Latest Fieldnotes

With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.

Tuesday 27th Jan 2004

Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}

Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.

You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.

The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.

Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?

Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.

Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.

Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.

Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.

I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.

I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}

I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.

THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.

The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.

28th January 2004

Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.

Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.

From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).

Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.

Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.

The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.

After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}

Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.

Going out of Kirkwall you obtain a key (weekdays only) from Ortak Jewellery that sits at the corner of Hatston Industrial Estate. In the estate take the second road on your left and then at the second junction on your right, the bottom end of Scott’s Road, lies the earthhouse.

There have been at least two sites of this type in the kilometre area, the present one at HY44131161 (RCAHMS NMRS record HY44SW 19) and another fully excavated ahead of a new road and car park at HY44181159 (RCAHMS NMRS record HY44SW 14).

This feature is on Durdham Down just off the Westbury Road not far from the Water Tower. It is possible for this to be an old Barrow, but it could also be the result of tree roots pushing the ground up. An old map-1889- shows Druidical Stones about three quarters of a mile away near Druid Stoke. Down load the pics and zoom in and see what you think.

Visted 25th August 2003: After the Braaid we went on to explore St Patrick’s Chair, which is easy enough to find. There’s space to park opposite the footpath, and a sign indicating which way to walk. Just keep heading up the hill, and don’t let the cows intimidate you. The path itself is really a track for vehicles, but still not ideal for visitors in wheelchairs because of the gates (might need a second set of hands) and cow pats.

The stones themselves are interesting, but they don’t look prehistoric. Nice views, but I was rather disappointed by the site itself. This looks to me like a Christian site, and that’s what the sign says. Ho hum.

With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.

Tuesday 27th Jan 2004

Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}

Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.

You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.

The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.

Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?

Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.

Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.

Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.

Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.

I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.

I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}

I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.

THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.

The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.

28th January 2004

Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.

Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.

From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).

Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.

Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.

The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.

After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}

Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.

With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.

Tuesday 27th Jan 2004

Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}

Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.

You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.

The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.

Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?

Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.

Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.

Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.

Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.

I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.

I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}

I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.

THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.

The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.

28th January 2004

Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.

Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.

From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).

Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.

Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.

The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.

After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}

Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.

With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.

Tuesday 27th Jan 2004

Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}

Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.

You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.

The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.

Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?

Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.

Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.

Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.

Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.

I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.

I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}

I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.

THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.

The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.

28th January 2004

Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.

Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.

From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).

Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.

Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.

The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.

After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}

Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.

With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.

Tuesday 27th Jan 2004

Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}

Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.

You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.

The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.

Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?

Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.

Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.

Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.

Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.

I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.

I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}

I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.

THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.

The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.

28th January 2004

Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.

Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.

From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).

Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.

Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.

The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.

After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}

Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.

With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.

Tuesday 27th Jan 2004

Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}

Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.

You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.

The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.

Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?

Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.

Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.

Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.

Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.

I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.

I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}

I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.

THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.

The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.

28th January 2004

Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.

Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.

From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).

Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.

Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.

The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.

After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}

Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.

With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.

Tuesday 27th Jan 2004

Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}

Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.

You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.

The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.

Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?

Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.

Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.

Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.

Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.

I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.

I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}

I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.

THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.

The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.

28th January 2004

Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.

Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.

From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).

Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.

Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.

The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.

After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}

Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.

The first point to note is that not all of these stones may necessarily be of prehistoric origin. There is however some evidence to suggest that at least one or two of them may be neolithic and/or may be linked with Cairnpapple.

There are four refuge stones found in the Bathgate Hills, a fifth if the ‘font’ stone at Torphichen Preceptory is included. There is a possibility that there is a sixth stone. All are said to be situated a mile from Torphichen Preceptory (WLDC, 198?) as measured from the ‘font’ stone found within the cemetery (Hendrie, 1986). Whether that is a Scot’s mile or standard, I don’t know. What I do know is that based on the grid references they range from 1-3 km from Torphichen Preceptory.

Torphichen Preceptory was a station of the Knights of St John Hospitallers of Jerusalem, established in 1124. There is no connection with the Knights Templar who were based at Kirkliston just west of Edinburgh.

In the TMA, nickbrand states:

‘Sanctuary Stones’ were at one time common in Scotland, mainly around large religious sites. Once a miscreant had entered within the bounds marked by these stones, he was considered ‘safe’ and could not be touched by civil law. It was then up to the religious experts to decide if he should be cast out! These stones were often of megalithic origin, re-used and ‘christianised’ by the incision of religious symbols.

