Latest Fieldnotes

The tomb stands just inside a newtake wall beside the track that runs from the gate at the foot of Western Beacon around it’s east side. It would be best to visit it, as I found when I got there, around February or March time as the rest of the year it is covered with bracken. There are around ten stones left at the northwest end ,two still upright.

Lying between the Thorn Crag and Pike of Stickle stone axe factory sites, this site, one of many on Loft Crag, has been unearthed by the passage of feet on the popular Langdale Pikes. As well as many greenstone flakes and chips on the path and scree, there are also flakes and chips sticking out of the peat that has been eroded by walkers.
This is just part of a huge complex in Great Langdale.

Having read about this site, I knew where to look. Right on the brink of the drop into the depths of Dungeon Ghyll, these quarries appeared as hollows in the ground. Amongst the untouched natural rocks were greenstone blocks, flakes and chips, showing much evidence of stone working. The fact that I have only ever seen these in stone axe production areas highlights the authenticity.
The greenstone is a striking, clean colour, and the site is set amongst magnificent mountain scenery. Across the dark declevity of Dungeon Ghyll the craggy face of Harrison Stickle (another peak with axe factories) rises in steep, grey butresses, soaring high above.
Over the edge, before the final plunge into Dungeon Ghyll, there is another short slope, full of scree, and documented as containing more evidence of stone axe production, but I didn’t visit that, as I was speeding towards Loft Crag and, finally, the Pike of Stickle stone axe factory.
There’s always next time

The new improved access Rhiannon mentions above seems to be a great improvement.

There is now a small sign on the road heading east out of the village, it’s only about A4, and is almost obscured by a hedge, but it’s there, and it shows the permitted route. The last bit is still through crops, following the tractor tyre gaps. Not exactly easy for wheeled contrivances such as buggies and wheelchairs, more’s the pity. We did manage to get a big 3-wheeler buggy up there though.

The area around the stones is now crop-free, so future plough damage is likely to be nil.

On the down side, someone had deposited a can of beer in one of th grooves of the northernmost stone. Unusual form of ‘offering’, but compared to the usual dried wildflowers, at least it seems to have a bit more of an element of genuinely sacrificing something treasued by the offeree.

A long, difficult, pilgrimage to this site for us – we came up from Plymouth by Motorcycle. Staying in North Uist, we got the Sound of Harris ferry over in bright sunshine in the morning, but by the time we had got to Lewis it was raining and blowing a gale. The weather got worse and worse, blowing us around on the road, but Callanish was worth it. The conditions meant that we had the site basically to ourselves – a truly amazing site that we had both longed to see, and it certainly did not disappoint. A really great visit to a wild, lonely temple, and, if anything, a harder return journey.

Visited 18.8.05

Keys from Wayside Store (A4080), not Aberffraw – 5 quid deposit also gets you a torch, but bring your own, just in case.

Great! deserted passage mound on promontory stretching out into the saline tossed Celtic Sea.

The main orthostat is excellent – pecked chevrons and spirals – I consider a goddess stone, on the strength of [cawres] ‘Gawres’; I would like to have been more aware of the cruciform arrangement of the mound, however – it is now very ‘dome-like’ inside, as well as out.

This is a magical location – when I arrived a solitary Sand Martin was flitting to and fro within the mound, illuminatied by the entrance, flying round and round in circles; One of a pair, they had nested in the concrete dome.

I take the ‘goddess stone’ for the owl goddess, also found in prehistoric France, and the magical stew as an offering to her – I am reminded of Blodeuwedd from the Mabinogion...

2nd September 05: There’s another hack taken out of it on the other side. Maybe this should be reported to the police?

A search of Lordenshaw rock-art in the Beckensall Archive gives over 100 panels ranging from small boulders bearing single cup-marks to intricately carved outcrops and long grooved slabs. Best known are the main outcrop with an ancient Ministry of Works sign and the ‘Horseshoe Rock’ both west of the hillfort and easily accessed from the carpark at the east end of the Simonside Hills.

A large number of panels are situated east of the hill fort and continue north-easterly down the ridge to Whitton Dene above Rothbury. Some 30 panels north of the NZ/NU grid boundary make up the Beckensall 6 cluster designated as North Lordenshaw in the region of the standing stone. Convenient access is from the bridge over the Whitton Burn on the B6342, 1 mile south of Rothbury.

It is an area of boulders, quarried outcrops and large flat sandstone slabs. Many of the rocks have multiple cup-marks, some with faint rings. Large basins and long channels (possibly accentuated or eloborated natural features) are also a feature similar to those futher south. Views are predominantly to the north over Coquetdale and north-west to Cheviot with Simonside largely hidden behind the long ridge which rises toward the hill fort.

