Latest Fieldnotes

Went on the eleventh of this month and loved it. The main panel and hillfort – superb. Think I saw some cairns and I have a photograph but I am not sure of what it is. It is not the ones I have posted.

A special place – does not suit everyone. Ancient burial mounds litter the moor, and there is a strong sense of presence here. Visited the protest camp and didn’t like it...

Don’t got hrough the camp. Park up on the other side from Doll Tor, where there is a place for a couple of cars, and a path leading up. If you find the right place, the paths lead straight there. You may see something that looks like a castle tower but is really a folly – you are near it if you see that, only, it is further in the moor than the tower.

To me, feels like a place of death and rebirth – a dealing with stuff kind of place. The walk along the edge of the moor is beautiful – especially at night. If it is foggy, the industrial works look for all the world like Mordor, complete with tower!

For me, I always stay very much on my guard here. It isn’t a place to relax for me... I’ve been many times, but very rarely met anyone I liked there, as opposed to other places where I meet a lot of nice folks. Something about the place – not a play area, lol.

You can camp up there – not supposed to, but you can. You can have a fire – sadly too many fire pits – little wood – people chop downt he birches, and there are far fewer now than ten, fifteen years ago. It’s a well known site, so a lot of people camp up there – there’s ususally someone there, no matter whn you go! Attracts a lot of people who are camping out having some beers – one of those kind of vibes.

In the evening has a very Lord of the Rings feel, and if you get it to yourself, enjoy the ride!

X

Well, maybe you got the wrong end of the stick? The people that live at the farm are ok – they want you to pay your pound, but let’s face it – Arbor Low is worth a pound! Far from not wanting you there, I rather feel they want all the pounds they can get!

Imagine if you lived next to a stone circle, and at all hours all kinds of people were turning up there – people who are in to stuff you know little about, and who may look a bit strange to you... you would be ill at ease, and sure to make sure people know that you can’t just do anything there. It’s only natural, and we would all feel the same if people were coming through our garden at all hours. Having said that, the path has clearly been diverted sot hat it goes past the farm, lol... to get those pounds – but there again, you’d want to see who was up there, near your home, wouldn’t you?

Anyway – a powerful place that does not suit all people – it can hide, make you trip, see things, make you ill at ease, make you calm, teach you stuff, bring out stuff that is long hidden or dormant... seems to always know what to do. A special, magical place. The farmers do not like people staying over night, and will tell you not to stay.

X

Went on the Fourteenth of this month. Drizzly, misty and a girlfriend who was is very understanding about stones circles, henges and rock art ect. Parking near the circle is not an option, so you need to walk for at least twenty minutes. We took a little longer as there are stones that look like they are in circles and you cannot help but investigate.
I enjoyed the walk there and back.
I did find a carving of some sort, but not sure whether it is natural, man made, ancient or otherwise. I will submit the photo when I can find it, should not take me long. Will also submit a photo of me looking at it to help show you where it is.

It wasn’t too hard to approach, a quick vault over a gate, a short stroll over to the wall and your just 6ft away. An optional scramble over the wall and a stone hug is on the cards. Nice stone no pony though and I wasn’t prepared for the nearby farmhouse

About 3m high by 26m diameter. This mound falls away to a stream and so one side of it is very high.
Again this looks towards Slieve Kimalta and the Silvermines Mt.

The height is about 3m by 16m diameter, seems to be looking towards Slieve Kimalta/ Silvermines Mts.

This mound seems to be gone and has been replaced by a quarry.

This mini barrow cemetry consists of a least 3 barrows, one of which is a conjoined barrow.
They all look towards Slieve Kimalta and Silvermine Mts.
They can be found to the back of the village of Ballinahinch. There is also a nice ringfort in the vicinity.

If your driving down towards the longstone here at Baurnodomeeny look at the new bungalow to the left of it. U will clearly see the fence around “the Krall”, it looks like it is in the garden of the house.
I parked a little after the bungalow at an old house and climbed in about one field.
The folklore states that this was once over 3m high which is a good size cairn. There also seems to be a small chamber as per the second picture so perhaps it is a kist or something like this.

An un-named stone in the middle of a field, it is believed to mark the source of a stream,possibly connected in some way to St.Thomas well located a little to the South East of this site. It was a dry afternoon when I took the photos shown here and the weather had been dry for some time so there was no sign of a water source,or a hint of bog plants.

