We visited Plas Newydd this weekend, only to be met by an obstrucive, nay obnoxious, National Trust representative.
Not only is it £3.00 for the archaeological tour – (only on certain dates!) you must ALSO pay the usual admission fee to the grounds. This will amount to £5.60 each.
The NT rep suggested we write and ask permission from Lord Anglesey if we really want access to the two sites on his land. I think we will. Watch this space.
Ash Hill stands on private land on the Swinhope estate behind some industrial buildings. On my one and ony visit I think I met the original ‘Farmer Palmer’, the conversation went something like this-
Farmer “You can’t come in here it’s private land”
Me “OK, but would it be possible just to have a quick look at the long barrow?”
Farmer “There’s no long barrow here”
Me “Err, but it’s marked on the map”
Farmer “There’s no long barrow here”
Me (shows him the map) “Look, it’s marked on the map”
Farmer (after a short silence) “You can’t come in here it’s private land”
I quite possibly thanked him warmly for his kind assistance. Or maybe I didn’t....
I have tried to visit this site three times now – this time was the closest, but still didn’t manage to get right up to the stones. I attempted to ask at the farmhouse, but there was nobody around so I left again, temptingly close to the stones. I returned home on the M6 (Southbound) and got another tantalising glimpse of the circle. I tried to take a picture, but messed up with my camera. It isn’t easy driving on the motorway and attempting photography – never mind, I will return!
The walk to the Langdale Axe factory is pretty difficult in comparison with a lot of neolithic sites. The site is directly below a mountain top, the summit is literally five minutes from the factory. The site is pretty much a scree slope. With a bit of time to spare and a lot of patience it may be possible to find evidence but be warned – the scree slope is very badly eroded and is currently out of bounds to all walkers and climbers. Using the slope is tempting but for the good of this stunning landscape is best left alone. It is best to be content with viewing the site from a distance and taking in the wonderful Langdale scenery. The Old Dungeon Ghyll pub should definitely form part of a visit to Langdale.
Rhiannon – I’ve got to say my visit was on a very nice day! ;-)
I’d been looking forward to visiting this site for quite a while. My walk took me from The Cockpit via the other Moor Divock sites. I must say I was a bit disappointed, I thought the stone would be bigger and that the surrounding stones would be easier to make out. It is worth looking here if you intend to visit the other Moor Divock sites. Size isn’t everything – the siting of this stone is fantastic, it links the Shap circles to Ulllswater which in turn leads to Castlerigg. An amazing collection of sites, separated by millennia, but obviously sited on very important trade routes.
Easily seen from the path between The Cockpit and The Cop Stone this cairn is in a much better condition than the others dotted around the moor.
From White Raise heading to The Cop Stone this ring cairn lies to the left of the path and is quite easy to spot. The site itself is less impressive than it’s two neighbours, but obviously worthwhile visiting.
A neat little circle. The site is in pretty good condition and from here The Cop Stone is easily spotted through two more standing stones.
From The Cockpit, on the horizon, a standing stone can be clearly made out. Head straight for it and you will find this collection of at least 3 cairn circles. Nobody else will bother you here, the main paths don’t come this way, so it is a great place to hang out.
A reasonably large late stone circle of low stones. Part of the circle is concealed by tall grass. The grassy area looks like it contains a burial cairn (?) Whilst sat here a lot of people have just walked straight past, one or two commenting that this was “one of them stone circle things”. The two small planes with “Utterly Butterly” ads sprayed beneath them did however manage to grab their attention. Never mind.
A Lakeland long cairn. The site is easily spotted among the trees, but it is difficult to work out exactly how big it is. The site lies just off the A6, on the road leading to Askham. Ideally placed for a visit on the way to Pooley Bridge and the Moor Divock sites.
From the cairn by the side of the track, the approach to the Oddendale circle is tricky if tried without an OS map. For those wanting to visit this standing stone (Thunder Stone?) is an ideal landmark, and a worthy distraction in its own right.
This little cairn circle lies immediately to the left of the farm track leading to the Oddendale circle, just by the drystone wall. A pretty little circle, quite unassuming, but worth a look if you are intending to visit the main circle.
The Oddendale circle is completely surrounded by modern intrusions – the Shap cement works, the M6, a railway line, a quarry and a regimented plantation surround this site on all sides. However the site itself is in pretty good condition and is a great example of a concentric circle. The site is close enough to plenty of other sites (Iron Hill, Kemp Howe, Castlehowe, Gunnerkeld) to make it worth the visit.
I visited this site with an old friend who was doing the driving. We spent the best part of an hour driving around housing schemes in the rain and would never have found the stone without the directions of some helpful locals (should have checked out Martin’s directions properly before setting out).
We found the stone standing, still proud at the side of the street – and what a presence it has!
And then you go round the back and there, along with some cup markings, is the paint. I dont know what cup markings are all about and I don’t know what function graffitti serves – given the absence of young male passage and identity rituals in our small, small world, maybe it’s the same!? And then again......
It could do with being cleaned up though.
Big mistake.
Myself and Norie visited this place during lambing season during post-foot and mouth paranoia. Norie’s brother Robert, who can’t walk too well, chose to sit in the car.
The lambs weren’t bothered, in fact they kept wandering up to us with their families and bleating – loads of them – and that noise can be a bit scary. It bypasses all defences and goes straight to the soul.
We got to the stones eventually after some map confusion (see miscellanious section).
