Latest Fieldnotes

I drove thru Portlethen, past the police station and church pulling in at the Mains Of Portlethen farm. (note where I parked) From here walk to the track on the severe corner and follow the path to its end, turn south and the path leads straight to the fort. (no fences!)

A narrow passage leads to the fort which has a natural harbour to the north and a dangerous inlet to the south. The cliffs are of course very dangerous so watch your feet. Massive earthworks protect the fort from the land side. Like Gladman found at Garn Gawr so I found here, a gun emplacement was here during the 2nd World War, the military had been in action. The earthworks have been split in two to form a walkway. Two concrete slabs allow the walker to cross.

So all in all a very nice place. On the way back to the car wasn’t so nice. Waiting at the gate to the track a farmer stood and waited for my return. His language used I won’t replicate here but to say he was annoyed was an understatement. After giving my ears a severe pounding for 15 minutes, he was astounded to see me walk past the car in question. I kept walking and he stood amazed having built up a good rage for nothing. The guilty person was just walking past my car with her dog. With a wee word of warning I left the scene. To be fair the farmer was right as her car blocked two gates. Good fun!

29/3/2011.

Leave Aberdeen by going south on the A90 and take the second minor road west. Stop just after the first farm track heading the south. Looking the same direction a mobile telephone mast can be seen. The cairn is a 100 meters approximately to the north.

This would have been in the middle of a cairnfield but many have been removed thanks to agriculture and communications. The cairn itself has been damaged by similar if older methods. It had been used as a base to a tower, which was destroyed, and now houses a direction aid (which gives all the local places, somewhat ironic as that was the reason it was built presumeably to have these views). A small flight of steps leads to the top.

From the cairn there are tremendous especially north as Aberdeen and it’s bay are clearly in view. Portlethen is to the east. Inland the Highlands can be seen along with a lot of rural Aberdeenshire. It stands at 8.5 meters wide and 1.3 meters high with added bits of cement. I would the imagine the cairn will still survive whilst a lot of the stuff around it e.g. the phone tower will vanish.

Visited 29/3/2011.

Just to the north of Hatton Of Fintray and opposite the old church a tarred road leads to Home Farm. Stop about 1/4 mile and look north/uphill. This is a steady climb of another 1/4 mile to another cairn with views of Bennachie and the River Don.

This cairn has been battered, how it survives is nothing short of a miracle. It must have been massive. At one time it was used for beacon fires and now it houses a shed and another structure that shows some cairn material. Trenches showing robbery remain as well. Now it stands at some 24 meters wide and 1.8 meters tall seemingly defying all that was set against it.

Proudly it still stands despite the ages, hopefully it will remain a very long time yet. It’s defiance incredible!

Visited 29/3/2011.

This is a very easy cairn to find and one that I’ve been to many times. The cairn at one time was over 25 meters in diameter but now is held within a dry stane dyke over a meter in height. It has been recycled as a War Memorial for the First World War and now stands at 17 meters wide and has a height of over 2 meters.

I’ve been here many times as part of my duties as a musician/cornettist is to play the Last Post and Revielle on Armistice Day, this being one of the places I sometimes play. I never realised this was a cairn until Patrick Will, in one of his rambling but informative stories (this old man of Ythan is a living history book) said to find info about Donald’s Hillock, as usual he was right.

It is just south of the village of Hatton Of Fintray, a fitting monument to the ancients and those who went away and never came back during the terrible times of the First World War. Ancient and modern have joined together to enjoy truly wonderful views of the River Don and Tyrebagger Hill. Hopefully the villagers will continue to look after this very historic site.

Visited 29/3/2011.

According to Coflein, Royal Commission surveyors saw fit to describe Garn Fawr as ‘…one of the most striking of the stone forts of the United Kingdom…’ upon concluding a field visit here in 1921. Quite an assertion, this... for it must be noted that competition in the category is fierce, to say the least. However, following a visit of my own, I reckon it’s justified. Yeah, a classic site, this.

The sharp, bitingly cold wind – which has served all day to remind me it’s still technically Winter – decides to up the ante as the day moves into late afternoon, thus making the visit to this coastal fortress a decidedly hostile affair. Walking poles are of great benefit if one wishes to avoid being blown from the collapsed drystone ramparts of this great enclosure in such conditions... that much is true. But there is something indescribably invigorating – primeval, even – about accepting the challenge and placing the body on the line. Perhaps that’s it. Perhaps we actually do activate subconscious survival sub-routines we no longer need in the course of urban living. I believe so, and this is the primary reason I will continue to do this while I still can.

