Latest Fieldnotes

Visited 29.5.12

It was a beautiful day and the beach at Bagh Steingidh is simply stunning so we stopped for a few hours for fun and frolics. The fact the beach is overlooked by an impressive standing stone is of course a welcome bonus!

I first approached the stone from across the rocks on the beach but later went back for a second visit and this time chose the easier way from the main road. I am glad I did this as there is now a very good information board near the gate giving access to the field.
It appears the highland cow is now housed in the field on the opposite side of the road – next to the house.

The standing stone is approx 2 metres tall x 1.3 metres across. ‘Hairy’ green lichen covers the stone on the side facing the sea. I counted 6 fallen stones sticking out of the grass – 1 large and the rest just the tips of stones. These were part of the original stone circle as described on the information board.

The information board also refers to a cairn next to the standing stone. There is a mound visible approx 10 metres across x 0.5 metres high – more pronounced on the seaward side.

The views from the stone are fantastic. Blue skies, white sand and clear turquoise water. The scenery is spectacular. Harris really is a beautiful place.

I took this opportunity to ask Karen a very important question – I am pleased to say I received a positive response. No doubt I will remember this visit for a long time!

Duloe Stone Circle. Visit date: 27th June 2012.
There’s something about Duloe stone circle that draws me back whenever the opportunity arises and normally that’s when we’re off to Looe for the day. But today it was different as it was a ‘Duloe only’ day with nothing else to sidetrack me.

Parking, unless illegally, is not possible outside of the cutting between the properties leading to the circle, so one has to park in the road behind the close-at-hand St Cuby church where there is a large lay-bye.
Once parked up it’s only a two or three minute walk back to the cut-way which is adequately signed on the roadside opposite.

Always my first impression when approaching the circle is what a little gem it is. Unlike all other stone circles, dolmans, standing stones and burial chambers in Cornwall that are granite, Duloe’s circle is of quartz and must have been quite dazzling on first build. Another obvious peculiarity is that unlike the major large open circles in Cornwall built with mainly smaller stones, this small circle has mainly huge stones in comparison! Does this offer us a clue to its meaning and use I wonder?

The largest or tallest stones lies due south and there are 4 definite ‘compass stones’ to the N,S,E & W and are all the larger ones of the eight present. The very small stone to the south east is an additional stone just placed on the surface in modern times and not part of the original build. I did consider moving it as two other groups of visitors arrived while I was there and par for the course started counting the stones which of course came to nine. I pointed out the error which they thanked me for but if you don’t then of course they go away with a slightly false impression. I left it where it was but it just moves if you touch it anyway so won’t fool many at this time. I’d like to know where it came from though and if it was off one of the others or just a random chunk dug up in the field.

Historically a bank/hedge ran either through the middle or part of the circle at some stage but it’s difficult to say now in what direction or what ‘gaps’ in passed through, although the fallen stone may offer a clue. While mentioning the prostrate stone you will note from the old black & white photo that it lay in a hollow or depression and this ‘may’ have been created when the bank was removed. Today the depression can still be seen but has silted up considerably since the old photo was taken.

Direction wise just take the road from Liskeard to Looe (well signposted from Liskeard) and Duloe is 5 miles out from Liskeard or about 4 miles from Looe. As you come into Duloe from Liskeard the Old Plough Horse pub is on the left and a tad further on the cutting to the circle is on the same side but indicated by a sign on the RHS of the road. Just pass this and the church is on the right that you can park behind. Well worth the visit and a must if you are in the area. As I said, a little gem.

Here are a few photos including an ‘aerial’ I took. An interesting stone is the third and fourth one shown as I had a really close look at it this time because I’ve always suspected it was ‘worked’. It has a large ‘scallop’ out of the lower section as you’ll see with definite small grooves running upwards/downwards and may have been a sharpener/polisher for nothing larger than arrowheads and the main scallop for general smoothing.
picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/DuloeStoneCircle02?authkey=Gv1sRgCJf8xNmw6q2n8wE#

Visited 28.5.12

Directions:
In the hamlet of Iochdar – just west off the main A865.

Now, if you find yourself on Uist and you fancy a cuppa, there are not a lot of options available to you. But one such option is the craft shop / jewellers in Iochdar which also boasts a rather nice café. This would also give you the chance to do a bit of ‘old stoning’!

