Latest Fieldnotes

Gwern-Y-Cleppa is easily seen from the M4 when travelling from Newport to Cardiff (can’t be seen in the opposite direction). Just after Junction 28 there is a footbridge over the motorway, just after going under the bridge you will see the back of a large road sign on your right (giving info for motorists heading towards Newport). As you come alongside the sign, look to your right and there it is. Be careful not to crash though!!!

Visited 14.2.10. This site is difficult to find through a maze of unsignposted lanes. Eventually knew we were in the right place thanks to the lorry depot. Couldn’t see an easy way past the depot and as it was a sunday there was no one about to ask. Just along the lane from the main depot / house there is what looks like a scrap yard. I parked here and looked for a way up the near vertical bank. In desperation i ended up climbing through the scrap metal, up through brambles to get to the top of the ‘cliff’. Once on top of the bank the stone is easily seen, two fields away sticking up in a hedgerow. Mission accomplished! However, I would not advise anyone approaching the site the way I did as it is DANGEROUS. Please ask permission and find a safer route!!

Visited on 14.2.10. A really lovely site. Beautiful contryside with a lovely old grave yard inside a stone circle – what more could you want? Very easy to find and access – right next to the roadside (A4120)

With the snow gradually melting I decided to leave early and head down to Strathdon, at the moment my favourite area. On the way two cairns at Smallburn would meet our feet. Only one was visited as the snow became very deep and there is another day.

At 8 meters in width and less than a 1/2 meter high this cairn has been badly robbed. However there is a possible kerb on the cairns east side. Also the cairn has been hollowed out but today it nature made it whole. The snow filled it in and all was at peace.

Tap O Noth looked magnificent across the valley. Easy to see the placement of the cairn.

Also a special thanks to Paul Butler, who lives nearby quite literally at the end of the road, for his help. I should warn him that I’ll be back for the other cairn.

Visited 8/3/2010.

This barrow is just inside county Tipperary in the area of Johnstown.
It is in an dry island area in a bog as the name “Togher” gives away. A Togher is a timber roadway through a bog.
The barrow has an internal ditch which had me thinking that it may be a henge and it has an causewayed entrance to the SE. Part of the ditch is water-logged. The inventory gives the barrow a diameter of 30m. To get to it is possible via a bog-road that gets you to with 100m of the barrow. The OS map shows that there are no houses in the vicinity of this track but there is now one right at the roadside.

Funnily enough being from the area it was only last winter when there were no leaves on the trees that I spotted what is listed as a motte. I checked the inventory thinking to myself that it had a very mound like look to it.
What really took my interest is the fact that just about 200m to the west there has been an excavation on an enclosure. This enclosure according to the inventory “suggested that Tullahedy represents an extensive ritual area from the Neolithic period on a scale previously unknown in the Irish archaeological record”.
When they excavated the enclosure they found “Polished stone axes, chert arrowheads, struck chert, stone beads and a pendant were recovered from the fill of this ditch”.
Now Im not saying that this motte is from the Neolithic but I am suggesting that perhaps further investigation should be focused on it especially knowing the Normans reuse of ancient mounds for their mottes and also the fact that is metres from “an extensive ritual area”. The inventory suggests that “A natural hill which has been scarped to form a steep-sided flat-topped mound (top diam. 19.2m N-S; H11m)“.

This is listed in the Inventory as a possible megalithic tomb. It is within 400m of the main mound at Ashleypark. The inventory gives this as its reasoning that it may not be genunine “The awkward siting of this feature, its location in a disused farmyard complex, and its lack of clear diagnostic features raise uncertainty as to its nature and antiquity”.
Im curious to what other people might think of it, my own thoughts after viewing it is that it may be genuine.

This is one of several dykes which run across the ridge of hills which the A35 now follows. This one is a few hundred yards east of Chilcombe Hill and from it can be seen Eggardon Hill to the north. Probably by coincidence it is directly in line with a modern milestone.
There are quite a few of these ditch and bank structures in Dorset and they are thought to be late bronze age to iron age in date. The purpose of them is unclear but is thought to be as some kind of division of land.

