Latest Fieldnotes

Visited 9.12.11

The church you need is actually St Illtud’s in Llanelltyd and is easy to find as it is right on the A470 just north of the A496 junction. There is a car park right next to the church.

It was starting to get dark and I was half expecting to church to be locked as there were no lights on. Fortunately the gate leading into the church yard was closed but not locked – as was the church door. It was very dark inside but I managed to find the light switch.

The stone is propped up against the far wall on the right and is held in place by a small chain. There was a portable heater on the floor in front of the stone. The stone is about 1.5 metres high and 0.5 metres across at the base.

There was a pamphlet available in the church which refers to the stone although I was unable to make out the footprint said to be carved in it. This could have been due to the poor lighting or perhaps it was on the reverse side of the stone?

The pamphlet gives some interesting information about the stone:
‘This famous stone was found in 1876 amongst debris in an outbuilding near the church.
On the stone is an inscription of mid 12C date – ‘Vestigium Kenyric tenetur in capite lapidis et ipsemet antequam peregre profectus est’. ‘The footprint of Kenyric is imprinted at the head of this stone before he himself set out for foreign parts’.
On the stone is clearly carved a footprint which is said to be that of a pilgrim. It is said to be the only stone of its kind in existence.
Why did Kenyric have an imprint of his foot made on the stone? One theory is that placing a foot on the stone was considered by the pilgrim to guarantee a safe return from a visit to foreign lands. There is some evidence for a superstition of this kind amongst Welsh sailors.
Kenyric was possibly a local chieftain.
Within the churchyard there are four ancient yew trees’.

Visited 9.12.11

Directions: Taking the A470 north out of Rhayader you soon come to a brown tourist sign to the right pointing the way to Marteg Valley and its visitor’s centre. Turn here and keep going along the very narrow road until you come to a small parking area on your left which has an information board next to it. Park here.
Now comes the slightly tricky bit. Head west, walking uphill towards the flat headland below the rock face. The Cairn will come into sight after about 100 yards.

For me this was a WOW site. The view from the Cairn, west along the valley, is simply stunning. Hills surround, a winding river below and a waterfall in the distance – this is a very special place and a wonderful location to be laid to rest.

The Cairn itself has 6 quite large kerb stones remaining and is hollowed out in the middle. I saw what looked like one side of a cist in the middle of the hollow.

COFLEIN has the following to say: ‘On a small rocky spur projecting into the Marteg Valley, below a steep rock face, is a kerbed cairn consisting of a stony mound measuring 9m x 0.5 m high. The cairn is retained by a kerb of 6 slabs projecting up to 0.5m high and sloping outwards. It is probable that the kerb circle was never continuous. In the centre is a large hollow and on the east side is exposed a stone slab about 1.5m long, set on edge, which may have formed one side of a cist’.

This is a wonderful location. Please try to visit if possible. You won’t be disappointed.

Visited 9.12.11

Directions: A couple of hundred yards east of Cefn Ceidio Barrow on the A44 east out of Rhayader. Situated at the junction of two minor roads. Room to park on the verge.

The Barrow is very easy to spot and consisted of a large grass covered mound approximately 20 metres across x 2 metres high.
I counted what appeared to be 4 kerb stones on the NE side and one on the SW side of the Barrow.

The wind wasn’t half cold when stood on the top!

Visited 9.12.11

Directions: Easy to find – just to the north of the A44 – a short distance east of Rhayader.
There is room to park on the grass verge opposite the Barrow.

The Barrow is easy to spot in the middle of the field from the A44.
Access is up and over the field gate.
It is approximately 20 metres across and 2 metres high – covered in trees.

The Barrow looks to be in good condition and COFLEIN states that the Barrow is undisturbed.

While I was visiting I was fortunate to spot 5 Red Kites in the next field. One of them was hovering very low and I had a great view of the wing patterns. Wonderful sight.