I viewed the Broch from the nearby road and low stone walls could be seen fairly easily.

Canmore states:
‘Dun Buidhe occupies a slight knoll, almost surrounded by marshy ground. A lintel stone appears to be over the entrance and on either side of the entrance are traces of galleries. The wall, which is 1m high, is best preserved on the outer face of the west side, where it is constructed of large, roughly faced stones, still 3 courses high’.

Visited 28.5.12

Directions:
Park in the large lay by opposite the A867 / B894 turning.
All you have to do then is walk straight up the steep hill – about a 5 minute walk.
You need to step over one fence. The cairn is not visible from the road.

Canmore states this is a ‘probable cairn’ – to my untrained eye it is a definite cairn!

The cairn has been dug into and now consists of 6 large stones with many smaller ones scattered about. This is an ideal spot for a cairn; the highest point in the area and giving great views all around.

Canmore states:
‘The grass covered remains of this probable cairn measure 10.5m x 9m, surviving to a height of 06m. Several large slabs of stone lie nearby and are possible spoil from the chamber. Numerous other stones were found outside the probable entrance to the east side of the cairn’.

OK, perhaps Dun Garsin is not completely destroyed... but more or less, I guess. Unless my map reading was totally out (not beyond the bounds of possibility, it has to be said.. and if so please correct the error) little but a few masonry footings exist to ‘suggest’ to the average punter that a broch once stood here in awe of Knock Garsin. However I agree with the splendid OS people and reckon one did, overlooking the Amar River and thus commanding a fine glen. Light rain – the first and only such occurrence during these truly remarkable two weeks in Alba- cannot detract from the sheer beauty of the Skye landscape. Yeah, Mother Wales may be my first... and true love... but Skye is Nicole Kidman asking me back to her place for ‘coffee’ and bolting the door. Hell, it’s never gonna last... but what a ride! Assuming you survive the cerebral onslaught.... amongst other things.

As mentioned, very, very little of the broch survives... as far as I could tell. But a visit here is still worthwhile, if only as part of the Bracadale trinity completed by the mighty Dun Beag and the exquisitely sited Dun Diarmaid (not to mention the two chambered cairns in the vicinity). Hey, what more do you want? Easy parking... but the rest requires a touch of... hell, I don’t know how to describe it. To be satisfied with ‘apparently not very much’, such insubstantiality nevertheless seemingly representing ‘everything’. Yeah, is less really.... more... in some respects? Or do we ‘fill in the blanks’ in accordance with our wishful thinking? Whatever the truth, I reckon it’s rewarding to try, you know?

Visited 28.5.12

We parked in the ‘themed’ car park – complete with large wooden ‘prehistoric stone axes!’ and ornate metal gates / picnic area. I quickly read the very good information boards and headed up the path which takes you directly to the cairn; which is easily visible from the car park. The walk only takes about 5 minutes.

The sky was clear dark blue and the sun was beating down. Not only that but I had the place to myself! As I walked up the hill I noticed a crescent moon directly above the cairn – a magical sight (I hope the photo comes out!) My pace quickened as I got closer.

The entrance to the cairn is at the back as you approach up the hill but my initial excitement ground to a halt as I saw the entrance had been blocked with a wire frame and a notice stating that due to a collapse in the chamber it was not safe to enter. This was a real blow as I was looking forward to seeing inside the cairn – as you can imagine.

I decided that the least I could do would be to shine my torch through the wire mesh and see what I could see. As I got closer to the entrance I then noticed that someone had forced part of the wire away from the frame and it could be easily moved to one side. I also noticed that the right hand side of the passage had collapsed. What to do?

If Dafydd had been with me I wouldn’t have entered in case of further collapse but as he was asleep in the car I decided I had come too far not to take the chance! I pulled the wire to one side and was just able to crawl through the gap on my side. I then had to continue to crawl on my side past the collapse of stones. I was relived that once past the collapse the chamber looked perfectly fine and I was able to have a look around as normal – whilst listening for the sound of any falling stones!

The thing that struck me most was the large slabs of stone which were used for the roof and the 5 large (1 massive) upright stones used to support the roof stones. The walls were made up of the usual dry stone walling.

