Latest Fieldnotes

The last visit of an epic 40 site Scottish tour during May 2009, I’m fast running out of time if I intend to reach my planned camp in Glen Etive before dark. Bad planning, Gladman, yet not stopping at Skail and Grumbeg during the drive down Strathnaver from Tongue is not really an option in retrospect.

As usual Inverness city centre confuses the proverbial out of me – more lost time – before I eventually locate this fantastic site. Whoah! It’s a whopper, make no mistake about that, and confirms the massive impression these Clava monuments have made on me during the past fortnight.

The kerb stones are substantial, the circle stones very substantial, the major monolith.... well, you get the picture. Even the rainfall is correspondingly substantial – as only the Highlands can truly provide – giving my waterproofs one last, major workout. It is of no consequence and in many ways only serves to heighten the experience of being here. The landscape setting is the adverse of nearby Druidtemple, set upon a low open hillside beside a minor road. Consequently the vibe is different, but great nonetheless.

I’m left with one lingering thought as I head for Fort William.... does Scotland have any rubbish sites?

Set overlooking the beguiling waters of Loch Naver in the desolate, yet ultimately captivating wastes of Strathnaver, the shattered remnants of this chambered cairn (visited May 2009 but photo just re-discovered) form perhaps the most moving – in the human context – of all the sites I’ve yet seen.

Much of this emotional undercurrent is no doubt due to the feeling of isolation engendered here, a state of mind amplified many times over by the sheer starkness of a brutal terrain seen through heavily overcast skies laced with drizzle. The silence is overpowering, the senses overloaded trying to cope with such a novel eventuality in today’s world of incessant noise and information overload – much of it sheer nonsense.

However Grumbeg has another story to tell, strictly speaking outside the parameters of TMA, but highly relevant to a visit here nonetheless. For this hillside was also the site of a 19th century village (the implied continuity of human occupation is mind blowing), the community forcibly evicted during the infamous ‘Highland Clearances’ of 1814. This shameful period of our relatively recent history saw agents of the Countess of Sutherland resorting to barbarous methods to destroy whole communities – and all because turning over the land to sheep pasture would bring in more profit. The burial ground overlooking Loch Naver mirrors its Neolithic counterpart, as if asking ‘how did it ever come to this?‘

Standing in the progress of Empire builders with a fortune to make, the inhabitants of Grumbeg never stood a chance. Now the Empire has gone, too, while the remnants of the chambered cairn continue to surmount it’s hilltop. Have we really come so far? A question a Bronze Age inhabitant of this site might well be well justified to ask.....

I came here just a few days ago under greyer skies and totally failed to find it, mainly due to being on the wrong side of the road. I boned up a bit more on Coflein and realised my schoolboy error, today was a better day all round.
It’s a long road and the cairn is about half way between Capel Curig and the turn off for Llamberis. from CC go past the two lakes llynau Mymbyr pass Cwm Clorad Isaf farm, and park on the left, the cairn is between you and the river next to a 10m length of wall, not the V shaped wall the smaller one, if you do go looking for this cist it will all make sense.
It was such a beautiful morning to finally find this
place, the cist has kept well over the centuries, and parts of the cairn rim are still obvious, the standing stone is even there still, I think, standing only two to three feet tall, hidden in a small length of wall.
If minor (and I mean minor) meglithic sites aren’t your thing then come for the views because they are most definately MAJOR.
Could I eckers like find the other cist over the road though, more boning up me-thinks.

I parked at the bottom of the hill on the north-west side of the fort, and walked back round and up the road till I came to the driveway of the nice house that somehow ended up inside a two thousand year old hillfort.
I asked permission from the very nice lady at the house and she pointed out the path that goes round the site, neatly cut grass defines the path that follows the ditch between the highest and the middle bank.
There are three banks to the fort, the tops of them are covered in bracken and thorny gorse, the only way to appreciate any of the place is by following the path or by flying over in something that flies. Only a minor backdoor did I find in the wooded section, which covers about a quater of the fort, I think maybe the original grand entrance was where the house is now.
There was a big stone lying in the centre of the hillfort but it had been half buried and moss was trying to cover the rest, there was also a lot of big stones in the wooded section with holes drilled in them.
Brilliant views over to Llamberis pass and Snowdon, but the hillfort needs a good de-vegatising.