Visited on 31.1.10. Follow Gladman’s directions and you will find the site ok. Just to add that you need to go to the right about 10 yards after the ‘proper’ path ends. (I went too far and had a bit of a problem finding it).

Visited on 13.2.10. Easy to access in field next to crossroads – approximately 20 metres from gate into field. Can be easily seen over hedge from lane which runs past the stones (on right) with farm a bit further on (on left).

Visited on 7.2.10. Knocked at farm door to ask permission to see stone. Owner refused but suggested I come back in the summer and ask again! There didn’t appear to be any easy way to ‘sneak’ a look due to the position of the farmhouse. (Will report back when I next visit)

A cracking ‘little’ Hillfort which is easy to access, well sign posted, with a handy car park with information panel. You can walk around the entire circumfrence in about 10 minutes.

My first ever post on TMA!
Visited the site yesterday (7.3.10) parked next to the house just off the A373 and walked straight up through the bracken (thankfully low) to the top of the hillfort. I didn’t realise that this small side road was private and the owner wasn’t too happy that I had parked there (although I was not blocking anything). She insisted that I should have taken the next turning off the A373 where there was public parking. She also insisted that all the land that side of the fort was private. Anyway, this was all academic as I had this conversation on my way BACK to the car!!
I was very impressed with the size and depth of the ramparts and the overall size of the hillfort. Well worth a visit. Unfortunately, the views were not up to much as the trees blocked most of the vista.

I have to agree with the earlier posts – this is a rough walk, and not for the faint hearted. Taking in Stalldown Row, this was a four-hour round trip on a pleasant (if windy) day. The ground is sometimes difficult, there are boggy areas obstructing travel, and the terrain is very exposed. Having said all that, if you’re reasonably fit and comfortable with a bit of exertion, this shouldn’t pose any challenge. Just exercise some caution where the weather is concerned, because you don’t want to get stuck out here in adverse conditions. Watch the forecast and take sensible precautions.

Warnings aside, this is a fantastic site. I’m inclined to agree with Gladman when he says Stall Moor may be more remote than White Moor (which is really saying something). The moors are desolate and beautiful around this site, and I spent the entire afternoon without seeing another living soul.

On the approach, I parked at New Waste (obvious parking spaces just through the first gate), then followed the path to the north. Once through the tree-lined area, I broke out across open country and ascended the hill to the north east. If you head for the top, you can’t really miss Stalldown stone row – which is an absolute stunner, and worth a visit in its own right.

I headed north from the end of the row, descending the slope and plotting a course towards the river. The terrain was very awkward underfoot during this section. Eventually, after crossing a gulley and a stream, the ground climbs ahead, and the circle can be found on top of this rise. Just keep the river to your right and keep heading up-hill and keep your eyes peeled.

The return journey was somewhat easier. I headed downhill to the south east, intersecting with the river. I followed along the edge of the river’s course until arriving at the weir. The ground was mostly reasonable underfoot, but I did need to navigate around some very boggy patches. After the weir, a solid track leads all the way back (I’d guess maybe two miles) to New Waste.

It’s up against some stiff competition, but I’d say that this was my favourite Dartmoor walk to date. The views are magnificent, and there’s a wonderful mix of scenery along the course of the journey. Bleak moors, rolling hills and valleys, streams, a river, woods... this walk has it all. I can’t wait to get back in the summer.

On top of Lumphart Hill is a very ruined cairn which has been badly robbed because of its use as a quarry in days gone by. Possibly one kerb remains but the rest have gone. The cairn stood up 14 meters in width with east/west edges standing at almost 1 meter. Magnificent views of Bennachie and Garioch are all around. Nearby is a cup marked rock found by Tiompan at Cuttlecraigs.

I left the B9001 heading north from Inverurie towards Rothienorman at the Oldmeldrum junction heading east. Take the first minor road north, towards Daviot, and park at the Cuttlecraigs entance. Plenty of room at the disused quarry. Climb over the hill, then over the next till the summit of next hill, Lumphart. A walk of a 1/2 mile.

