Latest Fieldnotes

Visited 22.5.2010 in very hot weather, approaching from Fan y Big along the Gap Road. After a bit of welcome shade near the filter house, I emerged blinking into the parking area to the south-east of Lower Neuadd reservoir. It took me a while to clock the stone, which is pretty small and barely sticks its head above the grass. It stands in a scrubby area right next to the parking area and the views north to the high peaks are blocked by a line of conifers. My initial reaction (given how far I’d walked to get here from Storey Arms) was “is that it?“.

But pause a moment. Here we are in the valley of the Taf Fechan, which starts from springs on the slopes of Pen y Fan itself, the highest point in Southern Britain. These days, the Taf Fechan has been dammed twice by the time it gets to this point in order to provide water for Merthyr, but 3 or 4,000 years ago it would have been rushing down unfettered straight from the mountain. It seems pretty likely that a stream running from such an undoubtedly revered place (witness the summit cairn on Pen y Fan) would have had some significance to a people for whom the elements and the landscape were a hugely important part of their lives. A cluster of bronze age cairns can also be found further upstream, now encroached by the waters of the Upper Neuadd reservoir.

So this humble little standing stone, perhaps not much to look at itself, sits next to a stream that may have been sacred and acts as a marker, pointing the way up to an unarguably impressive landscape of peaks. Worth coming after all...

Walked up here from Storey Arms (22.5.2010) via the central peaks of Corn Du, Pen y Fan and Cribyn. Needless to say I was completely unaware of the cremation burial, and I’m guessing there wouldn’t be much to see of it. But as a spot to be interred, it doesn’t get much better – as well as the views north over Cwm Oergwm, the high-level close-up of the central peaks themselves can probably not be beaten. Awesome in the true meaning of the word.

Headed south from here, to check out Lower Neuadd menhir.

Perhaps the most straight forward route to this wonderfully remote, moorland site is from Cambret Farm..... however..... not wishing to duplicate part of yesterday’s walk (to Claughreid) and with an eye on obtaining a quite literal overview of the inter-relationship between the numerous monuments in the locality, I decide to approach from the summit of Cambret Hill to the approx NW. This is initially not as difficult as it may sound, since a tarmac road, albeit not in the best of repair, snakes its way up to the summit from the NE to provide access to several telecom antennae. These are, of course, unwelcome intrusions, yet the viewpoint they surmount is excellent through the entire 360 arc, ensuring one happy Gladman, despite the searingly cold wind.

The fabulous Glenquickan ‘circle lies near forestry to the west, Claughreid to the approx south-east. But, of course, it is the massive cairn, beside the prosaically named Cauldside Burn, which holds the gaze, despite being totally dominated by the towering crags of Cairnharrow rearing above it across the valley.... hey, humankind may have felt the compulsive need to erect our monuments to Nature, but nothing, I said nothing can beat the real thing.

As I descend towards the site, a most excellent, not to mention large, wild stallion (cue air guitar) noisily asserts his dominance of this hostile landscape, confronting the intruder head on. Wisely, I think, I circle around him and don’t blatantly challenge his ‘horse-hood’. Anyway, after crossing a fence-line (by gate, if I recall correctly) a little bit of serious ‘bog bashing’ sees me at the monument, struggling to find a dry bit to hang out upon. Granted, quite a large arc of the circumference of the ‘circle is missing, but several of the remaining orthostats are substantial, bear exquisite lichen, and stand right beside a stonking great big cairn with remnants of cist to the NNW. Wait... there’s more... beyond the cairn there are two small stones which Burl reckons precede an overgrown ring cairn. I struggle to make out the latter, but am nevertheless happy knowing it is there.

As with many moorland ‘circles, I would suggest the aim here was pretty obviously not to impress, but simply to provide spiritual functionality to a family group. No point trying to impress the gods when they have created landscape features that completely overawe anything you can possibly contemplate, is there? Whatever its value to its builders, whatever rituals were practised here, I feel this circle still retains its relevance, even after millennia... for to be here is a very evocative experience indeed. Hell, here I have the opportunity to clear my head of all distractions and simply ‘be’ for a few hours. I thank Mr Burl and Mr Cope for initially inspiring me to seek out places such as this. Gentlemen, it has been emotional.

Although my attempts to find some of the rock art which also adorn the area prove fruitless – not surprisingly – I ascend back to the car deeply moved by Cauldside Burn.

