Latest Fieldnotes

I had a quick ‘visit’ on my way home when in the area 2 years ago. I didn’t have time to ask for permission to get up close to the stones so I parked a little down the road (near the junction) and walked back towards the farm. The stones are visible from the B4310 between the farm buildings.

I visited this site last summer – follow Elderford’s directions and you won’t go far wrong. Like Jane I only managed to see the one standing stone – over to the far right as you enter the field. No problem with parking although I did get a few strange looks from the locals carrying a baby into the field whilst looking for an ‘old stone’! This is a very pretty place to visit although I didn’t frequent the pub (which looked very busy judging by the number of cars in the car park) as Dafydd was too little – maybe next time?

Visited 12.6.10.
I parked in the official car park (I have a CADW pass so it didn’t cost me anything!) and along with Dafydd walked up through the field to the barrows. There were quite a few people making the same walk in the summer sunshine and everyone seemed to show a great interest in the site. The barrows are well preserved although they are showing signs of wear and tear with all the foot traffic. Sitting on top of the barrow Dafydd enjoyed his sweets and I enjoyed the view north to the Cursus and south to the circle.
A pleasant little walk and well worth it. I wouldn’t be surprised if this site is restricted at some point.

Unlike Rhiannon I didn’t walk right up to the Cursus but chose to ‘view’ it from the top of a barrow just to the south of it.
(Easy walk from the official car park)
There was a pretty good view from the top of the barrow and you can let your imagination get the better of you by imagining how it would have looked when in its prime. I wonder what really went on here all those years ago?

Visited 12.6.10.
The last time I visited Stonehenge I didn’t know about these post holes but have read about them since. You can’t really miss them as you drive over them! I wonder if they will still me marked when the planned changes take place?

Visited 12.6.10.
Funny thing is, when I last visited Stonehenge 4 years ago I never even noticed the reinforced concrete. I did this time although to be fair it probably ‘blends in’ as best it can. I don’t suppose there are too many options if you want to ensure the stone stays standing?

Visited 12.6.10.
See my notes for New King Barrows.
All you have to do is keep following the track north and it leads you right to this group of barrows. Not as good as the New King Barrows but worth a look if you have time.

Visited 12.6.10.
After visiting Stonehenge and all its hustle and bustle I headed up to this site. I parked just off the main road onto a little piece of land in front on the gate which leads you to the barrows. There is a metal N.T. sign here which calls the site King Barrow Ridge. It was a lovely sunny day and the light was dappled through the trees. Myself and Dafydd had the place to ourselves and it was very peaceful with good views back towards Stonehenge and all the people walking around the circle. This really is a lovely place to visit and access to the barrows is very easy. I would certainly recommend a visit when in the area. One word of warning though – it is quite difficult getting back onto the main road as it is very busy and the cars are not hanging around!

Did a ‘drive by visit’ on 12.6.10 as there was no where convenient to park. Despite driving as slow as possible on this busy road I couldn’t see anything to be honest. Perhaps you need to get closer?

A few meters closer to the start of the Barmekin climb and two hut circles can be found or in my case tripped into. Unfortunately both of these have been badly damaged by deforestation.

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This is quite near to the track and indentifiable thanks to basically being a green circle with banks. It is close to being 9 meters wide.

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A few more meters and this hut circle can be found. Not so badly damaged the outer bank still remains with what looks like an entrance in the eastern wall. Some stone material remains.

Also in the area are signs of cultivation and small cairnfields.

Time for a climb!

Visited 14/06/2010

South from Dunecht, on the B977, turn west at the Old Wester Echt signpost. (just after the RSC). Go past the farm and stop at the next cottage.

Don’t walk into the high fenced area thru the deer gate, this is the only gate that works so I walked all round the area before arriving at square 1. Follow the track till the next track heading south. Keep on this track till the Barmekin Hill comes into view. Head up hill and east following the burnt heather. To left is the Barmekin to the right is a small hill on top of which are the remains of a badly ruined cairn.

It is badly robbed to almost non existence but its outer edges remain with possibly one kerb in place. Some cairn material remains scattered amongst the heather. But remain it does...........just. A tree marks the centre of the monument.

The cairn is named after King Orde the Pictish leader, who died here, in a battle against the Scots. Any remains of a cist and its capstone have long since gone.

Visited 14/06/2010.

My, how things can change, eh? The circle now stands within a very untidy woodland clearing, only the stumps remaining of the trees shown in previous posts. These ‘mingle’ with the orthostats to give the monument a somewhat confusing appearance from distance. However get up close and personal and it becomes clear that this remains a fairly decent circle.