Stonehenge is a victim of its own success. TV documentaries and increased knowledge of the site’s significance have seen to that. It gets close to a million visitors every year; no way would that amount of people be able to walk into the stones even if EH decided to remove the ropes. Even with small groups of people on special access the ground in the centre quickly becomes churned mud. Close up, you can see graffiti on the stones--and I’m not talking about prehistoric--the painted remains of ‘radio Carolina’ plus patches where paint remover has killed the rare lichen growing on the stones.
Like it or not, Stonehenge is unique and needs to be protected to avoid further damage. Anyone who really wants to go in CAN--by special access or on the solstices.

This fine alignment, looking like nothing so much as the plates of a submerging dinosaur, nestles on a plateau just south of the forestry on the other side of the hill from the four-poster at Lettergorman N. Lettergorman S is downhill slightly to the southwest, in the first field beyond the townland boundary.

The tallest stone, a fin-shaped pillar almost 3 metres tall, is at the northeast of the row. The middle stone is a straightforward block, and the southwesterly stone, possibly others, are obscured in a wig of dead vegetation.

The row is aligned, looking in this direction (and fairly unremarkably), on the eastern slope of the hillock of Maulatanavally. Clive Ruggles (Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland, 1999; 220) mentions a direct alignment in the opposite direction, to a hilltop to the northeast, but the forestry wall has cut off any sight of this. The views would seem to have been extensive in all directions before the plantation.

A word of warning. Due to unbelievably sodden ground in the approach from the west in wintertime it may be wiser to come at it via the farm to the east.

Excellent site. Not easy to spot from the road, and the track is a bit ‘blink and you miss it’, the big metal shed on the shelf above the road is a good marker.

The stones were larger than I’d expected, with lovely lichen. The cist is in reasonable condition, shame the covering cairn is long since gone.

There seems to be a bedrock viewing platform behind the stone setting, possibly something to do with all the alleged archaeoastronomical shenanigans. On the day I visted, the silhouette of Jura was almost lost in the haze, so Gigha seemed significant in the choice of this spot as a place designated for the standing up of stones.

I called into Sunhoney after visiting Midmar Kirk. The grey November morning and The Kirk had combined to leave me feeling a bit gloomy but this soon lifted as I approached Sunhoney.
Not too much to say about the circle that hasn’t already been said, although I would like to add my appreciation to the farmer for providing excellent access to this lovely ring.
Sunhoney will brighten your dreichest day.

There’s good news and bad news for this very nice stone, it has definitely deteriorated over the last number of years but I dont think it as bad as it seems from the photos taken without the aid of water or side lighting. When I arrived the sun was directly on it and there were very few markings visible, once the sun went down they started to appear before my eyes. The good news is that the ground has risen considerably around the base, I’d say about 10-15” of carved surface is safely underground, the rest would be so much clearer if the moss was removed (the bad news). A few hours with a toothbrush would do wonders for this charming slab, if there was a way of doing it without damaging the surface I’d love to see the result.

‘not easy to find’ says Fourwind’s visit notes, ‘Wellington boots are essential’ adds Anthony Weir on the Portal. Why oh why didn’t I take heed? This isnt easy to find or access but its very much worth the effort, with plenty of time on your hands you should find it ok but do make sure you’ve got good boots, not ten yards from the farm gate I was six inches in mud, including the organic kind.

The farmyard is very easy to find, I knocked on the door of the old house and just about five minutes later was giving up and moving on when I heard a very croaky ‘hello?!’ from the back yard and a blonde girl in her pyjamas and slippers poked her head around the corner. ‘Oh the stone with the markings on it? What time is it? God I’ve got a rotten hangover.. half two in the afternoon.. oh. The stone’s over there’ ‘passage tomb? thats a very fancy name for it.. I think there’s something further up the next field’. Oh yes, a great start! Twenty minutes and ten inches of sludge later I still hadnt found the chamber so there was no option but to phone up Fourwinds who kindly obliged with directions by proxy and some handy GPS co-ords.

The fields are all now barbed wired over and the stile has been removed so its a bit tricky, there’s also what looks like a motte (marked ‘rath’ on the map) near the road with trees all around it which had me on a wild goose chase. I think the map actually has the chamber marked as a rath also as there does indeed seem to be a large standing stone where the map has a second one marked.

The chamber is bigger than I pictured and its hard to imagine a roof over it, its very wide in comparison to the height of the chamber, like a smaller Fourknocks with no sub chambers. /the markings are very faded indeed and it took quite a while to bring them out with flash but running your fingers over them gives you a good feel for whats still visible, the moss has claimed most though.

[visited 10.12.2006]

The mound is about 600m north of Shooters Hill, part of the old Roman road from Dover to London (Watling Street), which may have been an earlier trackway. Although now surrounded by houses it would presumably at one point have been visible for some distance from below as it is close to the crest of a hill.

