Latest Fieldnotes

Driving out in the blazing sunshine (again! yippee!) towards the soaring, dramatic cliffs of Ceibwr Bay we called in here. It lies up a track leading towards Penlan farm. You have to hold your nerve as you drive up the deeply tractor-rutted track and pray the undercarriage of your car isn’t removed by the central raised strip! Fearing it would be, we parked at a point wide enough to let a tractor through and got out and walked the last few hundred metres. Although it’s on private land, the construction of a wooden stile implied it was OK to go and view it. The great thick capstone, resembling a grand piano, is held up by only three of the five stones and looked a little precarious, but we liked this very much.

If you do get here, I urge you to continue on to Ceibwr Bay, 2 kms up the lane, where we sat blinkingly in the brightness, cooled by the breeze which whipped up great waves crashing into the wild contortions of the black slate cliffs. The cliffs were topped with grassy green ‘icing’ and great patches of pink sea thrift. See it!

The roundhouses blew me away, and the detail of the interiors was wonderous! I loved everything about this place, and apart from the lack of sunshine, it looked and smelled just like being back in an African village: the smoke seeping out through the deep thatched rooves, the inky blackness of the interior of the huts, the smouldering logs, the woven withy fences, the cow shite and mud walls, the dust underfoot, the rough branches holding up essential furnishings, the sense of constant activity needed to maintain the place; rethatching, weaving and so on. I would have been quite happy ‘surviving the iron age’. I felt quite at home here and it rekindled my spirits.

Massive ditches and ramparts enclosed a small interior centre, but a quarter of the earthwork had apparently been ploughed up in the 1950s so its sense of enclosing anything at all was now lost. I liked this place a lot.

As its on private land, ask the farmer before you enter, as you might disturb his bullocks.

...a single menhir about 6 or 7 feet high with her square footprint in a pool of boggy water with marsh grass growing jauntily up against it. Charlie Dimmock couldn’t have produced a more picturesque water-feature. Indeed, so stately and serene was this menhir, in her own little pool, we felt she looked like the lady of the lake.

I was on my way to Waylands and spotted this in Ashbury. I may have got the Ref: wrong, it may be SU265851. I can’t remember where I turned off.Got no info on it at all, have a look when you go through Ashbury.

Visited 10th May 2003: This was the penultimate site of the day, and the folks I were travelling with were getting slightly megalith weary. I hopped out of the car for a quick gander, and tried to look like I wouldn’t take long. What an amazingly enigmatic site this is. I think I need to do it justice with a longer visit when I have time to contemplate (perhaps in another lifetime!).

Visited 24th May 2003: This standing stone is relatively close to the Tafarn y Bwlch stone pair. It stands a short way up the hillside from the track, and is easy to spot. The first thing that struck me was the little pond that Waun Mawn stands in, and the second thing that struck me was that William was about to try wading in it! The water was muddy, but clearly deeper than his wellies are long, so I had to move quickly to avoid a premature trip back to the car.

Visited 24th May 2003: After visiting Pentre Ifan with Jane and her posse, we went our separate ways, Jane to the seaside and us lot to the stones around Tafarn y Bwlch. The walk to this stone pair is very civilized, and compared to many other sites in the area, access is very good. The track leads right past them, and on towards Waun Mawn.

The unusual thing about the Tafarn y Bwlch stones is they both lean, and were probably erected that way. The angles of the stones remain remarkably similar, even after 3000 plus of livestock rubbing against them (and 3 year olds sitting on them). Why were they created this way? They reminded me of the stones at Bedd Arthur and Meini Gwyr, both local where the lean on the stones might be original.

At 19 feet high, the Watchstone was once one of a pair of standing stones which guarded the causeway leading to the Ring Of Brodgar.

Although it will never really be known what the purpose for the Watchstone ever really was. It has been speculated that it could have formed part of a ceremonial link between the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Brodgar ring.

Visited 10th May 2003: We parked at the end of the restored stretch of the West Kennett Avenue and Flotsky and I took a brisk stroll to what remains of Falkner’s Circle. The weather kept changing while we were there, and when it chose to be sunny the light was brilliant and crisp. Surprisingly pleasant, given the amount of destruction this place has had inflicted on it.

The Shetland Amenity Trust and the University of Bradford have for the past 8 years been excavating a site in the south of shetland known as old Scatness.

The site slap bang next to sumburgh Airport and only a couple of miles from Jarlshof is a truely marvellous find.

The focal point of the site is the disovery of a 4m high Broch which is surrounded by the remains of an Iron Age village. Carbon dating points to the broch as having been built around 400BC. Later the site was used by the Picts and the Vikings.

Further evidence suggest that the site was in use during the bronze age with pottery discovered at the site thought to have been from then.

The Scottish Megaraks visited this area today during a tour of Perthshire. We had a look at the cairn, which according to Canmore was surrounded by kerb stones. Only one was visible, but on pulling back some of the turf and generally nosing around, we discovered that there are still at least eleven in situ. The cairn itself is fairly unremarkable, only being around a metre tall. It is visible from the road if you know what you’re looking for.