What’s more it possesses, at the SSW, one of the most oddly striking ‘circle stones I’ve seen in all my days. So unusual is it that, at first, I thought I’d found myself an RSC recumbent, minus flankers. Well, it does seem to be in approx the right place to me? But no.... I mean, could you ever imagine watching the moon set above a stone with such a massive grin plastered all over its chops? Come on, stop giggling at the back, this is serious! Madame de la Luna will give us a kicking. And why have the bulbous flank facing the centre of the circle and the smooth, pale side of the stone the outside? Love it.

OK, I guess I’d rather have found Druid’s Seat in the same manner as Martin and the others, that is under a light tree canopy than within a – to be frank – shambles of a clearing, but I still find this a superb hang. In fact, although there are two other ‘circles near by, I elect to stay and leave those for another time. Well worth the effort, indeed.

By the way, if obscure woodland paths aren’t your thing, an alternative approach is to continue down the farm track until another joins to your left. Follow this for a little way and you should be able to make out the circle, within its clearing, to the left. I came this way and departed via Martin’s forestry route.

First choice today was Na Carraigean... however Gladman visits very rarely go according to plan, schedules rarely kept. Who would have thought the Allean Forest would be closed due to ‘forestry works’? Not I. But, hey, it’s what keeps things interesting, I guess. To be honest I might have considered a bit of ill conceived – and no doubt dangerous – ‘naughty, naughty’ if I didn’t have Clachan An Diridh as ‘Plan B’.

In retrospect, parking in Pitlochry after a week and a half wild camping probably wasn’t the best idea in the world. The general noise level grates, coaches disgorge hordes of tourists, wandering aimlessly this way and that like gaggles of geese. Only with much less charm. And of course I’m completely hopeless at direction finding in urban landscapes, therefore engaging in a fab sightseeing tour of dams, trout ladders and such like before reaching the Festival Hall, complete with free – I think – car park just off the A9. Grrrr!! Once across the A9, however, things begin to look up... literally, as it happens, as tarmac gives way to farm track and eventually forestry track ascending rising ground. Ruddy forestry, the curse of the stone-hunting classes. Don’t even mention RSCs.

Suffice to say I don’t enjoy the climb once the deciduous trees are left behind, a viewless (arrrgh!), claustrophobic approach which seems to go on, and on and on..... so it’s a massive relief to approach the entrance to the clearing... exactly as a middle-aged couple approach it from the other direction. ‘I don’t belieeeevvve it!’. Although they are clearly ‘proper’, decent people, I’m therefore well chuffed when they take one snap and bugger off to leave me to commune with Clachan An Diridh in peace. Sorry, that’s Peace, with a capital ‘P”. It really is.

So is this four poster worth all the hastle? You betcha, even though one of the stones has, to all intents and purposes, disappeared. Two of the remaining trio, however, are large, wonderful monoliths, possibly incorporating ‘male’ and ‘female’ symbolism, possibly not? The remaining upright is much smaller, but still not exactly a ‘tiddler’. Grain is exquisite, the woodland setting amplifying highlight and shadow, much to the detriment of my photographic skills, but not to the vibe here. Just lie back and listen.....’hang on, I don’t hear anything ‘cept birdsong?’. Exactly. Good, innit?

Head south from Kintore on the, well used by me, B977. At Leylodge take the Lauchentilly road west and pull in after 100 meters at the first gate.

The standing stone is the field to the south at some 11/2 meters tall. I’d never spied this stone until today but had repeatedly scanned the area when driving past.

The Lauchentilly road has the fallen stone of the same name at its end, The Knock and South Leylodge RSC plus a couple of rubbing stones near the old primary school.

Visited 14/06/2010.

Hypogee Martyrium – Fieldnotes

Visited September 14th 2008

The Hypogee Martyrium lies a short distance from La Pierre-Levée in the Dunes suburb of Poitiers. The area would appear to have been set aside by the Celtic Pictone tribe for their revered ancestors, if not their deceased.

The ancient heart of this half-buried tomb was only unearthed in 1878 by Father C. La Croix. Notarial and oral tradition had preserved the memory of this field “Chiron martyr” or a “path of martyrs”. In exploring the necropolis, Father C. La Croix. discovered it contained exceptional carvings and inscriptions from the very early Christian period. It would appear that the site had been a place of worship since the Neolithic period and then used by the first Christians before Christianity was adopted by the Roman Empire. The tomb contained the martyred remains of some of these persecuted Christians, together with their earlier pagan companions.

Although we found the Hypogee Martyrium, there was an official notice informing us that the site had been closed to the public by municipal decree on October 5, 1998. It would appear that the museum service of Poitiers had decided the site was in need of restoration and had closed it until this could be carried out. I had to make do with taking a few pictures from outside the gates.

Further information and pictures of the interior can be found on the official museum service web site, along with a tourist guide for the site from 1911.