Unfortunately as one of the foties show the hollowed out cairn has other uses. Various sleepers and farm waste have been burnt here. Tragic considering the beauty of the place!

Visited 6/3/2010.

(Thanks to Patrick for the tip.)

I was on the road by 5.30am in order to catch the morning light (should there be any) on the mountains, there was golden glow a plenty.
I came across this longcairn on coflein (bless ‘em)
whilst looking into the hut circle settlement in the valley below, at the time I thought, phwooar that must have a good view of Snowdon, I’d like to go there, so as soon as the weather picks up, and here I am.
I parked at the viewpoint on the A498 just south of the junction with the A4086 (Llamberis pass), perfect for both the longcairn and the hut circles.
There is no path to the cairn other than those created by pointless sheep, and its steep too, and when the ice thaws, wet . but the view from the top is the best in Wales, its not the top, rather a high plattau between the mountain tops proper and the valley floor, the cairn is obvious and easy to find, the longness to it is all but gone but it still makes a good round barrow.
I am inclined to beleive that this is the burial place of someone important who lived at the Cwm Dyli settlement in the valley below, from there the mountains peaks whose shadow they lived in everyday would have been hidden behind false hill crests, so where better to spend eternity than up here amongst the gods, just imagine if Bryn Celli Ddu or Pentre Ifan was up here there would be a road up to it, but i’m already sold, somewhere in this national park will receive my ashen mortal remains one day, and hopefully I can spend forever being blown from mountain top to mountain top.

I started the morning way up on high with the best view in Wales, it all went downhill from there really, literally. At 110m above sea level this might be the lowest point in the Snowdonia national park. Surrounded by the highest mountains on three sides and an open valley on t’other is where this collection of six hut circles can be found, surrounded as they are by such jaw dropping beauty it’s hard to see why the national monument record gives them such a naff name, they were obviously getting so bored naming things that they just stopped bothering altogether, why bother mentioning the power station at all thats Snowdon up there for gods sake the highest mountain in Wales and you name the place after a power station ?

I struggle to apply an iron age date to the settlement, with so many hillforts in North Wales it seems with no defences the inhabitants were either on a death wish or they were so cut off from outside the mountains that they didnt know to defend themselves, perhaps they were a lost mountain tribe, hidden from the minds of men, but not the sands of time. The cairn on the hilltop to the east with such good views of the snowdon horeshoe, might, I feel be connected with the Cwm Dyli settlement, from way down on the valley floor you cant see the mountain tops to the west, but a short half hour scramble up the hillside and there is the “best view in Wales”, if I lived here thats where I’d like to spend my for ever.
Out of the six hut circles ( three to the north, 30m south three more)one is much bigger than the others and was easily spotted from on high as I came down the mountain side, maybe the cheif of the hidden people lived here and later got interred way up the hillside. Besides the round houses there are two other structures that are unidentifiable to me but Phil Harding would probably know, it’s shame he wasn’t with me.
Its easy to get here, you can practically drive right up to the circles, in such splendid surroundings I wonder why hasn’t any else been here, but then I already know why, I only learned they were here myself a few months ago, and Ive been round and about here virtually all my life, you just dont know theyre there.

Much easier to find than the first time I came here a year or two ago, from Tal y Braich cairn/stone/cist follow the dirty wide scar of a path up to the canal type viaduct thingy, follow the c t v upto the next stile by a bridge and the cairn is fifty metres down hill.
The cairn stands proud of the surrounding heather upto a metre high, and has been half heartedly dug in to on top twice and on the southern side of the cairn is the cist.
Large and flat lies the cist lid/capstone, next to it is a rectangular hole with one wall stone obvious one more out of place and one more being buried by peat, compared to some cairns iv’e seen this is quite a good one, but the view is so awe inspiring that the place becomes a real blinder, everyone interested in the past and mountains must come here at least once.