An unobtrusive round barrow – presumably Bronze Age – set high upon Y Das, western promontory of Pen Rhos Dirion, itself rising to 2, 338ft and part of the great northern escarpment of the Black Mountains.

Only formally ‘recorded’ in 2007, due, no doubt, to the undulating terrain and uncompromising nature of the summit plateau, the monument is easily overlooked if you don’t know what you’re looking at – as I can well attest, much to my subsequent shame.

Nevertheless what a site to have as your final resting place, with mesmeric views of the Wye valley etc! The glider pilots, who use the thermals generated by the escarpment edge to great effect, probably possess the best view of all, but for the rest of us a reasonably straightforward path/track up Cwm Cwnstab, beginning at 188333, is the most direct route.

Coflein: – ‘An earth mound, 5.0m by 4.0m and 0.50m high. The mound was covered by grass and moss when recorded in September 2007’.

In other words it looks just like a bump on the mountain top. Doh! Well, that’s my excuse, m’lud.

This very substantial cairn adds added interest for any hillwalker en-route to the 3000ft high Carneddau peaks of Foel Fras, Foel Grach etc. Not that many of them even pause for breath, that is, save to discard another bloody banana skin! And these people reckon they love Nature, eh?

Postman’s route is recommended, although longer variations beginning from Bont Newydd are also possible, with the added bonus of the great spectacle of the Aber Falls. Mind you TMA members could always make a diversion there afterwards. Probably the best bet unless you are unfeasibly fit and young, since an ascent from Bwlch Ddeufaen allows exploration of that fine valley, too.

Simply a great place to sit and, well, do nothing except take in the fabulous views whilst perched upon a Bronze Age cairn. Mmm, nice. Noticed remnants of what appeared to be a cist in the cairn centre, but suspect this may be modern tamperings due to the precarious footings? Perhaps not – see the Coflein extract below...

Note that the higher, but much less well preserved cairn upon Drum lies a little further up the ridge. Choose a fine day, or stick to the fence if mist should sweep in........

Coflein states ‘A large mound of stones 60’ in diameter and 5’ high. In the centre is a hollow 5’ deep exposing the upper part of an upright slab 1’6” long, possibly the remains of a cist or burial chamber. In the early years of the present century the capstone of a cist was said to be visible. A gold image 5 ins long is said to have been found at this cairn some time in the 18th century’.

Clear skies at the Severn Bridge morph into heavy, low cloud at Talgarth, the sweeping ridges of the Black Mountains engulfed by opaque vapour. Damn, no climbing today, then. Bloody forecasters...... Fortunately one of the many benefits of also having megalithomania (or whatever) is that no such weather constraints apply to visiting ancient sites. I therefore take the opportunity to visit perhaps the finest in the area, tucked behind Ffostyll farm beneath the great northern escarpment of the aforementioned mountains. Some ‘plan B’.

To be honest I don’t like knocking at farm doors to ask permission to visit my heritage... you know somehow it doesn’t seem ‘right’ .... but it would be no issue at all if all farmers were like the occupant of this farm. The man’s genuinely interested in the beauties in his field, enthusiastically relating how he found microliths in the vicinity and only too aware of the long tradition he is upholding. He’s also about the best weather forecaster I’ve come across, as subsequent events will prove. Right on!

A short sqwelch through typical farmyard surroundings brings the visitor to the required field. I’m surprised by the remaining size of the two long cairns – although obviously somewhat damaged – and delighted by the surviving chamber stones upon both. Bonus! The northern example is by far the more substantial, the eastern chamber ‘protected’ by massed nettles and the ubiquitous ‘thorny tree’ – where’s Mam Cymru when you need her?