THE GORMYRE REFUGE STONE

T. Ratcliffe Barnett (1943) discussing the Knights of St John and the Torphichen Preceptory, alludes to a stone:

“in a field below below Craigmailing Hill, beyond the ruins of the little farm called Haddies Walls”.

A map of 1891 (National Library of Scotland, cited in WLDC, 1991) shows Haddies Walls to be located exactly as described. T. Ratcliffe Barnett (1943) is obviously identifying the ‘Gormyre’ stone (as referred to in the TMA) lying directly west of Haddies Walls and identified on the modern 1:50,000 OS map (sheet 65) in gothic text as a ‘Refuge Stone’ (NS981730).

Interestingly, T. Ratcliffe Barnett (1943) implies that this is not one of the refuge stones as it lies well within the mile radius of Torphichen. The other refuge stones at Craigmailing (Refuge Stone), Couston and Westfield also loosely correspond with the points of the compass. The Gormyre stone seems slightly awry in this respect, the northern stone possibly the Lochcote Stone identified by T. Ratcliffe Barnett.

Is this a stone of a different origin from the other refuge stones?

THE CRAIGMAILING REFUGE STONE

A second stone is found at Craigmailing (NS997720) referred to in the TMA as the ‘Refuge Stone’ (just to confuse matters). The description of the stone in the TMA is accurate and the cross that is emblazoned upon it clearly links it with the Knights of St John of Torphichen.

Nickbrand goes on to describe a further stone nearby. I have to date been unaware of this stone and it does not appear to have been previously documented. There is however, another stone associated with the site, a glacial erratic located to the east of Craigmailing hill. It bears an inscription in memory of a covenanting minister and is often called the “preaching stone”. Despite some wear and tear, it reads as follows:

“Jan[uar]y 14th 1738. Here was pre[ache]d [th]e 1st Ser[mo]n by [th]e most worthy Mr Hunter, from [th]e 37th Chap[ter] of Ezek[iel], and [th]e 26th verse”.

(WLDC, 198?)

The 1891 map (National Library of Scotland, cited in WLDC, 1991) also identifies a stone cross at Lower Craigmailing. T. Ratcliffe Barnett (1943) does not comment upon this feature but does refer to a kirk foundation stone, found within the walls of Lower Craigmailing farm dated 1742. Hendrie (1986) seems incorrect in thinking that the stone cross is the memorial to this kirk.

A farm on the north-east slope of Craigmailing is known as ‘Wairdlaw’, a woodland nearby is known as ‘The Weirds’ and the gully that was to provide a natural amphitheatre for the presbyterian preaching of the covenanters is bounded by a crag known, rather ironically, as the ‘Witches Craig’. Is it possible that this gully was to host covens of a very different nature from the christian martyrs? I know of no associated tales connecting the site with witchcraft but it could be related to the ‘waird/weird’ nomenclature from nearby. Aside from the obvious connotations, weird is derived from ‘wyrd’, the Norse for fate. The witches could be the Maid, Mother and Hag associated with both Norse and Celtic myth.

Since the Iron Age and into the modern period Craigmailing can be seen to have a consistent record of association with worship of one sort or another. Each historical period has a religious link with the site; norse, medieval and covenanter. Such consistency strongly suggests that traditions may go further into the past if for no other reason than the topography of the site. As already stated there is a natural amphitheatre.

THE WESTFIELD REFUGE STONE

NS941723 by the papermill in Westfield. T. Ratcliffe Barnett (1943) places the stone within the woodland shelterbelt that separates the surrounding farmland from the papermill. I sought this stone in the mid-nineties without success. T. Ratcliffe Burnett claims to have found this stone (1925). It is possible this stone was engulfed by trenches dug during World War II (WLDC, 198?). Why anyone would want to dig defensive trenches at this location is beyond me? The woodland is still there, could the stone be?

THE COUSTON REFUGE STONE

NS958706 in the middle of an arable field south of Couston Castle (ruin). I sought this stone in the mid-nineties without success and nor was it there in the 1980’s (WLDC, 198?). There is a suggestion that the Couston site was lost through the clearance of stones from the farmland. T. Ratcliffe Burnett (1943) claims to have found this stone (1925) and it is featured on the 1891 map (National Library of Scotland, cited in WLDC, 1991).