The last point of interest on my Snowdonian walkabout was this cairn, coflein describes it thus

Burial cairn, probably Bronze Age, on the lower SW-facing slopes of Cwm Tal-y-braich. Stone built circular cairn, measuring c. 6.5m in diameter and up to 0.5m in height. The cairn has been disturbed in the past, with part of a stone cist exposed in the centre: a long thin orthostat measuring 1.8m in length and 0.6m in height

The cairn has indeed been disturbed in the past as stones stick out oddly at angle to each other, if the long side on stone is whats left of a cist, I’d really like to have seen it complete, as it would have been well impressive, as it is theres not much to keep you here for long, except the mountains, they are absolutley spellbinding, dark and mysterious Tryfan holds you completely captivated.......
untill another low flying Hawk screams past.

Went up again in rather different conditions than the last time. Obviously there is a lot of snow, it started snowing again during this visit.

On the cross incised stone there is also the initials C.M., probably a previous farmer or the guy who carved the cross. I like this place and the snow seemed to amplify it’s beauty.

Re-visited 4/3/2010.

We don’t really do big stones much down here in Sussex so it felt quite an honour to photograph this monster. I’d seen old photos of the Goldstone and didn’t quite appreciate just how bloody huge this stone is. This could stand proudly with anything at Avebury or a number of any other megalithic sites, it’s just the surroundings which make it all a bit surreal, the twee fencing, the rumble of traffic on the Shoreham Road only fifty metres away and the Burger King, DFS and Comet showrooms on the other side of the road! The Goldstone and the nine smaller stones surrounding it (from a different location, as is the Goldstone itself) is very similar to the stones I recently saw at Winterbourne Abbas, a conglomeration of flint and sandstone. The smaller stones also seem to have suffered more from erosion over the last hundred years or so judging by the older photos or maybe they’ve just been laid on their sides. The other thing that struck me, and I have to say I usually find this sort of thing extremely cheesey, was the face thing on the western side which looked like it was in a deep sleep. It must have looked very impressive before being buried, resurrected and re-sited here in the corner of Hove Park facing passively out to sea.

Walking up from Fognam, the trail runs across a series of fields running parallel to the Medieval Park Pale surrounding Ashdown; to the south in the valley bottom runs the Sugar Way, which runs from the barrow cemetery on Sugar Hill, to Hackpen Hill via Seven Barrows.

The main barrows, Three Barrows, line east-west along the north ridge of Idstone Down. Just to the north, defining the ridge is an earthwork running east-west which is contemporaneous with the development of the barrow cemetery. There are additional barrows noted in Pastscape as crop markings and also further down the hill.

The barrows are quite exposed, the weather this evening having a strong windchill; usually in this area you can also see one of the large herds of Fallow Deer which are part of the Ashdown Estate.

The second bright warm day of Spring, I was desperate for a sunlight-downland fix. Met a friend by the Beckhampton roundabout and started our walk from the first layby on the Calne road.
The walk up to Oldbury hillfort on a fine day is just fabulous; a pair of deer ran across a field below – the same scene held Silbury nestled at its centre. I’ve seen the old Lansdown monument many times from afar, coming upon it through one of the castle ditches gave it a very different perspective.
Cherhill long barrow sits at the highest point, now much damaged it is easy to overlook; where it is positioned is what is so impressive though – panoramic views of the Wiltshire landscape.
I agree with what others have written, it is the view towards the ancient Calstone Coombes that captures the spirit and feels almost like flying – a landscape of undulations and shadows, must be one of the best views in Wiltshire.
Lovely close up of the Cherhill White Horse too.

I’m not sure about this, it could be natural, although the name suggests not. Unfortunately Grinsell is no help as he never visited it for Somerset Barrows. If it is genuine then it is large and in good condition. It is the highest point for some distance around and gives its name to three small hamlets.

This is also known as the Isle of Athelney and is most famous as the refuge of King Alfred during the Danish invasion of the 9th century, where he burnt the cakes.
This would once have been a proper island, being as it is one of the few high points in the Somerset levels. The levels were drained and the local river Parrett diverted. The site is on private land and there is no public access to it, there is a large layby next to it with a very good information board in it.
The Iron Age part of the hill is at the western end and consists of a bank and ditch.