It was -10 when we, the two Johns + me, visited the Clava Cairns. A walk down from Culloden, a sad place, warmed us up. All posts say what I would say except that there is a badly ruined ring cairn on the other side of the road opposite the car park entrance. Treaclechops has the right idea.
Visited 24/12/08.
The views are still there and trees haven’t grown back. This is a spectacular place with magnificent views. Leave the A944 at Tillyfourie joining the B993 and follow the signposts. Keep going to the end of the forest track, cross the field and Deer Park at Monymusk is found.
Visited July 08 and frequently since. Good walks and cycling.
Leave Kennethmont, situated on the B9002, using the road opposite the primary school. Ardlair farm is about a mile from here. The farmer has signposted the route. Up the hill for some pretty decent views. The two outliers are supposed to have pictish markings, but I couldn’t make out anything. Still it’s worth a visit.
Visited September 08.
The last time I was up here the circle was a bit of shambles. The fence was ruined, cow droppings and one of the cows had pushed one of the circle stones over. However the fence has been put back up and the droppings removed therefore the place is much tidier.
On the south of Strichen leaving by the A981. Immediately after crossing the North Ugie Water follow the signs to the stone circle. After finding this go try and find Louden Wood!
Re-visited 17/06/09. (As Chris says it is a nice place)
Rhynie is situated on the A97 south of Huntly. Make for the square, easily spotted as the church is there, and leave by Moss Road. Follow this road, passing Templand and Upper Ord, for approx two miles looking to the left. The circle is in the field only a short distance from the road. One stone still proudly stands, another lays fallen whilst two have dragged away to beside the road being now hidden amongst bushes. Must have been impressive!
Visited August 08.
Evidence of Bronze Age field systems can still be seen on this moor, although it took the trained eye of an archaeologist to point them out to me! Together with the cairns, circle and various tumuli this whole place makes for an interesting visit.
Summer Solstice Sunrise, 21st June 2009.
Ah yes, the summer solstice. I trekked up the hillside from the carpark (a longer and steeper walk than I had anticipated for this early in the morning!) and arrived just in time for that ancient traditional ritual: ‘Foxy, SHUT THE F*&K UP!! F&%K SAKE! Mick, shut your effing dog up, f%&kin hell’.
Two heads had camped up at the circle and their pregnant retriever was guarding the tent with far too much enthusiasm. Who needs ravers and gluesniffers at Stonehenge when you can stare into the ‘jaws of death’ in Bonane Heritage Park.
Eventually one body emerged from the tent, and soon we were joined by a biker who’s friend had gotten a puncture and was observing the cloudy skyline from the side of a miserable road a few miles away.
It didn’t take long for the reality to sink in, there was to be no sunrise this solstice. The horizon line is quite high up above the circle so I knew it would be some time before the sun would reach that high so I wandered around the other monuments in the park in vain hope.
At 6.30am, the silence was once again broken by the sound of cars roaring up the track way. Thee cars appeared and parked below the ring fort, it seemed to have been some kind of guided tour so I shadowed them for a while to see what I could find out.
The sunrise from the circle apparently occurs quite late, sometime around 6.30- 6.40am. At this time the sun has been up for over an hour and so would be a blinding light appearing above the ridge beyond, probably impossible to observe safely with the naked eye and very tricky to photograph (no chance of detail in the circle unless you blend a couple of shots).
I think this was the fourth cloudy solstice in a row, except one year when I watched the most beautiful sunrise from a deckchair off the coast of Borneo. At least I came away with two valuable nuggets of information for next time, sleep in for another hour and check the gates are locked before huffing and puffing up the hill by foot!
At some 15ft high and almost 90ft in diameter, this magnificent cairn is surely one of the great forgotten sites of Aberdeenshire?
Possessing sweeping views up and down the valley of The Water of Feugh from its elevated position, it’s a marvellous morning’s hang, particularly in late Spring when bluebells adorn the environs......... even if the weather didn’t exactly want to play ball.
The cairn is best approached by taking the minor road north at Castle Hill – so named because an overgrown Norman motte stands in the field to the south – about a mile west of Strachan on the B976. I parked by farm buildings about half a mile up this road before walking up a rough farm track to the right to some dwellings. The cairn is accessed through the garden of the final house over a stile. The owner was out when I arrived but didn’t bat an eyelid upon returning – so no access issues, then.
Since Greywether’s visit in 05 several changes have happened. My first visit included walking past a pig farm with all kinds of....dodgy stuff to walk thru. The second time, the place had been churned up by tractors making the place a mud bath. However on this occasion the site was animal and mud free.