After a while I carefully eased my way back out of the cairn and replaced the wire mesh. Hopefully it won’t be too long before repairs are put in place? I walked around the outside of the cairn and spotted a couple of large kerb stones remaining.

There are wonderful views from the cairn out across the lochs towards the distant hills.

So far this was the highlight of my holiday and I would heartily recommend a visit to the wonderful site if you are ever on Uist.

Visited 28.5.12

After enjoying a nice cool drink in the beer garden of Langass Lodge myself and Sophie headed out towards the stone circle while Karen watched Dafydd play on the slide.

It is only a 5 minute walk through the heather which is just as well when carrying a little one!

I counted 15 standing stones and several others hidden in the heather.
The tallest stone is approximately 2 metres tall. Sophie enjoyed playing amongst the stones and heather.

The views from the circle are splendid. The sun was shining out of a clear blue sky, the dark blue waters of the lochs glistened and the rugged beauty of North Uist was there for all to see.

An easy stone circle to access and well worth a visit – particularly on a day like today.

Visited 28.5.12

Directions:
A short distance north of the Suidheachadh Sealg stone circle; next to a minor road off the A865.

Access is over a wooden fence opposite a house. I do not know if this is their land as there was no one about when I visited.

I counted 13 stones which had fallen and were half covered in turf. The one standing stone is thin and 1.5 metres high x 1 metre wide. Covered in green ‘hairy’ lichen
As the weather had been so dry there were several dry parch marks in the grass which looked like they may have buried stones beneath?

Like Suidheachadh Sealg stone circle there appears to be a cairn in the middle and a large stone (approx 1.5 metres x 1 metre) which could be a cist cover?

Well worth a visit when in the area but it may well be worth asking at the house opposite if it is ok to have a look first?

Visited 28.5.12

My O/S map had this stone circle marked as Standing Stone.

The circle is visible from the minor road to the north and parking is easy enough.
Access to the circle is through 2 field gates and in wet weather this would be a very boggy walk. There are loads of erratics in the fields so I am sure building material wouldn’t have been a problem!

The stone circle is about 25 metres across and I counted 11 stones although only 1 was standing fully upright. This stone is 1.5 metres tall x 1 metre wide.
It has 3 grooves running through it and is covered in that green ‘hairy’ lichen which apparently only grows in very clean air.
The stone has large packing stones around the base and it could be my imagination but it looked to me like the top of the stone lined up with the mountain to the south?

There is a pile of stones about 3 metres across in the centre of the circle which look a lot like a cairn?

The circle is built on the highest point in the area and affords good views towards the mountains. Worth a visit when in the area but you may need your wellies!

Visited 29.5.12

Directions:
About a mile north of Dun an Sticir Broch on the B893.

Marked on the O/S map as Standing Stones (next to a house) I assumed these stones would be easy enough to see? I was wrong!

The fields in this area are scattered with large boulders and there was certainly no obvious standing stones to be seen. There were two mounds – one with a stone sticking out of the top which seemed to match the location of the stones shown on the map.

We didn’t have a lot of time for a proper search as we had to get to the ferry on time but this was a bit of a mystery. Perhaps someone with more time will have better luck than I did?

CANMORE states:
‘Standing Stones, Crois Mhic Jamain. On two grass-covered contiguous mounds raised on the highest extremity of a slight rocky ridge, and lying NE-SW.
They each measure some 24ft in diameter and rise some 4ft above the general level of the ground. On the summit of each hillock is a small standing stone, the distance between them being 18ft 6ins. The SW slab is rectangular, measuring 3ft in height, 1ft 10ins in breadth and 6ins in thickness: the other is an irregular block 1ft 7ins in height and 5ft in girth (RCAHMS 1928).
A very large skull is said to have been found here‘

Visited 28.5.12

The weather was beautiful so we decided to spend an hour or two on a lovely beach on Baleshare. Looking at the map I spotted a Chambered Cairn not too far away, so no prizes for guessing where I suggested we stop on the way back to the B+B!!

We followed the minor road north until it stopped. There is a turning point here so parking wasn’t a problem. Karen and the children stayed in the car (tired after the fun on the beach) as I headed across the field, past a derelict farmhouse, towards the Cairn. This did involve climbing over a field gate, a fence and a stone wall – this is actually a lot easier than it sounds.

