Latest Fieldnotes

The two stones are in a fenced enclosure about 50m from the road....Unsure of public access, but there is a large gate into the field where the stones are.
Nowt much to say about ‘em really...one stands, the other don’t.

This stone struggles to be noticed....built into a drystone wall and covered by brambles.
The stone is opposite a line of terraced houses on the main road through Bladnoch....It can be tricky to spot.....(look for the top of the stone as it is higher than the wall).

We visited on 2nd October 2003

First, our access notes to assist disabled people

Finding the Druids’ Circle: You can approach the circle from Ulverston, via the A590 to Bardsea, then take a steep right turn half a mile after the village, just before “Sea Wood” – the circle is about half a mile along this road on the right, after the wood ends but before a sharp left turn – look out for 2 grassy areas in the bracken on the right side of the road. Or approach via Great Urswick (an interesting village around a tarn) and on unfenced roads over Birkrigg Common. When you reach Sunbrick Farm from this direction, the road bends right after all the farm buildings and there are 2 waymarked tracks on the corner. Pass these, you will soon come to 2 grassy areas in the bracken on the left, where you can park.
Parking: On short, sheep-grazed grass – quite level.
Toilets: Nearest disabled people’s toilets are probably in Ulverston, 4 miles away.
Access to the stones: Take the right hand path of the 2 paths onto the common. The Inner part of the Druids’ Circle is 200 yards along this path – hidden by bracken until you are very near. This is a fairly wide path, slightly inclined with a bumpy surface in places. It is covered with very short, well-grazed grass. Manual wheelchair users may need assistance. There are no stiles or gates.
Cost: There is no charge.
The area seemed popular with local dog walkers.

Bright sun, stillness and hazy views over the estuary. The circle was warm on this west-facing slope, even in October! The inner circle is small, with very white, limestone stones varying in size up to 4 feet in height, some were flat and some were split. The circle seems sheltered, with amazing views of Birkrigg common and the estuary, limestone pavements and, what we thought were 2 churches – but we now think one was Conishead Priory, a Buddhist monastery and retreat centre. We did not find out until we got home that there was the remnants of an outer circle.

We visited Little Meg on 29th September 2003.

Firstly, our access notes for disabled people:

Finding Little Meg – Little Meg is not easy to find, but we hope this helps. From Little Salkeld take the road to Gamblesby. Continue past the turning for Long Meg on your left, pass Tarn Farm and a strip of woodland on the left side of the road. There is a gap in the woodland, where there are 2 field gates and a wide grass verge. Little Meg is approached through the first field gate (the other is overgrown).
Parking: on the wide grass verge near the gate entrance, quite level, short grass.
Toilets: Nearest disabled people’s toilets are probably in Penrith, approximately 9 miles away
Access to the stones: through the first field gate (with heavy spring catch), Little Meg is 175 yards down a wide, grassy field headland – keep the edge of the wood directly on your left. You should see Little Meg, a small low circle, from the gate. Although the land is more level than Long Meg, we think the route could be prone to get muddy after rain – wheelchair users may need assistance. The land immediately surrounding the circle is bumpy.

Little Meg is a very small, low circle with a slightly unkempt air. Very peaceful and quiet. One of the stones has good carved spirals.

Visited 29th September 2003

Firstly, our access notes for disabled people

Parking: There is a small parking scoop
Toilets: Nearest disabled people’s toilets are probably in Penrith, approximately 7 miles away
Access to Long Meg: The Long Meg standing stone is approximately 100 yards from the car parking scoop, across longish, bumpy grass (watch out for cow pats!). Manual wheelchair users may need assistance. There are no gates or stiles. There is immediate access to the stone circle from the narrow tarmac road that runs through the middle of the circle, though getting around the whole circle may be difficult as some of the ground is uneven (the circle is large – over 100 yards diameter)
Cost: There is no charge.
The stones are large and well-spaced, though some of the ground around the stones is uneven.
There were 3 other groups of visitors, during the 40 minutes that we spent with Long Meg and her daughters.

There is something very domestic about the setting of this circle, as it is surrounded by trees and has a narrow road running through it, which leads to the farm at the far side of the field. There is also something very complete – a clear circle, with Long Meg herself watching over her daughters from the top of the slope. The spirals on Long Meg are fairly clear and complete – slightly surprised at this as it is usually the spirals on Little Meg that are written about. The rain held off whilst we visited her, though it was cool, breezy and overcast. Dorothy felt like Meg was waiting for visitors and she was very energised by her.

Well, this is our first attempt at a fieldnote, so bear with us! We are Dorothy and Lucy and we aim to include useful information on access for disabled people in our notes. We are both disabled people ourselves.
We visited Castlerigg on 29th September 2003.

