runs to the ring, may even go right past it and off towards Lacra B, he describes the avenue as possible but virtually unrecognisable, I’d go along with that.
So far Lacra hill is proving a fertile ground for pondering the mysteries of stone circles.

Just down the road from the Giants grave standing stones, on the south way out of Kirkstanton is another road/rail track crossing, we parked here (room a’plenty) and then walked back down the road to the start of the footpath.
The path starts by crossing the rail track then squelches up into the fields, at times steep, at times a gentle stroll . The sheep round here have paint on them red, orange and yellows, as if farmer was practicing sunsets on his sheep.

There are according to Aubrey Burl, who will be our Lacra guide for today, five sites up here, A through to E, we had no idea which was which and wouldn’t do until we found one and equated it with Burls lettering system. We decided to head for the circle nearest to the ruined farm as that circle is right next to a track and therefore plausibly the easiest to find.

We found it easy enough, six small stones of volcanic ash, only two of which are standing. By the looks of it about half of the stones are missing, it’s a real shame. At least nowadays they don’t take the stones away, they just climb on them or paint on them, demons all.
We can tell by the ruins of this circle that we are at Lacra A, and not far away we can see more stones, but is it B, C, D, or E or possibly the avenue of stones, who knows, lets get over there and find out.

Visited 13.6.12

Directions:
North of a rough track off the B9078 in Esha Ness.
If you intend to visit this site DO NOT attempt to drive up the track unless you are in a 4x4.
Park at the junction and walk up – your car suspension will appreciate it!

Failed to find this one.

This is an area of features peat land, covered in heather.
In wet weather it would be a bog. Luckily the weather was dry and sunny.

I did at least see some great coastal views with rock formations out to sea.

Canmore states:
‘A square cairn with a cruciform chamber. Stands in rough pasture on a low ridge known as The Hamars of Houlland. It now stands about 3ft high’.

Visited 13.6.12

Directions:
Right next to a minor road leading to a lighthouse – off the B9078
Next to a loch – just before a cattle grid.

A low grass covered mound approximately 1 metre high x 15 metres across.
Looks to have been dug into?

The coastal views from the lighthouse have to be seen to be believed!

Canmore states:
‘A concentric turf covered mound of burnt stones and black earth’.

Visited 12.6.12

From the road (at the right angle) it does look like the figure of a woman!

It is a short but fairly steep walk up from the road to the stone.

The top half of the stone is covered in ‘hairy’ lichen.
Several large stones are at its base.

There are lovely coastal views to be savoured.

Well worth a look when in the area.

(I forgot to make a note of how tall the stone was! From memory I think it was about 2 meters)

Directions:
Next to a minor road off the B9075

Due to time constraints I settled for a road side view.
The Cairn is easily seen from the road.

Canmore states:
‘A denuded cairn with affine marginal setting of large stones lies about 300 yards west of Loch of Benston. It has a diameter of about 26 ft. It cannot be determined if the cairn was chambered. The surrounding enclosure is almost certainly a field wall, not associated with the cairn’.

Visited 12.6.12

Directions:
Next to a minor road in the hamlet of Garth – off the B9075.

A grass covered mound on top of a large rock/grass mound.
Easily visible from the road.

Canmore states:
‘On the summit of a knoll named ‘The Burrian’ are the mutilated remains of a broch mound c16.5m in diameter and 0.6m high. Large deposits of midden material have been uncovered around the broch’.

Visited 12.6.12

Directions:
Right next to the B907 – to the north of Aith
Near a parking area. Access is via a metal field gate.

This is a lovely little cairn despite being well mangled.
Dug into and full of rabbit holes.

There are many large boulders visible – some two courses high.

There are good views down the valley and well worth a look when in this fairly remote area.

Canmore states:
‘A chambered cairn, 30ft in diameter up to 3ft high. The central chamber is trefoil-shaped and built of massive walling of which no more than 3 courses are visible. Two large displaced slabs lie in the chamber and one in the entrance’ – 1965

Visited 12.6.12

Directions:
At the junction of the B9071 / B9075

A horse-shoe grass covered mound with many stones sticking out of the grass.

Access to the field is via a metal field gate.

Great views down the loch.

Canmore states:
‘A cairn standing on an outcrop of rock. At the base it is roughly oblong; the upper part of the mound is almost circular. It’s present height is not more than 10’. Several large stones are exposed at the top – 1930.