The southern also possess some significant stonework – for these parts anyway – but it is once again the skyline which elevates Ffostyll above the usual, the barrow-topped flat summit of Y Das prominent to the left of the Y Grib ridge, itself ‘be-cairned’. Then again I probably eulogise too much since I love this area. If you come I believe you will, too.

Great surroundings, great vibe and substantial remains. Couldn’t really ask for more.

Languishing in the ‘visit some day on the way back from Pembrokeshire’ file, a visit to this fine, little cromlech was never gonna happen without some external influence. Not worth the journey alone, I thought..... how wrong can you be?

It therefore took a visit to the Gwal-y-Filiast (Dolwilym) chamber – with similar canine associations and not dissimilar siting – to up the ante, so to speak. Consequently Mam Cymru and I  arrive in sleepy Llangynog on an overcast morning and park by the village hall for a brew, an English prerequisite before any exploration, you understand. Initial perceptions of a place can be deceptive, however, the image of a blind man ‘power walking’ down the road leaving us, frankly, in awe – and I not a little ashamed of the way I sometimes tackle my own ‘issues’.

Although there is parking nearer the site, we decide to walk from here since the hedgerows are alive with all kinds of ‘stuff’ the Mam knows by heart... unlike her somewhat limited brother who’d probably poison himself in a flash. A public footpath veers left as we approach houses and descends to the river whereby, upon crossing a bridge, notices warn the traveller there is no access (due to deep excavations, as I recall). The fence, however, is not a problem, passers by on the main path completely unperturbed.

The chamber looms through the woodland a little above the gurgling stream/river, but far below road level, the substantial, slipped capstone and orthostats covered with moss. If ever there’s a ‘Dingley Dell’, this is it... so close to civilisation, yet a million miles away in terms of vibe and sense of place. The chamber is completely subservient – in a landscape context – to the stream, which fills the air with sound, for once not seeping from someone’s poxy I-pod. How refreshing, how unusual. So that’s the siting settled, then. I’m puzzled by the ‘greyhound’ connotations, however. Unlike the aforementioned Dolwilym (or Donegal’s Kilclooney More, for that matter), no mystic mutt guides the visitor to this site, so did this refer to a ‘grey hound’, as in wolf? Dunno.

In accordance with Postie’s observations there are indications of recent ritual activity here. However – unlike other sites I’ve visited – it is unobtrusive and doesn’t have an impact, to be honest. True, I’d rather have nothing, but stuff such as this is less damaging than used condoms, for example.

All in all another fine site.

This at some stage must have been a massive stone cairn, now only a small pile remains. There are loads of dry stane dykes in the area and its easy to see where the material to build them had come from. Visually the view looking north towards Macduff and Banff is stunning. At the valleys bottom runs the River Deveron, which enters the Moray Firth between these two burghs.

Leave the A947 at Macduff, near the cemetery, taking the road marked Myrus Circle, heading south west. After a mile a water reservoir is reached. The cairn is to the west. Best to use the gate before the resevoir and follow the dry stane dyke towards the three tallest trees. The cairn is on top of a raised mound. The empty space indicating the cairn’s original size. Not much to see but view is good on a nice day.

Visited 25/9/09.

Driving up from South to North Wales, the weather is so unfeasibly good (not just for September, but for any time in Wales) that I decide to do a wild overnight camp in the Cwmdeuddwr Hills en route. Well, it’d be rude not to, I suppose – not now that Nature’s gone to all that trouble........

I take the minor road from Llanwrthwl, intending to revisit the large cairns upon 2,000ft Y Gamriw in clear weather, when another cairn – Carn-y-Geifr – catches my eye on the summit of Drum Ddu across the valley. Further investigation of the map reveals the Carnau Cefn-y-Fford conveniently placed on the ascent ridge. That’s settled, then. Mustn’t pass up the chance to open up new vistas and what-not. New cairns on the horizon.... Right on!