The Chambered Cairn is right on a beach headland and is in a wonderful setting, affording cracking coastal views. The Cairn is approximately 2 metres high x 15 metres across and has clearly been dug into at some point in the past.

I sat awhile at this lovely spot – the sun was still shining, seabirds chattered away high overhead and the sea glistened way into the distance. On a day like today this is a wonderful spot to unwind but I was conscious of the others waiting for me in the car so I had to cut my visit shorter than I would have liked.

Well worth a visit if you are ever in this fairly remote part of the world.

CANMORE states:
‘Carnan nan Long is a mound, above the shore, about 40ft in diameter and 10ft high with indications of a chamber c. 15ft by 4ft. On the west of its summit are two large stone slabs‘

Visited 29.5.12

We decided to catch the earlier ferry to Harris so I didn’t have time to properly explore this Broch and had to settle for a view from the road.

From a distance the walls of the Broch appeared to still be about 2 metres high and covered in vegetation. The causeway was easily visible.

I would have been nice to have had the time to walk out to the broch but there you go, you can’t have everything.

Visited 28.5.12

The minor road leading up to the water works is tarmaced and smooth so no worries about the car exhaust on this visit!

The stone is visible from the water works but a quick hop over a barbed wire fence and you are soon up close and personal to this massive stone.

The stone is about 5 metres tall and 1.5 metres wide – covered in green lichen.
In this lighting it looked like a face could be seen in the stone (well spotted Karen!)

From up here there are tremendous, wide coastal views.
This is definitely one to visit when on Uist.

Visited 28.5.12

Directions:
Near a very rough track just south of the remains of Flora Macdonald’s house, off the A865 – to the east. This track is very rough and I would not advise you driving up it unless you are behind the wheel of a 4x4. (Karen was not happy!)

The tomb is easily visible from the track.
Despite the hot weather the ground from the track to the tomb was very boggy and I imagine in wet weather it would be a wellies job.

The tomb is approximately 15 metres across x 4 metres high. Along the northern edge of the tomb there are 6 large retaining kerb stones. Many of the stones are covered with lichen.

Two birds of prey circled overhead in the dark blue skies.

Visited 28.5.12

The Cairn is only a 5 minute walk from the car park and is visible from the road (A865). There is an info board in the car park giving details of Carinish Crofting Woodland but there is no mention of the Chambered Cairn!

It is a fairly flat walk to the Cairn and there are lovely views of the surrounding hills. The Cairn itself is about 40 metres long x 2 metres high x 10 metres across. A walkers shelter has been built out of stone next to the chamber.

There appears to be the remains of a cist which is 1.5 metres x 1 metre. At one end of the ‘cist’ is a large stone approximately 1 metre square. Several large kerbing stones remain.

The Cairn has been pretty much mangled but access is easy so it is worth a look when on South Uist.

At last , tree felling is allowing a bit of a view .

Carinish

Visited 28.5.12

As shacmh states ‘blink and you will miss it’ – in fact, you don’t even have to blink to miss this one!

I parked in the car park, crossed the road and was able to spot 5 stones sticking their heads out of the heather. Nothing else to add really.

Just about worth a quick look when visiting the nearby Chambered Cairn.

Dun Trossary

Visited 28.5.12

Just up the road from Pollachar Standing Stone on the B888.

We parked next to the church and the Chambered Cairn could be seen on the higher ground a couple of fields away. I headed directly for the Cairn and had to climb over 2 barbed wire fences – scaring some sheep in the process. It would be a boggy old walk in wet weather.

The Cairn is very ruined and consists of a large mound of grass covered stones. It is hard to make much sense of the site.
The main leaning stone would be approximately 2 metres high if it was straight. It is about 0.5 metres wide.

This is a fairly easy site to access as long as you are able to negotiate barbed wire fences but in all honesty there isn’t a great deal to see.

On the plus side there are good views to be had.

Didn’t even know about this cairn until I had to pick up a fellow musician for a gig. Parked the car, looked right and a cairn appeared. Chris’s directions are spot on but I should have worked it out for myself given the street name. Amazing that a cairn this size exists in a housing estate. Seems a good place tho, as the sun came out for at least two seconds before it started chucking it down again.

