Latest Fieldnotes

The Alter stone lies just above the ground surface in the middle of Stonehenge.

The Altar Stone (80) is the largest of all the ‘foreign stones’ at Stonehenge. It is a rectangular recumbent block of sandstone, 16 ft. long by 3.5 ft. wide by 1.75 ft. deep, embedded in the earth so that its top is level with the surface, about 15 ft. within the central sarsen trilithon.

Two fallen members of this trilithon now lie across it (stones 55 and 156), and their weight has probably pressed it down to its present position. Like the adjoining bluestones, it has been carefully dressed to shape, but its exposed surface is now considerably abraded by the feet of visitors.

[visited jan 2011] This is a weird melange of an earthwork added to by the somewhat surreal landscape immediately behind it of what’s left of eldon hill. The focus seems however to be to the west and south as that is where the landscape opens up.

According to the HER this is a bronze age round barrow on top of a neolithic long barrow. Both are obvious upon inspection, the long barrow very denuded, the round barrow somewhat damaged presumably by excavations in the 18th and 19th century. Without guidance though this could be a round barrow simply spread out in one direction. The round barrow is large and I saw a few larger stones poking through on top, presumably from the two cists which were found in the 19th century.

The barrows themselves seem similar to the injected barrows at various henges about the land including the one at Arbor Low. A new religion interposing itself onto the old perhaps.

Access is over a stile, through a gate and easily accessibly from the nearest road along a muddy track/footpath.

February 19th – belated Imbolc visit to Swallowhead Spring.

Today I was out at Avebury with a couple of friends and a young Cambodian man who was visting from London for the day. We did the Henge, Silbury and WKLB – refreshing to see this fabulous landscape through a visitor’s eyes. Coming back from WKLB we did a detour over to Swallowhead Spring – the subject of tying ribbons on trees at ‘sacred places’ came up with our Cambodian companion. He said this is common practice in Cambodia and is now used as a means of protecting trees from being chopped down. The Cambodians are deeply religious in the Buddhist sense and if a tree is deemed a ‘spirit tree’ it will not be touched.

The willow at Swallowhead was festooned today with ribbons and flags; springs flowing and water running fast. We made our way across the sarsen stepping stones to the stile that accesses the water meadow. This was the first time I had walked across this meadow from the spring or seen the Kennet from this perspective.
Very lovely, and yes, it did feel sacred.

To get here instead of going back to the Tap O Noth car park I headed east following the heather/park line which leads straight to the cairns. A walk of about 1 mile it involves a few fences otherwise under foot conditions are good. To get back to the car I wandered down onto A941.

Newseat 2 is only a few meters north of it’s neighbour but somehow I missed the first time I visited this place. It is in a badly ruined state tho some kerbs survive on it’s southern side. At 7 meters wide and 0.4 high the cairn is grass covered and hollowed out. Magical views especially in winter time.

Visited 17/2/2011.

Half way up the Tap O Noth a massive rock can be seen. It is named after St. Moluag who was a missionary. It is a good 500 yards from the path across boggy heather and many potholes. Nobody would have disturbed him up here and he most certainly would have enjoyed the views. Windy tho!

Visited 17/2/2011.

From the centre of Rhynie take the A941 west and look for the sign post to the Tap O Noth car park. The first stage of the path is grassy and boggy then turn west. At the moment the path is now a mud bath thanks to the construction of a man made lake. After a 1/2 mile of this the path turns north and starts to climb and improve. This is on the sheltered side and there still is a lot of snow on the path but as the path goes to the front of the hill the snow lessens.

The summit of the Tap O Noth supposedly an extinct volcano, the 2nd highest hillfort in Scotland, has a rampart surrounding it. On the southern side the rocks are vitrified. The reason for building it is obvious – the all round views. To the north the fort at Durn Hill, to the eastern side various hillforts including Wheedlemont, Cairnmore, Dunnydeer, Hill of Christ’s Kirk and Mither Tap can all be seen.

This is a very pleasant climb, steep in bits but the weather is changeable. Today the climb was fine but on the next hill north a blizzard raged as can be seen in some of the pics.

Visited 17/2/2011.

I visited this site a couple of years ago. Although there are two stones marked on the O/S map I could only find one. The O/S map shows two public footpaths through the field in which the stones stand although they are not there in reality! (At least not when I visited!).
After battling through brambles and bushes I arrived in the field next to the house which appeared to be used as some sort of ‘waste ground’. There was dumped material all around!
From what I remember the stone I found was about 5ft high and looking a little sorry for itself amongst the rubbish.
Directions: Take the B4281 west out of Bridgend and park where you can near the Cefn Cross junction. Careful, this is a busy little road.
I plan another visit as soon as I can to try to locate the other nearby stones. I will report back!