The centre of the cairn has now been removed by quarrying – 1968’.

Visited 12.6.12

This is a stunning location – the beach isthmus is something to behold.
White sand / turquoise waters – like something from a Bounty advert!

On the way to the beach we spotted a group of about 20 seals sunning themselves on a secluded cove. We stopped the car and looked down from the top of the cliff. They saw us and shuffled into the water. The sea was so clear we could see them all swimming about – what a sight!

Karen and the children played on the beach while I walked out to the island for a quick look at the chapel ruins. The ruins are fenced off but access is available through a gate.
An information board and bench have been thoughtfully provided.

This is a ‘must see’ site – more for the surroundings than the actual ruins.

Non visit!

This was the only site I had on my 3 week itinerary that I failed to visit.

Due to the times of the sailings I didn’t have chance for a daytime visit so I thought I would go on one of the shorter evening sailings.

We arrived at booking centre only to discover that the evening sailings only operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays! (My fault for not checking in advance)

I therefore had no option but to settle for a very far of view.
On a clear day like today the Broch is actually quite easy to see on the Mousa. Shoreline.

It certainly gives as idea of how it must have looked along the coast when all the Brochs were in use – very impressive sight!

I hope to return to the wonderful Shetland Islands one day – this will be at the top of my ‘hit list’!

Visited 11.6.12

This is a fab place to visit!

After visiting Jarlshof we stopped off at Old Scatness.
Very easy to find; next to the airport on the A970.

We parked in the car park and headed into the visitor centre.
In addition to the usual gifts etc the centre also has ‘Viking’ clothes that both children and adults can dress up in! Dafydd quickly got fully dressed while Sophie (not to miss out) insisted on wearing a hat.

We were then introduced to our guide Vicky – yes it was Vicky the Viking! (she said she has heard every possible joke there is!) Myself, Vicky and Dafydd went outside while Karen had a cuppa.

There were few people about and in affect we had a private tour of the site which was great.
Vicky was very informative and answered any questions we had as we moved all around the Broch. Vicky explained the development of the Broch and I found the talk about the Wheel Houses particularly interesting as I had just been to Jarlshof where they also have them.

We were informed that the Shetland Trust had bought the field next door to the site which has a suspicious looking large ‘mound’ in the middle of it. They hope that it also contains buildings of some sort. They plan to excavate the field when funding allows.

The tour lasted for about 45 minutes and we were then left alone to have a look around the excellent reconstructed buildings – including a Wheel House.
We headed back to the visitor centre we were given a demonstration of weaving by a lady and invited to have a go. But Karen and Sophie had already waiting a long time for use so I had to unfortunately decline the offer.

All the guides were dressed in ‘Viking’ clothes and were very, very friendly – particularly with the children. It was an absolute pleasure to visit Old Scatness and I would heartily recommend a visit.

As an aside can I also recommend a visit to the not too far away Croft Museum – also fab!

I spent a very tranquil afternoon at Shapwick Heath today. It was so sunny, and when you’re wandering along the tracks in the dappled shade, dodging the soggiest peatiest spots, and being followed by dragonflies, it’s just marvellous. We sat in a hide for ages, looking out over one of the lakes, listening to the rustling reedbeds. It really is so quiet and remote feeling, you’ve got Glastonbury Tor poking up on the horizon, and you feel miles away from modern life. It’s very good for me. But to get to the point, at the moment, English Nature have opened the path that follows the line of the Sweet Track – it’s not always open as often it’s too wet. But at the moment you can walk through the wet woodland, brushing through all the sedges and the ferns (there are Osmunda royal ferns mmm) and walk pretty much where the builders of the track walked, back in 3800BC. How mad is that. It was a total pleasure. I recommend it very much.

There’s even a very decently surfaced path to where you can see (imagine) where the track was – EN take access pretty seriously at Shapwick. The other tracks around the reserve are variously accessible (most very much so), and of course they are all pretty flat, it being the Somerset levels. The specially-opened track does require you to climb up and down a few steps, wind along a narrow path, and hop across trainer-swallowing squishy peat though.

There’s some good information about the way the Sweet Track was built at Digital Digging. (And I finally discovered today that it’s called the ‘Sweet’ track because Mr Sweet was the man who spotted it. Just in case you were wondering too.)