This stone is in a field which also contains a long cairn and a circular mound (ringed by a ditch) known locally as Pontius Pilate’s grave. The cup-marks are fairly large, we tried to illustrate them better by applying what remained of our water bottle... without great success.

As can be seen from the photos, the views are well worth the climb. The site had been ‘added to’ by some idiot who had built a small cairn/altar in the centre. This had been removed by the time we left.... (see my last photograph) leaving the original 6-stone site as it is meant to be seen, allowing for the fact that a wall had been built through it in the past!

My mistake – should have done more research! Big Sweetie and I visited again today, in the company of 2 other Scottish Megaraks. The stump of one of the other stones in the group is visible 5m east of the survivor. Hidden down in the turf again about 5m south lies a recumbent pillar which was probably part of the group. I have uploaded 3 photos, 2 showing the relationship of the survivor and stump, and one showing the recumbent with turf peeled back (thanks, Milgi!).

Yeah, it’s all kind of flat really. But great setting, the circle was overgrown so the stones were all but invisible other than when stood on top of each. The overgrown form however stands out in the otherwise kempt field. Didn’t notice any sign of previously mentioned outer bank/ditch. I actually counted 19 stones but lets not get into one of those debates.

Hope the directions below help (also for Grey Mare & Her Colts that have been particularly illusive to me)

On the road to Abbotsbury from the A35 at Winterbourne Abbas, after a signpost right for Littlebredy and before you get to Portesham (see parking notes for Hell Stone) , there is a left turn signposted for the Hardy Monument. At this junction take the (very)minor road to the right (west). After about a mile the road bends sharply to the left and follows the valley round. At that point there is a layby to park. Return back up the road to the footpath that head NW up the hill. Shortly up this path you are faced with a 3-way split. The Public Footpath heads through a Private Farm. Take the Bridleway that heads straight on and hug the hedge to your left. After about 400yds there’s a footpath through the hedge on the left. Follow this for about a hundred yards and the barrow is over another hedge.
Return to bridelway and follow for another 3/4 mile and just before the large clump of trees Kingston Russell Stone Circle is in a field on the left through a gated gap in the hedge.

Oh Joy, over 80 miles from home, it’s taken 3 aborted attempts to find this site over the last 3 years. But today we made it, armed with an O.S map and determined heart. Well worth the wait though, it is a kind of tumbled-down West Kennet. Hope the following will help. On the road to Abbotsbury from the A35 at Winterbourne Abbas, after a signpost right for Littlebredy and before you get to Portesham (see parking notes for Hell Stone, there is a left turn signposted for the Hardy Monument. At this junction take the (very)minor road to the right (west). After about a mile the road bends sharply to the left and follows the valley round. At that point there is a layby to park. Return back up the road to the footpath that head NW up the hill. Shortly up this path you are faced with a 3-way split. The Public Footpath heads through a Private Farm. Take the Bridleway that heads straight on and hug the hedge to your left. After about 400yds there’s a footpath through the hedge on the left. Follow this for about a hundred yards and the barrow is over another hedge.
Return to bridelway and follow for another 3/4 mile and just before the large clump of trees Kingston Russell Stone Circle is in a field on the left.

Mousa Broch is the finest example of a 2000 year old Iron Age tower or broch anywhere. It stands 13.3 metres high and dominates the landscape of the small island of Mousa just off the Shetland mainland.

Accessibility is only by boat and it is thought that the only reason it still stands so proud today is because it would have proved too difficult for past generations to sail over and steal the stone.

The instructions below are spot on for finding the stone(s), but I think Grid Ref SP782416 is more accurate than the one given.

Lying within a nature conservation area, the walk alongside the river is well maintained, and it’s possible to see that the stones are resting on the surface rather than being embedded in the ground. That suggests to me that the stones are not that old, but I’d be happy to be proved wrong.

I parked spot on the grid ref given, but couldn’t see the stone anywhere. There’s a footpath leading behind the houses, but nothing to be seen there, and a footpath on the open ground on the other side of the road. I drew a blank.

Any specific directions to find the stone would be useful (unless the grid ref is actually wrong)

Don’t be afraid to knock on the door to see this strange stone, the present owner of the house and guardian of the stone is only too willing to show it and tell you about it. You can only see it from the garden which is behind the cottage.

Martin’s directions get you there with no problems. The silage had been cut when I got there and it was easy to approach the Quoit. You don’t get a real impression of the size ‘till you get near, it’s massive and on a par with the other more well known Quoits. Don’t leave it out of your itinary when you are in the area.

This is a beautiful stone and worth seeking out. You can park on the main road, the stone is a short walk away. Martin’s description tells all, no need to add more.

This stone points an accusing finger to the south west. I didn’t try to get into the field, the fence was difficult and I am not as young as I used to be.

I walked up to Kemyel Crease farm but did not see any standing stones there. There was no one there to ask either.