Latest Fieldnotes

‘Visited’ 30.7.11

Looking at the O/S map (and having Sophie and Dafydd with me) this was never going to be more than a ‘drive by visit’ with a view from afar.
I drove along the minor road between the hamlets of Uffington and Upton Magna (decent road for a change) and parked at a convenient field gate.
Looking up across the fields the sheer cliff which forms the southern defences of the Hillfort is very impressive – no chance of anyone coming that way!
If you want a closer look, there appears to be a forest track leading to the site from the east?

Visited 19.7.11

I saw this site mentioned on an English Heritage Web Site and thought I would have a look whilst in the area.
Taking the minor road west out of Watchet (pretty port) the road climbs steeply uphill. Just before the top there is room to pull in on the right next to a metal field gate. I was surprised to find an English Heritage information board near the gate.
Through the kissing gate and a short walk up to the brow of the hill.
There isn’t much to see of the fort, just some faint remains of earthworks on the western side. There are however cracking coastal views which make a visit well worthwhile.

Visit 17.7.11

My last site of the day and yet another Barrow which is barely visible as a low mound in a field next to a minor road to the north of Llantwit Major. No doubt another Barrow which is not long left for this world. What there is can be seen from the field gate.
Nothing to recommend a visit I am afraid to say.

COFLEIN describes site thus:
‘A barrow, 23m in diameter and 0.3m high’.

Visited 17.7.11

One for the dedicated this!
I parked by the electricity sub power station in the pretty village of Llanblethian and took the sign posted footpath south west. (You know you are on the right footpath as the house on the right at the start of the path has a swimming pool in the back garden!) This is a lovely walk up through trees which form a sort of tunnel. Once you are clear of the trees and on the brow of the hill the remains of the Barrow can be seen in a field on your right – the walk takes about 20 minutes each way. It is hard to be more descriptive with directions as you have to cross a couple of fields and a few stiles.
The Barrow itself is barely 0.3 metres high and about 10metres across.

COFLEIN describes site:
‘A ploughed-down round barrow, 36m in diameter and 0.9m high’.

Only the pleasant walk made the effort worthwhile.

Visited 17.7.11

Directions: from the town of Cowbridge take the B4270 south west and the Barrows can be found on the right shortly before the junction with the B4268.
Originally there were 5 Barrows here although I could only (just about) see the remains of two of them. I doubt these two will be with us much longer.
I parked by the bus stop (south of the site) and walked back up the road before hopping over a metal field gate.
Although there was very little to see (two slight mounds in the middle of a field), it turned out that these were the best preserved Barrows I was going to see today!
All in all very little to recommend a visit.

COFLEIN has this to say:
‘One of a group of five barrows, c.46m in diameter and 0.8m high, spread and mutilated.
(source Os495card; SS97SE47)
Associated with:
Barrow I (Nprn307598)
Barrow II (Nprn307599)
Barrow IV (Nprn307601)

Visited 6.8.11

I cut across field from the minor road leading to the village of Chastleton although in hindsight I should have taken the public footpath from near Hill Farm – I am sure it would have been a lot easier!
The site itself is in pretty good condition. A single bank surrounds a near perfect circle. From the inside the bank is about 1.5 metres high / 3 metres from the outside.
The entire bank is fairly overgrown with trees / bushes and nettles.
It appears the site is now used as a stable. There were a couple of beautiful brown horses present – who chose to ignore me!
Worth a look when in the area.

Failed Visit 6.8.11.

I first looked for the stone from the minor road from the north but it clearly wasn’t there. I then went to have a look from the road to the south but the field was full of crop so again, no sign of it – I imagine it was hidden away under the crop.

One to visit after the harvest me thinks?

Visited 6.8.11

The Whittlestone can be found on the green between the bus stop and the appropriately named Whittlestone Close, next to the village hall?
The stone is about 1 ft high and 3 ft across.
The information plaque states that the stone originally stood 200 yards from the church before being moved to its current position.
Not much to see but worth a look when passing through.

This massive out crop of rock is very close to the Rhiw Goch homestead settlement in Llanllechid.
The picture was taken from the Rhiw Goch settlement.

There are some very interesting marks on one of the stones next to it that are probably glacial marks but look like they could be man made. I will take some pics of these later.

I’ve no doubt that this massive rock would have held some significance to the people at the settlement and in any case would have acted as a marker for their settlement.

Visited 6.8.11

I actually (for a change) found this site quite easily.

There is nowhere ‘proper’ to park but there is room to just about pull into at the field entrance. Look over to the right and you will see a small copse of trees a little way into the field. This is where the remains of the Dolmen lay.

Getting into the copse is another matter! Completely surrounded by bushes and chest high nettles. I walked right the way around the copse and luckily spotted some large stones through the nettles/bushes on the eastern side. I carefully made my way towards the stones by trampling the nettles down one at a time (I was wearing shorts!).