Visited 12.6.10.
As I am sure everyone knows who has visited Stonehenge, the best place to see the Avenue is just by the fence between the road and the circle. There is a metal bridge where people now cross over the avenue to prevent damage / erosion.

Visited 12.6.10
You can drive a little way up the rough stone track off the A360 and park next to the publib by way signs. DO NOT try to drive any further as the track gets worse and you would need a tractor to go get by. Walk up the very rutter track for a bout 5 minutes and you come to a new wooked stile on your left with a metal N.T. sign. The barrow is right in front of you. The grass and nettles were long and as I got stung walking to the mound I wished I had worn jeans! The barrow was about 90 paces long and must have been about 8 to 10 feet high. One of those sites where it may be better to visit in the winter months when the vegatation is lower?

Visited 12.6.10..
After missing these stones on my last visit to the church (it was raining!) It was time for a re-visit. As you walk up the path to the church the stones are hiden in the hedge to your right. They are in a line and do look like head stones except the two largest which a squarish blocks covered in ivy. Easy to miss unless you are specifically looking for them. There are many large stones embedded in the foundations of the church itself. Most easily seen around the back of the church. I like visiting old country churches. They are very peaceful and interesting places to visit – this is no exception.

Visited 12.6.10..
Not much to report on this site. Very little to see other than some ‘lumps and bumbs’ in the fields. Not worth the effort unless you happen to be in the area with time to spend. At least it is another E.H. site ticked off my list. On another plus point there is a good view of a white horse carved out of the hillside in the distance. Not much else to recommend a visit I’m afraid.

Visited 12.6.10.
I had read quite a lot about this site and re-read about it in Julian’s book before leaving home. The site is easy to find (sign posted off the main road) and a very bumby lane takes you up to the equally bumby car park. Through the gate and a 20 minute stroll takes you rigt around the site. This is a strange place although the views are lovely – particularly on a warm summer’s day. The site is surrounded by M.O.D. land with lots of barbed wire fences and warning signs. Don’t be put off, go visit and enjoy the ‘oddness’ of the internal ditch and the wonderful views.

Visited 12.6.10.
This was my last stop off on the way home after a long day. I parked in the car park alongside the lane which runs to the east of the hillfort (room for about 10 cars). I looked up and saw what appeared to be a long walk ahead of me. Even though I was a bit tired I decided to go for it and picking Dafydd up, walked over the wooden stile and up the hill. The walk to the top took about half an hour but the gradient wasn’t too bad at all and the walk wasn’t as gruelling as I expected. It was a lovely warm, sunny summer’s evening and the views from the top are spectacular – some of the best I have ever seen from a hillfort. Dafydd played in the grass picking buttercups and daisys and I just sat and admired the wonderful views, watching the sun and clouds make patterns on the fields below. A farm in the distance was calling the cows in for milking. A very, very pleasant place to be. I didn’t walk right around the large site and settled for a look at the ramparts near where I sat. I could only see the remains of one ditch / rampart which snaked its way around the hill top. The central area of the hillfort is fenced off although you can walk around the perimeter. A lovely place to visit – for the views alone. Highly recommended. A great way to end a successful days ‘old stoning’.

Lost for words, to be honest. I last came here in 2000, completely unaware of the existance of a chambered cairn upon the floor of this truly stunning bay. Clearly I had to return some day, although perhaps a decade was a tad too long to wait. But that is all academic now. I’m here.

A well made track slants down the hillside, from a large parking area beside the B8007, to the lush pasture which adjoins the curving beach at water’s edge. The monument is located at the sea-ward end of a prominent copse of trees and, at first, appears as simply a jumble of stones. However I then catch on... what we have here are the pretty substantial remains of a chamber, with two large facade orthostats, one standing, one fallen, to its right. Ah, I see. And what an idyllic location!

Moving towards the shoreline, a prominent standing stone stands (luckily) beside what I take to be the remnants of a church. This is not as great detective work as you may at first suppose, for the stone is actually defaced by – sorry! – I mean, features..... a cross in bold relief, the attendant enclosure containing two gravestones dated 1730-odd, these bearing quite excellent images. Since I have no reason to suspect the standing stone is not Bronze Age in origin, the continuity of human spiritual practices at Camas nan Geall is breathtaking.

I walk the beach and poke my head inside a deserted, roofless dry stone building... my mind reels at the enormity of the human experience here. Hey, the chambered cairn may not be the finest, even on Ardnamurchan, but you will not be disappointed with a visit to Camas nan Geall.

Don’t forget your bucket and spade, too!