Tillyching 2 NJ60160499

This is a well shaped and turf covered cairn. It survives at 6m wide and 0.6m high. From Tillyching 1 go through the nearby gate and turn left.

Visited 10/2/2011.

Revisited 8/6/2017.

Tillyching 3 NJ60140498

The last time I visited here I couldn’t find the third cairn as the site was covered in vegetation. This time it was much easier to find. Somehow the jabby stuff had gone to reveal several small kerbs still in situ. It stands at approximately 6m wide and is no more than 0.4m high.

Visited 8/6/2017.

From Lumphanan I walked east along the A980 until the second farm track heading north. Once again it was hard to believe that on Tuesday this area was under 2-3 inches of snow. However the much improved conditions, it was sunny (very), had melted most of it away. Take the track going up the hill which leads past Tillyching farm following the edge of aqwood. Keep going until the track, more like a stream, runs out. To the east there is another wood follow the fence, climb the gate and the cairns are in front.

Tillyching 1 is quite easily spotted as the circular pile of stones isn’t grass covered. Sensible farmworkers rebuilt the cairn after it’s excavation in the 1800’s. It now stands at 41/2 meters wide and is 0.9 meters tall. The views are spectacular looking over to the Highlands and down Deeside. Being a Spring like day it was also nice to see plenty of snowdrops growing amongst the trees.

Visited 10/2/2011.

PLEASE HELP SAVE THE BULLRING HENGE . . .

I visit at least every 2 weeks. The henge is currently devoid of rubbish and if there is anything then I pick it up and recycle/dump it properly.
I have started a campaign to protect this mighty henge. I am getting support from all over the world.
If you can help in any way (even just a message of support) then please please contact me.
I can no longer accept the gradual destruction of this sacred space.

SAVE OUR HENGE !!

Keep rocking in the free world dudes,

Blingo_von_T
[email protected]

Visited 1.2.11
Another site I have only just become aware of (thanks to Megalithic)
Marked on the O/S map as Tumulus and situated in the middle of a residential area.
We were heading home from the ‘delights’ of Barry Island and I persuaded the lovely Karen that we should have a quick look to see if we could spot the Barrow.
Well, credit to her, we turned into the large residential area and like a homing pigeon she drove us straight there!
The Barrow can be found at the junction of Trem Mapgoll and Heol Fioled.
It was surprisingly well preserved, being about 10 metres in diameter and 0.5 metres high – appeared to be a near perfect circle. The Barrow is in a grassed area which has a small railing around it. Presumably the house builders were not allowed to build on this little patch of ground! If it wasn’t for the houses there would be a reasonable view over the Bristol Channel.

Visited 1.2.11
I recently became aware of this site after seeing it mentioned on Megalithic. (Listed at Barry Island Cairns but I think that sounds a bit ‘tacky’)
As it was Dafydd’s birthday and we were treating him to a day at Barry Island it was an ideal opportunity to have a quick look. I have walked out to Friar’s Point many times over the years and have never noticed anything ‘prehistoric’ before – although to be fair I was never looking!
Luckily the weather was very mild for the time of year and the wind was light. Karen stayed in a café with Sophie enjoying a cuppa whilst myself and Dafydd headed across the beach towards Friar’s Point. Although I find the ‘Pleasure Park’ awful, there is no denying the quality of Whitmore Bay beach.
Once you walk past the lifeguard station there is a path which takes you from the beach up to the rocky headland (there is a path which runs behind the lifeguard if you don’t want to get your shoes full of sand!).
The O/S map shows two cairns:
The first I spotted (I think) behind the 2nd single bench you come to overlooking the sea on your left. It was about 10 metres in diameter and 0.3 metres high. I assume this was the cairn as it was in the right spot but the ground is very undulating so it is difficult to be sure 100%. It would be very hard to spot in the summer when the grass is high.
The second cairn is further along the headland, to the right where the path forks. It is smaller, about 5 metres wide and 0.5 metres high and appeared to have had the centre dug into at some point in the past.
The cairns are not much to look at but it is a pleasant walk out to Friar’s Point on a nice day. It only takes about 10 minutes from the beach.