Visited 9.12.11

Directions – easy. Take the minor road west off the A470 to the village of Llanwrthwl – ¼ mile. This road takes you directly to the church. You can access the pretty graveyard either through the gate (the option Karen took) or up and over the stone wall stepping stones (the option I took!)

By now light showers had started but this didn’t diminish from the lovely setting of this church / stone This may sound strange but the site ‘feels’ ancient. Its location surrounded by hills is wonderful.

It’s a big lump of rock – approximately 2 metres high x 1.5 metres across.
The information board describes it as a 3,000 to 4,000 year old ‘sacrificial’ stone – I don’t know what that is based on?

It is also well worth having a look inside the church which boasts a lovely 13th century font.

Overall a top notch place to visit. Highly recommended.

Visited 9.12.11

Directions – take the B4358 west out of Newbridge on Wye. The stone is visible on your left, next to a telegraph pole (near the football pitch) shortly after going over the bridge. Plenty of room to park.

The weather was cloudy with the sun trying to break through. Although the stone was easy to see, access was a bit more problematic. The field gate was padlocked (not a huge problem) but the field itself was waterlogged with huge puddles near the field entrance. Karen was concerned about the ‘trespassing’ element but I was more concerned about the size and depth of the puddles!

In the end we agreed it was best to view this stone from afar.

Carn Fawr represents the last site visit of my day... and, furthermore, could well be the most isolated cairn upon the whole of the Pumlumon massif. You can take it as a given, then, that the vibe and ‘sense of place’ here makes the receptive traveller feel ‘on top of the world’. In a manner of speaking, of course, since this cairn is actually located just below the 2,000ft contour. But truly that is of little relevance here.

According to Coflein [see misc post] there are actually the remains of two further Bronze Age cairns upon this craggy hilltop overlooking Cwm Hengwm, the upper reaches of which are, incidentally, cited by experienced climbing author Dave Ing as the ‘wildest cwm in all Wales’. I have to admit, however, that the potent combination of Carn Fawr’s impressive dimensions and the manner in which it relates to the landscape renders the memory defective in this instance. Yeah, there can be only one. Carn Fawr not only lives up to its prosaic name... ‘Big Cairn’... but additionally has no trouble at all picking the lock of the door to the human psyche labelled ‘folk memory, cairns, pertaining to fascination of’. In short, it just looks ‘right’, you know?

It is therefore sad to relate that Carn Fawr – the large one, that is (the baton is passed to other TMA members to add detail of the others) – has, despite initial appearances, not survived the passage of time as well as its two great neighbours upon Cwmbiga, having a somewhat hollow core. Nonetheless there is a lot of stone within this great stone pile, although, having said that, it is the location which really makes this a ‘must visit’ for the Citizen Cairn’d on walkabout upon Pumlumon. Situated just a little to the north of the source of the Hafren (Severn) and with Carn Hyddgen, rising across Cwm Hengwm, just one of numerous similarly blessed hills nearby, this is a spot to truly lose yourself for a while. Just make sure it’s only in a metaphorical sense, please! Map, compass and the usual kit are, needless to say, essential. But I’ve said it anyway.

If approaching from Carnfachbugeilyn... Carn Fawr is actually visible from the former looking to the approx west. Follow the fence line to the approx south-west before striking off downhill to your right. If you lose sight of the cairn, carry on until the fence line swings sharply to your left (south)... the monument is now below to your right (approx north).

Finally, thanks to Derfel for posting the images which prove local knowledge cannot really be surpassed.

Re-Visited 10.12.11

As myself and Karen had managed to get a weekend away on the Great Orme it would have been a shame not to re-visit this site.

Unfortunately the donkeys are no longer in the field (apparently a baby donkey had arrived and so many people visited it caused parking problems for the residents!). The chap who owns the noisy, barking dogs told us that the donkeys had been taken elsewhere.

