Latest Fieldnotes

I visited this site last December on a gloriously sunny winter’s day. I parken on the lane next to a phone box near the entrance to Perth-Y-Pia. The walk up to the hillfort is very, very steep but the views you are rewarded with make the effort worthwhile. I sat for quite a while surveying the surrounding landscape – lovely.

What an intriguing place.
The cairn is located within a walled field, 3 of the field walls are constructed from modern style dry walling whilst the other which runs around a hundred metres is built from material robbed from the cairn, there must be 10, 15, 20 tons of it which would have made the cairn quite a sight before it was robbed.

Today the megalith and the few rocks that are holding it in place are an eyesore, the reconstruction was done with concrete it seems, very ugly and unsympathetic.

Great site not far from parking in bolsterstone village, a must see if your anywhere nearby.

Visited (from afar) 5.6.10.
This was my last site on a hot and humid day. I could see the hilltop on which the hillfort stands as I approached Llanfilo through the country lanes. I thought I would park next to the church for a closer look through the binoculars but as I entered the village it soon became apparent that you couldn’t see anything because of the trees. There is no public right of way to the hillfort and I was too tired and didn’t have time to walk up through the fields. (Looking at the O/S map a better approach would have been via Hillis farm where I assume permission could sought?) The church looked like it was well worth a visit but time was against me, so I headed home and looked up again at the hillfort as I headed out of the village. Perhaps a return visit one day?

Visited 5.6.10.
Parked in the handy small parking area provided, I assume, for walkers and headed north along the Beacons Way. The first 30 yards or so are very steep but then the ground levels of a bit and it is a long, slow walk up hill – at least it is if you are mainly carrying a two year old! After 30 minutes you reach the top of the hill and the cairn in right next to the path – can’t miss it. The cairn is quite large and has a pile of ‘modern’ stones placed on top of it. Next to this is a hollow in the cairn where I assume it has been dug into in the past. There isn’t a great deal to see but the views are spectacular, making the long hot walk (just about!) worthwhile. I will be happy when Dafydd is a bit older and I don’t have to carry him so much!!!

Visited 5.6.10.
Easy one this. As you drive along the A40 through Bwlch the road bends to the left and the stone is easily seen in the large field to your left. There are plenty of parking places in the village and it is only a short walk to the stone. I am no expert by any means but it gave me the impression of a rubbing stone?

Visited 5.6.10.
Visible from the A479 if you have a quick look through the field gates. But be careful – this is a busy road with very little parking opportunities. Best bet is to pull in next to the field gate in which the stone stands. Although there is no public right of way to the stone it is easily visible and only a short walk to it you want to get up close and personal.

Visited 5.6.10.
O/S map required for this one.
I parked at the bottom of the bridle way and made my way up the very steep but obvious path. It was a hot and humid day and carrying Dafydd proved to be very difficult due to the weather and the steepness of the path. However, I somehow perservered and after about 15 minutes reached a metal gate. At this point the ‘path’ becomes less obvious but you can either go straight on or take a path to the right. Taking the path to the right takes you behind the Hillfort where you would need to make your own way (off path) to get closer to the site. The ferns were chest high and although you could make out some undulation in the ground there wasn’t anything else of note. This is a site which would be better visited during the winter months when the ferns are low. Suitable for only the physically fairly fit I’m afraid.

Visited 5.6.10.
Parked at the farm house and asked permission which was readily given. Follow the track which runs past the right of the farmhouse and take the immediate dirt track to the left which runs between the back of the farm house and the large metal barn. (Don’t do what I did and carry on straight up the tarmac lane – nice walk but no Long Barrows!). Once you get to the end of the barn go through the metal field gate on your right and you will see the Barrows to your left. Both Long Barrows are covered in nettles and both had Hawthorn trees growing out of the top. The first Barrow you come to is the smaller of the two but the better preserved with standing stones forming part of a chamber? Despite being so close to farm buildings there is a sense of seclusion here and I found it a lovely place to visit. To top if off there were cows in the field and Dafydd was entranced watching a calf take milk from its mother – that made the visit worth it alone. One to recommend.

A cross ridge dyke on Windsbatch hill, just south of the South Dorset Ridgeway. This ditch and bank can be seen from the Gould’s Hill and Ridge Hill barrows which are to the north of it. It can be accessed via the Jubilee trail and is close to the village of Upwey.

Nearly didn’t make it here, having missed the crucial left fork driving down from Glen Trool... too involved in a Capercaillie sing-a-long to notice, I guess. Muppet..... Nevertheless the ‘I’ll regret it once I get home if I don’t’ factor came into play, so back track I did, sweeping around to approach from the north – to be honest this is probably the most logical idea in terms of fixing position anyway. It was a good decision.