Note – Car Access via Castle Lane from the A591 Thirlmere Road is very narrow with no passing places. We recommend access from
the A66 (from Penrith) – follow the signs to Castlerigg from here. We have not tried the route from Keswick, via A5271 and “Eleven Trees” minor road .
Car parking – there is a long, lay-by (prone to puddles if wet).
Nearest disabled people’s toilets – Keswick (approx 2 miles away)
Access to the stones – cross the road, access the field through 3 separate wheelchair-user accessible gates (though they do self-close). The circle is approximately 100 yards across a grass field, up a slight incline. Manual wheelchair users may need assistance. The grass is kept quite short by grazing sheep.
Cost -The site is owned by the National Trust, payment by donation.
The stones are spaced in a way that access between them is quite easy. (Thanks to the Ancients – who were obviously taking access into account!). The circle is approximately 100 feet in diameter.
Note: there is not much opportunity for solitude as there is a constant stream of visitors. We were told, on an earlier visit, that early morning or the evening would be best.

We arrived mid-day on Lucy’s 40th birthday amidst descending gloom and cloud cover on the tops – light rain but not very cold. Our hearts sank as the layby looked very busy and there were several parties of people at the stones. As if by magic, they all disappeared a couple of minutes after we arrived and we managed to get a few minutes with the stones on our own. The stones are very cuddly, inviting and female – and in this amazing setting. The sky brightened slightly and the full awesomeness (is there such a word?) of the setting was revealed – St John’s-in-the-Vale, Skiddaw, Blencathra, High Rigg, Castlerigg Fell, High Scar and the other surrounding mountains. The magic of the place made me grin from ear to ear – says Lucy.

Finding and locating this tomb has become a personal quest for me bordering on obsession! I first read about a 2nd chambered barrow on the notice board at the pikestones which mentioned the pikestones was one of only two chambered tombs ever found in the Lancashire area. So where was the other one I asked myself? I started a forum posting here called the missing tomb and got help from some of the members here (special thanks to rivington pike and hob) and also got help from a chap at LCC who kindly pointed out two possible sites of interest (I’m still investigating the third and will post results of my finds there too).
Back to the main event though there’s lots of archaeology surrounding the chamber some old, some a little more modern. Too much to photograph but I never expected an intact chamber as id seen other structures close by which could have been it , so I resigned myself to the fact it was on of those structures, which made me feel mildly disappointed at not being able to pinpoint it.
I was running around in the background taking photos as usual whilst my lady was enjoying the view, I decided to go over to her and contemplate the view too, as I did I stumbled across the chamber. I was blown away and just froze for several seconds what a find! A completely intact chamber fantastic! we both were delighted a truly wonderful find, more than we expected after seeing the sad state the pikestones were left in.
The chamber is roughly orientated east with back of the mound roughly west (I had no compass at the time) so don’t quote me on that! A great sense of peace surrounds you inside it has a very womby effect indeed after the wind blowing you on the plateau.
Although I’m happy to share this find please ensure care and respect around these monuments id hate anything to happen to this place, id feel partly responsible for bringing the monument to other peoples attention, but I guess its lasted this long and I know your all good people on here so enjoy!

This is a lovely set of sites. Drive up through Bagbie onto the aptly named Blackmire Moor and use the cow byre as your starting point. Stu & I picked our way through the mud onto the field behind the byre and walked up the stone. From here were crossed over towards the tall drystone wall with the dark quarry in the background. On the other side of the wall you’ll find the cairn and a sweet four poster. The cairn appears to have two portal stones. You’ve gotta take in the whole scene and imagine that the wall doesn’t exist, the circle, the portalled cairn and the stone make a sweet little trio. Well worth a look.

I was full of anticipation before visiting this huge circle. It was to be my last contact with the Cumbrian great circles before I headed west towards the Solway coast.
I also liked the story Burl tells about how a farmer was rebuked for removing one of the stones. The farmer answered that it was only Judas that had been removed.
Burl describes the site as being divided by a hedge and spoiled in atmosphere. The hedge has now gone but the atmosphere is still spoiled.
The stones are huge but the soul of the circle has gone.
You should visit this circle to check out the megalithic engineering of setting up this vast circle on a terrace above Dumfries.
There are some lovely mineral veins in a number of the stones.

This is really quite a delightful site. Very close to the centre of the bustling market town of Petersfield, an area of sandy heath with a large lake. No better place to play the game of “Spot the barrow” as some stand proud, dominated by noble trees, others lurk shyly in light woodland and some seem to stand guard over the boundary of the little cricket pitch. One or two are difficult to distinguish as there are a few natural tiny hills in the area. To the SW,the dominant Butser Hill. A charming place to exercise the dogs/children, to do a bit of fishing and to search for a distant past.

Disabled: Excellent. Dedicated parking and flat access to the Millennium Walk which encircles the lake. Short cropped grass walks traverse the site with very gentle gradients.