The wooden fence surrounding the tomb has all but fallen apart but most alarming was a sign in the tomb warning people against any more digging as the site is protected. I couldn’t see any sign of digging but it is a worry.

The tomb itself is exactly the same as my last visit and is certainly worth a look when visiting the copper mines (which incidentally was shut this time of year).

I’d come here in the summer with my daughter after visiting several other stones on the island. We parked up at the gate and as we did someone else was pulling in. The driver asked what I was doing so I explained and asked permission. He looked at my OS map and pointed to a field and said it would be ok to have a look. It was the wrong field!
After walking around for ages we decided that we were in the wrong place. We felt like trespassers especially as there were CCTV camera notices everywhere.
We saw some more folk walking their dogs who knew the stone and took us to the right field. They pointed to where it was but we couldn’t see it because the field was full of really tall corn. We did try to find it but by this time we were hot and bothered so gave up, vowing to come back in the winter.
So it’s winter now and as I couldn’t go with Postie and TheSweetcheat up Moel Siabod because of a nasty cold I decided to try again.
Pulling in through the main gate go down the drive passing a gate house on the left. There is a very short gravel track on the left, just after the house, leading to the field where the stone is. There is room to park here.
The stone can be seen straight away across the field from the gate (as long as there is no corn).
It’s about 7 feet tall, chunky and gnarled. There is a chunk missing from the top and the owner, Mr Postnet, has observed that the sun rises and sets in line with it at the equinoxes.
This stone is mentioned in “the standing stones of north-western Wales” by Michael Senior

Coflien suggest that this may be a gateway marker but both Cadw and GAT believe it to be a bronze age standing stone.

Standing to the approx north west of.... and visible from.... the two great cairns crowning Pumlumon Cwmbiga, the trashed monument of Carnfachbugeilyn [’small cairn of the Bugeilyn’, the lake visible below to the north] is always going to be an anti-climax. Nevertheless a visit is still worthwhile, if only for the superb northward views to Foel Fadian (also bearing a monument – actually monuments... one Bronze Age, the other to the late Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, the celebrated correspondent and walker) and Southern Snowdonia, not to mention the aforementioned Cwmbiga cairns crowning the retrospective horizon like a pair of (more than) ample... well, you know what.

As mentioned, the cairn is seriously disturbed – hey, so would you be if you had been messed around to such an extent – although still retaining a reasonable enough volume of material to be classed ‘relatively substantial’, particularly so if it had been located anywhere else than upon the wondrous Pumlumon. A boundary marker stone stands nearby.

Perhaps the salient point, though, is that the cairn lies on the route from Pumlumon Cwmbiga to the much more impressive Carn Fawr, visible to the approx west..... bonus site, then.

Traditionally one of the ‘Three Mountains of Wales’, it’s fair to say that Pumlumon does not possess the overwhelming physical grandeur of either Cadair Idris or Snowdon, its celebrated companions in the triumvirate. Viewed from the main A44 Aberystwyth road to the south, Pumlumon displays no soaring, razor-sharp aretes, a paucity of naked rock... in fact little architectural splendour to raise the pulse and encourage the punter to don boots. No, Pumlumon’s charms are a lot more subtle, more ethereal, requiring a lot of effort from prospective suitors... like the woman who, despite lacking the classical aesthetic attributes, nonetheless holds the attention of every man in the room.... without them being able to grasp why. I guess it could be described as ‘allure’, this mass of soggy, Mid Walian high ground seemingly exerting a magnetism over humankind – the local Bronze Age inhabitants being the prime example – which transcends the manner in which we view the everyday world. How else would it have managed to be in the ‘top three’, so to speak?