Set high upon Bencallen Hill, this is a fine chamber, although I have to admit it’s hard to reconcile that the ‘front’ is actually generally perceived to be the ‘back’. That’s the result of all the cairn material being ‘recycled’ as sheep fold walling.... a somewhat disorientated Megarak.

Nevertheless it just seems ‘right’ to be here, you know? Despite the row of electricity pylons marching down Howe of Laggan, like something out of H G Wells, despite the devastation of encircling forestry waste, the remains of this chambered cairn clearly belong upon this windswept hilltop.

G’s directions will get you here. Note, however, that due to forestry operations, the intervening landscape between road and monument is very rough, with several deep, water filled trenches to cross. Not a major issue with my long legs, but bear it in mind.

I have long meant to see if this site is visible. It can be seen from the minor road which runs between Winterbourne Abbas and Portesham, I parked in a small layby on the west side of the road. The verge by the road had just been mowed and I walked along this, although this is a minor road it is very busy. The stones can be seen to the north, behind a water trough. They are quite small and I needed a long lens to get a photo of them.
This site is comparable to West Compton Down or Two Gates, which is several miles to the north near Eggardon Hill.

These are all cup marks found on the descent of Oxen Craig on the South West. A new path has now been built which is much safer. I’ll put all the awkward finds from that date into these fieldnotes to save from adding sites.

Stone 1

Has 5 cup marks of varying sizes. Can be found at the bottom of the south western descent on the old path west.

Stone 2

On a ledge approx 1/2 way down towards the south east. 6 cup marks of varying size.

Stone 3

Possibly a massive cup mark on the first overhang of the descent.

Stone 4

On the next overhang another possible massive cup mark.

Stone 5

Two weather worn cup marks at the foot of the decent.

Stone 6

One well preserved cup mark, almost next to Stone 5.

Stone 7

4 different sized cup marks on a rock half way down. Fairly flat panel.

Stone 8

Has three different sized cup marks. Stone 7 is next to this one.

Stone 9

As the path levels out this is the first stone. 5 cup marks plus 3 weathered efforts.

Stone 10

A solitary cup mark to be found on a rock at the base of the descent.

Stone 11

Lying next to stone 10 this stone has 3 cup marks and one that is weathered.

Next time I go up I’ll take somebody who knows what they are talking about, but each of the peaks on Bennachie might have rock art. It is likely that there are hundreds more places on Oxen Craig with cup marks and I know for sure that Watch Craig has.........

Visited 3/06/2010.

Another example of small shallow cups from an area that seems to have quite a few .Not very special except for that .Have included a ” before” for Postie .

Noticeably overgrown and ‘let go’ since Greywether’s posts, I had a bit of difficulty trying to reconcile what I saw here..... too wide for a long cairn, etc.... until I caught on that it represented the remains of a multi-chambered round cairn.

The siting, alongside a dusty foresty track with grafitti-defiled signage, within close proximity of the A714, isn’t exactly the most salubrious, but that’s not the monument’s fault, is it?

Perhaps best to visit prior to seeing the nearby White Cairn – an aperitif, if you like – I nevertheless found the site to be a ‘grower’ and well worth a short visit before going to find a wild camp in Glen Trool for the night.

Loved this.... don’t be mis-led by the ‘White Cairn’ marked on the 1:50K OS map a considerable distance to the NW, near Bargrennan Burn. The White Cairn we want is much closer to Glen Trool village and marked simply as ‘chambered cairn’... for once the megarak has an easier time than he anticipated! Doesn’t happen very often....

As Sals says, a waymarked track, appropriately indicated by white-tipped posts – I detect a female’s co-ordinated touch here – makes very pleasant progress towards what would otherwise be a pretty difficult to find chambered cairn, hidden within a forestry clearing. And what a fine chambered cairn it is, too, with double capstone, the inner sheared into two segments by (hopefully only) the progress of time, within a large, round cairn. The chamber itself is reached by a low passageway, open to the elements.

There are minor gripes, such as the prevalence of grafitti within the chamber, some old, some relatively new, together with a flooring of white gravel. But, as stated, these really are minor. What’s more I’m joined by no-one, the aura here remaining just as a woodland clearing should be. A small information panel gives punters an indication of what lies before them. But, to be honest, the White Cairn speaks for itself this afternoon.

Note that the Cairnderry chambered cairn lies a few miles down the road and is worth a look... not to mention Glen Trool itself, a must for fans of The Bruce, I’d have thought?