Eventually I got to the several large, moss covered, stones. On the left was a stone which looked as though it could have been the cap stone – a large old tree had fallen across the top of it. Access further into the copse would have been very difficult so I didn’t even try.

Well worth a look when in the area.
Tip – either bring some shears or don’t wear shorts!

Visited 6.8.11.

Despite Karen’s horror that we were driving down a private road (and choosing to ignore the warning signs) I decided a ‘drive by’ visit just had to be done! Taking the said private road from west to east, the several stones I saw were all on the left – very easy to spot in the recently cut grass.
Needless to say we didn’t hang around although I am glad I took the chance for a sneak visit.

Visited 6.8.11

A lot easier to find than I was expecting.
From the A436 take the minor road north towards Chastleton. Just past the entrance to a farm (on the right) there is a lay by you can pull into on the left. From here walk west through the trees and you come out into a large field. Keep wallking east a short while and you will see the Long Barrow.

The Barrow itself is now a scrub covered mound approximately 1.5 metres high x 20 metres x 30 metres. Amid the scrub are several large stones laying about.

There are tremendous views to be had to the west. A great spot for a Long Barrow.

On the B5025 just before the village of Llanfaethlu there is a chapel on the right hand side of the road. (Capel Soar) The road forks to the right.
On the corner of this fork is the old Black Lion pub. Now closed for business. You can easily park in front of this.
We climbed the wall.

Somebody once wrote that “the past is another country”. It’s not of course! The past is the same country but it was just a while ago. Different times.
Been a few years now since me and Mrs HD climbed Auchterhouse Hill. She grew up at the bottom of the hill but the last of her family passed away a few years back and we no longer have anywhere to stop up here. However, delights like the Sidlaws keep boomeranging back into the mind and while on a wee holiday in Blairgowrie this week we decided to return via Auchterhouse and stretch our legs.
(Turn off the Newtyle Road for Kirkton of Auchterhouse, head past the phonebox and make your way up the long straight of Auchterhouse Brae. Keep going straight on till the houses run out and you come to a gate beside a forestry plantation on your right. Go through and follow the path. The hillfort summit is the one with trees on it.)

The walk up the actual hill is a leg-stretcher but only for about twenty minutes. The path is very good. Watch out for doggy-dirt on the first few hundred yards as locals walk their hounds here. Indeed, on a number of occasions in the early/ mid 1990’s we met Dundee legend and Whippet-lover, the late great Mr MacKenzie walking his dugs here. The past eh? It’s a different time zone...
The evolving views are massive. Far to the West the great pyramid of Schiehallion stands clear and proud. There is a panorama which takes in the Vale of Strathmore, the Highland Massif, Fife and the mighty Tay Estuary. We even picked out the spine of the Pentlands showing between the Lomond Hills in Fife (I’ll bet Tinto might even be seen on a clearer day).
The hillfort’s ramparts and ditches are still pretty intact, despite being in an area planted with a little forestry. At some places there were five ramparts and ditches. The deepest being about six feet from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the rampart. The defences around the North and West are fairly sheer natural rocky crags. Someone had placed some flowers on the remains of a cairn in the centre of the fort.

We were back down at the car in twenty minutes. A great wee climb and a welcome opportunity for us to visit the past, but in the present. Our nine and three-quarter year old had never been up before and he practically ran it up and down! Do this one if you are in the area, if its a nice day – take a picnic and take your time.

Postmans images of this lovely stone inspired me to visit pretty much as soon as I’d seen them.

It does not disappoint. What a lovely warm pretty stone.
It shone in the sunshine.

Easy to find too. After visiting the roadside stone of Maen Addwyn from the village of the same name turn left then it’s the first left after the chapel.
The road looks like a farm track/drive. You pass a house on the right and then the stone is a little way down the road on your left. (before you get to the farm track on your right)

There is room to park on the verge and a gate into the field.
This stone is well worth a visit.

On the A5 between Llangefni and Mona.

Just opposite the entrance to the industrial estate the stone can be seen from the road but it is easy to get into the field.

I couldn’t help but notice the rocky outccrop close by in the field.

New find, 11 cup marks near the River Ythan at Methlick (which supplied the water).

Torrential downpour chased me back undercover but plenty more to look at another day.

Visited 6/08/2011.

I parked the car in the Aber falls carpark. Pass the first parking area then left over the stone bridge then turn right. It is £2.00 to park for the day. There are picnic tables and loos here too.

Follow the signs for Aber falls crossing over the wooden footbridge. After climbing some steps you are given the choice to either go to the falls or go left up the hill to the laven view walk. This is the path you take.

Not being the best map reader I hadn’t fully appreciated that what I thought would be a gentle up hill stroll was actually quite hard going. It’s one of those never ending hills.