I’m glad to say that there is a pretty obvious, not to say fundamental explanation as to why this should be ... the poor drainage which was so lamented by travellers of yore is paradoxically Pumlumon’s crowning asset, accounting for the massif sourcing no less than THREE major rivers in the Hafren (that is, the Severn), Wye and Rheidol. Incredible. If ever a mountain could be termed ‘Mother of Rivers’, surely Pumlumon has first bagsy? What’s more, in my opinion it should also be acknowledged as Wales’ – if not the UK’s? – greatest upland Bronze Age cemetery, even surpassing Snowdonia’s Y Carneddau. Yeah, virtually every summit is crowned by an ancient cairn, a number of which are very substantial indeed. I know of no other upland area with such a concentration of these monuments within a relatively small locale. [Suffice to say... if there is, lemme at it!]. So... what are the odds that Pumlumon’s two superlative attributes are connected.... and it was selected to be the ritual capital of the ‘Citizens Cairn’d’ because it was viewed as literally representing the very font of life back in the Bronze Age? Doesn’t sound at all far-fetched to me.

‘Pumlumon’ translates as ‘Five Stacks’, presumably a local reference to the five main summits since there are many more than that number of great Bronze Age cairns gracing the main ridge alone. Two of the finest are located at the eastern extremity of the main ridge, upon Pumlumon Cwmbiga. The southern of this pair is clearly the larger [see misc post], although both would appear to have had their upper sections rebuilt in times unknown. I can live with that since, for the most part, structural integrity would appear to have been maintained, the monuments unsullied by the shameful ‘walker’s storm shelter’. I can also live with the two quartzite ‘nipples’ which further enhance the cairns’ representation of what some might see as a pair of breasts when viewed from a distance, this perhaps reinforcing the ‘life-affirming’ symbolism’ inherent in the locale of the rising of the Afon Hafren.

The panorama surveyed by the cairns is expansive to the north, with Cadair Idris and the hills of Southern Snowdonia resplendent in serried rank under a pristine blue sky. The sadly trashed Bronze Age cairn of Carnfachbugeilyn [my next objective] rises to the north-west beyond the remains of another cairn of uncertain origin, whilst to the approx south-west the main Pumlumon ridge leads towards the major summits of the range beyond Blaenhafren, source of the river. Looking to the east, a phalanx of wind turbines crowns a hillside beyond the Hafren Forest, through which I made my approach to this wondrous spot today.

A minor road from Staylittle, a small settlement at the northern tip of Llyn Clywedog, passes a number of ‘tumuli’ – love that word – to pass Cwmbiga farm. Roadside parking is available here, a well-maintained forestry track following the right-hand bank of the Afon Biga into the back of beyond. Eventually, this encounters the headwall of the cwm, veering sharply to the left before a cascading stream. Ascend to the right of the stream as best you can to reach a parallel, higher track. In retrospect, it is advisable to trend right here for a hundred yards or so before continuing on the ascent line... in order to avoid both some very rough terrain resulting from forestry operations and several deep, transverse gulleys. Soon the northernmost Cwmbiga cairn should be visible on the horizon. Persevere and let a fenceline be your final guide....

Don’t forget to pay a visit to Blaenhafren and stand in bemused wonderment at the enormity of what it represents, the twin cairns crowning the eastern skyline as if they just HAD to be there. Choose a fine day – any other kind would be risking literally everything upon a landscape as brutal as Pumlumon – and ponder that a massive suspension bridge or two are needed to span the output of this murky pool when it reaches the Bristol Channel. To be honest my poor brain couldn’t cope with that at the time. Need to get metaphysical and build a cairn or two if I ever return, methinks.

[Update] – if you indeed choose to approach from Cwmbiga farm note that a probable Neolithic long cairn resides within the trees a little to the east.... albeit requiring quite a rough approach beside the Afon Biga.

After showing Alken ( Thesweatcheat) some of the wonders and delights of my hometown and county we sped our way to Snowdonia, which is somewhat more well endowed when it comes to wonders and delights.
Iv’e seen and felt the presence of Moel Siabod more than a few times, from afar and closer to, but today was the day we got up close and personal.
The weather reports had lied through their teeth at us forecasting mostly sunshine, it was cloudy. Not so much that you couldn’t see the mountains, just enough to hide their peaks, and whilst it didn’t rain it did hale at us once and on top of the top it was, it’s fair to say a bit nippy.