The other day I decided to say sod it and go down the Pike of Stickle scree. We’re not really supposed to do it, and I’ll probably be criticised for it, but never mind. I trod carefully, at least as carefully as you can on sliding rocks.
The journey was part of a longer day on the hills, and I also visited the Thorn Crag and Loft Crag stone axe sites. I think all the Langdale stone axe sites should be split up into independant sites under the banner of “Langdale Axe Factory” on TMA. For instance, there’s sites over on Bow Fell.
Anyhow, all the sites had much evidence of stone flakes and chips. Lovely greenstone, once the surface has been removed. The Pike of Stickle scree held an amazing amount of this evidence. It has to be seen to be believed.
The man-made cave had lots of smaller stone chips – evidence of a certain amount of basic finishing of the axes, or of working of the cave? The cave was aproximately 5 to 6 feet wide, 7 feet deep, and 7 feet high.
The descent to the valley was interesting to say the least.

What an unusual place. Iron Age, but not a fort? Doesn’t seem to fit in with anything. Gives a feeling more of the Neolithic.
Any road up, it’s worth a visit. The photos don’t do justice to the fantastic position, or the panorama, especially down to the Bourne Valley and Salisbury.
The central area is vast, the banks and ditches deep and high. A huge number of man-hours must’ve been required in its construction.
It remains an enigma, but I feel we should be looking to the Neolithic for answers. Oh, and a few more excavations too, please.

What a place to get away from the mess and crowds of Stonehenge. Just to sit here and think, knowing someone of great importance was buried here. What ceremonies took place on this spot all those years ago?
There is a feeling of great open space, both on ground and in sky. The burial mounds stretch away in most directions, and the wind seems to whisper the secrets of the past as it sighs through the grasses.
A place for solitary contemplation, with a great feeling of the deep past.

Cracking views from the top of this hill. It did leave me wondering why the Iron Age fort wasn’t built on the site of the Neolithic causewayed enclosure. Reverence for long-distant ancestors, or was it just that they required a greater area?

It was interesting to see the continuation of use of the causewayed enclosure from the Neolithic into the Bronze age, with the number of round barrows on the top, near the edge for visibility from the valley. One in particular was quite high. I also noticed that at the westermost point of the hill, the edge containing a few round barrows, has started collapsing, into what looks like an old quarry site. Did any of the barrows fall in?

The Bronze Age cross dyke seems to separate what was later the Iron Age “side” of the hill from the Neolithic/Bronze Age “side”.

Pick a sunny day and you definitely won’t have the place to yourself.

A word of warning:-
Don’t park in the parking area halfway up the track, as it’s a bit isolated, and you might get your window put through, like we did. We had loads of cds in the car, but they didn’t take anything – either they were after credit cards, or our taste in music isn’t up to much.

We visited the site in August 2004 under beter photografic conditions than Wolfnighthunter encountered this year. You have to lift a quite thick layer of turf to see the whole panel.

You come past the castle bearing round to the right. After about 1 km there is a lane on the left. Find somewhere to park and walk up the lane to a gate. Follow the path on the left to another gate. A few mtrs past the gate is a stile on the left. Go over and turn right along the hedge tro the burial chamber.

I was given the wrong OS ref for this and searched a very large very overgrown field to no avail. I dejectedly went back to my car and drove back along the road. I happened to glance to my right as I passed a heap of household rubbish and glimpsed the stones peeping out of the undergrowth. These are very strange stones that appear to bow to each other. If you are near Laleston give them a visit.

The stepped terracing of this fort is clearly visible at the southern end, and standing on the top of the fort reveals the full extent of the fort’s area, stretching to the north. The fort appears to be split into two sections by two massive ditches running E-W through the fort’s interior, which may be evidence of an entrance.

I wouldn’t care to comment on the structural aspects of this site, I know nowt of chambered cairns, and this seems to be a fairly non-standard, complex one.

What I can say is that it’s easy to get to, and it’s worth a quick wander about the immediate vicinity, as there are traces of features lurking in the long-grass.

A patch of overgown outcrop about 2m from the road. It’s just by the steam, directly below the telegraph pole. I spotted 2 sets of carvings, quite clear they are too. Only got pics of the top one on the flat the other is below it, to the left as you’re looking towards the road. It surprised me to see a cup with 5 rings, yet the overall diameter was only about 30cm. Quite a tightly executed bit of rock art, precision stuff, very discrete. Especially when compared to the larger, more easily visible 5 ring motifs that exist in Northumberland and Argyll. They’re so neatly done, I couldn’t quite convince myself that they weren’t incised, rather than pecked.