The path is easy to follow. You will see another path joining it on your right, don’t take this path. Keep on going up the hill until you come to the next right hand path.
Before you take this path looking to your left you have wonderful uninterrupted views of Foel Dduarth.
The path continues to wind up the hill. If you are feeling ok you can take a left hand track marked by two boulders. This will give you more of a climb up to the round cairn. Or you can continue along the track. Round 2 left hand bends and you are on the flat. Behind you is the sea and ahead of you on the right is the round barrow.

The views down across to the sea are lovely. It was so peaceful. I didn’t see another soul and considering how many cars I’d seen parked up I was lucky. I guess most people are heading for the falls.

The cairn is great. The shape was clearly defined. Unfortunately the heather made taking a good pic almost impossible. But I could clearly see kerb stones and also the large stone in the centre thought to be the remains of the cist.

I could see why they chose this spot. Veiws of the sea and also across Foel Dduarth and Foel Ganol and beyond.

I’d planned on visiting more Cairns today but the hill did me in and I decided to leave the others for another day.

Traces of two of the Melgum stone circles (or ring cairns?) can still be seen, though they are ruinous and barely recognisable.

To reach them, take the road from Tarland that heads northwest towards Millhead. A few yards past the final house, there is a track on the left leading to Melgum Lodge: there is space to park at the junction.

Follow this unmetalled road (little more than a track) westwards, noting the Waulkmill Standing Stone, sole remnant of a former stone circle, on the way. Continue till you arrive at the boundary with the woodland on your right, at the end of the field, then follow the field boundary north (right) to a gate at the far side. Through the gate, turn west (left) and continue to the end of this second field. The stone circles can be seen over the fence, to the south.

Warning: don’t attempt to cross fences and make directly for the circles, as this area of woodland is inhabited by a herd of cattle, including a bull!

We parked by the farm to the southwest, asked for permission to leave the car there and started the long walk up hill. Phil elected to stay in the car again so Eric was my only company, which i’m always grateful for.
It wasn’t too steep or too far, so there wasnt any “are we nearly there yet” we both spotted the “cairn” at the same time, Bob was my uncle.

This place is a bit of an enigma, ever since I saw it on here Ive wanted to come, tramping the Welsh wildernesses have given me an appreciation for the simple cairn, but this is by no means a simple cairn.
Imagine.... a stone circle of contiguous stones, with a cairn immediately inside the stones, but not filling the interior, then put 4,5, or 6 cists in the cairn, then a small cairn inside it all and another one outside to the north.
Plus in the near distance a fine hillfort, with lots of mind bending rock art, good weather with a setting sun that my crappy camera doesnt seem to acknowledge, plus all the hills and what have you got..... A happy Postman

The last stop of a very long day, I’d planned to do walk to another 2 cairns but time and nature combined to make this the end of the second Mearns day.

The Philla Cairn is shaped like a ‘flying saucer’ in that it is built on two levels. First a platform was built, some 20 meters wide, then a cairn built on top of that, some 12 meters wide. At it’s highest point it is over 1.5 meters in height. To the south west a large flat stone can be found, might be the remains of a cist. Some damage has been done but this shows us the construction work. Recently the gorse, jabby things etc have been removed but the cairn is very overgrown. The local farmer at Haremuir improved things greatly by moving the piles of dead vegetation further away. (He also, with permission, intends to try and tidy up the site, so re-visit at some point coming up. Plus a visit from me to visit other cairns, lucky chap!)

Once again this cairn has stunning views of the Mearns countryside. I’d intended to walk on to Kenshot but it was getting dark, so it can wait till the next time.

Visited 3/08/2011.

The first time we visited this circle we approached from the north down the map marked footpath, but it was too rough and overgrown, so wife and two yr old son turned back, I carried my daughter on my shoulders, we were surprised by a Roe doe that suddenly jumped up and bounded high and long away from us, we stood staring agape, it was but five yards from us.

But this visit was different. The threat of wind turbines have gone (?) and an all new path and information board have appeared, nice.
We left the car by where it says to park on the verge, after fifty yards Phil turned back to the car ( she is soooo lazy) but Eric and me soldiered on.
The stones are highly visible on the way, on top of their mound, but the path doesn’t go straight to the stones, it winds all around the fields edge. A few fellow travelers were approaching from a different direction, but they must have turned back because they didn’t come up to the circle. Did Eric and me put them off, or was it the long walk, who cares besides a couple of tractors (and farmers too presumably) we had the place to ourselves.

On the way to the stones the sun was big and wonderful and I hoped we were in for a treat of a sunset, but no sooner had we arrived the devil threw up a big cloud bank and the sun settled in behind it, the mist closed in and the universe got a lot smaller.
Even that was ok, the surroundings are indeed lovely but agriculture though it feeds me and mine doesn’t half get my gander up, so I was glad that the only visible things were us and the stones.
What remarkable stones they are.
Returning to the car the stones were unavailable to view because of the enclosing mist, but dressed in no more than T shirts it wast cold, we had a good laugh on the way back, not at much, just two blokes being blokeish.