Visited 5.2.11
Painswick Beacon is signposted from both the B4073 and the A46 heading north out of Painswick. Take the relevant turning and you will soon come to a large parking area at the top of the hill. Park here and take one of the many paths which lead up to the Hillfort.
I was surprised to find that a golf course has covered most of the site (I hadn’t read the previous fieldnotes) but don’t let that put you off visiting.
The ramparts of the Hillfort are easily seen and well preserved. I found this a complicated site to work out as there are between 2 and 4 ditches / ramparts on various sides of the Hillfort. The ramparts are high – easily above head height when standing in the ditch. It is a 10 minute walk to circumnavigate the interior of the site and only a 5 minute walk from the car park.
There is a Trig point on the highest rampart, with one of those signs on top showing you what you can see in the distance. Unfortunately the weather was closing in so viewing was limited although you would be able to see for miles on a clear day.
Speaking of the weather, it was near gale force winds on top and (believe it or not) I had to hold on to the trig point to stop myself getting blown off my feet! In fact, I was blown off the ramparts into the ditch on the way back to the car!
(Karen has the sense to stay in the car with the children)
Well worth a visit when in the area – particularly if the weather is nice!

Visited 5.2.11
What a pretty village Painswick is – well worth a visit in its own right.
The church deserves a visit with its 99 yew trees in the church yard!
(Dafydd insisted we visit the church – he has a ‘thing’ for old churches – good lad!)
Anyway, down to business:
Heading north through the centre of Painswick, turn right at the church (Victorian Square) and follow the narrow lanes to Tibbiwell Lane. As you head down the steep, narrow lane you will see a white garden gate on your left with a sign on it showing ‘Tabitha’s Well’. The well itself is on the lane, by the steps which lead up the garden gate. Parking is best achieved at the bottom of the hill – only a short walk.
The well is small, with water coming out of a stone spout into a ‘basin’ about 2 feet square. The water looked very clean although I didn’t risk a taste.

Although they say theres no such thing as the wrong weather only the wrong clothes, even with all the waterproofing at my disopsal the phrase didnt really feel like it carried much weight here today.
I started up the track heading for the turbines natural abode “the hilltop” . But it was so very windy I ended up walking half of it backwards, I had to push against the wind with all my weight at times it stopped me completely especially on the uphill bits. That said it was so invigorating that when I was walking under one of the turbines, its massive blades whoooshing just metres above my head, I clear forgot to navigate through the maze of tracks all about the place, and was hopelesly not where I should be. I climbed the steps that lead to the upper door into the turbine, to get a better view, corrected and with a better understanding of where I went wrong, soon back on target I arrive at the fallen standing stone Careg llwyd. (Whooosh whooosh whooosh)
Its a large stone maybe three metres long and one metre high thinner at the end with the small wind whipped pool, indicating which end went into the ground and also maybe how big it would have stood.
There is a fortuitous alignment of half a dozen big stones right next to the fallen megalith, but they are the last remnants of an old field wall.
From here it is just a hop skip and a wind assisted juuuump to the two ring cairns and then the big cairn on the hilltop

Whilst not an alignment these two rings can be found between the fallen menhir Careg llwyd and the big cairn Tyr Gwyn Mawr, it’s closer to and visible from the megalith, even the last remnants of an old field wall try to get in on the alignment.
It’s not the only time this morning but both rings are in danger of being swallowed up by the thick green grass that I dont know the name of, only the biggest stones on the cairns outer rim give away theyre position.
Although more delapidated and smaller and down one they reminded me heartily of the tripple cairn of Ravens Tor in the old Peak district, only with much more whooshing sounds from the wind turbines.
From these two rings the big Cairn on the hill glowers down at me suggesting perhaps that I leave alone the poor folk and come up and see the big man..... so I do.

We had a bit of trouble finding this for some reason, even though we’d read here and had a map and know the road... Looking in a false location my hubby and son managed to get coated in cow dung hee hee (I can laugh, it wasn’t me!).

For others trying to find it the best advice I can give is... As previously mentioned it’s about 3/4 – 1 mile along the A839 driving from the A9 at The Mound. Count gateways / laybys on the right-hand / North side of the road... You’ll pass two almost-layby’s which are clearly actually gateways – park in the *first proper no other use but as a layby* on that side.

You can then either walk back along the road verge on the same side of the road, and enter the field through the gate (just a few metres around the bend of the road) *or* climb the small wire field fence to the side of the layby, follow the fence and there’s a spot to ford the burn. You’ll come out into the next field just below the circle.