No trouble at all finding this, which probably wouldn’t have been the case without the signpost and way-marked path! Although the stones are small, this is a perfectly formed little Four Poster with what would appear to be an attendant outlier as well.

The feeling of remoteness here is out of all proportion to the effort required to attain it, so this is well worth the effort if you subscribe to the theory that big isn’t necessarily always better. Perhaps it’s the minimalist in me, but I feel that often true quality is self evident.

The track actually continues to ascend a small hill bearing a prominent cairn.... but lack of time prevented a look this time around. More’s the pity.

Phew, what a full-on beauty to end the day with. Bang on!

Like nearby Cairn na Gath, this site is also accessed via the Southern Upland Way, a steep, waymarked track climbing away from the minor New Luce road near a burnt mound. The route contours around to the right of a farm, beside a forestry line, before rejoining the track and crossing heavily ‘hoof marked’ ground to a sign indicating the monument to the left.

A phalanx of wind turbines stand astride the skyline as I complete the final approach, the sloping, slatted fenceline curiously having no stile.
Once across, I begin to count the chambers within the long cairn... one at the southern apex; a lateral within the left hand (western) flank; at least one further lateral to the east (possibly two?); and, last but most definately not least, a fine, northern chamber bearing capstone. Not bad, then.

As I venture inside the latter, a small vole pops up and looks me up and down before scurrying off, as if to say ‘Oi, I don’t want the likes of you in my house thank you very much’. That may well be, but I’m afraid the creature has no choice in this instance since this is an exquisite little chamber. The light of this fine evening is equally exquisite, the site a perfect hang. I finally leave gone nine to sleep where I’m parked.... I’ve been in worse places.

I concur with Greywether’s observation that this long cairn is more impressive from a distance than when viewed up close and personal... but would add that, nonetheless, the exquisitely desolate moorland setting of the monument makes a visit here more than worthwhile. In fact, combine it with a visit to the nearby – and far better preserved – Caves of Kilhern and you’ll have a smile on your face the size of the vast Galloway skies...

Sited below and to the west of Balmurrie Fell, access is eased by the fact that the course of the Southern Upland Way long distance path runs a few hundred yards further to the west, the monument being duly signposted from it – just in case you happen to miss a stonking great long cairn on the near horizon, that is. I asked permission to park at Balmurrie Farm, this being readily granted by a sophisticated looking elderly woman tending the cottage garden. From here, follow the track past ancillary farm buildings, veering left past a further, isolated building before heading on a waymarked path across the moor to the NE.

The long cairn is visible from a considerable distance away, emphasising the same Neolithic grasp of landscape dynamics so familiar to visitors of the great long barrows of southern England. The ground is rough, the final stretch quite boggy beyond a ludicrously ‘triple-secured’ gate (something tells me the landowner’s had some issues with the peculiar breed that is the long distance walker). Upon arrival the cairn is something of a disappointment.... at first. A large ‘bite’ has been extracted from its flank to provide material for drystone walls and a ridiculous ‘conning tower’ cairn built on top. Nevertheless it remains a substantial, impressive structure. Particularly when the visitor adjusts to the vibe of the locality and the all encompassing sky. True, the ever encroaching wind turbines peer over the eastern horizon, but Cairn Na Gath remains a monument to the wider scheme of things.....

As I sit and take it all in, a couple of men appear upon quad bikes, collies perched upon the rear, the dogs disembarking as required to deal with particularly troublesome sheep. My acknowledgements, however, receive no response.. even at close quarters... Hmm, there clearly are issues here, since common courtesy costs nothing, so assume this is the farmer who is none too happy with my parking at his farm after all? Perhaps, perhaps not. However be aware than access IS official and Greywether indicates alternative parking arrangements in his notes.

North of the long cairn, the map shows a couple of hut circles, but unfortunately I wish to see the Caves of Kilhern before sundown..... oh for more time.

Sited to the approx SW of the great round cairn – and on the opposite side of the farm track to Mid Gleniron II – this is a badly denuded long cairn, which nonetheless retains some orthostats indicative of the existance of previous chambers.

Unable to make a proper study due to the very close attentions of a bovine bovver brigade, this is worth a quick look en route to the large round cairn which overlooks it.

Sited upon rising ground on the opposite side of the farm track to Mid Gleniron long cairns I and II, this is a fine, apparently undisturbed round cairn.