THE TORPHICHEN (font) STONE

This stone may have originally come from Cairnpapple (Hendrie, 1986). The excavations of Cairnpapple in 1947 uncovered at least 5 stones with varying numbers of cup marks in association with the first Bronze Age cairn (HMSO, 1985).

Did the Knights of St John or someone else bring the “font” stone down from the hill to the Preceptory that sits beneath it? A chapel was founded by the pictish missionary St Ninian in the 4th century (Hendrie, 1986).

THE LOCHCOTE STONE

With regard to the refuge stones associated with Torphichen, T. Ratcliffe Barnett (1943) mysteriously alludes to a stone as follows:

“another in a little wood-enclosed field on the side of the avenue to Lochcote House”.

The precise location is unknown. Whether this stone remains at this location is also unknown. The grid reference supplied therefore relates to the location of the house.

There are no other accounts of this stone elsewhere. It could be that this is the northern refuge stone and that the Gormyre stone is actually something else.

REFERENCES

Hendrie, William F. (1986) Discovering West Lothian, John Donald Publishers Ltd., Edinburgh

HMSO (1986) Cairnpapple, Edinburgh

Ratcliffe Barnett T. (1943) Border By-Ways & Lothian Lore, John Grant Booksellers Ltd, Edinburgh

West Lothian District Council (1991), The Farmsteadings of the Bathgate Hills, Planning Dept, County Buildings, Linlithgow

West Lothian District Council (198?) The Bathgate Hills, Robert MacLehose & Co. Ltd. Scotland

This is a strange one. One of the largest round barrows in Lincolnshire and it doesn’t even appear on the OS Landranger maps, plus it has never been damaged by ploughing and there are no records of any excavation or signs of pillage. It sits on private land behind Hatcliffe Manor House but can be seen from the road that runs between Hatcliffe and Binbrook and from a farm track leading west from the road. Even from a distance it is large and impressive – the most impressive that I’ve seen in Lincolnshire (a county not renowned for its round barrows) being about 30 metres wide and 3 metres high although being on a slight rise it looks taller from some angles. The top seems to have been slightly levelled, whether this is how it was originally built or has been caused by wind and rain erosion over the centuries is unclear. It’s difficult to see what was going on here, there don’t seem to be any other barrows in the area apart from the earlier Ash Holt longbarrow a mile and a half to the northwest and there are more prominent locations nearby. The barrow can however be seen from a wide area and it also sits close to a 90 degree bend in the nearby Waithe Beck. Was this the reason for the position of the barrow?

This white crystalline Stone stands North of the church,it is shaped like a three sided cone.It was “re-erected” after lying recumbent. Near ground level there is a hole which makes me think the stone should still be recumbent--A possible Ballaun stone--. My picture of the hole did not come out,so next time-----.Any one visiting could perhaps take a pic and post it.

Described as a druidic temple on old maps, later as a cromlech (1891). It does not appear on present day O.S. maps.

Originally consisting of three stones supporting a larger fourth that was apparently broken before 1698. In its original form it is compared with the Chun Quoit in Cornwall.

Ratcliffe Barnett T in 1943 states that the cromlech was set within a stone circle. Unfortunately, he does not state his source and there is certainly no indication of a stone circle today.

This site is pretty neglected and a bit overgrown with rank grasses. It is also seems a wee bit lost in terms of location although I can’t explain why. It may be that the surrounding landscape may have been cleared of woodland and more open at the time of building or maybe it is the absence of other ancient features nearby.

Source: West Lothian District Council (198?) The Bathgate Hills, Robert MacLehose & Co. Ltd. Scotland

Source Ratcliffe Barnett T. (1943) Border By-Ways & Lothian Lore, John Grant Booksellers Ltd, Edinburgh

Though it is called a camp on the map, it is actually an Iron Age boundary dyke or an unfinished hillfort, depending on who you listen to. From the aerial photo on multimap I must admit that the latter seems more likely. There is also evidence in the link posted by wideford that further justifies this conclusion (Evidence of post-holes for example)

I have seen it from the road, or from Caburn just to the east, for years, but never visited it. I plan to remedy that soon...

Reduced now to a virtually imperceptible swell in a meadow, you have to be a real Long Barrow Detective (cue for TV series?) to even notice this let alone get excited by it. I walked its length. At some point it was very big, but this has melted away to almost nothing. What a bloody shame.