Canmore report that two nearby cairns were destroyed during the 1850s on the top of North Kirkhill. Surprisingly they somehow missed this one. If they didn’t they’ve called it a different name for something on the same hill.

Anyway 5 kerbs remain in place. The cairn is almost 12 meters in width and at its highest would be 1 meter tall. Excavations or hollowing has occurred but it definitely still exists.

Leave Maud heading east on the B9029 taking the second minor road to lead south. Go past Benwells, scene of a destroyed cairn and possibly a circle, and pull in at the next farm track. (to Clackriach farm) The cairn is on top of the hill to the east. A short climb of a 1/4 mile. It was wonderful and warm today for a change! On the next hill east is Aikey Brae RSC.

Worth a look!

Visited 2/06/2010.

Heading north from Crimond take the first minor road east from the A90. The first farm, Netherton, has a complete RSC. At the next farm, Greengates (1/2 mile along the road), stop here. I asked permission from the current occupant, who rents the property, to park. He was astonished to learn that such a thing was so close to the house. He didn’t even know about Netherton or Berrybrae.

Once I was finished at being surprised I found the stone no more than 10 meters into a field containing the best behaved cows I’ve ever seen. The stone stands, a gray granite, at 11/2 meters and possibly is an outlier for the Netherton circle.

Visited 2/06/2010.

Standing right beside the Bagbie Cairn, this excellent little Four Poster is a great little site to come and chill out at, perhaps following a trek to see one of the other stone circles in the vicinity?

I was lucky enough to experience a golden evening here, with nothing but sea birds from nearby Wigtown Bay as company. Noisy little blighters, so they are....... A large monolith is visible in the field beyond a tall drystone wall, the rather unusual cairn completing a fine mini prehistoric ritual complex upon this obscure hillside. Obscure, yes, but that’s just the way I like ‘em.

Dumfries and Galloway? Bring it on!

An unusual cairn featuring two enigmatic othostats in addition to a more standard kerb stone.

The site is reached by a minor road from Carsluith (this terminates before Cambret Farm), followed by a brief walk to the NW along a footpath, this starting where the road makes an abrupt 90 degree right hander (parking possible).

Marked upon the 1:50k OS Landranger – together with nearby standing stone – what isn’t mentioned is the wonderful little Four Poster right beside it. Bonus!

First site of a proposed two week tour of the Scottish ‘lowlands’, following on from a long drive from South-East Essex.... stone circles with central stones are not exactly common place in Britain, so curiosity value alone makes this an essential visit.

Having previously seen the charismatic Cairnholy tombs on the way back from Arran some years ago, I decide to approach from Cambret farm to the approx north, a minor road from the tiny coastal village of Carsluith allowing vehicular access to a point where tarmac gives way to an unsurfaced farm track. Verge parking is possible here, hence boots must be donned for the short walk to the farm, followed by a rough trek to the south, crossing Carsluith Burn.

A large glacial erratic (I assume) is prominent upon the hillside, above to the left, this distracting me from my compass bearing and luring me to the high ground. Yeah, I can not resist the call. In actual fact the circle sits within a field at the northern head of a valley, bounded to the east by Cairnharrow and to the west by Cairnholy Hill.... so ignore the hillside and veer right alongside a fenceline.

Although the fallen centre stone is substantial, the stones upon the circumference are relatively small. But this is of no significance since the ring is in complete harmony with it surroundings. From within, the aforementioned glacial erratic appears an integral part of the monument, perhaps a natural gorsedd? My rough compass bearing is c75 degrees from the centre. Telecom antennae rise upon Cambret Hill to the north. Two further stone circles lie to its left (the fabulous Glenquickan) and right (Cauldside Burn). Hardy souls may visit all in a long day – as suggested by Burl. But I must have time to reflect, so will visit the latter tomorrow. He says.

The only sounds are that of bird song and the wind. It is a good start.

Next stop on a tour of the central Beacons peaks, coming from Corn Du (22.5.2010). Arrived just after 11:30, already blazing hot under a cloudless sky.

Despite the hordes of people up here, the enormous flat summit gives enough room to find a spot overlooking the escarpment and Cwm Llwch, falling away dramatically to the north. The cairn itself is a modern construct and it’s not easy to know if anything visible is original. To be honest, it doesn’t really matter: the key to this site is the location rather than the monument itself. Just awesome.

From here it’s off eastwards to Cribyn and Fan y Big.

