Latest Fieldnotes

Ah, yes, the Chalice Well theme park and gardens. ;o)

To be honest, I wasn’t overly impressed with the well itself, and all it’s concrete gullies and gutters... The gardens themselves are rather nice, and worth a visit, but I feel that this is one of them there places that have had the soul sucked out of them.

It all seems a little commercial. Several old people “om"ming on benches; More concrete. It’s really just a part of the big Glastonbury hype.

I like Glastonbury, I really do, but it does seem to cash in rather heavily on all this Arthur stuff. (Nah, really?) I know what I’m trying to say, anyway...

I know I’m not alone here: it seems that the less well (ahem) known sites are the ones that retain the atmosphere. Regarding wells, my favourite and the most peaceful ones I’ve visited have all been a little out of the way, seldom visited (you can just sense it, OK?!) and hardly touched. Alsia well and the Fairy Well are perfect examples of this. No concrete. No admission fee. No old people “om"ming. Just peace and tranquility. And mighty fine tasting water!

Anyway...

Visited 15th August 2003: I’ve not walked up to this fort but I’ve seen it many times from the road. It looks like there’s a distinctive winding path leading up to it on the south side. There were people coming down it when I took the photo, but I’ve no idea whether there’s public access or not.

The site was adapted into a motte and bailey castle during the Middle Ages (Castell Cadwaladr).

If the excavations by Bateman were anything near like the drawing it is difficult to believe that the stones or anything else are in situ. A nice landscape to catch the sunset, I recommend that this is your last visit of the day

A fine place, no strange farmers giving us the eyeball and for 10 minutes we had the place to ourselves. Perfect. I found myself wondering if we could just put the stones upright again, would it shed more light on how the place fitted in with it’s surroundings. There is a curving avenue-like earthwork from the border mound heading off in the general direction of Gibb Hill (probably only a mediaeval field boundary).
I believe that it is the Stonehenge of the North. It has most of the defining features- big stones, central stones, pronounced ditch and mound, and the burial mounds of it’s contemporaries.

If you park right down on the road, don’t forget your 50ps otherwise you’ll have along walk back to the car (as someone did while we were there).

Visited 8th August 2003: More of a drie-by than a visit. Having been to The Longstone and Parc y Garreg I pursuaded Lou that this barrow was really worth trying to spot from the road. My main interest was it’s name, and that fact that it had a name.

The barrow can be viewed from the road that runs to the south east of it, but not the road to the west. There is also a possible henge just to the south (SN177122) but judging by the map this may now be underneath the road.

Visited 8th August 2003: Parc y Garreg is not visible from the road because of an enormous hedgerow. The field it stands in is not directly accessible from the road either, but is adjoined by a field that has a gate onto the road.

The stone stands close to a hedgerow that runs north-south, and when I visited it was surrounded by cattle. One heifer called 1-93 seemed to be particularly fond of the stone, and was clearly reluctant to budge just because I was there. Making the best of the situation I decided she would provide me with some scale for my photos (after all she did get there first).

Visited 8th August 2003: The Longstone sits in a field just south of the village. There’s no public footpath to the stone, but when we visited there were no crops in the field, so I wondered in to take a closer look at it.

The stone isn’t enormous, but it’s pale colouration makes it stand out from a distance. The field is surrounded by relatively tall hedges, so it’s almost impossible to spot it from the road. The power lines that run to the north of Longstone village dominate the skyline, and make for a contrasting backdrop to the stone.

Access is very difficult! Starting from the Longstone Cove, there is a bridlepath leading down the side of the nearest house to the west. After 100 yards or so I guess, the long barrow is in the field to the left. There is a rough hedge along the edge of the track and no clear access but, with difficulty, we were able to squeeze through a thin patch in the hedge.

Monday 15 September 2003
Having managed to get into the field where the overgrown long barrow stands, it was clear that it was quite damaged.

Squeezing through the trees and bushes on the remaining segment I was able to see that from its height, this must have once been a pretty damn sizeable barrow. This only made it clearer that each end has been badly ploughed out and basically destroyed.

Not much else to say really.

Access visible from the road and on reasonably even flat ground. Very short walk. May be in crop at some times.

Monday 15 September 2003
To find the stones follow Julian’s instructions in the big papery TMA. If you don’t have the book and are not too ashamed, Kammer has reproduced the directions here.

When we visited there were 2 active excavation pits. But by the time we arrived the excavations had finished for the day and there were just a few people stood around chatting and a very ‘professional-looking’ (for want of better words) dowser...well, dowsing...!