Having said the above, access to the site is easy, a large car park suggesting popularity with punters during the summer season. A prominent, rocky crag veers up to the west with another – Garn Fach, bearing a smaller companion hillfort – to the east. Follow the path to the right of the former and the substantial, inner rampart is soon reached. This connects a number of other crags, incorporated within the defences like numerous proto-mural wall towers, to form a powerful main enclosure... although a drystone field wall does confuse matters a little. The summit of the site is crowned by both an OS trig pillar and the remains of a WWII gun position. It seems appropriate. There is more to Garn Fawr than this, however, a walk – or more accurately, ‘stagger’ – revealing several, additional lines of rampart encircling the hillside below. Not to mention two satellite enclosures (Dinas Mawr to the west and Ysgubor Gaer to the south) and exquisite views of Pwll Deri and associated cliff-lines. In short Garn Fawr (the ‘Fawr’ must relate to the size of the hillfort in relation to the surrounding enclosures, since the crag upon which it sits is not of significant altitude) is well worth a visit, even if archaeology isn’t your thang.... it’s a fabulous viewpoint.

Brambles impede progress and I get the distinct impression I’ve gatecrashed Nature’s private party. But it is worth the not inconsiderable effort, the discomfort, even. If sites can retain echoes of the past, perhaps I hear something rebounding from the crags of Garn Fawr. Or is that just the wind?

I visited Spetisbury Rings for the first time today, after driving past it hundreds of times.
Well set back from the main Road in Spetisbury, this site is something of a hidden treasure. The site is well known to locals in the village and further afield, there is even a music festival held there in the summer.
However unlike some site so close to housing, this place feels more remote. The walk to it in itself is interesting taking in an old closed down railway line. Modern and ancient ghosts here without even having to use the imagination.
Apparently Spetisbury Rings was a stronghold of the Ionia before the Romans came along, and on excavation it was found that Roman and Britons lay side by side in graves. I had the pace to myself and found the place to contain a real spirit of it’s own far removed from the busy Road below, and the modern and old cottages lining the road. An interesting place to visit and sit and spend some time.

Visited 26.3.11.
I parked on the main road just past the farm entrance and walked up the mud track which leads into the trees. Luckily it has been a dry month or otherwise it would have been a very muddy walk indeed!
I would have asked permission to visit but there was no one about.
As you approach the wire fence on your left you will see a blue plastic water tank near the fence. Turn right here and in no time you will at the Long Barrow.
The Barrow has been clearly dug into in several places and was looking a bit sorry for itself. Although very large it was covered in brambles and bushes, making access quite difficult. I wouldn’t fancy trying to explore in the height of summer!

This site is recorded on my large AA map (the type you can but in petrol stations etc). I wonder what criteria they use when deciding which sites to include on their map? There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason? You would expect to see the ‘main’ sites (Avebury, Stonehenge etc) but why select only a few of these ‘minor’ types of site. Afterall, parking is not great and there is no public access to the site. Even when you do get there access is difficult. Just a thought.

I couldn’t see any trace of a second Long Barrow although to be fair the whole area was so overgrown with brambles / bushes etc it would have been easy to miss I guess?

‘Visited’ 26.3.11
Marked on the map as Rawbarrow Camp.
Well, what can I say?
Visited the site today and could see no trace of a Hillfort.
Perhaps it now only remains in name only?

Not really a Fieldnote I guess but just to say that I tried to view the Long Barrow with the aid of my trust binoculars from the surrounding roads. Unfortunately I could see no eveidence of it.
There is no public right of way to the site.

Visited 26.3.11
Very easy site to access.
Park in the car park for Lodge Park (N.T. House) and go through the metal kissing gate into the field on the right. Walk straight ahead, keeping the trees to your left, and you will soon spot the remains of the Barrow. The field was full of sheep when I visited. I suspect this Barrow would have been quite prominent in the landscape when first built.
There is also a nice little woodland walk you can take through the trees direct from the car park.
The Barrow is clearly visible from the top end of the woods.
In the middle of the trees is what appears to be a square(ish) enclosure of some sort?

Visited 26.3.11
As time was short I drove up the farm drive towards Ladbarrow Farm. Just before you reach the overhead electricity cables there is a field entrance (no gate) on your left. The Barrow is easily spotted in the middle of the field from this point as a low raised mound. The field was in crop so I saw no point in walking over to the Barrow. It was also easy to turn the car around at this point. The Barrow itself was covered with fairly long grass.

To the south on the O/S map is marked Dean Camp although I didn’t have time to go and have a look at it. I have no information about this site. Prehistoric?

Visited 26.3.11
The last time a visited this site it was the middle of summer (pouring down with rain of course) and it was difficult to see the Barrow properly due to the high grass. As I was passing I thought I may as well have another visit now the grass is shorter.
Unfortunately all the short grass was able to do was show up even more than before how much this Barrow has been mangled. Sad to see although at least it is now protected – bit late unfortunately.

