Latest Fieldnotes

Easter Saturday ... weather not too canny, so most of the population of South Wales, I guess, looks forward to a day in front of the TV eating chocolate. But not all. The call may be unspoken, but never unheard... we must head for the hills.

The small town of Llangynidr – very much the sort of place you’d retire to if you had enough money – lies a little west of Crickhowell beside the River Usk and attendant canal. The shapely peak of Tor-y-Foel, a perennial favourite, precedes the snow-clad summits of The Brecon Beacons to the west. When they are not obscured by a more off-white curtain of opaque vapour, that is. To the south, however, the high ground is of an unknown quantity, the B4560 allowing the motorist panoramic views of The Black Mountains of the quality usually reserved for the hillwalker as it snakes its way towards Ebbw Vale. I check the map. Somewhere upon the western fringes of these uplands lies the obscure Carreg Wen Fawr-y-Rugos stone row. The cloud base is holding. I think I’ll give it a go, but neglect to tell the Mam Cymru the true objective. Hey, I might not be ‘The Postman’, but Gladman must be seen to deliver. And today I’m not too sure I can.

A very minor road descends into Cwm Cleister just before the ‘bend-to-end-all-bends’ near Pen Rhiw-garn. We (eventually) manage to park below a stile (public footpath sign) midway between the access for Pantllwyd (dirt track) and High Meadow (private road) farms. The latter name is descriptive, the path linking the upland farms across sodden grassland, the way ahead indicated by marker posts. At Pantllwyd farm we veer SW and follow a stony track – more resembling a stream today – between drystone field enclosures towards the open hillside. Breaking free, I take a bearing and up we go....

The mountainside is teeming with water. The vestiges of melting snow? Probably not, since the map shows a myriad natural springs in the area, a fact which no doubt accounts for the especially numerous wild ponies within view. Unlimited food and water on tap. Right on! As we make our way to the far side of the ridge, the barest glimpse of orthostat amongst the coarse, long grass promises success, duly confirmed a few moments later. I manage a few hasty photos before the heavens open, water now coming at us from all sides, not simply straight up from the ground(!!), water driven by wind gusting at approx 40mph now we’ve left the mountain’s lee. Hell, this is a great place for a pic-nic, sitting upon the lead, and by far the tallest, stone, a stone strangely enough ‘crossing the T’ of the row in its fallen state, suggesting it didn’t just topple of its own accord? The other orthostats are much smaller by comparison, although the shattered nature of one may mean it was once more substantial. Some way to the north-east stands a low outlier....

The view to north and north-east towards the Black Mountains is stunning, the decapitated top of Crug Hywel prominent above Crickhowell. But why place a stone row here. Is the proximity to the life-giving springs significant. Or was it intended to point the way towards the burial cairns in the manner of those upon Dartmoor? We must head to the summit and have a look for ourselves...

themodernantiquarian.com/site/12943#post-84359

On our visit in July 2009 as well as the fence to keep animals out a circle of grass had recently been cut around the inside to emphasise the circle dimensions. A close inspection round the turf of the cut area revealed several large half- buried stones that may have been part of the original circle – see the pics in the ‘extreme stonefeelers’ link below. The recumbant was piled around with large stones. So the original stones may still be on the site plus additions from field clearance.

Despite the visible evidence that someone attempts to look after this monument it had also been poorly used by others. Lots of old agricultural fencing and plastic sheeting had been thrown over the recumbant and elsewhere. Shame on the culprit.

After bombing up the road after todays disaster I headed first for Craig Dorney Hillfort, this the second visit in much better weather conditions. The walk from the road isn’t far but after recent snow there was still some tricky places – snow/bogs.

There are three lines of natural defences, the original architects weren’t stupid, with steep rocks covering the north, south and west. The remains of a rampart and an ancient path encircling the hill can still be seen. Also still standing guard is a massive glacerial, keeping an eager eye on the valley below. To be fair there is good all round views. As the Who sang ‘You can see for miles and miles and miles.........‘

Re-visited 10/4/2010.