It is between the southern entrance to Brincklow Crescent and a footpath, Mayplace Lane. Worth combining a visit with a walk in nearby Oxleas Wood.

Mrs Goffik and I were extremely lucky to have seein this on the last day of our trip in September.

It’s a cracking example of a quoit – the arrow-shaped capstone (which needs no introduction as it’s well documented) is HUGE!!! I know our ancestors were nifty with the old stone erection, but still... HOW???!?!

This place feels quite isolated, in a nice way. It’s difficult to see from below as it was covered in ferns and brambles when we visited (no crops, luckily for us!) but it commands some nice views.

And has anyone else noticed how it appears to point towards a gap in the distant hills that reveals the sea? Or is it just me? See themodernantiquarian.com/post/54132

After looking at the map, I’m now curious to explore what is marked, between the quoit and Men Gurta, as “Pawton Springs”. :o)

Access: From Wadebridge, follow the A39 South past the Cornwall showground, and take the left turn at Whitecross – signposted, as I recall, to Pawton and Nanscow(e). Follow the road for just under a mile and bear left at the junction. Take the next right (this heads toward the wind farm). The quoit is in, I think, the 3rd field on the right at the top end. There are several gates in the hedge along the road which are traversable. Parking is difficult, but once in the field, the going is quite easy.

A small lane heads south off the A52 to the little village of Wooton, after passing Weaver farm a small car park appears on the right , a footpath goes to the trig point 371m high .
This is the last Peak hill before descending onto the Staffordshire plain (though outside the national park)
The first barrow is on the crest of the hill above about 1 metre tall, from here we can see the biggest barrow and the built upon barrow and further on the smallest barrow with the hilltop trig point .The biggest barrow has the obligatory scooped interoir and a fenced off tree ,the stranger of the group has no grass covering and a concrete floor on it despite it’s modern appearance it really is a bronze age barrow.
Farther on is the smallest barrow about 3ft tall then it’s down and up a small valley to the trig point and a great view marred slightly by three big quarries.
On the way back to the car it started raining and twenty feet from the car I realised I’d lost my carkeys half an hour retracing my steps precisely with my fingers crossed and whoo-hoo success ,quick tip allways fasten your pocket zip

My 2nd attempt to find these stones was fortunately successful; Vicky and I tried around a month ago but the OS map was slightly out and we spent an hour wandering around the woods in the rain geting more and more frustrated.

The easiest way to find them is to park by the picnic benches at the bottom of the public footpath. This is a steep path initially, and very slippy underfoot in the rain so beware, but levels out after about 10 minutes. Just as you start dropping down there is a gate on the right hand side with a map giving directions to “the rocking stones” There were bullocks in the field but they didn’t seem very interested in us and when we finally came across the stones, it felt like we were totally alone in this most beautiful of landscapes.

I would definitely recommend visiting in late autumn when the trees have lost their leaves and you can see the whole landscape, it is stunningly beautiful. When you first approach the stones they seem much smaller than they appear in the pictures on here but when you get up close they seem to grow in stature. Lovely.

[visited 9.12.2006]

Situated on the highest point on Richmond Hill, overlooking Thames valley. Easy to find – from the Pembroke Lodge car park on west of park walk towards the Lodge (building with cafe in it) and bear right, heading about as far as you can go within the fenced off garden. The mound is signposted, with a handy free telescope on top to take advantage of the remarkable view through to St Pauls. The official sign at the bottom is quite informative, it quotes from Edward Jesse (1835): ‘it has been opened and a considerable deposit of ashes found in the centre of it’.

A nice shapely barrow with ten tall trees growing from it, in a field below Musden low , in a field next to dun lows is another standing stone ,it has been used as a gate post but has a wierd twisted shape its probably not ancient but so close to at least 5 barrows one has to wonder

Thorswood nature reserve has it’s own carpark and wooden posts showing the way round .
Three barrows all intervisible occupy the hilltop varying in size from a small bump just 2 ft tall to a bigun about 8-10 ft tall (in the same field as the bigun a small probable barrow hides in the corner)
In the woods is a barrow lookalike but its too perfect and has a stone built barred well ,deep too.
Great views north in to the Peak district and south across Staffordshire

I found Midmar to be a bit of an odd place. The circle is smaller than I expected. I didn’t hang around here too long. All in all I found the whole experience here a little un-nerving.
The mortuary in the hospital where I used to work was painted in exactly the same shade of blue as the Kirk.