Latest Fieldnotes

I loved this place!! we stayed in a camp site a little out of Glasonbury and whilst Mr. pixie was assembling the tent and usually reserved children were making new friends with new neighbours, i relaxed. Within about 10 minutes i experienced the most amazing vision i could have been blessed with. it was in the form of clouds just rolling past me like some Goddess movie!! it was very personal to my circumstances at the time and very emotional! we then climbed the Tor. although it was not as magical as the vision i had experienced it was very special and very ‘vibey’ when we reached the top!
I can’t wait to visit again, i believe that each one of us will be blessed whenever and wherever it is right, but this place is ‘special’ in a way that doesn’t hit you straight away but really leaves a lasting impact upon your soul which resonates at a deeper level.
sunset is very special if you have children as it seems exciting to them.
visit Glastonbury and you can’t fail to be moved in some way. i’m usually quite straight and i was walking round the town barefoot and ‘spiritualised’ within days!!!

This is an amazing place to visit! we had visited stonehenge then the sanctuary and walked to West kennet. my 2 children were freaked by it. they are aged 9 and 7. the atmosphere just was amazing and seeing their reaction was wow!! we stayed for ages in the August sun basking in the vibes. then we made posies to the Goddess / nature with bits of corn we had found lying around etc. (i hate picking living flowers / weeds etc.) the children then went into west kennet alone to offer their thanks which i found very moving as i don’t ‘push’ my beliefs upon them, it’s up to them to find out their own beliefs themselves. anyway this place was by far the most spiritually moving and enlightening that we encountered.
i agree about the silly candles etc. they are more harmful than good. surely offerings can be made with true intent from within ourselves and not by destoying the stones or environment around them.
i always take away with me more than i came with ie. rubbish etc. from any site i visit.

I visited the Hurlers with the missus for the first time over a year ago. I haven’ t been back. Hard to explain really.

A lovely day and high hopes came to naught. The setting is wrong somehow, derelict mines and alien looking telecom masts, a nearby road and dumped agricultural equipment don’t help.

The stones look like part of the clutter. Two unseen dirt bikers added a distracting, ever present, angry wasp hummmmm for the hour or so we tried to loiter.

Retreating to the village for some extra cholesterol cornish ice cream I bumped into an old friend. His clothes were two sizes too big for him, his skin was grey, he looked and sounded like shit. You can’t exchange the usual pleasantries with someone who can see the shock on your face.

He hadn’t come to see the Hurlers, he had never heard of them, he wouldn’t tell me why he was in the tiny village. I bought him a post card of the rings from the village shop and left him, the village and the stones to it.

I found out later that he had been diagnosed with liver cancer. The Hurlers hold no happy memories for me.

This is my favourite spot on exmoor. For the best vibe walk from Simonsbath. The path will wind its way along the edge of a moorland valley and after half an hour it’ll open out to reveal cow castle. This is a most serene place. There’s a stiff climb up to the top of the castle but when up there you can see moors and valleys stretching out in all directions. I’ve been there in every type of weather and it’s beautiful in the sun and beautiful on the filthiest day. The sky is enormous here and you can lie on your back and wait for the mothership. It’s the best two hours you can spend on the moor. Almost total wilderness but a gentle area as well. And if you’ve got the time check out Shoulsbury castle near Mole chamber and five cross way about three miles west of simonsbath. This is a huge hill fort and on a clear day you can see to Bodmin moor.

Midmar is where my Mother Anne was buried in 1991 and the gravestone was added a couple of years later. My mother had a deep connedction with stone circles and during my childhood we were taken to scores of sites all over Scotland. When she died my father thought of Midmar and had remembered visiting it with her. The sculpture, based on the Indian/Celtic/Universal Tree of Life was commisioned by a local artist and took a long time to get and “feel” right (you can’t rush the creative process). My mum was born in India to Anglo Indian parents and was a very spiritual person and believe it or not a Christian. I remember though before she died she wrote and told me she was reading a book on Celtic Spirituality “just what I need” she said “no guilt , just a clear, pure, message”. I hope that here stone at Midmar gives joy to the visitors there- she would have approved i am sure. By the way, I am thrilled that this site exists, Julian and had the chance to read through some of your book which is excellent.

All the best Matthew

After the unexpected death of a close friend I just had to visit my favourite site. The deep calm that pervades the site is the single balm I know to ease pain. The fact that I saw Julian in Avebury on the same day was the greatest bonus I could have asked for!

Unfortunately the first view of the sacred path to the Smithy almost completely ruined my mood. The rusting burnt-out car that blocks the path felt like a needle being stabbed into my third eye. I’m just grateful it wasn’t any nearer to the site...

Cold it may have been but I managed to get nekkid and run around before saying my proper goodbye’s to a great mate. Naked, facing South over the entrance, I had the rising, almost full, moon balanced on one hand and the setting sun on the other. I don’t think I could have stood any more symbolism at that point.