The excavations and the resulting piles of rubble gave the place a bit of a bizarre feel, making it feel almost like we were in the middle of a quarry rather than a very well cultivated field!

But, oh what stones these are!!

This was another site I had been looking forward to visiting for some time, ever since I discovered that it wasn’t the same ‘Cove’ as I’d visited at Avebury itself 8 or more years before. (Yes, I’d got the wrong end of the stick at some point!!! Just call me ThickyMoth.) I wasn’t disappointed!!!

With the sun getting pretty low, the light on the heavily textured and pitted stones (especially the larger, squarer ‘Adam’) was stunning and beautiful. And it’s just so easy to imagine the Beckhampton Avenue stretching off back towards Avebury. If only we didn’t have to imagine....

Wednesday 17 September 2003
Visited the circle again, this time in order to take Jane there. After a while examining the remains of the circle we retired to the east, where Jane spent some time around the large outlier and I just lay back and enjoyed the view.

Before long it was time to move on, so I quickly went (seriously, believe it or not) to see if there was a tree I could climb to get an aerial view of the stones. Couldn’t find one I could even vaguely attempt! If only Jane had known about the circle when she was airborne only a few days previously!

Access a signposted ‘byway’ runs down the side of the field where the stones are. You can just about make out some of the stones from it and there is a small space to park just off the road. Unfortunately access to the circle is by climbing over either a barbed wire fence or an overgrown stile from the road (after crossing the roadside ditch...).

Monday 15 September 2003
We headed north from Avebury along the A4361, taking a left turn to go through Winterbourne Bassett itself. A short distance out of the village as the road continues north west there is a crossroads with a lane to the left and a ‘byway’ to the right.

There is a massive stone clearly visible right next to the road, on the far side of the left turn. You can’t miss it because it stands on a fairly high bank up to the field beyond. The stone circle is in the field diagonally opposite, on the right of the byway.

We turned right, just onto the beginning of the byway, where there is a little space where we could park without causing an obstruction.

Out of the car I could glimpse a couple of stones in the field to the right, looking pretty unimpressive, as some people had warned me they would.

As John went down the track to find a spot to climb over the barbed wire fence, I spotted a rather overgrown ladder stile in the near corner of the field, coming over the fence from the road.

Once in the field and approaching the stones I had seen from the track, I became a little bemused. Although all remaining stones are fallen, the circle was much more obvious and complete than I had expected. And most strikingly, the stones were considerably bigger than I’d expected!

I’d agree with the reports that say that there are 3 stones in a distinct arc, and add that there is a fairly small one stuck within what appears to be the area of the circle. But it seemed to me that the stones give very obvious impression of the full circle.

I wish I’d counted the damn things now, as I’m almost sure there were 5 on the circumference of a circle as well as the one inside the arc.

What there absolutely definitely is, is a huge stone to the east as well as the stone stood on the opposite side of the road. These 2 seemed to me to be more or less equidistant from the circle stones, suggesting that they could be corresponding outliers....

Access pretty short distance (a few hundred yards?) along a fairly rough field edge track.

Monday 15 September 2003
Well I’ve been to a fair few damaged, ruined, wrecked and virtually non-existent circles, but this is right up there with the most underwhelming. Still worth a visit though.

As well as the general lack of stones, it’s difficult to even imagine which direction the circle would have lain, though I felt the angle of the stone gave a strong clue. My mate John wasn’t so sure – making the point that the stone only needs to have moved a relatively tiny amount to be totally misleading....

I feel sorry for anyone who doesn’t know exactly what they should expect! I knew exactly what to expect and if it wasn’t for the little ‘Pogles Wood’ style sign by the remaining stone, I still might have been disappointed!

Access the main car park is on the edge of the village itself but as the village is small, this isn’t much of a problem. Don’t think there are any problems with gates from the car park, though some of the others scattered around the different segments of the circle may be a bit narrow and ‘unforgiving’.

Much of the ground inside the henge is easily pretty easily negotiable, being reasonably even and grassed. Guess busy parts might be muddy in sustained wet weather. Don’t think there’s a very convenient alternative to the steps near the National Trust shop when rejoining the circle itself.

Monday 15 September 2003
It was great to finally get an excuse and the chance to revisit Avebury – only my second visit, and my first as an obsessive megarak.

Such was the thrill of walking along the West Kennett Avenue for the first time, that I was quite expecting Avebury itself not to live up to my recollections and expectations. But I needn’t have worried....