After driving from Luton to Glasgow for the match (then wanting to jump from a moving car) I thought it best to advantage of early KO (in more ways than one) to get up the road quickly and make good use of the sunlight on a beautiful/terrible Spring day.

Leaving the A96 at Huntly join the A920 Dufftown road turning down the Haugh Of Glass road. At the war memorial/village hall turn south. Go past Nether Dumeath RSC stopping just after Beldorney Farm at the rennovated but un-named house. The kerb cairn is on the small hill to the east.

Thru the gates and head diagonally across the field to another gate. The cairn is in front, some 5 meters wide with a fairly continuous kerb of plus 20 stones, some are covered in moss. Also the centre has been hollowed. As usual the scenery in this part of the world is beautiful with spectacular views of Craig Dorney Hillfort, which had taken most of my temper with a very fast climb.

Ah well, time for dogs abuse in the pub! Grrrr!

Visited 10/4/2010.

Another good day for new finds in this area .Last three are for Postie , a typical single cup mark ,one of the most frequent finds but usually bypassed in favour of the more photogenic stuff and a before and after example .This one was pretty obvious with traffic light green moss signalling possible cups .

Firstly, great fieldnotes from Craig inspired this visit, so thanks.

Junction 32 of the M4 is not the most inspiring place in the world – despite the proximity of the fairytale Victorian ‘reconstruction’ of Castell Coch above Tongwynlais – its significance for me being access to the A470 and the North. The Afon Taf snakes its way towards Merthyr alongside the aforementioned route, the motorist no doubt barely affording a glance at the wooded hillside to his/her left, if my own experiences are anything to go by. This is Garth Hill and, contrary to appearances, it is really rather special.

Perhaps the easiest way of discovering Garth Hill’s secrets is to head for the small town of Pentyrch, from where a minor road climbs northwards to intersect with another skirting the southern flank of the hill. The Fford y Bryniau (Ridgeway Walk) can be ascended here directly to the summit if time is short. However I followed the road to a ‘pic-nic’ area and climbed the eastern end of the hill overlooking the Taff Vale, meeting a very friendly, knowledgeable local en-route. From here the principle attraction, an enormous summit round barrow crowned by OS trig point, is visible to the approx SW. There is certainly a sense of pilgrimage coming along the back of this mini-mountain which would probably be lost by taking the diirect route. And wasn’t a sense of the dramatic, that is an understanding of theatrics, an important element of Bronze Age ritual? It certainly appears that way to me.

RedBrickDream’s descriptions of the actual barrows are pretty much spot on, the summit barrow being the largest example I can recall in Wales – the most easterly is also pretty large, it has to be said – and very unexpected in these parts. Well worth a visit for these alone. However the views are also superb, with a grandstand vista of Cardiff and its bay, not to mention the Brecon Beacons on a clear day. Unfortunately I couldn’t verify the latter.

The only ‘downer’, I guess, is that you are unlikely to have Garth Hill to yourself for long. And American students doing star-jumps for some muppet to capture on camera for ‘the folks back home’ doesn’t do a great deal for that ‘special relationship’, in my opinion. However Garth Hill did an awful lot for my personal relationship with Cardiff....

Perhaps the shortest Gladman field notes ever... what is THIS all about, then?

Carl’s small, weathered sign has now been replaced by two ‘official’ signs:- a standard Public Footpath sign and a ‘dolmen’ sign featuring a ‘walking man’. This is all well and good except they point to a pair of huge, locked iron gates, the entrance featuring an intercom which does not work. So just how you are supposed to access the ‘Public Footpath’ is beyond me. Quite bizarre.

Some hostility between new occupants and council, perhaps? Needless to say the chamber was there first!

The industrial coastal belt of South Wales continues to intrigue and prove just how misplaced the somewhat prejudiced – nay, elitist – views of this traveller are at times, never more clearly than in the case of this hillfort hidden away from prying eyes above Rhiwsaeson....

A glance at the map shows apparently substantial defences. But how can this be, with Llantrisant and neighbouring settlements encroaching to the north and west and the M4 a little to the south. Surely it must have been destroyed, or at the very least be a local yobs’ hangout? The truth is very different.