This hill-fort isnt that prominent and cant be seen from the road below. I visited last Autumn but have had trouble locating the pictures from that visit. The hill is 315m high and the centre of the hill-fort is scrubby.

This cairn is on top of Knockanora, a prominent hill at 420m in North Tipperary not far from Borrisoleigh. I started walking up from S004709 which is the rear of a stone farm-house. You can follow a track approximately 3/4 of the way and then I followed a sheep track through the heather/brush.
The cairn itself isnt massive (approx 2m high) and a shelter has been built on top of it. There is also a trig point constructed on top of it too.
It is not listed in the Arch Inventory for North Tipp. Any information about its antiquity would be appreciated.

I tried to visit this site last summer but failed! After a couple of hours on the beach I persuaded the rest of the folks that a small detour was in order! I approached the site from the west near the disused pier. After finding a suitable parking spot (not easy on the narrow busy road) I made my way through the undergrowth, up the very steep embankment. The soil underfoot was very loose and I had to pull myself up by hanging onto trees. As I approached the top I was confronted by a vertical cliff face of rock. I suppose it may have been possible to climb but I decided it was too dangerous and made my way back to the car. On my way down I noticed the sign which warned people not to enter the area as it was dangerous! I would recommend a visit from the east, although when I drove past I couldn’t see any obvious access points past the rows of houses.

Visited 30.5.10.
I had read a lot about this site over the years so I was looking forward to my visit – and I wasn’t disappointed! The free car park is well sign posted when entering the village and it is only a short walk to the public footpath along Castle Lane. A 10 minute walk up the steep hill through the trees and you are there. Myself and Dafydd then spent an enjoyable 30 minutes walking right around the hillfort enjoying the fantastic view all around. Well, at least I was – Dafydd was more interested in honing his ‘sliding down the ramparts on his bum’ skills he first learned at Bratton Hillfort a couple of weeks ago- much to the dismay of his mother!! Definitely worth a visit.

Visited 30.5.10.
Athelney – at last! I have wanted to visit this site for many years, ever since seeing it on Time Team (by the way this was Time Team’s first ever site and also their 100th dig!) Heading towards Burrow Mump on the A361 there is a large layby on the right hand side. In the layby is an information board explaining the site, which is very easily seen. I was surprised by how close the site was to the main road. For some reason I was expecting it to be a lot further away. The info board mentions the Time Team dig in 2002 and also states that this is the lowest hillfort in the UK. The monument is at the left end on the long low mound and there was a large pile of wood at the opposite end – looked like someone was planning a bonfire! There isn’t a huge amount to see here but it meant a lot to me.

Visited 30.5.10.
Failed to find this one – if it is still there? I drove all around the village and had a good look near the crossroads. All I could see was several large boulder type stones on the kerbside near the crossroads but no sign of a standing stone. The one local I saw out and about knew nothing of a standing stone when I asked him. Perhaps it has been destroyed at some point in the past or perhaps it is just well hidden?

Visited 30.5.10.
When I say visited, perhaps I should have said ‘sort of’ visited. You will need an O/S map for this one although the site is sign posted off the ‘main’ lane onto a ‘minor’ lane. Follow the small lane up the hill and it leads you directly into a large free car park with a couple of information boards. Alongside this lane on the left as you drive to the car park is a bank/rampart. When you arrive at the car park there are several banks/ramparts which may – or may not – be part of the hillfort? This was my last stop at the end of a long day and Dafydd was fast asleep in the car so I didn’t want to wake him. Instead I had a quick look at the possible ramparts right next to the car park and read the information board which indicated there were many more such banks/ramparts a short walk away. There was information on various walks you could take around the site and parkland. It was very pretty here and I am sure you could spend an hour or two walking amongst the trees and banks. One to visit again when next in the area.

Right, about time I got on with it and came to these highest Beacons peaks. Visited 22.5.2010 in blazing May heat – not entirely a great idea! A walk up from the Storey Arms, taking in the lower summit of Y Gyrn rather than the direct trail, makes for a terrific approach along the edge of Cwm Llwch, looking down to Llyn Cwm Llwch over a hundred metres below.

The modern obelisk commemorating 5 year old Tommy Jones highlights what an unforgiving place this can be when the weather is not clear and sunny. The summit of Corn Du requires a stiff climb, but the views are immense, across Fforest Fawr and Fan Fawr to the west and to the nearby Pen y Fan to the east, while the whole of Mid Wales lies directly ahead off the escarpment. Like an idiot, I had not checked TMA before coming up here and hadn’t realised that the modern cairn covered something more interesting and more ancient, but the place itself more than makes up for this omission.