Goodbye Hugh.

Got fed up after Xmas and decided to take a trip out to clear the cobwebs.
The day I decided to go (Dec 28th) it had snowed the night before, the weather reports were doing the usual scaremongering about ability to travel, so to prove em’ wrong I took the train. Great journey, no glitches, train to myself, got home safe. Got off the train in Matlock and hiked through the snow up to Stanton Moor. To say it was a perfect day would be an understatement. The sun shone beautifully through the trees, the snow lay undisturbed on the ground, and I saw more wildlife than at any time I’ve visited during the summer months. Best of all though...no one around. The Andle Stone stood with a cap of snow, looking not unlike an ice cream cone. anyway, I trekked across the field to the site, and rather foolishly decided to climb to the top as somebody had kindly left a pile of stones to reach the footholds. On reaching the top I quickly thought I’d mad a dumb mistake. The summit was covered in Ice and it was fairly treacherous trying to hold on. I spent five minutes clearing some of the snow to try and find the ‘cup and ring’ marks a friend told me of. Couldn’t find em’, only a lot of old (and not so old ) graffiti. The view was spectacular. Looking towards Birchover, the snow marks, and low winter sun revealed what looked to be the remains of a prehistoric field system , (though I’m no expert) overlooking the village of Birchover, and a multitude of ridge and furrow type features underlying the current field layout. The place was pure tranquillity (as the road from Stanton to Birchover had been closed). The day was perfect, though when it came to climbing down, I nearly broke my neck as I couldn’t see where to place my feet, and my hands were like ice from clearing snow. Once on the ground I took a path down towards a wooded copse where Doll Tor stood silent and alone. No one had come down here, and I had the place all to my lonesome.
The little circle was pure heaven. The snow muted all sound, and the dusting around the stones and nearby trees was pure picture postcard stuff.
A robin perched on a recumbent looking stone taking scraps of bread, and I couldn’t believe the sheer other worldly ness of the place. I came away understanding how these places were believed to be haunted by fairy folk, as the whole place had a ‘magical’ feel about it. Simply put, the place is fantastic.

A superb setting and very peaceful, but I didn’t feel a great deal here. I guess all the emmets, including myself, have drained the living daylights out of it.

I too crawled through the holed stone, three times against the sun, and my back pain returned with a vengeance. I’ve had it ever since. Don’t go expecting a cure, but if you’re after a level head, it’s a great place to get it.

Also, go on your own. It’s better.

I visited this site last summer, after ‘discovering’ it in the book ‘Ancient Stones of Dorset’ by Peter Knight. I decided not to make an entry here, as it didn’t seem right to ‘advertise’ this little known gem that is hidden away in the woods, from the passing droves of tourists on the adjacent road. Now I guess it makes no difference.
A friendly, homely feel coaxed me in from the road. The stones have been partly reclaimed by the forest, their roots distorting the circle and contourting the small (2-4ft high) stones. About half the circle remains, (ten stones). Despite the passing cars on the road (about ten feet away through a thin shield of trees) the main stone (to my feelings) nearest the road, has several holes and cracks into which coins have been left as offerings. A feeling of priveledge and true sanctity prevailed. Time seemed to stop and all my worries in the ‘outer world’ faded away. As eventually left, I felt that I really didn’t want to go! If you go there, and I know you have as much right as I do, please keep it low profile and respect this treasure with the revernece it deserves. Thanx.

we took smoke grenades to cairnholy 1, late one night in may 2000, for the opening scene of a shoestring film about the return of elvis from some other dimension.
as we came up the road through the forest, the vibe in the car suddenly changed, it all seemed a bit Blair Witch Project...when we cleared the forest, there was another car there.
it turned out not to be bloodthirsty masonic beer monsters, no, it was a bunch of hippies fae dundee, ken, makin’ a film...
we made ours...

My girlfriend and I visited our local pre-historic site last autumn after reading about it in The Modern Antiquarian. It was a great experience and felt as if we were entering a new world; according to my school, Britain’s history only began in ‘AD’ 43.
The tour of The Chestnuts was extremely interesting and informative – the dowsing rods provided by the owner certainly had minds of their own and were continually drawn to the same stone. We felt bad only paying 50p for admission to the woman’s back garden to see The Chestnuts although she assured that this was plenty to pay for her lawnmower’s petrol consumption. A minor point for the update of the tome: the lady living there told us that she is not suing the Department of Transport as that matter was resolved in the 1960s.
All in all, a truly eye-opening experience. 2 down, 298 to go.