We started at the outdoor pursuits center at Plas y Brenin, with it’s rather nonsensical dry ski slope. Crossing a bridge over the edge of the eastern of llynnau Mymbyr, the water comes rushing out of the llyn as if anxious to get out, little knowing Swallow falls or anything.
Then it’s through some old moss covered woods and out on to the north east slopes of Moel Siabod proper. After the dark under the trees the mind craves a view, and the first to offer itself is Pen Llithrig y Wrach, its behind us all the time growing slowly further away but getting bigger all the same.

Then the big mountains come into view, Yr Wyddfa and its near neighbours, the Glyders and the Carneddau, the pointy bits are just higher than the cloud line, but it doesn’t really matter, like a good scary film it’s what you don’t see rather than what you do see that gets you.

Contrary to the majority of cairns round here is Dyffryn Mymbyr, nestling neatly next to a river the Nantgwryd at the bottom of the valley, but from half way up the mountain it more than strains the eyes to find it. The same can be said of the Cefn Glas cairns on the other side of the mountain to the west, an estimate box of two hundred yards is needed, its there somewhere, finger points downwards vaguely.
The Nant y Llys longcairn is similarly lost in distance and bad light to the west. So it would seem that the mountain should be seen from the cairns but the cairns melting into the background need not be seen from the mountain, mountain rules all.

Fifty meters north of the cobbled frozen trig point, is our destiny for the day, Moel Siabod’s bronze age cairn. It’s been reshaped by walkers unknown, surprised maybe by a cold wind ? But rather fortuitously and sadly there is a big flat stone inside the cairn resting, nay slumped uselessly against the cairn material, it’s presumed to be the large cist cover that lay above our ancient mountain lover, it’s broken, but only two small pieces have come off and it’s still able to bring me out of myself, to, for an instant lose myself in the moment. But it is pretty damn cold and my fingers are hurting, bringing me back to reality, wonderful Snowdonian reality, the icy wilderness above it all.

Seeing it all spread out before you , these mountains can become infectious, from the top, we could i’m sure feel the connections being formed in our minds, the list getting longer, as we looked around it was i’m going up that one, that one then that one.

I stayed in this area for a week in August 2011. Our landlady and her family have lived in the area for many years. When i mentioned that there was some opinion that the carvings were not genuinely neolithic, she told me that her father a Trethevy and Trevana man, had always believed it was the work of student pranksters. The carvings were unknown to the locals before the late 1940s. Around the same time a large flat rock appeared on top of one of the tall stone stacks along the coastline. Once again her father ascribed this as the work of student pranksters.

Another site in impressive surrounds. This standing stone at the end of a road that is a cul de sac up in these mountains. There is a viewing sport with a carpark and the stone is less than 500m from the standing stone. I understand there is some very beautiful scenery in the hills around here for hill-walking.

This impressively situated pair of standing stones are at the end of a track leading from a sheep farmers farmyard / house. This is real sheep farming company so not really the kind of place for bringing a dog.
The standing stones are both about 1.8m high. On fourwinds website it reckons it found signs of an unrecorded stone circle in the vicinity.

A small (in height) stone row of redish sandstone (I think). It may be that some of the height is lost in the bog below. It is signposted from the nearby stone circle.

This stone circle is situated in the beautiful Nire Valley. The Valley is a real hidden gem south of Clonmel town. The drive from the Bulmers factory in Clonmel over the mountains down into the valley is like being transported to another world only 10 minutes from (relative) civilisation.
There is a forest path all the way to the circle is it is easy to find. Im not sure if I would drive all the way in, I parked at the edge of the forestry and walked about 15mins to it.
This site seems to be visited quite a bit from the fire that had been made in the middle of it. You may not want to meet the people that did this.