This is a sad remains and was surely something more grand before the farmers got thier hands on it. There are now 3 main stones which seem to have been dumped a couple of hundred metres away from the original stone circle site. However, it still sits in a beautiful place near the south bank of the Teith a few hundred metres south of the Auld Knowe. The Auld Knowe is a natural and no doubt sacred hillock which has iron age remains.
We climbed the knowe and enjoyed the view whilst having a smoke.
Then on the road below a pick up truck stopped and the guy driving started shouting at us from the bottom of his bastard soul about the lambs and how we should not be there. I thought he was going to kill us and we walked towards him, I was thinking “we come in peace” and Norie was muttering about how there were no signs up and how there are no tresspass laws in Scotland. With no solicitors present, try telling that to a rosy cheeked farming psycho! I feared a messy confrontation. It didn’t happen though and the guy drove off still calling us all the bastards of the day.
Yup, we shouldn’t have gone there and I’ll maybe seek permission the next time I go into farmland. This was a couple of months ago now and those cute wee curious lambs are probably lying in bits in the refridgeration section in a supermarket somewhere far away (£6.00 per kilo).
With that in mind and with me being aware of my own bouts of greed, I think I now understand the anger.
We drove to Callander and chilled out with a couple of Guinness.
In terms of sheer size Mayburgh Henge is an awesome monument.
However, whereas the nearby King Arthurs Round Table is next to the main road through Eamont Bridge and at the centre of the daily hubub, Mayburgh stands just metres away from the motorway yet is alone and abandoned. This is a real shame as it is a mind-boggling construction, containing an estimated 5 million cobblestones in a bank that stands nearly 6 metres high. At it’s centre is a single standing stone, one of an original four, there were also four others inside the entrance to East that looks across to the round table.
I don’t know when it was, or who it was, but at some point in time some idiot decided to build a road through the edge of this monument.
There were originally two entrances, only the one to the South East remains leading in through the banks, across a raised walkway over the ditch into the central enclosure.
This can only be some kind of gathering place- we can only wonder what went on here. Interestingly the entrance to Mayburgh Henge can easily bee seen from the centre of circle – how and why were these two monuments linked?
This is marked on the OS map as ‘Long Cairn’.
The ‘cairn’ part I might argue with, but ‘long’, well there’s no disputing that one. It is hard to judge the size of the mound as it extends and tails off into the trees, the eastern end looks a little too truncated and its base appears to have been cut into.
If you’re visiting the nearby falconry centre, give it a look and see what you think.
Follow the Roman road from the Beacon and you’ll be at Southside Mount in a few minutes. A Bridleway leads from the road right to it. When I first saw it I was pleased, as I had heard there was pretty much nothing to see, but there’s still a modest hump left. From the barrow a good view would have been had of the Monolith and the Cursus snaking towards it, if it weren’t for an annoyingly-placed copse. The rolling view, as from the Beacon, is fantastic, although shotgun fire brought on a sudden case of the paras and me and Yarky beat a hasty retreat to the Monolith.
If the Romans built their road across the Beacon to sap its power, it didn’t work. The view is super, Rudston Church being clearly visible, although the monolith is not, due to it being behind the church! A good starting point on a journey around the Gypsey Race and an ideal place for a Beltane fire.... or even a wicker man!
Ba’l Hill is smaller than Willy Howe, but seems to have suffered less. It’s not cluttered with trees and shrubs like Willy, so you can easily climb it and then get a good 360 degree view of the surroundings (unlike atop Willy). Willy is clearly visible in the distance. The mass of farmhouses and fences spoils the atmosphere a bit, but it’s still a cool place. It’s all pasture land, and on my first visit it was covered in sheep, who fled at me and my brother’s approach. My second visit found around 5 large bulls, who refused me entry, and i was thankful for my zoom lense.
[visited 06/05/02]
After dragging my gf up and down, either side of the mound, I finally twigged that it was inside the fenced off gardens and so we drove to the nearest carpark on our way out of Richmond Park.
This is another heavily altered prehistoric monument within the confines of London. Its top was levelled off a couple of hundred years ago and at some point slightly more recently a spiral path was constructed to its summit. Nowadays a few benches reside at the top facing out to the west on a concrete platform.
Well having finally made it, we were awestruck by the views to the west, you can see to the horizon and on a clear day, I imagine you can see to Windsor (there was an arrow pointing it out :). The Thames isn’t visible due to tree coverage, but winds its way around the foot of the hill the mound sits on top of, less than a mile away.
And over to the east was a most unexpected sight, a “keyhole” view of St Pauls aka Temple of Diana. A legally protected view across 10 odd miles of London. Tbh, you’ll probably need a telephoto lense to take advantage of it though.
In summary, in an area starved of prehistory, this is well worth a visit.
This circle is said to consist of seven stones and be the kerb of a wrecked stone cairn. I couldn’t verify this as it stands on forestry commision land and the entrance is blocked by a large set of locked gates with signs warning of prosecution and general unpleasantries to any trespassers.
It wasn’t until I got home and rechecked the map that I noticed a public right of way passing through the plantation, just a little furthur along the road.
Damn....
These stones are huge! The few photographs I had seen prior to coming here didn’t do justice to the bulk of these stones – my photographs seem to make these stones look small too. The compact size of the circle, coupled with the size of the stones has to be seen.
The setting is good – a flat plain hemmed in by the surrounding peaks. Old Radnor is in clear view in the distance.