Be warned though – you won’t find lonely solitude up here (at least not on a sunny May Saturday!) and even less on my next stopping point, Pen y Fan itself...

Site is pretty overgrown but well worth the effort

53.04583 N
09.16747 W

53.03511 N
09.10656 W

New find from today .Total of thirty ,mostly , small cups .It seems to be a local style . A number of others within a three mile radius exhibit it , possibly the same engraver ?
i.e www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/11600/corrody_burn.html

Visited 15.5.2010, after a walk up Fan Fawr. The name of this place appears to translate as “Ridge (of) the old slope”?

Some directions from Fan Fawr – the stone isn’t marked on the OS 1:25000. I started from the trig point at the south-west end of the summit. From here, walk NE towards the summit. You will pass the top of a cwm dropping away to the south – go past this until you come to another cwm, heading SE off the summit ridge. Follow this SE until you come across a small stream, then follow the stream, keeping to the west side of it. You will be losing height steadily as you go. After a few hundred yards, the stream meets another coming in from the north – the stone is lying flat above and to the west of the point where the two streams meet. It’s the only sizeable stone anywhere nearby, which does give some credence to the fact that it may be deliberately positioned here.

It’s a fair sized slab, over 2m long, coming to a nice point at the north end (or the top, if it really has fallen over). If stood on end, it would have resembled a smaller Maen Llia. The alignment where it lies is roughly north-south, although it’s actually a couple of degrees west of magnetic north. The tops of Corn Du and Pen y Fan can just be seen, and there are extensive views to the south. Its position near the confluence of the two streams could perhaps be significant? Coincidentally (?) it is also on the boundary between Glyn Tarell and Ystradfellte parishes, so it may have been used as some kind of territorial boundary marker for a very long time. One other thing to mention is the altitude – at 610m, this is higher than Maen Llwyd, so if it ever was a standing stone I think that would have made it the highest one above sea-level anywhere in Wales.

I don’t really know what to make of this in truth, although it’s a great spot to come anyway.

There are many aspects to Avebury, most of them have been covered here by previous posts. Last night I had a ‘first’, went out to Avebury with a group of friends to see Rory Motion* perform in the village hall (Rory is a Yorkshireman, comedian, poet, singer and tree impressionist).
Before the performance we sat for a bit outside the Red Lion and watched the peace of evening settle over this wonderful place – the unripe barley crop on Waden Hill looked like a green sea as it rippled in the breeze.

Rory’s performance was brilliant (catch him if you can). The ‘bonus’ highlight of the evening was the Avebury night sky; as we came out of the village hall at the end of the evening a bright star, which I believe to be Venus, was setting in the west against the silhouette of Avebury church. It was about 11.00pm and as we walked towards the cars the stone circle seemed to be bathed in ethereal light. Then I saw it, the full moon was rising ... what an amazing sight Avebury is by the light of a full moon. After recently feeling a little jaded with the often busy, very public face of Avebury, last night I fell back in love with the mysterious and mystical Avebury.

* rorymotion.com/

This is a wonderful site and well worth a visit. Although there was no sign on the country lane telling you where to park I spotted a few cars parked in a layby and concluded this was the place – I was right! (I later found the E.H. sign had been knocked over and was laying on its side in the bushes next to said layby). I then followed the fairly obvious path through the trees and up the quite steep field. The walk was a lot longer than I expected but I knew I was on the right path as a few people passed me heading back from the site. When you finally arrive it is well worth the effort. I really enjoyed myself entering the largest side chamber and laying on my belly to stick my head into the other smaller chambers – much to the amusement of another chap who was paying a visit! If you are physically able to manage the walk I would definitely recommend a visit.

When I visited in the early Spring of 2009 the field had just been ploughed and was very, very muddy despite sticking as much as possible to the edge of the field – the rain didn’t help!Anyway, I did squelch my way across to the barrow and found it to be quite overgrown with fairly high grass – lots of places where it looded as though it had been dug in the past. All in all I found this to be a little disappointing although it is in a lovely setting – on a nice day!

Visited August 2009.
Nice and easy – just inside the field by a gate. Funny thing is though, that after visiting the Tinglestone and Gatcombe Lodge Longbarrow I was too nervous to enter the field for a ‘hands on’ visit and settled for a view from the gate. Silly I know and I now regret this. Another visit required when next in the area!