Stu and I were in total agreement when it came to selecting sites that we must get to on this trip.
High Banks was a must.
Sometimes you try not to anticipate a site because it may fail to live up to your expectations but this isn’t the case with High Banks.
Drive all the way to High Banks Farm you can park and the footpath to the rocks is marked. As you climb the hill you can see the outcrop in front of you. There’s a small quarry in the outcrop and a modern plaque has been placed on a plinth.
The carvings are breathtaking and increase in complexity as you move along the rock.
As well as the multitudes of cups and lovely rings there are pecked out channels that appears more broader than what you would expect. The large carving with the grouped cups and large central cup and rings uses the contour of the rock to increase it’s visual and textural impact. It looks like a partially exposed fossil Ichthyosaur skull.
This is rock art taken to another level. This is a well designed motif which I would like to think was the work of one person, a dude/ette who got fed up with cups and rings and decided to produce something a bit more contemporary.
I bet all his mates took this piss out of him for it too!
This is one site that you should definitely see and feel.

What can I say about the Long Man him/herself?

At first sight, up close, it will be a disappointment, consisting, as it does, of concrete blocks painted white. For me the real delights of this site lie above him on Windover Hill, and I have added these as associated sites.

The best way to experience the Long Man, in my view, is to sit on the flat platform to his/her right, formed from the spoil of a small chalk pit, and picnic/chill/meditate/whatever takes your fancy and involves sitting there.

This is a site where I have attended many open druid rituals and it is a wonderful setting. After a while those concrete blocks begin to speak to you….

Driving to John O’ Groats via the A9, we came upon this broch, right next to the road on the east. It is very easily accessible, but one must watch for it, as there are no signs that mark the broch. Despite the name, this site is, as mentioned, a broch. Finer examples of brochs surely exist, but the ruin is still most certainly worth visiting. Apparently, at first excavation, it appeared to be a cairn; upon further excavation, however, it was discovered to be a broch. I have read on several websites that it was the Duke of Sutherland who originally started exacavation. A lovely broch, in a resplendent setting. Dunrobin Castle can be seen across the waters. Interior wall-stairs remain intact to perhaps 3 metres or less. I was pleasantly surprised with this little known broch.

This was a crazy one.....the sun was low in the sky and lit the carvings up perfect but when the sun went behind the clouds awhile the cup & rings went with it..

This is a crackin’ site. We approached from Wigton seeing the stone row first.
The setting of the circle is beautiful, we’d been looking at circles in the hills and this made a lovely constrast with it’s setting on it’s own platform in the fertile fields of the Machars.
The circle is in excellent nick and draws you into itself and the landscape.
As we travelled through the landscape we began to realise that a lot of these monuments are orientated NE-SW, this goes for the nearby row and the possible row in the cowfield.
Burl draws comparisons between the centre stone and it’s flankers with the Recumbant circles of NE Scotland.

The hole in the stone has been ground-out from both sides leaving a pair of funnels.
I love stones with holes in ‘em.
A good sized fella, worth a look.

A nice enough little stone, about 1m high.
Stands at the head of two valleys in the hills above Whaley Bridge.

This platformed cairn is a good size and worth a look if your passing.
The side that faces the road looks a bit robbed-out but it’s overall shape and condition is good.
It stands beside the B7079 on the outskirts of Newton Stewart.

These two sites are intervisable with each other. I’m not sure as to the chronology of the tombs but I would guess that the uphill tomb was the first as it commands a better view.
If you try really hard and the light is on your side, you can just make out the large cup and ring carving on the capstone of No.1

The easiest way of getting to these stones is to use the gate opposite the lovely lake and follow the field boundary uphill and turn left halfway up the second field.
As Stu says, not a lot of character to this confused, probable, four poster.

It’s a bit of a boggy ‘shortish’ trek over the moorland near Cambret Farm to this circle.....but even after getting the shoes sucked off of my feet it in the mud it was well worth it....(nice one Fitz for digging it out).

Eight low stones surround an egg shaped central stone, the ruined little brother of Glenquickan, which stands over the otherside of Cambret Hill. Excellent views of the surrounding hills.

It takes a minute or two to spot the stone coming from Bagbie and the south west but once you move up the road you can look back and see the stone cutting the horizon.

I’m not sure if this is a known site. I’ve found no record of it, yet.
We noticed it as we were walking back to the beach from the burial chamber.
The sun was dropping and just caught the rock revealing a group of faint cup and rings on the western edge of an outcrop.
A nice end to our trip.

This lovely little site can be found in a lush meadow on Newton Farm.
It appears to have been a stone-lined rectangular box with a standing stone at each corner. It’s a bit tumbled down but quite recognisable. Nice views over the sea and the broody hills.

Have to agree with Moey....the views back down onto the Glenquickan circle are great.
Beware of trying to shorten the journey back to the car park next to the bridge, the ground is very boggy....try it and you might get to sample the delights of trenchfoot.
The cist and its graffiti covered cap stone are worth seeing.....and it’s only a short walk from the circle.