Heading north out of town beneath a disused viaduct, a ‘Road Closed’ sign halts any further vehicular progress. So I park here and revert to the Mk1 boot, full waterproofs required to keep out the downpour. Passing Ty-mawr farm on my right, a signpost proclaims the ‘Fford y Bryniau’ (or ‘Ridgeway Walk’ to most of the population) heading to the left. My old 1:25 OS map shows the hillfort to the left of the track, or, more accurately, ‘exceedingly wet and muddy excuse of a track’. In actual fact, it lies to the right, crowning the high ground behind the obvious wooded hill in the right foreground. But then I wasn’t to know that, was I? Serves me right for being a cheapskate and buying ex-library maps, I suppose. Due to this I arrive at the western defences first, initially somewhat underwhelmed, then pleasantly surprised at the bivallate ramparts. Seems there’s life in the old ‘fort yet.

A couple of locals approach around the perimeter and stop for a chat. Seems that, yes, the hillfort is on private ground but Glynn, the landowner, is a rather nice bloke who’s got no issues with access as long as the usual courtesies are followed. Can’t say fairer than that, can you? Anyway, carrying on clockwise around the circumferance things get a whole lot better, with not only a fine view of Garth Hill and its round barrows, but a reasonably well preserved, partly tri-vallate section of eastern ramparts to enjoy. There’s also what I take to be the original gateway – two very eroded, deeply inverted, close set parallel banks – at the south-east. Hell, I like this place. Water accumulates at several locations within the defences, possibly a handy original feature, certainly of great benefit to the current inhabitants of the enclosure: sheep.

Tall, (usually) dark, well proportioned (ish) and with a multi-faceted character suggesting hidden depths.... if you can penetrate behind a veneer of apparent couldn’t-care-less-ness. But enough about me. These Cae’r-Hen-Eglwys stones are pretty good, too!

Surely few megalithic monuments can invoke such paradoxical sentiments in the visitor as these two beautiful monoliths? Hidden away in a field, to the north of the charming village of Laleston and sandwiched between the, er, somewhat less appealing urban sprawl of Bridgend to the east and the M4, the profile offered from the minor road upon arrival is achingly evocative... shades of Duddo, perhaps? The stones themselves possess exquisite grain, the resultant texture combining with the colours of the lichen, ever changing in the constantly evolving light patterns of today, to send the perceptive senses into overdrive.

Then the paradox... the downside. The piles of household rubbish littering the approach, the old trailer wheel and coke bottle defining the space between the stones, the patch of blackened earth nearby no doubt marking the location of the last rites of another stolen car, now removed, the stones looking on in mute witness at the violation. Hell, how did it come to this in a society which is only too ready to proclaim its spirituality and its supposed affinity with its ancient heritage, the ‘Hen wlad fy nhadau’? Why, they even sing about it in the new cathedrals, the rugby stadia! How indeed.... it seems to me that actions certainly speak louder than words in this respect and that, following the demise of the chapels, the new South Walian ‘religion’ of rugby and beer has very little time for the ‘Old land of my fathers’. As Karen Matheson once succinctly put it, the ‘..country’s been wearing the emperor’s clothes..’. Surely it shouldn’t be up to an Englishman all the way from south-east Essex to attempt to restore some dignity to this relic of past cultures? Then again, perhaps it takes the outsider to see things as they really are?

A ‘souped up’ pretend rally car – you know the sort – roars past, the ‘occupants’ looking at me as if I’m from another planet. Although I know the area well, I feel I might as well be, if the sadness which wells up within me is any indication. But then, suddenly, the paradox inherent here provides the defining moment of the visit.... The sun streams across the defiled landscape to illuminate the two monoliths, which appear to these eyes like a shining beacon of hope for the future in their very survival against all the odds. Melodramatic? Perhaps. But then again...just maybe.... the ‘chavs’ won’t win after all as long as there are some who realise this is not the way to treat the past. It can be different. No, it HAS to be different. So visit these stones, if you can, and perhaps we can help bring them back into the local conscience.