This is – or was – an absolute beauty. Ten metres longer than Belas Knap it shows signs of once magnificent side chambers, à la Belas Knap, perhaps as many as six of them. There was a lot of rubble underfoot, some still stacked up, which you could see if you lifted some of the leaf mulch and dug around a bit with your fingers But at some point it has been carelessly dug out. One single standing stone at its head end is all that’s left upright; 3 feet tall, 3 feet wide and only 6 inches thick.

Despite its terrible condition, I was really impressed with this place. I guess I have seen enough long barrows now to be able to fill in the blanks in my imagination.

You really wouldn’t want to come here in the summer when the undergrowth is at its height, the brambles turn it into Ankle Laceration City, even in winter.

Coming to the broch by the farmroad is easiest as there is a kind of platform there. I think the short wall-sections are gardenification like that which ‘lost’ us Peerie Howe further along the track. From this side you see a large excavation on the side of the broch and a kind of grassy track up the side.

On top the interior is all hollowed out. Looking over to the left is a distinct rectangular hollow. If not simply a later excavation pit this looks a likely intramural feature, either a chamber or the beginning of a stair. At the seaward side are further excavation traces. Apart from the flat ‘platform’ trackside the rest of the mound drops away in front of you. At the other side is another track going down, narrower and sharper and steeper.

Along the Deerness Road, at a place where it narrows and there is sea on either side, you will find Dingieshowe. To reach Dingieshowe Bay itself means passing through huge grass-covered sand dunes. The one standing on your right is actually Dingieshowe Broch, with a cental depression but not much else to tell it apart. The beach has two distinct sections, the sands in front of you and on the left a gorgeous pebbly beach for the geologists amongst us (strictly speaking the Bay of Dingieshowe and the Bay of Taracliff).

We drove right up the farm track and parked next to the field in which it lies. Reduced to an uncultivated patch in the distance, we didn’t dare walk over the field to see it for fear of becoming caked in mud up to our knees. I noted that the farm on which it stand is called Lad barrow farm, which may be why it still exists: you wouldn’t plough up the very thing your land was named after would you? Though big, from this distance it really is quite underwhelming, though its position on the highest land up here is stunning.

I posted the picture of the little circle to complement the one Goffik posted in 2002.It’s an oddity in the middle of the path on the way back to the road.When I saw his picture I remembered I had taken one some time ago,and forgotten about.

As a Sussex schoolboy I was always told that the Tump was a Calvary Hill, used by the monks of the nearby Priory as a punishment, the idea being that they had to carry a cross to the top. However, apparently a fragment of Neolithic bone was found when the new path was created, so that puts paid to yet another “lazy monk” theory of ancient-site creation, as far as this druid is concerned.

At some point in the late 19th or early 20th century Lewes Bowling Club, who own the site, decided to carve a huge chunk out of the side of the mound, in order to accommodate a bowling green. This act of vandalism also cut into the original spiral path, which originally began around the northwest sector and ran anti-clockwise to a small platform on the summit.

Most of the spiral path is still intact, and can be reached via the new tarmac path, which runs clockwise from the southeast sector. Once on the spiral path, you can leave the world of tarmac behind, and what remains of the spiral is a gentle and beautifully simple short stroll. However, the fact remains that this site is right on the edge of a built up area, and technically in the town, all the land to the south being taken up with sports pitches. Expect to find the evidence of teenage drinking at the top, as I have most of the times I have visited.

…Which brings us neatly on to the Hole.

The Hole is a square concrete-sided monstrosity which was dug into the top of the Tump at some point (I can only assume in the sixties) in order to hold the cross that Lewes Christians carry to the summit every Good Friday.

The rest of the year it holds empty lager cans (see picture).

I actually don’t begrudge them this tradition that much (The cross that is). It only stands there for a few days and actually looks quite impressive. In 2000 they re-enacted the crucifixion up there, leading “Jesus” through the town from Lewes Castle. I tagged along and found it fascinating, as an outsider.

What does really anger me is the way they leave this ugly concrete thing exposed for the rest of the year. A few years back local Pagans used to go up there, once the cross was gone, and fill in the hole again. Unfortunately this has to be a covert activity, due to the Bowling Club locking the gate from the car park in the evening, so I am naturally not advocating such action. That would, clearly, be wrong.

If you visit the Tump during the day you will not be hassled at all. Many people climb it in the daytime and this does not seem to be a problem. However, I remember climbing it to watch the midwinter sunset a few years back. Sitting there, minding my own business, I heard an upper class voice shout from below:

“Excuse me! What are you doing?!”