Any TMA-inspired tour of the chambered cairns of Scotland might well, with much justification, be called ‘The Greywether Trail’. It is therefore with a – hands up, I admit it – somewhat immature ‘YES!’, followed by a Ravanelli-style celebration to an imaginary rendition of Ode to Joy, that I find one that he hasn’t posted. Sad, isn’t it?

To be honest, Greadal Fhinn has intrigued me for quite a while. Never having seen it referenced in any guide, there it was, as clear as day upon the 1:50k OS map. Kilchoan... yeah, went there once to look at the excellent Mingary Castle, but what if this chamber is fragmentary, destroyed, even? Long deviation from the tour route for little reward? I settle the question by deciding to take in the chambered cairn at nearby Camas nan Geall, too. And, of course, if the weather’s fine there’s the exquisitely brutal scenery of Ardnamurchan as well.

Funnily enough, dawn at my coastal camping place, near Glenuig, arrives with promise of another fine day. Bleedin’ freezing, though, courtesy of a pretty stiff breeze. The drive to Kilchoan is long and, you could say, made upon one of the most consistently ‘serpentine’ roads in the UK. But how can I complain, not after recently stumbling across Loch Nell’s Serpent Mound? Exactly. And the loch views, particularly of Sunart, are exquisite.

Arriving at Kilchoan, I initially attempt to access the site, clearly visible upon the hillside, from the B8007 on Glebe Hill.... however thick foliage and fence lines make me think again and park near the jetty, beside the village shop-cum-post office. I ask a local. ‘Burial chamber?’ She looks at me blankly. ‘Oh, the standing stones!’ Seems access is no problem at all. A ‘twin gate’ (pedestrian beside standard size) gives access to a field with raised water grilles near the entrance. Simply head uphill, to the left of houses and through (open) fieldgates, veering left to the monument.

It is worth it. A large chamber, comprised of substantial orthostats partly supporting a slipped capstone, stands before one of the most diminutive little chambers I ever did see. A truly ‘ickle’ dolmen, the chamber so exquisitely small I cannot even squeeze the Gladman frame inside... although the bright blue hue of the reverse of the capstone suggests the odd sheep or two find it a comfortable fit. Cairn material is at an absolute premium, and although the linear chamber alignment may well mean that Greadal Fhinn was a long cairn, ‘something’ tells me it was round...?

So, substantial surviving chambers, then. But this is only part of the reason for a visit here, for the sea views across to The Isle of Mull are stunning. They really are. Ben Hiant, despite being a mere ‘tiddler’ in Scottish terms, is also a beautifully aesthetic mountain to have as a backdrop. Sit and watch the ferries ply their trade along the Sound and reflect that life isn’t always that much of a drag. Not as long as there are places like Greadal Fhinn still on this planet.

Pierre du Sacrifice (Boixe A) – Fieldnotes

Visited September 13th 2008

Came to the Forêt-de-Boixe at the end of a long hot day travelling around Charente with some English friends who owned a house in the region. These were normal, non-megalithic folk and were more interested to walk in the forest then looking at barrows or discarded old rocks. We parked up at the side of the road, just off the D18/D116 and as a consequence missed the official car park along with the information board giving details of the monuments, site layout and the history of the forest.

While the rest of the party headed off down the main track to the large clearing in the Chalet Boixe, I scouted around the forest looking in vain for the main tumulus, the Tumulus de la Boixe. After getting disorientated (I’m only told to get lost), I retraced my steps and came upon a little wooden sign saying Dolmen. Thinking this was the Tumulus de la Boixe, which was said to be 30m in diameter and 3m high, I was expecting to come out into a sizable clearing in the forest. Alas the primary objective of the mission was not to be and I had to contend myself with the secondary one in the shape of the Pierre du Sacrifice.

This stone is impressive though being around 4 metres long, 2 metres wide and about 1 to 1.5 meters in thickness. The official national de forest have provided an information board with some interesting facts about it, and artist impressions of the tumulus it came from. Apparently this was, until fairly recently, the largest tumulus in the area, measuring 45 metres in diameter, and standing 4 metres high with a circumference of 140 meters. The board then goes on to say that the tumulus was destroyed in the 19th century during construction of the D18 Mansle to Saint Amant de Boxie road, although this road was originally the old Roman road from from Périgueux to Poitiers called Chaussade Shod or path. Maybe the tumulus was destroyed for its building material when the road was “improved” and this stone was considered to be “cursed” and so is all that remains. See the section on additional folklore which is included below for more on this.

Tumulus de la Boixe – Fieldnotes

Almost visited September 13th 2008

Although I came very close to visiting this site, we parked on the wrong side of the road and missed the offical car-park and the Tumulus completely. See fieldnotes for the Pierre du Sacrifice for the full story.

This site has been now been included on the TMA Google Earth so check it out before visiting and you won’t make the same mistake as I did.