One car can just about be parked (without blocking the field access beyond) at the point where tarmac becomes stony bridleway, a short trudge down which brings the Carnau Cefn-y-Fford into view to the left. Veering onto boggy grass now, with a semblance of path, three cairns in varying degrees of preservation (one with a prominent orthostat) are passed before two biggies come into view either side of the approach. The landscape is wilderness personified, the high surrounding hills/mountains (the relative classification is academic in my view) benign in the sunshine, but lethal at any other time for the unwary walker and hiding untold bogs only discernible by the change in vegetation. For me, this is how prehistoric sites are meant to be experienced, with just the wind perhaps carrying the echoes of what once transpired here....... perhaps. The cairns and landscape merge into one – it seems to me the cairns ARE the landscape. Evocative beyond words.

I continue onwards and upwards roughly SE to the summit plateau of Drum Ddu to find a family group of three utterly dishevelled, yet beguiling, wild ponies eyeing me suspiciously from the Carn-y-Geifr, before coming over to check me out – perhaps sensing ‘this one’s not gonna cause us any issues’. The moment is worth the price of admission alone. If there was one, that is. Sad to relate, however, that the cairn, impressive from afar, has unfortunately been turned into sheep shelter, so some of the vibe is lost. The views, nevertheless, are awesome, the Y Gamriw cairns, in sharp profile upon their own ridge reminding the traveller how adept the Bronze Age people were at ritual theatre. Perhaps the individuals responsible can be regarded as that period’s forerunners of a Shakespeare, manipulating their audiences for dramatic effect? In short, you have to have the right seats to be in on the party since Y Gamriw’s massive cairns are not visible from below.

And Drum Ddu and its environs sit in the front row. In this weather, anyway.

Tynron Doon is situated one and a half miles from the hamlet of Tynron in Dumfries and Galloway. Access to it is via a steep climb through a Juniper wood to the west and then along a sheep track up to the fort (there is a shorter route but the views approaching the fort are not as worthwhile). It is a multilavate fort with 2 ramparts and 3 ditch’s on all sides apart from the south which is a steep cliff face partially covered in trees and the east which has just one rampart and relies on the steepness of the hill for defence. The entrance to the fort is on the west of the fort looking down towards the juniper woods and the village of Tynron. The views from the top are stunning and you can look down on the nearby Grennan hill fort to the east of the Doon. I would recommend a visit to everyone its a lovely spot.

Heading west from Insch on the B9002, take the road opposite Kennethmont primary school indicating Duncanstone. This road also goes past Ardlair RSC and it’s standing stones. Take the first right, after Ardlair, but be warned this road (I did say road!!) is tarred in places but there are also some very deep potholes. So a stomach turner! Tofthills is the fourth farm down the road.

The cup marked, on two faces, and cross incised, on the top, stone can be found near the garage or the gate to the back door. If parking a car you’ll very likely park next to the stone. I asked permission from the occupant, she was very friendly and interested as her husband is also interested in ancient things. Her pet dog also made me welcome. Canmore says 24 cup marks and they are correct. It is probable that the stone came from the destroyed circle at nearby Holywell. Well worth a look!

Visited 24/9/09.

This Long barrow lies next to a now disused drover’s road. I had great trouble identifying this barrow and so have marked it down as destroyed. The photos showed the area and where the barrow should be. I could find no unploughed area, so must assume that the barrow is under cultivation.

English Heritage’s Official record list a long barrow set on a gentle south-facing slope in an area of undulating chalk downland.
They state, the barrow “survives as a low earthwork orientated NW-SE and is rectangular in plan. The barrow mound is 60m long, 28m wide and stands to a height of 0.6m. Flanking ditches, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, run parallel to the NE and SW sides of the mound”.