Very easily found by the road/rail track crossing, just a two minute walk along the field edge.
Do they really mark the site of a burial ? I’ve seen nothing that points that way, Eight and a half miles north east is a proper Giants grave, that one is definitely a burial site. But these are just two standing stones . Just ? ....... heck no . These are two of the best standing stones in England, or rather, the best pair of standing stones in England, the only thing like them to my mind are the Piper stones in Cornwall, but they are so far apart to be hardly a pair.
With the grassy fields leading down to the coast there is even a Cornish feel to the place, only the considerable bulk of Black Combe gives away our northern location. There are cup marks on them as well, large and small, but I don’t think I saw them all, though I looked, perhaps the sun at a lower angle could reveal more.
Highly visible just out to sea was a long island, at the time I didnt know where it was, Piel island ? or some other equaly little known place, upon my home return I saw that it could only be the Isle of Man, but it looked soooo close, thirty six miles at their closest, but it looked much closer, no more than ten at least.
Lacra hill is close to and also highly visible from here, I wonder if the stones can be seen from up there, only one way to find out, and off we go to find at least three stone circles.

This was my first visit that wasn’t on the winter solstice, summer can be a most agreeable season, no hats and gloves, no rain or ice, just a warm breeze, my good buddy Alken and one of thee best stone circles ever.
Apparently only five out of sixty of the porphyritic slate stones have gone away (that’s a postal term) without leaving a forwarding address might I add. But it takes nothing away from this most magnificent of ancient places, the views attained from this position are inspiring. From south through west to north are the big hills Knott, Grey stones, and Swinside fell, but on the eastern side the views stretch far and wide, to the Old man of Coniston and beyond.
But best of all is the view from half way up Swinside fell, you can see down onto Duddon sands either side of Knott hill, you can see off into Lancashire, and you can see down onto the perfect circle that is Sunkenkirk, perfect that is till you realise that someone down there is climbing on the stones.

After about an hour to ourselves amongst the stones a couple of older ladies came, we decided to let them have the stones to themselves for a while whilst we climbed the hill a bit to get some more perspective of the whole arena chosen by the ancients as the position for this big circle. Whilst we were up there a family of five arrived, and zooming down onto the stones revealed a crime so heineous that it has no name, the care free parents were letting their three kids climb on the stones and in places jump from stone to stone. When we arrived back at the circle they had scared away the two older ladies and were having their wicked way with our beloved best freind, Alken and I exchanged desperate looks, mind melded for an instant and it was time to go, the moment had most definitely gone, we left telling our selves “other stones to see and all that” Don’t look back, don’t look back.

Visited 11.6.12

It’s a bit of an adventure visiting this H.S site!
This is one of those places you want to visit in nice weather.
Luckily for me it was a beautiful day of blue skies, white fluffy clouds and light wind.

We parked where the road ends, south of Scatness, and Karen stayed with the children while I headed out towards the headland. It was a pleasant 20 minute walk through green fields of little pink flowers.

The walk is flat and the ‘path’ across the fields is easy enough to follow.
That is until you get further out towards the site when you have to clamber over rocks with the help of a chain-link fence. This would only be possible for those who are fairly mobile. Certainly not suitable for anyone with walking problems or young children.
This would not be a good place to cross in rough weather.

Upon arrival at the site the first thought to strike me is that this doesn’t seem much of a fort.
It doesn’t seem very defensible – but there again what do I know?
There is an outer rampart and two ditches.
The reconstructed walls are about 1.5m high and there is a walkway through the middle with a ‘guard’ chamber each side.

This is one of those places where the location is greater than the remains.
I sat down between the rocky crags out of the wind.
Above me birds were hovering in the pale blue sky.
Below me dark blue waves gently lapped on the rocks – the sea glistened in the afternoon sunshine.
I looked across to Sumburgh Head and observed white sand beaches in the distance.

On a day like today this is a great place to be.

Visited 11.6.12

My first Shetland site!

After catching the overnight ferry from Orkney we arrived early morning on Shetland.
After staying on board for breakfast it was time to go exploring.
Karen has been desperate to see puffins so we headed south to Sumburgh Head.
If you want to see puffins – this is the place to go all right! (yes – they are cute!)
After what seemed like a couple of hundred photos later it was time to head for Jarlshof.