We visited in Winter, so there was very little bracken, which was great for actually seeing what’s there. It also, I imagine, afforded us a much better view across the surrounding landscape, which has quite a lot of deciduous tree cover.

There are seven obvious stones in the circle, which is just a few meters across. Two upright a couple of meters high, another two smaller upright stones / boulders, one fallen which would have been as tall as the larger stones, and two more visible low in the scrubby ground cover, partly covered.

Another sizable stone lies a few meters down the slope where it appears to have tumbled. There’s a gap in the circle directly above, so seems likely it belonged in the circle rather than being an outlying stone.

If this stone is from the circle that would make 8, and there would then be an obvious gap for a missing 9th.

There is a ridge a few meters above the circle, with a further, possibly ‘placed’ (rather than natural) stone on it – just visible from the circle with the low Winter ground cover. It *could* possibly be a tumbled boulder from the craggy hillside above, but it seems to be of a similar shape and alignment to one of the larger stones in the actual circle. From this point, even though very close to the circle, the view completely opens up, and through the tree coverage you are able to see out to Loch Fleet.

Taken from Coflein......
A large cairn, placed at an altitude of about 1,560 feet above Ordnance datum; it has been opened, and very completely destroyed in the process. Welsh historians of three generations ago were wont to associate the carneddau on the high land between Carno and Llanbrynmair, and especially the carnedd known as Twr Gwyn Mawr, with the conflicts mentioned in the Welsh chronicle called Brut y Tywysogion under the years 948 and 1080 A.D. In Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1853, II, iv, 8, the conjectures relative to the battle between Gruffudd ap Cynan (and Rhys ap Tewdwr) and Trahaiarn ap Caradog in the year 1080 are said to have been strengthened by the discovery of “javelin heads, battle-axes, and the infantry bills of that period” near the site of Twr Gwyn Mawr. In 1855 the cairn was opened by the Rev. David Davies, then vicar of Dylife. The remains of what appear to have been two separate interments were met with. In one, which was beneath three flagstones laid “on a level with the soil, a small leaf of bronze, about the size of a crown piece, but much thinner,” was found. In another part of the cairn a cist 6 feet by 2 feet was unearthed, the floor “covered with black charcoal and ashes, intermixed with a profusion of small stones”; two flint arrow heads and a flint knife, having clear connection with this interment, were also discovered. The cairn is said to have measured 60 feet in diameter before the excavation. During that undertaking the interior was practically wholly removed, the stones being carelessly thrown out all round. Visited,12th July, 1910.”

From the two ring cairns this huge and famous cairn can be seen lurking in the thin mist waiting patiently for it’s turn. In good weather it would be seen from anywhere on the moor, alas for some good weather.
Like coflein states the interior is wholly destroyed, a right mess indeed, though I think I found at least one of the cist stones poking out of the rubble. But in this fowl weather I took some comfort in it’s disemboweled interior, I had to lie down almost to get out of the wind, from inside, the wind started howling alarmingly I sat upright and it stopped, lied down and it came back got out and it went away, just normal wind noise and the constant whooosh whooosh whooosh.
I picked a careful route to the nearest turbine and climbed it’s steps to take a view from twenty feet up, on a nice day this would have been a good place to survey the whole area, Three cairns (1 huge) two ring cairns a fallen menhir and an enclosure (of unknown date)
but only on a good day the wind that brings these giant whoooshing monsters almost threatens to fell them, as two of them creaked alarmingly as I walked under their whoooshing blades, that was more unnerving than the super strong wind that had such hampered getting up their in the first place.
Time now to get out of the wind a bit and detect those two small cairns down hill a bit to the east.

From the massive bulk of Tyr Gwyn Mawr I reckoned I could find the two smaller cairns away to the east, just follow the path, how hard can it be ?
With the ferocious wind blocked by the hillside, it should have been even easier than I’d anticipated as its got five wooden posts around it, but no, I shunned these obvious markers of something and made for the hilltop, it wasnt there. But from my vantage point I could map read enough to tell it must at least be near those obvious markers of something. (Whooosh whooosh whooosh)
I staggered and stumbled back down to the five wooden posts dodging the stuff that bears have the decency to hide in the woods and the occasional boggy hole, and well bless my soul they put a cairn in the middle of these five posts. That should have made it easy to find, dont you think.
Though half hidden by my favourite of grasses it still looks a good kerb cairn, reminding me of one or two examples over the hills at Llyn Brenig, and if not for the extreme weather it would enjoy good views down the valley to the east.