Old Rayne is found by leaving the A96 at Pitmachie. Go past the hotel, sadly now closed, and leave the village at the Market Cross. The circle is less than a mile in a field to the left. One stone remains upright with the rest fallen.
This circle is more commonly known as Candle Hill and this is a common feature in the area. RSC’s at Ardoyne and near Insch are built on hills with the same name.
Visited 21/06/09.
Several days of dry and sunny weather on Mull made our walk to the circle far easier than those described previously on these pages.
On entering the Druid’s Field this little circle took my breath away, tucked neatly into the left hand corner surrounded by blooming rhododendrun bushes, with the two large outlying stones observing our approach and the massive peak forming as impressive a backdrop as you could wish for.
Two rabbits hung around the circle long enough to check us out as we set down our gear before they casually moved off into the bushes.. This is a truly magical place. An hour passed without us even noticing before we packed up and moved on.
This appears to me to be the only complete circle left on Mull.
As has been mentioned already this is THE must see site on the island.
This a stunning stone, in stunning place with stunning views of Bennachie. There are two ways, I know, to get here. Walk from the Hatton Of Ardoyne RSC towards Oyne is most definitely the wisest. The route I chose on this occasion included crossing a railway so beware of the trains. Opposite the Back Of Bennachie road, on the B9002 at Oyne, a road leads to Bogandy Farm. I parked here with permission. Climb over the fence and head up the hill crossing the railway. The now inhabited farm at Westerton of Petmathen is reached. Follow the track up the left hand side thru the trees. Once in the clear the stone is in the field to the left. It stands at more than 21/2 meters high and is more than 11/2 meters wide. This is beautiful place with the sound of birds of prey flying above keeping the visitor company. There is no evidence to suggest that a circle stood here but at least one stone nearer the farm, being used to hold up the gate, hints at possibly something bigger. Plenty of large stones lay all over the place.
The farm at Westerton Of Penmathen has an interesting title on the front door ” SQUADRON LEADER PHILLIP LEITH D.F.C. U.E. M.Sc., WESTERTON OF PETMATHEN.
Re-visited 21/06/09.
Not exactly the best preserved broch on the Mainland, but they certainly knew where to put it, didn’t they?
Boasting majestic views of The Kyle of Tongue and of Ben Loyal, this is worth a couple of hours of anyone’s time, I’d have thought?
Although somewhat dishevelled by a couple of millennia of Highland ‘weather’, the usual broch details can still be ascertained – entrance passage, stairs etc. But it is the views which made this a truly memorable experience.
This vies with Dun Mhaigh as my favourite broch on the Mainland.
Superbly sited, with excellent views up and down Strath of Kildonan, it’s a bit of a climb to reach, but well worth the effort. Although collapsed in on itself to a degree, internal details can still be discerned and there’s also a substantial circular ditch surrounding the site.
Although I received a fearful hammering from progressive showers sweeping up the valley, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.
Access is not an issue since as I parked the car the farmer came by on his quad bike (complete with collie clearly enjoying the ride as only a dog can do) and waved cheerfully. Right on!
Check out the beautiful hue of the stones, too!
Not a place to linger.......thoughts of ‘goldfish’ and ‘bowls’ spring to mind... as well as those fake stone circles that have become an integral part of every new Welsh housing estate and park in the last few years.
The difference is that here, of course, it’s the real thing! A surreal experience, particularly since it’s a bloody good ring, too, and well worth a diversion to see. Simple, pleasures, eh?
Visited 17/5/09 – after seeing the Bucharn cairn (near Strachan) earlier in the week, the comparison with this one regarding atmosphere is ‘chalk and cheese’.
Having said that, this is still well worth a visit if you are in the area since it is a simply gigantic cairn, apparently the sole survivor of three such examples in the vicinity. No fuss, no frills, but consider the effort required to construct it as you make your way to the summit. Truly mind blowing.
Sadly I also have to report that I was ‘studied’ with binoculars by an old muppet and friend from across the main road as I relaxed on top. I can only assume the old fools believed I was somehow interested in their lives, for whatever reason. How deluded can you be? So much so I couldn’t even be bothered to go and have a word about their blatant lack of respect for others – this is an official Historic Scotland site, after all. Well, I had infinitely more important things to ponder at Memsie cairn......