To reach Cae’r-Hen-Eglwys take the A473 Bridgend turning (roundabout) towards Laleston from the A48. Take the next left and, ignoring any turnings, pass the cemetery on your right. At the crossroads turn right and head east to a junction. Turn right here and, in a short distance, the stones appear silhouetted beyond a field gate to your left.

Visited on a beautiful spring day (5.3.2010). The barrows are a short walk from Ludlow town, although the direct route goes along the extremely busy A49(T). Approaching from this direction, over a little railway bridge, the first (and largest in diameter) of the barrows is in the first field on the right hand side – it’s not marked as a barrow on the OS 1:25000 map. It has been ploughed right down and there is not much to see of it, not helped by a huge pile of manure placed right across it when I visited.

The next barrow, much more impressive, lies at the end of a fairway on the golf course, so time your wanderings to avoid getting hit by stray golf balls! The barrow is prominent, made more so by a tree planted on the top. It bears the scars of earlier excavation, but is still a pretty impressive monument. The OS map then shows two smaller “tumuli” to the NW, straddling the racecourse (not mentioned in my misc post below). One of these is apparent as a reasonable sized grassy mound, but the other is lost amongst the various bits of golf course landscaping and I couldn’t make out where it was.

From here, a side road heads off towards the club house. The last and most impressive, of the barrows lies on the NW edge of the golf course. This is a very large mound (c. 4m high) covered in trees and vegetation. A footpath runs very close by.

All in all, although spoiled somewhat (as most things are) by the proximity of the golf course, these barrows are well worth a visit. I recommend a walk back to Ludlow via Bromfield and Oakly Park/Priors Halton, topped off with some great views of Ludlow Castle.

We parked in the carpark at Cairn Holy then crossed several fields skirting the sheep and over a couple of dykes keeping to the west side of the burn. We then followed the path along the side of Cairn Holy hill until the burn almost disappeared. Then crossed the last dyke and up to the circle. We then went on to Cauldside Burn cairn and ruined circle. It all took a full afternoon in fine weather. Would not have fancied it in anything less. On our return there was a warning note from the police on the car about not leaving vehicles unattended.

By far the easiest way of course would be to drive along the lane to Claughreid farm and ask to park then follow the track to the circle.

Just to add to the posts below. As you turn into the lane heading towards the farm there is a place to park on the left – rough, rubble ground. When I visited the fields had just been ploughed and I was covered in mud – lucky I have my wellies! As I got back to the car I was given the ‘evil eye’ by a farmer but he didn’t say anything. I was surprised how big the barrow was and how much there was to see. Worth a vistit although the public right of way doesn’t actually pass the barrow so a little bit of trespassing is required.

Visited this site March 2009. O/S map shows no public right of way to the hillfort although there is access around the base of the hill. When I visited I took the turning off the A4119 along the A473 – when approaching Llantrisiant from the south. At the Cross Inn roundabout take the right turn into the lane which runs past Tor-Y-Coed farm. I parked just before the farm (out of eye sight!!) and headed up through the fields to the Hillfort. I only viewed the southern defences which to be honest wasn’t much to look at. However, it appears that this was the least defined section of the Hillfort and I should have viewed the other sides. I was conscious of being ‘spotted’ so I didn’t want to hang around too long.

I spent a frustrating hour or so looking for these stones last year – to no avail. They are not marked on an O/S map as far as I can see. Can anyone give detailed directions? Thanks in advance.

Head west on ‘the old military road’ from Cargenbridge to Lochfoot. Stop just before Easthill farm and park on the right hand verge as tight to the wall as poss to allow wide vehicles to get past. Go into field keeping to edges to avoid any animals or crops and head up steep hill. Keep to the outside edge of the wood at top of field. Cross dyke at the top corner. Head uphill again to circle. Come back to road very same way. Other ways in or out are dead ends.