We didn’t realise that you had to take the side road towards the hotel and instead we incorrectly parked near the beach / toilet block.
Karen stayed on the beach with the children while I walked around the headland and approached the H.S. site from the back. This involved jumping over a fence and walking over to the visitor centre to buy the guide book and use the portable audio device which was very good.

Coming out of the visitor centre the first thing you see are the remains of various houses dating back to the Neolithic through to the Iron Age.
It is a bit like Skara Brae – not so well preserved but you are free to wander around inside.
For me the highlight of the site are the Wheel Houses.
These are well preserved and give a good idea how they would have looked when lived in.
There is not much left of the Broch due to coastal erosion.

All in all, a complicated site which can be hard to understand.
I would strongly recommend using the audio guide as this makes things a lot clearer.
A guide book would also come in handy!

Well worth a visit when on Shetland.

From the Tap O Noth car park head up the path over the stile and keep going till the old wall. A track of sorts heads east, follow this for about 200 meters and the grass covered cairn can be seen with two or 3 possible kerbs in place. Little is heard of this cairn which stands at approx 8/9 meters in diameter and would be just below 1 meter in height. (I found it by chance on an old map and Canmore doesn’t list it tho it appears on their map, sadly with no name)

Sadly this is a very badly damaged cairn with agriculture and the beasts having a fair go at destroying it. Still it remains in prehistoric central surrounded by forts, circles, cairns, standing stones and loads of cup marked rocks in the Brawland/nearby areas.

(Just an observation, the cottage near the car park, what a dump you’d seriously think somebody with some clout might tidy it up. What a shambles for visitors to see)

Visited 19/7/2012.

The Daugh Of Corinacy is a very neglected cairn in a very beautiful place high above the River Deveron. Ben Rinnes can be seen to west, Craig Dorney to the north and not to far away the handily placed Grouse Inn, a great place for a refreshment or 5.

From the A941, Cabrach road, head east at Bridgend taking the 2nd minor road which goes in a north easterly direction. Keep going until Oldtown of Corinacy. Don’t believe the maps, paths and tracks are long gone. I headed straight south passing a pile of boulders, thru boggy land, pot holes until I reached the firmer heather. The cairn can be seen as a green patch amongst a see of brown, the heather having being burnt recently. It stands at 8 meters wide and is just over 0.5 meters in height with a possible one kerb still in situ. Some ‘houking’ has also happened.

Sadly this cairn will vanish from sight and memory due to agriculture and the beasts. Therefore not a lot to see except a glimpse of former glories. Still, the present scenery is hard to beat.

Visited 19/7/2012.

Visited 11.6.12

A large grass covered mound right next to the A970 – can’t miss it.

Canmore states:
‘A concentric turf covered mound of burnt stones c1.5m high’.

Visited 11.6.12

Directions:
North of a small track off the B9076 near Brae.

We parked where the track starts and I headed east, through a couple of field gates.

The field is full of large scatterings of stone and I couldn’t make out which stones were the cairns? I did however see a nice rainbow.

In the distance I became aware of a herd of cows heading straight towards me (no doubt thought I had brought them food). I stated walking back towards the gate but the cows were gaining ground. I then heard them running and gaining fast. I upped my speed and made it to the gate just before they got to me!

There is nothing to really recommend a visit to this one.

Visited 11.6.12

After enjoying a rather nice fish supper in Frankie’s (the most northern chippie in Britain) there was just time to go and have a look at the Busta Stone.

This is a very large prominent stone which can be seen from a distance.

We parked next to the field in which the stone resides and a quick hop over the metal field gate and I was up close and personal. The field was full of sheep with lambs who didn’t seem too pleased to see me there as they were using it as a rubbing post!

This is an attractive stone – looks like it has white ‘pebble dash’ with black speckles.
It is also covered in that light green ‘hairy’ lichen I have seen so much of over the last two weeks.

There are great views over the loch and down the valley.

Visited 11.6.12

Although there is nothing here to see in way of standing stones, Barrows, ruined hut circles etc it is worth visiting for the views.

You can’t miss it as there is a massive roadside sign pronouncing that you are at Mavis Grind!

There is a small parking area with picnic tables provided.
This is an area where otters are sometimes spotted – we didn’t see any.

This is a very pretty place to stop and just unwind a while.