Inside the memorial shelter there is a National trust sign saying: “This iron age Hill fort was given to The National trust in 1923 in memory of Captain Reginald Somers Cocks, M.C.”

A long time ago, according to Fred Coles, a large standing stone also stood here but unfortunately that has gone along with the cist and several urns. It is 13 meters wide and 0.8 high proudly looking down into the Deveron valley. This area is cairn central and quite a lot survive despite agriculture. Sadly tho, Denhead Wood has been used as a bit of a rubbish tip, various old machinery, plastic bags, concrete. (some of which has made it onto the cairn.)

Fortunately the present farmer, Hamish Slater, is quite proud of the cairn on his land and has had some of the rubbish taken away.

Carlinkist looks down on the River Deveron and the Turriff to Dunlugas/Eden minor road. Leave Turriff on the B9025 Aberchirder (Foggie) road and turn north just before the Deveron Bridge. Pull in at Boghead Farm and follow the track east up the hill to the clump of trees. The cairn is situated on the southern side.

Visited 27/3/2011.

Be careful in the summer- there are insects (wood ants?) that gave my dog some nasty bites.. so bad we don’t go up there in summer anymore.

A warning- if walking up on the hill with a dog keep it under control- there are sheep and ponies loose (sometimes with lambs and foals!)

We got back to Broadford (16.3.2011) after our walk to Cill Chriosd with about 40 minutes to spare before the bus to take us back to the mainland. Time then for an ice-cream and an extra chambered tomb.

This site has suffered at various hands over the years, dug into by antiquarians and now hemmed in by houses and overgrown. But even in its rather sorry state, it’s worth a visit. It remains a very large size, more like a small motte than a barrow. It enjoys a sweeping view over Broadford Bay to the mountains of eastern Skye, and behind it to the SW, Beinn na Cailleach looms. The damaged shape of the mound rather resembles the top of this mountain, although sadly the trees make it diffcult to get a photo to show the relationship. Some of the stonework is visible through the vegetation, including a small broken slab on top of the mound (not having checked Canmore, I didn’t know to look for the larger slab described there).

As a site requiring no effort to visit, it can be easily accomodated by any passing stonehead, I reckon. Don’t forget the ice-cream.

We came this way on 16.3.2011, after visiting the nearby cairn at An Sithean. Sadly I didn’t realise there was a circle near here, but there is a churchyard with potentially pre-Christian origins and a loch that used to be home to a people-eating monster.

The church, ruined itself, is perched on a long oval mound. At the eastern end of the churchyard is a circular ring of rubble, very much like a cairn. It continues beyond (and maybe predates) the churchyard wall.

A windy spot on a sunny day, we search in vain for a sheltered lunch spot. The sun and wind were coming from the same direction making for an either/or scenario. Not to worry though, the views are fantastic and make up for a bit of chill.

The nearby loch is calm and any monsters remain beneath the surface.

This stone is not marked on any maps I have, I found out about it only after a couple of hours trawling through Coflein, it’s time for this secret stone to come in out of the cold, I realise i’m opening it up to the weird and still wild world of man, but it should be counted as equal to any stone on Anglesey.

From Maenaddwyn a small lane winds through the hidden and beautiful landscape in amongst the minor peaks of Mynydd Bodafon. At only 178 metres high, that it has minor peaks at all is quite amazing. As you pass below the trig point on your left there is a house with a small lane going passed it down to Plas Bodafon house, park about thirty yards further on opposite a track going uphill, and right next to a gate is room for one or two cars.
Walk from the car to the house with a lane going passed it ( ask permission now if your that way inclined, i’m not), then walk down the lane open fields to your right and dense woods to the left, unfortunately the menhir is in there.
Walking down the lane look out for a change of fence, a ten foot gap area that used to be a gate
climb over carefully and proceed on old track in woods, a pretty and small pond appears on your left, now turn right and make your way for thirty yards into the dense bushes and trees, and theres your secret stone. Also helpfull in location is an old yellow small tractor twenty yards from the stone.
The stone is almost six feet tall and is slowly being swallowed by ivy, I peeled some but not
all of it away(i’m not a monster), revealing the stone to be composed of a pinky quartz type stone, a small flat stone sits at the menhirs feet which is very pink.
Without all the undergrowth finding the stone would be easy as it is sited on a slight knoll, and would have had a good view east maybe as far as down towards the sea, and west looking up to the rocky bulk of Mynydd Bodafon.