I couldnt very well leave it out could I ? After the self imposed all weather yomp and after finding everything eventually I couldnt leave out the least of this hillsides occupants.
Only enough remains to solidly state that this is a ruined cairn, like coflein says only the platform the cairn was grown on remains.
After wandering sometimes aimlessly across this moor (whooosh whooosh whooosh) ive gotten my bearings now so its a straight line downhill hill free walk to the waiting embrace of my car.

Time was short, so I opted for the scenic/anonymous route avoiding two large houses. I abandoned the car in an out of the way place walked ten yards up the lane towards the houses, then quite comically darted off into the undergrowth following the river(Cwm Calch). The high river bank concealed my movements untill it was time to pop up on the farm radar, at which point I walked briskly and nonchalontly around the feild edge untill I reached a zig zag path through the thinning wood to the hilltop.
It all looked so different down by the car, straight forward up to the top then back down, on the hill itself was another matter, I thought I had further to go when suddenly the standing stone was right before me.
In most parts of the country the stone would be termed small or even tiny, they say that in Wales too, it is very small. Just a couple of feet away is a cairn, it too is small, if I didnt know it was there under all that thick green stuff, youd pass them both by with no more than a second glance at the stone maybe.
But...........
Even if all the monuments were twice as big or twice again they would still have taken the back seat to the extreme weather I had endured all morning, the stingy face rain had died down somewhat but the wind was like physical hands pushing me down like a straw man.
From the stone I tip toed through the squelch to a nearby pointy peak of this hill top from there I should have been able to see Cerrig Caerau and Lled Croen yr ych stone circles to the north west,
but the wind is so strong I cant keep my eyes open long enough to focus they tear up in two seconds, I ignore the views and enjoy the feeling of flying and stand at forty five degrees into the wind.
But not for long, then its back down to the other nearby peak but the wind has other ideas it lets me know that I cant go up another hilltop but I can get taken straight to the other Ystradfawr cairn. It’s no more than a grassy circular bump with a dimple in the top, but its relation to the other cairn and its stone can be seen, unlike the other cairn which I dont have time to fool around with, time and the weather have beaten us in the end, only my coat is less waterproofed than I hoped.

Any directions would only be a hinderance as its a right maze of tiny lanes, just have a map and head north west out of Trefeglwys
The last port of call today is this little shapely stone, disguised as just another stone amongst a jumble of boulders, farmer hid the stone qiute well without actually obscuring it completely or damaging it at all.
At barely three feet tall it’s only worth a look if your in the immediate vicinity, or like me you just cant ignore a map when it says “standing stone”.
The views arent that terrific either .

Quite a big cairn ,15 m diameter and 3.5m high on a spur of Auld Darkney ( 545m ) one of the hills that mark the Highland Boundary Fault above Strathmore , despite the modest height , views are good across the strath and out the North Sea .
Never been excavated and it was there in 1744 . Canmore doesn’t consider it prehistoric and I won’t disagree .

Go south from the village of Auchleven (parish of Premnay) and stop at the Towmill track on the B992. This part of the road is known as the Brindy and marks the western end of the Bennachie range. There is a small car park here for people who walk the Gordon Way. On the other side of the road there are wooden steps on to the Gordon Way.

Two days ago this area had been under 2 inches of snow and I’d been chased back down the first hill, The Brindy, by a blizzard. However most of the snow had gone for todays visit. The climb is quite steep. Fortunately a frost had saved the area from being a mudbath so underfoot conditions were fine. At the top of the Brindy Hill keep going straight as turning right leads eventually to Auchleven.

At one side is a mature forest on the other Christmas trees grow. Sadly one Christmas tree, complete with tag and price, had been left lying on the ground. Keep going until the deer fence and turn north following the fence. If you stick to the path eventually you will reach the cairn at Knock Saul.

The cairn is situated on the peak of Satter Hill with fantastic views all round. Unfortunately most of the stones have been removed to make dry stane dykes but some original material is still there. On top of this stones have been built to make a wind break. This cairn I estimate would have been about 8 meters wide, how high would have to be guess work. Also there are many rocks possibly one, I saw, with cup marks. The next time Tiompan is up in the area I will lead him to this place.

But a very beautiful and thoughtful place. It was great to be back in the hills.

Visited 5/2/2011.

I’m surprised there are no pics for this site .Coles had them as stone circles and for Burl they were kerb cairns . Quite a bit of damage done in the late 80’s . I slept here ,in a bivvy bag about 40 years ago , people did that then .