It’s a ‘what can I say...’ site if ever there was one! There’s just so much of it, so much too look at, so much to take in, so much to think about!

I want to live there & each evening the weather’s decent, I want to take a bottle of Old Peculiar and sit by a different stone to slowly drink in and savour the beer and the place simultaneously.... And when I’d done ‘em all, I’d start again. Reckon I could pass a few years that way.

Big henge. Big circle. Big trees. Big sky. BIG ATMOSPHERE. About the only thing that’s (mercifully) small is the village. And even though the crowds were fairly big too, the bigness of the place compensated comfortably for that too.

Oh, and the stones!!!!!!!!! Big, big, BIG, BIG stones. So much bigger in the flesh than in photos, pictures or my memory or imagination!!!

And the whole thing is so much BIGGER than my vocabulary that I think I’d better shut up now.

Access layby at ‘West Kennett end’ of Avenue. Through kissing gate. Undulating but smooth grass surface for length of Avenue. Also visible from road for whole distance, but feeling of procession needs to be experienced if at all possible.

Monday 15 September 2003
This is actually the first time I’ve been back to Avebury itself since 95ish. I visited quite a few of the more ‘outlying’ sites in July this year, but other than that, my visit around 95 was my only one. (Don’t think it’ll be so long until my next visit....)

I’ve really been racking my brains to think why I didn’t walk or even really look at the Avenue on that previous visit. And I’ve been doing it ever since seeing some decent photos of it years ago!

Having looked at the fieldnotes on this website, it seems that I’m maybe not as unusual as I thought. There are far fewer than I expected, and I was astonished when I read the notes made by Rhiannon – I’ve had to rewrite the following to avoid too much duplication!!! The fact that they were made so recently and that the Avenue had been a site that Rhiannon had previously ‘missed out’ is almost spooky.

What she says in particular about the serpentine route and the feeling of ‘rightness’ in approaching Avebury this way is expressed so much better than I could have done it! So here comes some gibberish which is all I can find to add...!

So. WOW. West Kennett Avenue at last eh? High expectations? You bet. Met? You’d betta believe it!

What a buzz! It started in the car when we passed the 2 stones back along the road towards West Kennett, before you reach the remaining Avenue proper. And it hasn’t ended yet, 6 and a half days later.

It’s just so...effective...as a way to approach Avebury itself. The undulating ground and the meandering Avenue just add so much to the feeling of anticipation! And so many of the stones are such beautiful and interesting shapes!

Thanks for your fieldnotes Rhiannon! You saved me so much time and effort it’s almost untrue!!!

Access none at present due to well documented subsidence and English Heritage’s inability to get its finger out. May be able to walk around it at ground level. Can view from road. (And various other points around the area!)

Monday 15 September 2003
This is one of those ‘what the hell can I say that hasn’t been said?’ places isn’t it? One thing I have to mention however is that my ass is numb from kicking myself for not walking up the damn thing back in 95 or whenever it was....

What the bl**dy hell DO English Heritage think they’re playing at?

Most impressively viewed (in my opinion) from the hill above and to the west of East Kennett Long Barrow, the field below West Kennett Long Barrow, the bank of the Kennett on the way from Avebury, from Windmill Hill and, best of all, coming round the top of Waden Hill from Avebury.

Access kissing gate I think. Slightly rough path up to barrow, but path is being re-jigged at the moment. Walk is around 10 minutes if you’re reasonably fit I guess.

Monday 15 September 2003
Haven’t been up here for years. Only took about 3 photies before, as I was only just getting interested in stones ‘n’ bumps. Unfortunately had a frustrating time with the camera this time, as our visit coincided perfectly with a (small but big enough!) coachload of tourists....

Must admit I was probably a bit less impressed this time than I expected, having seen numerous other barrows and burials of many kinds since that first visit. It remains an absolute classic though and seems quite a bit bigger than East Kennett (I know it’s not).

So, here follow some banal comments, for the record. It really is a very long barrow, isn’t it? And I suspect it takes quite a few visits to get used to the sheer size of the entrance stones. Smaller inside than I remembered. Oh yeah, the skylights spoil it a bit I think.

Access through kissing gate. Well kept and smooth grass area around the markers.

Monday 15 September 2003
Ha! Got my head a lot further round it this time! For some reason (no other visitors, maybe) I could visualise and imagine the whole thing much better.

Was also able to spend a while spotting the other visible Avebury ‘monuments’ properly this time! Still missed the West Kennett Avenue which I didn’t realise you could see. (Thanks FourWinds! I’m in a huff now!)