Evidence of a kerb still remain and the trees plus houses give an idea of size. It would be fascinating to have seen it’s original size as going by what is left it must have been massive. Still its nice to see such a thing in a city and amazingly it appears to be quite well looked after so top marks to the locals. A very nice surprise.

Visited 24/6/2012.

A disappointing – and only partially successful visit, this.... since I was expecting a lot having noted Greywether’s comments and images. Quite excited, in fact. Steady on, old chap. However I, er, sort of assumed that the alignment – information boards ‘n’ all – would be easy to find without a 1:25 OS map. And I certainly didn’t expect the area to be almost totally over-run by head high vegetation ... including the infamous rhododendron... and a plantation apparently set-up in 2005 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. I’d rather they hadn’t, but there you are.

I approached via the Minard Castle B&B turning from the A83, taking the first left forestry track. Logging operations ensured this was strictly on foot, although personally I’d walk anyway (note the possibility of closure if making a special trip). The track forks right and soon enough arrives at a heavily overgrown hilltop surrounded by an unclimbable deer fence. I first follow this to the left toward the shore of wonderful Loch Fyne, but see nothing. So, to the right, then. Sure enough, a standing stone pokes its head up through the greenery. But how to get to it? Further along a gate in the deer fence offers promise... only to meander down hill toward the loch. Backtracking, I try to penetrate the screen of vegetation, cursing the brambles, getting increasingly more disorientated and pissed off with bloody ‘Trafalgar Wood’. I try again, but eventually have to admit defeat. Sometimes Nature just will not be bargained with, you know? So, onto the beautiful shore of Loch Fyne, trending left and then right. I see nothing, although the fact that such a wondrous ‘watery vista’ is not enough in itself is, in retrospect, frankly ludicrous. It is frustrating, the feeling that the stones are just ‘around there’ no doubt well known to all who search out such things in the field. But it is not to be, not today.

Time is running out if I want to reach my Tinto nightly stop-over by dark. Then I suddenly notice that someone has actually made an unobtrusive hole in the fence below the aforementioned standing stone seen at the start. I crawl through to find the monolith is indeed a handsome monument. But what’s this? There’s more, in the form of two(?) further stones which lie broken in apparent shattered alignment before it, heading uphill. A stone row? Looks like it, but aligned upon what? Too much vegetation to tell. Unfortunately I must leave it there. Perhaps a lochside approach from Minard would be more revealing. But at least I managed to glimpse something of why the ancients came to view the greatest of our stars here. I shall return, better prepared, if I can some day.

This is, I feel one of the most underrated, under visited and one of the most interesting and important sites in North Wales. As Bladup pointed out it is almost a carbon copy of Fontburn four poster in Northumberland themodernantiquarian.com/site/6354/fontburn_dod_wood.html
and I wholly agree. But from my first visit I decided that it was unfair to have gorse bushes molesting and hiding two of the four stones, so last time I came I took it on as my duty to remove one of the gorse bushes as best as I could. That was almost six months ago, and I wanted to see what it looked like now, so armed with my trusty shears I stumbled and staggered back to the four poster, as my last visit of the day. My camera had run out of batteries, this can happen after ten hours of photography, and 639 photos, but I took it anyway just in case it let me have a few more pictures, it did, but only five, then that was it.

Some small patches of grass have started to regrow in the brown patch left by my handy work six months ago, and it looked like someone had already made a start on the other bigger gorse bush, unless that was also me getting a head start last time. So I laid into it with more gusto than someone whose been up for over thirty hours should have, at the time I felt no pain or fatigue, but the day after I ached in places that don’t ever get used, and still hurt now three days later. But in the end the bush was gone, it looks a bit of a mess, so i’ll go back in the autumn to tidy up and finish off. Then in a couple of years I’m sure people will be coming from far and wide to see the only four poster stone circle in North Wales, and will have no idea the toil involved by a single person unknown. Clandestine gardener, that’s me.

From Caer Bach fort take the south west path, passing the possible four or five clearance cairns, at these small cairns turn off path and go south through the gate and the cairn is directly in front of you. It is set amongst other larger boulders that look very up right and suspicious and too close to the cairn to be unrelated.

I found this site on the portal, and had to immediately go find it, seeing as it’s not far from home (relatively) and quite close to the great Orme where I watched the sunrise earlier this morning, this was no problem.