A classic, special site and, due to it’s remoteness, a visit here is not to be taken lightly. It’s an approx 5 mile round trip across rough, tiring terrain.... not sure the TMA book makes that quite clear enough, to be honest.
Park at the ‘kink’ in the road west of Beinn a’Charra – if heading north-east, this is just after the third loch on your left (Loch a’ Charra). There’s a track heading north-west at this point – ignore this, since Uineabhal is the low hill away across the moor to the south-east. From here you are basically left to your own devices to cross approx two and a half miles of peat bog, trackless, as far as I could tell. If not, I certainly missed it! Since the weather was somewhat ‘changeable’ I therefore took a bearing on the southern tip of Loch Dubh and then another to the southern flank of the hill, upon which stands the chambered cairn.
Known in Gaelic as ‘Leacach an Tigh Chloiche’, it’s a substantial cairn with large orthostats forming a kerb. The chamber (roofless) and entrance passage are in the south-eastern flank of the cairn, with a large, free-standing monolith some way beyond the south-western corner. The disturbance at the north end of the cairn is apparently the remains of an Iron Age house inserted during the, er, Iron Age....
However it is the siting, the views and sheer remoteness which make a visit here a must, the landscape a patchwork of lochs leading to the coast. Climb to the summit of Uineabhal and a small dun is visible on an island within Loch Huna below to the east.
Travel east from MacDuff on the A96 and cairns of Melrose, Lee and Longman are close. Keep going thru Longmanhill until the sign post to Fortrie. Stay on this road, south, until the crossroads then turn left. Go past Balgreen farm and stop at the next farm track on the right. The cairn which resembles a motte is in amongst the trees being only a short walk. This is also a place at which time has stood still, the trees almost protecting the cairn, the only intrusion being a small shed for firewood.
The cairn itself is 27 meters wide and 4 meters high, with the top being flat and 7 meters wide. It is made of earth and small stones but is now covered in grass. Years ago people believed that fairies used this place as a meeting place. As is usual up here don’t pronounce the word as it looks say ‘Bah Green’ quickly.
Visited 20/6/09.
A favourite spot of mine, set as it is on the lower, eastern slopes of Mynydd Du, overlooking the infant Afon Tawe and with sweeping views up and down the valley.
The connection with water here is unmistakable.... not only in the most obvious sense, since the circle is often waterlogged from mountain run-off (The Black Mountain is not exactly adverse to rain, it must be said), but also because a diminunitive avenue of very small stones leads up to the circle from the fledgling river below. Whether this was simply a pragmatic guide to arrival – the site is not visible from the Tawe’s banks here (and, in fact, is only visible from certain points in the valley, assuming you know where to look) – or purely symbolic is something we’ll obviously never know. Judging by the dimensions of the avenue stones I’d go with the latter, since the Tawe is very much non-navigable at this point, being little more than a cascading stream.
The circle stones are just as small, many barely breaking the surface of the mountainside, which makes the substantial bulk of Maen Mawr – the ‘large stone’ – all the more striking. Two very, very much smaller uprights just beyond hint at astronomical sightings.
Approached via the mountain road to/from Trecastle, look for a glimpse of Maen Mawr above the river when the prominent Nant-y-llyn waterfalls grace the hillside beyond. Note that the river can be VERY difficult to cross, particularly after heavy rain, so take care. This is a hostile, windswept spot, so dress up or your visit may end up short – and wet!
A wonderful site, and totally unique in my experience, not to mention one of the most mysterious, enigmatic prehistoric sites in Britain.
Not a typically contrary Cornish variant upon a circle-henge.... since there’s no ditch. Plausible suggestions I’ve heard range from a mortuary enclosure [i.e. where cadavers were left to be de-fleshed by wildlife before burial] to M’lud Yatesbury’s own ‘tribal meeting place’ scenario in the paper version of TMA – perhaps the site name reflects a long-standing folk memory of political activities being held here?
Although there are (apparently) parallels in Brittany, my understanding is that archaeologists have yet to come to any agreement whatsoever as to what King Arthur’s Hall was actually used for. Well, archaeologists do tend to be a rather conservative bunch, don’t they? Having said all this, isn’t it great that such enigmas still exist in today’s society of information overload. Less is more, anyone?
I approached the site across Treswallock Downs, parking at Casehill Farm. Follow the wall (roughly) eastwards to join the line of a footpath coming in from the right. The path leaves the wall (where the latter veers southwards) and heads towards the site. Watch out for mist.......
Revisited 17/10/08 following a long, long overdue first visit to the hillfort sited – strangely enough – on the summit of the hill above and to the east.