Ps, didn’t see any deer but did see quite a lot of Hares, so much so the day was named after them... Hare day.

From Doddington go north on the B6525, then take your second right turn, along this small one lane road park near a gate with a sign alerting us to the rock art in the copse of trees beyond the closer copse.
It wasnt far but we were getting wet, after finding the two panels in open grassland between the two woods, the kids elected to stay there whilst I went for an exploratory roam in the trees, I managed to find half a dozen cups next to a cup and ring, they were half covered in lichen but still traceable. There must be more in there, I feel sure, but most of the outcrop is now under turf and moss, it needs a good Tiompanning.
Still, I did find it and I feel a bit elated to have found some rock art that isnt on here yet.

This place has been near the top of my list for a long time, I was in the area for a day, about eight years ago, and chose Duddo stone circle over Roughting linn, at the time it seemed a good choice, but it has taken a long time to get back up here. But then that is to be expected tucked away in the top most corner of this island England, it is as hard to get to as Lands End, and is far away from everywhere. Except Scotland, and the rest of Northumberland and North Yorks, well you get my gist.
After the long drive and many “are we nearly there yets” we arrived at about 8pm, not knowing what it was like here before I can only say parking was easy and the most special rock in Northern England is only a childs throw from the road, very easy to find, if your an OS map carrier.
I would love the chance to really get into rock art, to work on my rockart radar, but it’s just so far from home. The mystery surrounding such places as this are complete, they are dumbfounding and inexplicable, to me at least. But they are beautiful, mysterious and a food for the soul.
The art itself is I feel quite eroded, but the artist/artists wer not part timers, the cups, rings and assorted wavy lines etc are deeply etched, and still remain clear and obvious.
We stayed well after the sun had gone down, the kids as ever were more interested in the swooping bats that were all around us coming close enough to touch at times.
I hope Fitzcoraldo was joking about the Hex because Ive got the most uncontrolable children ever, and they might have just once or twice stood on some rock art, for which I apologize profusely, they will be out of their ankle bonds next week.

Visited 28 August 2010, on a brilliantly clear day. After leaving Nant Tarthwynni, my route headed southwest up to the summit of the little-visited Allt Lwyd (“Grey Hill”), the easternmost of the peaks of the main E-W Brecon Beacons chain. Sadly no summit cairn here, except an extremely paltry modern effort, but there are grand views taking in the whole of the western profile of the Black Mountains range to the northeast. Waun Rydd, flat-topped near neighbour, looms to the northwest. The beehive cairn of Carn Pica can be seen as a pimple on the skyline.

My route heads across to Waun Rydd, up a deceptively tiring (in the heat anyway) incline onto the flat, peaty plateau of the mountain top. Rather than heading to the summit, I cross the rather trackless southern edge of the plateau, above the steep-sided Blaen y Glyn, which involves various diversions around eroded peat hags and boggy areas. The next objective, Bwlch y Ddwyallt (“Two Hills Col”) is an odd summit and proves to be incredibly windy. As the name suggests, it feels more like a saddle than a summit in its own right, but there is no denying the spectacular high-level view it gives of Corn Du, Pen y Fan and Cribyn, the central peaks of the Brecon Beacons. Looking north over the lip, Cwm Oergwm drops away towards the lush farmland of the Usk valley.

Feeling sufficiently wind-blasted, I head back towards Waun Rydd (“Free Moorland”), this time making for the summit. From here the Radnor peaks that I stumbled across a week earlier are visible, mist and rain free for once. Following a rough path south and then eastwards from the undistinguished summit, eventually the distinctive beehive cairn appears ahead.

Whatever the authenticity of the cairn itself, the situation is breathtaking. The plateau ends at the cairn and the land drops away below it, down the Tarthwynni valley to the Talybont Reservoir over 500m below. The whole of the Black Mountains profile is visible, down to Pen-y-Fal (the Sugarloaf) and Blorenge. It’s a classic bronze age cairn position, placed to command extensive views over the land below, as well as the headwaters of the Tarthwynni brook . If the original cairn was set back a little from the lip, it would be less visible from below, also a common theme with these upland cairns. What a superb spot!

Eventually I tear myself away, straight over the edge onto the steep hillside below. The gradient gradually reduces, heading down onto the broad ridge of Twyn Du. There is a nice overview of the two Nant Tarthwynni enclosures across the valley to the south.

The path finally meets a narrow lane that heads down to Aber Village, and from there I walk back to Talybont-on-Usk, where there are shops, a pub and bus services. A long and tiring walk, but highly recommended on a clear day. The views will blow you away.