The best features of this cairn are the almost intact cist in the middle, it has three large stones forming an open ended box, no capstone unfortunately. Around the north west arc of the cairn is some kerb stones, two rows of them. But on the south side they are all but gone, the cairn is almost undetectable from about twenty yards away, there is no mound to it, no cairn material at all. Just like the Caer Bach cairn about a kilometer to the north, it is disguised as just another non feature amongst these hills.

Gee whiz I love this place, just down hill from here is Maen y Bardd, and all that round there, there are also many settlements, and probably much more waiting to be discovered and described. One could spend a considerable chunk of ones life exploring between the river and the mountains, there’s a lot to see.
But i’m done here for today, one more site left to see and just enough time to see it, back to the car.

Visited 26th May 2012

Glorious sunny weather today, and after the recent downpours and grim weather I felt I really needed to get out and about.

I’ve been meaning to visit the Tal-y-fan monuments for ages, but never got around to it so today seemed as good a day as any! Maen-y-Bardd is a site I’d wanted to visit for ages, having seen some lovely photographs of it in the past, which made it look as if it was in an area of splendid mountainous isolation.

After a maddeningly slow meander up the A5, with roadworks and tractors reducing progress to a crawl at times, I turned off the B5106 just south of Conwy and headed into the pretty village of Rowen. I’d decided to approach via the Youth Hostel at Rhiw, so taking a right turn in the village after the hotel, and folowing the ominously dead end signed road, the lane started to climb the hill. Soon the road became extremely steep, (quite possibly one of the steepest I’ve ever driven up!) but the car did sterling work and soon I reached the end of the road. At first I thought I’d missed the Youth Hostel, before realising it was in fact the white building to my left where the metalled road ends, so I pulled into their drive, and with a distinct lack of anyone around to ask whether I’d be OK to park there, I made sure I wasn’t blocking any entrances and left the car there hoping for the best.

A short walk along the lane and the first thing I notice is a small standing stone, (one of the Caerhun stones, although I didn’t realise it as such at the time) behind which the unmistakable silhouette of the dolman is visible.

As others have said this is the absolute epitome of a perfectly presented dolman, perched with amazing views over the Afon Tafalog and down the Conwy valley, and currently being used a shelter by a group of shaggy sheep, eager to escape the midday suns heat.

The sheep soon move as I squeeze myself inside, and just let the cares of the world fall away. The poet stone itself is said to grant the gift of inspiration or madness to those who spend the night here, a legend also told in relation to Cadair Idris, where I once spent a cold and windswept night camping near the summit one February. The jury’s still out on whether that expedition inproved my poetic skills, (and I’m sure those who know me don’t reckon that I could get much madder than I already am!) so maybe I should spend a night in Maen-y-Bardd sometime?

Certainly sitting here in the chamber with this view is inspiring, and it’s cool sheltered and peaceful in here, it’s really quite comfortable complete with a ‘pondering stone’ you can sit on to keep you off the earthen floor.

A great start to the Tal-y-Fan explore, if the other sites that line the old Roman road are even half as good I’m in for a great day!

Visited 4th August 2011

Ever since seeing a picture of this place in the papery Modern Antiquarian all those years ago, I’ve been intrigued and captivated by this site, indeed it was the whole reason we chose to come to this part of Sweden (although I’m glad we did as Skane is lovely!). I’d pictured it as being on some far flung remote headland, standing in a tundra-like landscape, the reality of the gentle lush countryside of Skane proving the opposite of my preconceptions. Just off Route 9 to the east of Ystad is the village of Kåserberga and parking at the large and well signposted carpark in the pretty village centre, I was gripped with anticipation as we climbed the steep path up to the cliff top, as I eagerly sought a view of the stones.

On our first visit a thick sea mist clung to the stones, which loomed out at us from the fog like a ghost ship, shadowy figures of visitors flitting amongst the stones only adding to the eerie atmosphere. Despite being perched near the cliff edge the sea wasn’t even visible to us, just the haunting calls of seabirds drifting over the water, it was truly otherworldly.