Easy to reach, the barrow lies a short distance from tarmac but I would suggest a winter visit to see if anything is visible after the crop has been harvested.

This late Neolithic long barrow is short at 30m long and only stands 1.5m high by 22m wide, but has only been partially excavated, just before the outbreak of world war one in 1914. Few notes survive of the findings made by O.G. Crawford and Hooton, with some of the Neolithic pottery now housed at Harvard University in America.

The long barrow survives well as an earthwork, orientated SSW-NNE on the crest of a west facing slope, surrounded by several later Bronze Age round barrows, most examined at the same time in 1914.

Like most of the long barrows, the flanking ditches, from which material used to construct the mound was quarried, run parallel to the north and south sides of the mound. These have been partly infilled during the years but survive as earthworks 5m wide and 1m deep on the south side and 6m wide and 1.5m deep to the north.

The barrow is easy to reach from the fair mile and a farm track runs up to the top of the hill with a water tower.
I travelled up by cycle but you should have no trouble if you want to try driving up to it. If not, park up by the Fair mile and walk up the track, past Ash Tree Dryer and walk into the field along the fence line. I visited at the end of May and the surrounding field was sown with barley. Cross into the pasture and follow the fence to view the later round barrows.

This site should be viewed in conjunction with the other long barrows, disc barrows and bell barrows within the 3 mile radius.
Use the Magic site or Google earth to get the bigger picture. Here’s a link to try

magic.gov.uk/website/magic/opener.htm?startTopic=magicall&chosenLayers=moncIndex&xygridref=426987,157257&startScale=20000

Not expecting much from this, to be honest, but – particularly following on from the fine Cors y Gedol cromlech during the morning – I guess I should have known better. Suffice to say that as soon as I arrived, any plans for any additional visits that day were quickly abandoned. I like it here.

A morning of heavy, low cloud had put paid to thoughts of climbing Cadair Idris, prompting the next best thing in my eyes – a dolmen hunt! Bron y Foel Isaf is one of the most obscure around, and sure enough I end up taking a very minor road past Byrdir Farm.... very picturesque, but the five or so road gates in about a quarter of a mile do become just a tad tedious. Eventually I arrive on the minor road I should have taken and, passing Caerffynnon farm on the right, park at the staggered crossroads beyond. This is already occupied, but the car occupants look at me blankly when I enquire if they are looking for the dolmen, asking instead whether they are allowed to open the gates across the road. OK....

Follow the dead end road and take the right hand fork until the capstone appears within the wall to your right. Initially a bit of an anti-climax, climb the wall into the heavily overgrown field and the true substance of the capstone will reveal itself. Wondrous. To be honest I’m not sure whether this was a ‘standard’ chamber, now collapsed, or one of the sub-megalithic types? I assume the former?

Whatever it’s a good-un, not too dissimilar to Gwern Einion before its recent consolidation.

Rössberga gånggrift is the only passage grave that has been completely examined in Falköping municipality.
It was examined and restored in 1962 by Mr. Carl Cullberg.
It was used to bury people for almost 2400 years.
The chamber were at the beginning 2 metres high, and consisted of 17 sections, in where there were piles of human bones. In total the remains of 128 adults were found in the sections, which is more than in any other megalithic tomb in Scandinavia. Together with the remains also some animal bones, amber pearls, different pearls made of animal bone, flint stones. At the entrance over 700 pieces of pottery shards were found and c14 dating of these places them bout 3600BCE.
20 metres east of the passage grave there is a stone cist.

How to get there:
Follow the directions for Ekornavallen, then continue south for 5.7 kilometres. Site and parking spot is on the left.

Easy to get to – NOT! – but Elderford’s directions will do the trick for the determined/obsessed. The site is just off a public footpath, although it seemed the gate had not been opened for ages. Due to the ‘out of the way’ nature of the site I guess this wasn’t entirely unexpected, but nevertheless welcome all the same for the Mam Cymru and I.