Excavation at this circle showed that this was probably a circle of 11 or 13 stonees but not all the sockets were identified during the excavation.
The track here is part of the ‘Old Green Road’, I only walked the part here but if all the views are as breathtaking as up here it is a walk Id definitely recommend. There is a fabulous rock outcrop here with views down into the bay underneath.

As Ken says this stone circle is harder to find than it looks. I had been using the TME for directions and they are fine until you come close to it. There is no carpark or sign-posts. In fact at one track up it says the stone circle is closed to the public. I used the Kerry Way and then vered off towards it when I got closer. There were a number of cows up here when I visited so be wary of that.
The stone circle is fantastic and well worth the journey. Probably one of the best preserved in Ireland.

This stone circle is in the same national park as the more famous Uragh stone circle. However this is definitely worth the effort and is a fine circle in its own right. You can drive up the hill and there is a car-park for parking. Then walk up the step hill and there are homemade signposts for hut-sites and a few other things. For some reason they dont make much of a deal about the stone circle but follow the path and it is on it. The stone circle is far more hidden than the more outgoing circle down below it. You can see the lake from this circle and perhaps with the trees the view would be more impressive.

This little 5 stone circle is located over some boggy / heathery terrain. However there is a track that takes you practically the whole way if you can find it. I found it on the way back.
As you can see the circle is on grassland and when you spot the grass north of the bog you know you are getting close. There is a stone row to the north east but I didnt investigate this because of cows in the field around it.

One of the biggest group of menhirs of the region. It was part of a bigger megalithic site, destroyed and covered by new buildings until between the 70’s and the 90’s. Now what remains of the site is protected and some stone re-erected with the help of some old pictures and signs on the stones.
In fact on the monoliths there are some cup marks and a medieval cross.

We leave the southern cairn at Glasscombe Ball and head off across the tussocky grass eastwards (30.8.2010). In the process we fail to find the Glasscombe Ball North stone row (all of which is fallen).

There is no obvious path and navigation relies on heading towards the corner of a field to the NE (or in mist relying on a compass, which thankfully the glorious weather today renders entirely unnecessary). This takes us into the general vicinity, after which it’s a matter of hoping for the best. As it turns out, we overshoot slightly before seeing the row, which we spot halfway down its length as it heads downhill towards West Glaze Brook. A couple of the larger stones protruding from reedy grass give its position away.

The row is interesting, one of those fairly rare Dartmoor rows that start as a single row then turn into a double row partway along their length. This appears to be entirely deliberate, as the stones of the single row continue from the centre of the double row, rather than being a continuation of one side of the double row or the other. The double row forms the SW section, up the slope, the single row is the NE section, heading downhill to a completely ruined terminal cairn. The single row consists of slightly larger stones (although none are very big).

There are a couple of small, ruined cairns lying to the east of the row, near its NE end. Definitely worthy of a visit, especially as it’s on the way to the multiple rows of Corringdon Ball, which is where we head next.

A fleeting visit to the southern of the two cairns (30.8.2011) on the way from Spurrell’s Cross stone row to another row at Glasscombe Corner. The cairn is a very large size, damaged by the construction of the now-dismantled tramway. The cairn is in use today as a lunch spot, so we don’t linger.

We pass the eastern end of the row (30.8.2010) on our way from Butterdon Hill long barrow. The route here has crossed some very soggy ground and only the relatively dry weather we’ve had recently has stopped this area from being an outright bog.

By now it’s 1 o’clock and becoming very hot. A family are sitting atop the eastern cairn, eating lunch, so we don’t really get close enough to take pictures. Instead we have a look at the broken remains of the medieval Spurrell’s Cross itself.

Heading north from here the path joins the old tramway that now forms part of the Two Moors Way long distance path. This takes us easily to Glasscombe Ball.