We returned again a couple of days later, this time in glorious hot Swedish sunshine, and able to take in the fantastic views out over the bright azure Baltic, which almost seems to encircle the site. The sunshine had also drawn out the hordes, Ales Stenar in its magnificence, and as a monument of national importance to Sweden, having the ‘Stonehenge effect’ (albeit without all the horrible commercialisation) of attracting the crowds and being firmly on the tourist trail. After all this is the largest skibssaetning in Sweden, a huge oval 67 meters long and 19 metres wide formed by 59 large boulders of sandstone, and according to Scanian folklore the resting place of the legendary King Ale.

These ‘ship settings’ in Scandinavia are generally regarded as burial monuments, yet no grave has ever been positively identified in the limited area that has been subject to archaeological research at Ales Stenar. If not a grave then, what would such an impressive monument have been built for? Various theories include that it may have been raised to honour a local ruler, or as a show of dominance by a particular King, as it would have been a highly visible landmark from the all along the sea coast. It may even have had an astronomical significance, as the sun sets over the north west tip of the monument at midsummer, rising over the tip of the opposite south easterly stone on midwinters day. A cupmarked boulder amongst the stones also points its way to the midwinter sunrise, which we spotted the other day as the shallow cupmarks had been outlined in chalk.

So now after getting up at 6am this morning I’ve come along to the site to see if I could get a few photos of the skibssaetning without any tourists around, and take in some of the atmosphere of the place when it is a little quieter. We were staying only around twenty minutes drive away along the coast, and being another gloriously sunny morning I was full of anticipation of getting some lovely shots of the empty monument. Things looked good when I arrived, the car park being empty, and no-one visible at the nearby camp site, so on reaching the stones I was most annoyed to find two people wrapped in sleeping bags inside the monument. After my initial fit of pique, (and I can’t complain too loudly, as I’ve slept at ancient monuments myself in the past!) I took to tramping around the stones and setting up the tripod for my camera in the noisiest way possible. Needless to say the campers soon took the hint, but by the time they had packed up their sleeping bags and left a family of early risers from the campsite down the road, along with their two children, arrived to shatter the peace. They didn’t stay long though and so finally I was alone at this amazing place.

Although a lot younger than most of the megalithic sites I’ve visited, as I’m convinced that the evidence points to Ales Stenar having been constructed much later than the Neolithic, it’s lovely to experience the grandeur of the Nordic megalithic culture, and know that it survived on here much later than in the rest of Europe.

On a clear morning like this you can really get a sense of how amazing the location of the monument is. I’m sat inside the stones, looking out over the cliffs at the vivid blue of the sea surrounding me on three sides. Looking away from the sea the gently rolling landscape unfolds before you, the stones that delineate the skibsaetning stretch away, and the high prow and stern stones tower above. You only appreciate how massive this place is when you stand back from it to try and get the whole site in shot. It takes on a whole different atmosphere when you have the place to yourself, and you can feel the true magic of the place, I’m so glad I came here this early.

This place is captivating, and I still can’t believe I’m finally here, alone in a stone boat on the shores of the Baltic, and soaking up the wonders of megalithic Sweden. This is a truly special place, and I hope that some day we will be back!

I was searching for the Baroile chamber... without success... using an old 1:50k OS map (my excuse, anyway) when I stumbled upon this. Since it looks nothing like Greywether’s pics I reckon it must (surely?) be the Rhudil cairn.

With regards the apparent doubt as to this being a chambered cairn (and bearing in mind that, although I’ve seen a few such monuments in my time, I’m clearly no expert) I would have thought the rather obvious – to me, anyway – capstone [see images] set upon a large, linear cairn makes this a pretty good bet for being kosher. Whatever the truth, the vibe here is fabulous, nice n’secluded, tucked away from the honeypot sites of Kilmartin Glen. Worth a visit for that alone. Hey, perhaps you could even locate the Baroile chamber, too? I reckon I could, in retrospect. But then hindsight does simplify matters, does it not?

Heading from Kilmartin pass the Ballymeanoch stones on your right and, just before Dunadd, follow the minor left hand road signposted ‘Rhudil Mill Antiques’... or something like that. Carry on past the house to the end of this road and park in a rough clearing currently used to store ‘farm stuff’. A local walking his dog asked if I ‘was OK’ and was quite happy when I replied I was looking for the cairns... anyway, cross the burn by the handy bridge opposite and trend to the right beneath a tree-crowned crag. The Rhudil cairn lies ‘round the corner’ to the left. I’m assuming the Baroile version is just a little bit further up. Hindsight, eh?