Access I think the gate at the bottom of the track opposite Clatford Farm is OK, but it could be a kissing gate. Think the main gate might’ve been unlocked anyway though (sorry, I don’t seem to have had my useful-observation head on that day...!)

The walk is not terribly long (15 minutes for me and I’m reasonably fit) but the track is pretty rutted and often very muddy. The final part of the path is overgrown (not too badly this time...) and access to the field is over a (low) bit of a barbed wire fence/stile arrangement, so not very handy! The dolmen can be seen fairly clearly but not closely from the path.

Monday 15 September 2003
Nice to see the dolmen again, but without the strange (to me) chest high ‘bean-like’ crop it had in July. I do like this spot and could return again and again. It’s such a short walk I’ll probably come just about every time I visit Avebury!

Worth reporting that in common with some others, my friend John felt that the concrete ‘repairs’ spoil the site. It doesn’t really bother me that much. It’d be better if it had been done more subtly, but it’s such a nice place and a wackily distorted dolmen that I still like it very much.

Access as it’s in the middle of Marlborough College, the areas leading to the Mound are all pavement and tarmac. Other than if you want to climb the Mound it doesn’t necessitate any steps, unless you wanted to view it from the chapel that backs onto the road.

Monday 15 September 2003
Visiting for the second time (this time when the students/pupils were about) I get the impression that most people’d only stop you if you were acting exceedingly suspiciously. Walking purposefully probably helps as may (in this context) carrying a camera!

This time I had time to climb the mound, and as Baz has said it’s well worth it. It seems even bigger from the top, and apart from owt else, you can see the (from here, rather small) 19th century Marlborough White Horse.

Also had time this time to walk round the mound and found that there are some quite nice views of it from the side nearest the college churchy-thing.

Still a bit of a shame it’s covered in trees. And a hell of a shame it’s surrounded by the bl**dy college buildings! I’m surprised they didn’t build the college gym on top of it! (Ah, but then where’d they have put the water tank...?)

Access sorry to say I can’t really remember, but here are my vague impressions.... It’s got a big car park and I reckon you can have at least a bit of a look around without having to go up steps or over stiles.

There might possibly be a gate or 2 that could be a bit awkward for wheelchairs. The ground is certainly fairly uneven in places and being a hillfort, there are some reasonably steep bits. The one thing I DO remember is that the (pretty helpful) info boards about the fort & settlement are on a raised platform that I’m pretty sure can only be reached by steps.

Monday 15 September 2003
I’d better start by saying that I know even less about hillforts, settlements and enclosures the like than I do about other stuff. And I don’t regard myself as very knowledgeable about the other stuff!

I must admit that they don’t interest me as much. I’m sure I’m missing out, but try as I might I can’t find the same ‘glamour’ and ‘mystique’ as at a stone circle or stone row, a long barrow or dolmen.

I do like ‘em though!!!

Probably the least surprising and certainly the first thing that struck me was that the views are stunning – looking out as Crickley Hill does, over miles and miles of plain, the Severn Valley and on to the Malverns. (Yes, it has those boards to show you notable places in the landscape, otherwise I’d not have known what I was looking at....)

The earthworks of the enclosure are fairly impressive, but I have to say that the mounds and dips where the settlements were left me fascinated but bemused. Couldn’t really work out what was going on there, even with the help of the informative info boards. Perhaps it was just me.

I ended up simply enjoying wandering around for half an hour, looking and wondering. It’s good for you sometimes I think – much better than giving yourself a headache trying to get your head round stuff that just won’t sink in.

Certainly a highly significant and interesting place and I’m heartily glad to have been there! Wouldn’t mind going back for another look sometime.

The biggest stones we saw all day, and they are big. We were concerned however about whether we we on private land and unwelcome visitors, ah well, I’ve got fast legs! Check out the stone in the wall towards Robin Hoods. Burl says the major moon rises between the ears of Pink Panther (Robin Hoods Stride)

It’s there and it’s conspicuous and I would think that it’s an outlier, I didn’t check for alignments though.

It does look a bit like a hippo (as Burl suggests) but it looks more like the Pink Panther. What a landscape, loved it as soon as I looked at it from the lane. I aim to spend more time there, perhaps with a picnik. I want to see the major moon rise between the ears!

If you can get a silent moment, and a non-windy one climb it. You can see for miles up here.....

Sticks out like a sore thumb from the eastern pathway to Nine Ladies. Mound of a cairn in the centre