A neat little cairn-circle, which would be well worth a visit if situated within a car-park in Luton...... but here, with a sweeping – frankly awesome – vista of Tremadog Bay and the Dwyryd Estuary, topped by the mountains of Central Snowdonia and the peaks of LLyn... well, words fail me, they really do.
Probably the finest view from a stone circle I’ve seen (Ardgroom, Moel-ty-uchaf and, I guess, Pobuill Fhinn run it close), this is arguably one of the finest, most exquisite sites of the British Isles. And possibly one of the least well known. Perhaps there’s a connection to be had there, so the irony of this post is not lost on me.....
I had intended to move on and see Bron-y-foel-isaf, but that must now wait for another day – the attraction Moel Goedog has upon the visitor is simply too powerful.
This site is thought to have started its life as a henge, later adapted by the Romano-British as a settlement with hut-circles. There is also evidence of a round cairn. See the ADS link below:-
ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/search/fr.cfm?rcn=LDNPHER08-2983
It’s about 100 feet in diameter, with what appear to be standing stones on top of the bank, in places, which is highest at the northern quarter, and seemingly constructed of rocks, which appear on the surface in this quarter.
When you visit it, you are struck more by its henge-like appearance than by any hut-circles, and the “standing stones” certainly seem too coincidental to be true. Some do appear to be large boulders “placed” on top of the bank, but others seem to have been erected. Even so, why are they on top of the bank if they’re natural?
Visit it, and decide for yourselves. It’s worth it for the views into beautiful upper Dovedale. The Brotherswater campsite, Sykeside Farm, is a few hundred yards away, as is the pub, always a bonus.
Although very popular with the tourists and with scant traces of defences visible upon the summit plateau – to the layman such as myself, anyway – this hillfort is still very much worth a visit simply because of the superb views up and down Borrowdale to Derwentwater, Skiddaw etc
I would say you’re best to stick to the main track since I ended up at a dead-end ‘round the back [Low Hows Wood-way] and faced a vertical ascent through trees. Serves me right for trying to avoid the quarry and for being flash.
Castle Crag is a great place to come when low cloud obscures the major summits around and about, with a pleasant walk by the river to get there from Rosthwaite, too. Note, however, that the National Trust holds Borrowdale in a vice-like grip, so if you come by car, either be prepared to park outside the town (if you can) and walk in, or pay an extortionate fee. Now I accept the need for proper maintenance and conservation as much as the next man... but this is out of order. Catering for the wealthy only.
Visited September 2008
Greyweather’s spot on with this one – a classic chambered cairn.
First thoughts upon looking at the map were...uh oh... forestry... but the track’s clear all the way and the cairn stands proud and treeless (well, save the little fella in the picture) above and to the left of it.
The cairn is substantial indeed with a small, intact chamber. I sat inside relaxing out of the sun [strange but true], waiting for someone to arrive and spoil the moment. But no-one did...
The forestry track entrance is somewhat obscure being, as you would expect, un-signposted. Make sure you have the OS map and if you are heading north and pass a fine waterfall on your right, you’ve gone too far.
Cheers Greyweather. Nice one.
This is best visited as part of the hunt for Louden Wood RSC and the White Cow Wood Ring Cairn. The road to Gaval farm is the first road east/right north of the White Cow Woods. Gaval farm is signposted and the one stone stands about 20 meters into a field bang in front. As I was just about to leave a man who was driving a tractor stopped at the farm junction and said that the stone at the gatepost to this field and another across the road came from the circle. He then mentioned a cairn on Mormond Hill, but today it was pouring so another day for that one. As is well known apprentice masons did some vandalism to the recumbent, tragedy as once again good views.
Visited 17/6/09.
It seems everywhere you look along the flanks of this wonderful valley there are brochs, standing stones and – last but not least – chambered cairns.
Standing to the right of the burn as you approach uphill from the A897 (incidentally, how can a single track road be an ‘A’ road? – only in The Highlands...) this quite substantial chambered cairn is well worth a visit. While I was here a couple of stags approached, looked me over and then ushered their females out of sight. Sorry fellas.
Further up the Strath of Kildonan (heading north, just beyond the forestry plantations on the right) the hillside is again chock-a-block with cairns. A quick scramble from the car will not only reveal (at least) two more pretty substantial chambered cairns, but also – if you’re lucky – a grand view across Kinbrace Village, the sun glinting off Loch an Ruathair and leading the eye to Ben Loyal – I think – on the horizon