No need to negotiate barbed wire and dykes anymore. There is now a sign ‘to the standing stones’ on the left at the big sheds as you drive up the road. Keep a good look out for it. Park there and it’s an easy walk up the side of the golf course to the stones. Unfortunately we didn’t spot the sign until we were driving back!

The ‘Long Cairn’ is no longer in the forest. As per Greywether’s directions, follow the track from the cottages to the second fence then look east with binocs to spot the cairns amongst the old tree stumps. Ground beyond boundary fence is very tricky indeed.

Today was meant to be a nice wee hill walk with better half so decided to go to a strictly non rock art area .Better half decided on wearing walking boots despite pre walk chat about how useless they are in really wet conditions .So it turned out even the wellies were put to the test in the glaur and snow melt combined with previous few days heavy rains . Returned to the car after a few hours and e decided to go for a drier “country ramble ” both in wellies this time . There was some rock art about 1 Km away but weren’t really bothered about looking . So surprised to find this one . Sorry about the secrecy as it is in a farmers field , he wasn’t in so think i should wait to tell him and also ask to have a beter look around for the expected/hoped for others .

Visited 4.4.10.
There is room to park in front of the field gate opposite Pipton farm house. I am lucky as Karen usually stays in the car with the baby so is able to move the car if needed while I am away, looking at ‘old stones’!
Directions: Follow public right of way path along the riverbank until you come to a derelict farm house. Next to the house is a wire field boundary fence. Follow this fence up hill (NOT public right of way!) until you reach a gate. You will then join a rough mud track used by tractors. Follow this track up hill, through the next field / gate and the cairn can be seen as a low mound further up hill to the right. The mound is approximately 40 paces long and I counted four large stones, two still standing. It is a 20 minute walk from the car to the cairn.
The views over towards the Brecon Beacons are lovely and when I visited the tops of the mountains were still covered in snow.

Visited 4.4.10.
Although the O/S map shows a public right of way up through the fields (although NOT through the field in which the stone stands) there are no signs / stile etc to show this. I asked for permission at the farm house and it was readily given – with directions to the stone. When pointed out, the top of the stone is actually visible from the lane next to the farm house.
Directions: Over the fence next to the farm house and up through the field heading towards the gate directly ahead. Through this gate, turn right and head towards the gate directly ahead. Through this gate and the stone is up hill to your right – under the overhead cables, near a telegraph pole. The walk from the lane to the stone takes about 10 minutes. Nice views down the valley.

Visited 4.4.10. As you approach the chevrons there is a small parking area on your right (same side of road as stone) where there is room to park. The stone is about 20 metres ahead, towards the chevrons. Easily seen this time of year from the roadside; through the brambles and bushes.

Visited 4.4.10. Park up just as you turn into the entrance driveway to the hotel. The stone is in the field slightly to your right – easily seen. The field had just been ploughed so I was happy enough to view from the roadside.

Visited 4.4.10.
Just to add to Elderford’s directions:
As you drive up the lane towards the farm house (on your right), there is a gate about 50 metres before the gate which gives you access to the field via a public right of way. The barrow is only about 20 metres from this first gate – directly in front of you. If you don’t want to trespass / ask permission, the barrow is easily seen from this gate. As an aside I noticed lots of mistletoe growing from the hawthorn trees – must come back at Christmas!

Rhiwiau barrow is just massive, so big that you’d think theres no way thats a barrow, it’s even got modern brickwork still visible on top, but it is bronze age as the cremation urns and bronze dagger found there confirm.
Not many parking places are to be had so we just squeezed in on a wide bit of the road.
The barrow is right next to the road and at nearly three metres tall it’s far too big to be missed.
It was very windy on the top of it, although the rain had gone off, Eric was trying to jump off it but the wind was so strong that he was just jumping up and down.
The only cairn ive been to in North Wales that’s bigger is Gop Cairn, thats how big it is.

I didnt get too close to the barrow as there was a sheep and lamb following my progresss along the fence, so I quickly photographed the barrow and then I turned to the sheep and the mother had inexplicably and hurriedly dressed her lamb in a tootoo, so I took a picture of that and we parted company, quite bizarre.