It’s almost in a different ‘tradition’ entirely. Made me think about the theories that RA was intended for a limited audience, and that needing to know the location of a panel was an integral part of the meaning of the things. Allegedly, the more complex a motif, the smaller the intended/permitted audience.

The Ordnance Survey and Garmin have seriously undermined that aspect of these enigmatic carvings, but even with the internet adding to this effect (NX 6033 4836), ‘limited audience’ is probably still quite applicable. I reckon it’s just nice to know they’re still where they’ve always been, even after all these years.

It’s a proper subliminal CnR this one is.

Just down from Kirkudbright, on the west side of the bay, there’s a line of rock art sites, and this is the southern end of the line, the closest to the sea. Supposedly proximity/views of the sea is an important factor with the RA in this neck of the woods.

I couldn’t sea the coast from here, but it’s such a tiny, ‘blink-and-you-miss-it’ motif, amidst oodles of likely looking outcrops, so it was tempting to think that this may just be the tip of the iceberg, and that more impressive panels would be found in the higher areas with wider views. But I did’nt get to check the other nearby stones, so I couldn’t comment.

There’s a sort of sheepfoldy/storage thing where it’s possible to park, and the stone is flushwith the ground, so easy to miss. It’s near a more conspicuous natural outcrop with a possible cup mark.

Strange anomaly in one of the stones here. It has a sort of ‘hole’ in its surface, revealing a chunk of crystally quartzy stuff. It tempted me to wonder if the whole stone was a big chunk of quartz, with a layer of something else covering the crystal. Admittedly not very likely, but an entertaining thought to mull over whilst moping about the stones in the pouring rain.

Couldn’t help but wish the HS enclosure fence was a bit larger, the poor stones seemed to be a bit hemmed in. But at least they’re being looked after.

If it wasn’t for the gate, wheelchair access would be a doddle, being as it is, right next to the road.

Visited this site a few years ago. When we arrived the sun was out and there was this guy sitting on the centre stone playing an acoustic guitar, it was really chilled out.

We went to look at the mounds, carried on into the next field and came upon a massive hole cut deep into the ground, and I mean massive. I thought it was maybe an old mine or something, it looked man made, odd thing is you could’nt really see it until you reached it.

After a while we made it back to the circle, the guitar player was gone and the sky was overcast, I was amazed at how sheltered the inside of the circle felt, no breeze, no sound, it was an incredibly calming experience like I had shut the door on the world and its worries.

This is a site I will visit again, many times.

Exactly located as in The Megalithic European, I was on the way to Reanascreena when I stopped for a coffee and saw these stones in Julian’s book. Going with my gut feeling I change my plans and I’m glad in a way.

The tallest of the group of three is superb, reminding me of the massive outlier next to Uragh stone circle, its nearest neighbour is wonderfully craggy and splintered. All the stones are well worn from cattle rubbing on their thin edges, the tall one is especially blade like.

The hedge beside the group of three is a top contender for most undesirable hedge of the year, being too close to appreciate the stones atop of the ridge and perhaps hiding remants of the rest of this monument. Some very large slabs are piled up beneath the bushes.

I was glad of the electric fence dividing the field in two, the bulls here were the most aggressive I’ve encountered, all stamping hoofs and snorting nostrils. Beware they aren’t grazing in the same field as the stones because you cant see most of the field from the gate which looks like its part time electrified too.

The weather brightened up as I was leaving and I had to enjoy the sunset in the Cork traffic...

The excavation of Drombeg by Fahy (JCHAS 1959) revealed that the entire inner area of the circle was covered with a gravelled floor layer up to 10cm thick. The modern surface is therefore not only highly practical but also in keeping with the original design – perhaps for similar reasons.

The main motif is clear enough, but the others are rather faint. It’s north facing position isn’t exactly the best to show up the fainter carvings, as it looks as if it’s usually in the shadow of the building.

It’s worth a visit, as the centre has a nice little exhibition of local finds, not many, but recompense for this exists in the form of the various informative video screens detailing the heritage of the valley, with a strong emphasis on archaeology. It’s a good spot to start from if you want to explore the high density of reasonably well preserved prehistoric settlement nearby. Also a good spot to pick up a replica bronze age pot, should you like such things.

I have been meaning to visit this for some time, I only live 12 miles away in Bradley Stoke. Why are we reluctant to look in our own backyard?