To those in the know this is a very easy stone to find, as its just a few feet from the road built into a wall, but in years gone by this nine foot monolith has been slowly covered in ivy, I like ivy a lot, just not on me stones.
But i’m pleased to say that its been cleared and cleaned up a lot, almost the whole stone is now visible excepting the highest part of the stone, this obviously was too high for our heroic gardener, as the stone wears a full and not unattractive bufon. Mynydd Bodafon with it’s secret stone is large and brooding on the northern horizon, and I wonder if these three stones were set up here to pay service to the recumbent fugure outlined so nicely at Carreg Leidr.
My daughter Phillippa wanted the stone to be known as mushroom head !!!
She didnt know how close she was.

Visited 16.3.2011 on a daytrip to Broadford via the Inverness – Kyle of Lochalsh trainline (a brilliant trip in its own right). This was our first time on Skye itself and the skygods were smiling, as the snow and sleet of earlier in the week gave way to sunshine and stunning blue skies.

The walk along the B8083 from Broadford is an easy one (car-dodging notwithstanding), despite a very keen wind blowing straight at us along the valley. Views to the west are filled by the bulk of the snow-capped Red Cuillins, and in particular Beinn Na Cailleach. I was surprised to see the summit cairn, just visible on top of the mountain. The scenery is jaw-droppingly wonderful here and it was difficult to restrain an urge to rush of up one of the steep ridges to the summit, but discretion conquered stupidity, for once.

The cairn itself looms into view as the road reaches a sharp bend. I was not prepared for the size of this thing and it is not easy to work out whether it sits on a natural mound or is a completely man-made construct. But – bloody hell. I am struggling to think of a site I have visited with such an awesome backdrop. The Red Cuillins fill the view westwards – you don’t have to look far to find reasons to site your tomb here do you?

There’s little to show that this was once chambered, just four or five orthostats sticking out of the mound. Frankly, it doesn’t really matter a bit. The setting is more than enough compensation. This is landscape writ large, a wild, elemental place, a fitting spot for fairies to meet and princesses to gaze over.

Suitably mind-blown, we head off towards Cill Chriosd and its monster-haunted Loch.

Not the first time iv’e been here, but I did have more time to inspect the stone and its surroundings.
We parked on the top of the hill a couple of hundred yards north of the stone and got the bikes out of the car, I knew there was nowhere to park near the stone so we didnt even try and hence the bikes.
But first we went to Maenaddwyn standing stone, which was further than we’d (i’d) anticipated but did afford a good downhill sprint by bike which is always fun, and Carreg Leidr can be seen from a considerable distance to the east.

The stone is just over five feet tall and has so much lichen growing on it, that i stood for quite a while inspecting it up close, my daughter said I looked as if the stone was brainwashing me.
The menhir is a really good shape, not much a bloke carrying a swag bag, more a grotesque witches warty nose (11 year olds have a good imagination)
There is a low rocky outcrop fifty yards northwestish and from the stone, like two other stones a good view of Mynydd Bodafon a small mountain 178 metres high can be had.

As you pass through Llanfechell look out for the footpath sign pointing northeast, A strange little path that skirts past a housing estate and passes open backyards, directing the stone seeker straight into the field with the stone.

I was on this part of Anglesey just six days ago, but for one reason or another I neglected an audience with this whopper yet again, it was high time to set that straight.
I always thought that it would have lost its attraction due to the nearness of the houses, the pylon and overhead wires, I also thought it would have lost its connection to the triad on the hill a couple of hundred yards away, but I was wrong on all counts.
The menhir is easily eight feet tall, and with a patterning that bigger stones can only wish for. Its broad side faces east-west, it was here that my daughter and me hid from the pearcing wind, and we also spotted Meini Hirion on its slight hilltop just a few hundred yards away, the two places are still intervisible.
This stones thinnest proportion has a very straight edge that almost aligns on the triad, but not quite, but it is the middle stone in a very long alignment of three stones, the other two stones are these themodernantiquarian.com/site/3782/werthyr.html
and
themodernantiquarian.com/site/2431/penyrorsedd_north.html

Not actually shown or named on OS Explorer 109 which covers that part of the moor, but ‘Colquite’, is the nearest farmstead in adjoining fields to the south-west, though the feature is not actually part of Colquite Farm itself. Accessible via designated footpath reached by either the Colliford Lake turning off the A30 just before Temple, and then on the right hand side of the road several yards after the entrance to the Colliford Lake Park, or by taking the first exit for Temple after Bolventor, travelling south on the A30 (parking in the layby by the sheep bridge, just after the cattle grid you cross immediately after leaving the A30). It is actually on the crest of the hill/rise and is skylined slightly from all approaches. Very dilapidated but with obvious boundary or retaining stones and ditch. Possibly part of the complex of cairns and settlement on Brockabarrow Common (reached via sheep bridge over the A30) of which it would have formed the southern tip before the A30 dual carriageway was cut through the hillside in the ‘70s.