Four rather handsome slabs, running with those peculiar long-legged arachnids and overgrown with nettles, lie unobtrusively beneath trees overlooking Hay-on-Wye, together with the remnants of a long cairn. Not a bad location, one might say. I gave the nettles a bit of a seeing too, but rest assured they’ll be back. And then some.......

And that, my friends, is about that. Save the wonderful ambience and sense of place which money simply cannot buy. A simple site which punches far above its weight.....

Glad to relate that the farmer who owns the house opposite is an educated, interesting man who clearly relishes living in the near vicinity of such a fine cromlech – as they call these fabulous structures in these parts. Very refreshing.........

Apparently the field boundary upon which the chamber stands has remained unaltered due to the relatively poor soil of South Pembrokeshire negating the incentive to expand farm size – only the ubiquitous spud and low grade cereal thrives here. Bad for the farmer, but great news for those who cherish the survival of monuments of this quality. I really do rate this as one of the finest of Pembrokeshire, nay Wales.

It also seems that the public footpath is the original track linking adjacent farms. Right on!

N.B – note that it is possible to park a car on the verge beside the footpath sign. Please don’t block the track as this is now very much in use.

The chamber is about 13 x 2 metres, and the passage is about 10 metres long. All the stones, except for the keystone, which is a granite block, are sandstones.
The passage grave was partly restored in 1946.

The passage grave can be seen in GE.

A little way roughly north of the enormous Garn Turne lies this even more obscure diminutive gem of a cromlech... it really couldn’t be more obscure if it tried. It really couldn’t.

After seeing several large tractors – or maybe the same one coming back and forth – trundling up the minor road with a giant raking apparatus attached, I decided to park at the entrance to Colston Farm to save my paintwork from further annihilation. Plenty of room here, and just a short way back down the road to the metal gate. Over this and the cute little chamber eventually materialises further downhill on the inside of the hedge. They really don’t want you to find this one, do they?

My feeble effort in the ‘Monty Don’ stakes will need a lot of help pretty soon to save the structure being reclaimed by Mother Nature. Speaking of which, I was half expecting a gathering of ancient dudes to emerge from the towering cane crop to join me for lunch, such is the ethereal nature of this spot. If you build it, they will come, right? Then again it could have been due to a bit too much caffeine intake, I suppose.

Oh that orange lichen! Marvellous.

This site is just off the road on the Slea Head drive. When we visited in September 2009 there was a charge of €2.50 to see it. You also get a photocopied information sheet
Its a nice site but not worth that kind of cover charge.
The audio-visual experience is extra, we didnt go for this however.

Ekornavallen has been used as a burial place fo at least 4000 years, which makes this site one of the most remarkable sites in Sweden. The oldest is the passage graves (the biggest one, Girommen, is presented on a sub-site) and one stone cist, built for 4-5000 years ago. Up on the crest of the hill, there is a bronze age cairn, about 3000 years old. The youngest graves is from the iron age and consists of stone settings, standing stones and stone circles (judge rings) and a tri-radial cairn.

Because of the unique mix of remains from different eras, the site were early noted. The earliest (but uncertain) written info is in the Västgötalagen (the code of Västergötland) from the 13th century.

During the 18th and 19th century Ekornavallen was visited by several archaeologists, from their maps we can see that there were many more monuments than there are now.

In order to save the area from further destruction, the site was bought by the state in 1944, and is now taken care of by the Swedish national heritage board.

There are many info boards in the area, in Swedish, English and German.

The site can be seen in GE.

How to get there:
On road 49 between Skara and Skövde, turn south in Varnhem towards
Broddetorp, ( as for the Amundtorp and Lilla lycke sites). After 10 kilometres you arrive to the village Boddetorp. Drive through and continue for 3.2 kilometres. Parking spot to the left, and the site to the right.