Not sure if access is covered by any local agreement – I forgot to ask – but since the relevant field was teeming with frisky, young cows at the time of my visit, I thought it proper to ask regardless. Referred to as simply a ‘cairn’ upon the 1:25K OS map (which incidentally shows Mid Gleniron II in an incorrect position) I guess no-one knows whether this great stone pile conceals a chamber, cist, or indeed, anything at all – and thus it’s age relative to the long cairns. Having said that, its positioning overlooking, and therefore dominating, the three Neolithic cairns is perhaps indicative of the Bronze Age? Respecting, yet nevertheless assuming ‘ownership’ over what went before.

Climbing to the summit of the cairn, the panorama of the ritual landscape of Mid Gleniron farm is truly something special. And luckily cows can’t climb cairns... so soon lost interest in the intruder.

Now I read some time ago that Mid Gleniron possessed an excavated long cairn or two... so while I’m (finally) in the area I decide to go take a look. As you do. Passing Glenluce Abbey – worth a look if you’re into such things, I guess – I arrive at the entrance to the Mid Gleniron farm access track to find that, if I wish to proceed further, it will have to be on foot. Fair enough, since the splayed access allows sufficient room to park the old Rover 45.

So, in the searing heat of this Galloway morning (!!), off I go, prematurely freaking out at the large long cairns which soon materialise in the field to my left.... before realising they are, in fact, clearance cairns (this being later confirmed first hand by the farmer). However the ‘real thing’ is not long forthcoming, an open gate beckoning the traveller into a field of sopping wet grass, said traveller immediately wishing he’d elected to wear the Gortex lined boots... muppet. Incidentally there’s also one of those ‘wooden slat’ stiles in the field wall a little further on should the gate be closed.

I arrive first at Mid Gleniron II, a substantial long cairn, unfortunately lacking any sign of chambers and sporting a rather silly cairn – clearance, as opposed to ‘walker’s’, as far as I can tell. Caffeine calls, and as I rest up with the coffee, the farmer passes by. I take the opportunity to go and have a chat and ask for permission to visit the striking round cairn across the way. He’s only too happy to oblige – if I can handle the cattle – and we discuss many issues... bizarrely, it transpires that the man ‘in the chair’ at this farm is a chap named... Robert Gladstone... hell, there aren’t many of us around, but we seem to have a ‘thing’ about prehistoric cairns.

Moving on to Mid Gleniron I, it’s immediately clear that this is a far superior monument, the long cairn retaining some orthostats of a facade and three chambers:- one (without capstone) at the facade end; another (with capstone) set behind this; and, to its right (looking from the facade, that is), a capstone-less lateral chamber. Good, nay great, stuff and a fine place to hang out in the sunshine, for the surrounding countryside is verdant in the extreme. I even notice a few ‘cupmark-like’ circular depressions in the chambers, although, being ignorant of the geological properties of the stone, these are most probably natural in origin. The one picture I manage to get in this respect, in the main chamber, has been posted.

However I’ve a particular thing for round cairns, so Mid Gleniron’s fine example is next on the agenda. Just not yet...

Just a few meters on from the Oxen 1 is a piece of living rock with 3 good cups. Plus two well weathered efforts.

Visited 3/05/2010.

Sitting within Knockman Wood, to the north of Newton Stewart/Minnigaff, this is a surprisingly well preserved long cairn in attractive surroundings, set in a clearing between forestry to the west and trees of a deciduous variety to the east. Indeed, notices displayed within the car park highlight that restoration of the latter is now official policy. Right on!

As Greywether notes, no chambers are currently visible – hence the state of preservation – but any initial disappointment is more than offset by the remains of a facade featuring two substantial orthostats. The lichen encrusted cairn material exudes time immemorial, this, together with the late afternoon / evening sunshine and silence, combining to produce a first rate vibe. Hey, I like this place. The first long cairn of the tour bodes well.

Access is straight forward, if a bit of a plod from the Knockman Wood car park. Veer immediately to the left, past a gate, and follow the initially dreary forestry track, keeping left at any intersections. Assuming you find yourself climbing gently above and to the left of a small loch, you are literally on the right track and the monument will eventually materialise before you.

One further point relevant to any one who may be contemplating being around ‘after hours’, is that the gates at the entrance to the car park access track are closed – but not locked – during hours of darkness.

Near the cairn on Oxen Craig there is a socket possibly for a standing stone. On the same rock I counted 10 badly worn cup marks after pulling back some turf more were discovered. Probably more on this rock. Varying sizes of cup

Visited 3/06/2010.

On a rock just back from the edge overlooking Little Oxen Craig’s quarry. There are 8 badly weathered cup marks of various sizes.

Visited 3/06/2010.