Two instincts fought for supremacy. The first said “Apologise at once and get orf their land!” The other said “What the hell does it LOOK like I’m doing?”

I looked at her as if she was mad and asked her what she meant, which she didn’t seem to have an answer for. She disappeared.

I have to admit to having not stayed too much longer after that. She had succeeded in spooking me, and the moment was lost. As I drove away I saw her again. She looked at me as if memorising my face for a police line-up. I looked back, I hope in the same way.

Another time, during the day, I faced the four quarters on the summit as part of a private druid working. No robes. No chanting. Just a bloke in jeans and t-shirt, facing four directions and lost in his own little world.

That was until I noticed a man who broke off from the bowling taking place below (On the green that cuts into the Tump) and, hands on hips, stared at me as if I was smeared in goat’s blood and howling to Satan.

Just be warned: this is the attitude you risk encountering if you stray onto the Lewes Tump after sundown or looking remotely “alternative”.

In summary the site is a bloody disgrace (albeit delightfully manicured), but sitting on the summit on your own, feeling the wind on your face, it is possible to forget that, for a little while at least.

Head out to the airport and past it you will come to the Mine Howe site on the left. Little to be seen on the surface apart from where they have exposed a section of ditch, above which lies the entrance to the famous bit. Not recommended for those prone to bad backs if my experience is anything to go by. To get in you have to go down a steel ladder. It isn’t as deep as the impression you will have gained from the literature – or maybe my spatial perceptions are awry. A good place for digital camera and flash. Mighty fine. If you don’t fancy the climb down there is a truncated version close by on another hillock, less sense of adventure but only a few steps down to the floor. (Not much further along the Deerness Road, at a place where it narrows and there is sea on either side, you will find Dingieshowe Broch. And about the same in the opposite direction at Campston is Veltikelday Broch.

At the west end of Stem Howe, one section of the dogleg aligns with the findspot of several thick-bodied clay urns at Breck Farm (HY50NW13), clipping the corner of what is presently believed to be the site of the former chapel, and the other section directs itself to a point between Long Howe and Mine Howe. From Round Howe you look to Long Howe, continue through Mine Howe and you would come to Breck Farm. So I would posit the farm as the settlement to which the other sites ‘belong’ .

A long minor road leads you to the Broch of Gurness on the headland . On this stretch of coast , facing Rousay of the fabulous tombs , are the remains of many brochs . But this is the only one viewable up close as a scenic site for visitors . Further down the road to Finstown lies the Tingwall road , and if you go down to the pier to catch a boat to Rousay just before you reach farm in front of the pier , on the left of the road lies Thing-Voll Broch . This is a lovely multi-period site , much excavated ; not just the broch alone but many houses and extensive turfed ditches

All the years that I have been in Orkney of all the major sites to look at I had never been to the Knowe of Onston, despite its lying alongside the main road just short of the Brig o’Waithe.

Somehow it looked insignificant and also I was put off by the thought of crawling through some damp passage. Then I saw a photo of the inside on a website and was surprised by the light and space. So one weekend two weeks later I finally paid homage to the Unstan Tomb, finding it to be just as the photo showed. Such a contrast to the Cuween Hill Cairn: there really was a short crawl, here more a shambling crouch, there the main compartment only fairly visible with a lantern, here apart (alas) for the side-chamber it was as if you were out in the open.

The place is refreshing to look at and in my limited opinion is as good as our stalled cairns get, short of a trip to Rousay. A couple visiting at the time were impressed by the use of red sandstone slabs.

I loved this place, though I don’t especially know why.

It felt very isolated, mostly explained by not being actually ON the Ridgeway or any public right of way, and I saw no one else there, despite staying for a while.

The path starts at the B4192 at SU218804. After climbing the hill you are directed around the side of a field on a permitted path.

The strange thing is that from the M4 Liddington looks quite nearby. The view north is dominated by urban sprawl of Swindon, and the new hospital was going up, which totally dominated the view. It must do so even more now it’s finished.

I wouldn’t have minded so much if I could have seen the County Ground...

There is a plaque at the north-eastern entrance, which reads:

“LIDDINGTON HILL
THE HILL LOVED OF
RICHARD JEFFRIES
AND
ALFRED WILLIAMS”

It’s probably just as well they can’t see the view now...