Strange things occasionally happen at megalithic sites. That’s a given, I guess. Whether it’s due to the state of mind of the visitor, unusual magnetic variations, or other phenomena we simply don’t understand.... strange things happen.

But I guess even a completely chilled Gladman was somewhat taken aback when a lovely couple arrived at the enormously impressive Garn Turne and enquired ‘hope you don’t mind if we bury our horse?’, or words to that effect. Er, um, OK... suppose so.

Mercifully they didn’t return dragging a carcass, but a wooden casket containing the ashes of said clearly venerated beastie, which were ceremoniously and solemnly deposited within the chamber. I felt as if I’d been sucked into a wormhole and transported 5000 or so years back in time, my initial lack of enthusiasm somewhat dissipated. The engines won’t take any more, captain. But pity the poor archaeologists who revisit the site after we’re dead and gone! That’ll confuse the blighters no end.

Anyway, but what of Garn Turne’s physical attributes, then? Well, they say size isn’t everything, but sometimes – as every woman will no doubt confirm – sheer size can simply leave you breathless. Hidden away in a field screened by a very high hedge below the eponymous crag, you honestly would have no idea it was here without a map. Never one to take the easy option, I approached via the green track to the east and across the adjacent fields (unlocked field gates). The chamber boasts an ENORMOUS capstone, some very substantial orthostats forming a facade of some description and that most important quality. Vibe.

Garn Turne. Still relevant after millennia.

My, this is a great site. It really is...... Guess I should have done more homework, but to say the designation ‘cairn’ on the 1:25 map hardly does this justice would be an understatement of megalithic proportions.

Needless to say I start off heading up the main track in true Gladman fashion, only to find two farm lads searching for their missing car keys in a muddy field. OK...... is that the sound of dueling banjos in the wind I hear?

Anyway, out comes the map and – after confirming with the farmer, who’s arrived on-site to rescue the aforementioned – I retreat and cut through the un-signposted field gate to the right, whereby a stile leads in a short while to the stone circle. C’mon, it has to be called one, surely?

The field is a churned mass of mud, courtesy of an assembled throng of bovines thankfully held at bay in an enclosure made of those motorway central reservation barrier things. The circle stones/kerb stones/whatever are substantial, the magical Y Preselau, raising a misty head above and beyond to my right, well, magical. Water streams down the Rosebush Reservoir Dam, its source soon replenished by a vicious weather front moving in to give me a fearful hammering. But hey, tucked up in my waterproofs this is a marvellously evocative place, a place to sit and wonder why is it so little known?

I arrived at Whitesands bay carpark at gone 3 am and got a few hours tossing and turning in. (god cars are crap for sleeping in )
I started the walk over to the chamber at about 6.45 am the sun wasn’t putting in an appearance today but was seen to the stoneless east of the country.
What a fantastic place for a burial chamber, just imagine if theyd’e built Stonehenge here or even just Carreg Samson, makes me quiver to think it.
The wind that had been blowing hard all night now brought in the mist off the sea, turning it into stingy face rain, Carn llidi disappeared completely which is a neat trick if you know how big it is and nature doesn’t use mirrors.
I hid from the elements, no I didnt, I got closer to my ancestors and got in the chamber, using my thick hat as a cusion I sat still for a while, only noise was the wind, I closed my eyes and began to drift off.
This was the first time I ever fell asleep at a place like this, I almost remember a dream sequence, just one as I was only out for five minutes.
From here I can see a big rock just feet away, it has straight lines on it, ha nature abhors straight lines my arse, is it art or more probably fossilised sea slug tracks.
I dont think the capstone has fallen, there is a long stone on the chambers northern side that would have effectively blocked that side and the other stones here would have blocked the other gaps, also if the capstone were to be in any other position the visual impact from the south would be less and the interplay between capstone and mountain would also be lost.
Well worth the drive down and walk up, but you might not want to do it on an empty stomach with no sleep, god knows what the spirits were up to whilst I slept.