Finally made it to the Three Brothers on New Years Day. We were staying up at my Fathers in Arnside over the holiday period, and instead of a long drive around the top of Morecambe Bay to Ulverston, we decided to drive round to Warton Crag and have another go at finding these elusive rocking stones. We had visited Warton Crag before around November 98 but had no luck in finding the stones. That visit had played on my mind for the next couple of years as I had not had any trouble with any other MA site. So of course we had done Long Meg, Swinside, etc on our Cumbrian jaunts, but these Three Brothers had eluded us. So we set out on New Years Day morning with serious intent. It’s a steep climb from the road up onto Warton Crag especially for my three year old daughter! However the path does level out and a gate on the right now has a map on it giving visitors directions to the stones! I’m not making excuses for our previous failed visit, but this does help. It’s pretty rough terrain as you drop down to the stones, but as Julian said they were so wonderful to find. We hung arond for a while walking around the stones in a quiet state of bliss. Even my Father, who is more of a hiker than a stonehead, was beaming with smiles and proceeded to race around with his camera taking photos from every possible angle. I think we may have coverted him. Brilliant visit, ” It’s a classic!”

This site is quite different to others I have visited in South Wales, and consists of a south facing cliff in a wooded valley. The cliff face bears an unusual sand coloured stone tear, or phallus shaped stone, standing proud of the darker stone of the rock face. A large granite slab immediately below the phallus/tear stone, is reminiscent of an altar, and a spring issues forth from the base of the cliff. Surrounding the stone are numerous carvings, mostly of faces, but with additional crosses and sickle shaped markings. I took a number of photos which show both the site and carvings well, but was amazed to find that on one photo, the prominent tear stone, had taken on the appearence of a hare sat upright as if shocked by our presence. Strange!

Directions: Although the site is located on private land it is easily accessed from the public footpath running along the north side of the valley. There were no signs to the site, or marking the footpath, but a green kissing gate on the right hand side of the road between Beddau and Castell is quite easily identifiable a few yards from a bungalow. From here a series of yellow arrows on trees easily guide the traveller to the stone face.æ

Family favorite... lost count of the number of times I have visited here, sneaking off from Bangor Uni or taking people here for picnics. I’ve even seen it from the air once, on a pleasure flight from Caernarfon air port. It’s a perfect circle. What can be said?

The high light on 18/01/01 was meeting two old guys from Porthmadoc, who were both pretty clued up on the place, (and other sites in Snowdonia).

There has been a good car park built since I was last here (used to park on the verge) and a proper footpath. The farmer must have got pissed off with Pagans walking across his land at midnight on the solstices.

I always come away from here with a reasurance of our survial as a race, that we are still here, and that the Ancient ones are just with us all along the way. And I’m glad that there are folk out there who lovingly tend sites like this, be they archaeologists or visionaries (or both).

Ah ha! We wonder if you managed to unlock the door to this one, Julian...from your entry in the Gazeteer, me thinketh perhaps not. Journeying from the Rhosneiger direction, along the A4080, from A5, just before the x-roads for Aberfraw/Rhosneiger, there is a little general stores on your left, Wayside Stores....ask for the key...(£5. deposit>>>)continue journey along coast, half mile or so, the site is preceeded by an ample car park, with the little bay on your right, walk along the well trod foot path, you will see the dome of the chamber ahead of you. Unlock iron gates...and enter.....
a dark womb of mysteries...lit well enough from the day light coming in, although, as we discovered to our delight, a torch can reveal more wonders...the “Giantess” (Gawres) with her pregnant belly holds up one end of the cap stone ( the belly is not apparent, run your hand gently down the back of the stone to find it.....) which stone? go see....there are faint spiral and chevron markings on about 5 stones, like drawings on a misted window pane, visable almost only to the minds eye, without a torch (luckily we had brought one with us. it was my 3rd visit to the chamber and I’d not seen them before, being too awestruck with the pregnant belly on previous visits) Sit for a while at the back of the chamber and watch the sea spray the rocks of the nearby beach and listen to the cry of the lapwings.

Ty Newydd a bit average, perhaps better had it been left to the elements. A fun scramble to sit on its cap stone and watch the clouds and rabbits...(well, ok, only Mort saw the rabbits...these Tylwydd Teg are so sharp)

Hey, by the way, I was at Barclodiad y Gawres on 12th March 1994, just missed bumping into you by less than a week.

You and your family are most welcome to come stay with us next time you visit Snowdonia. We live down near Porthmadoc and would love to show you some other sacred sites...

Casterton, albeit small and flimsy (Burl), is a lovely little site just above the Lune Valley close to Kirby Lonsdale. It is situated close to a dry stone wall near a clump of trees. The site is a beautiful vantage point to look out over the valley. The stones themselves are low and set into a rubble bank. This is a small circle but in my opinion worth a visit. The circle is pretty much overlooked by the tourists and can be a place for a quiet meditation – Robby Lowton 2001 CE.

I visited this site in early 99 and found it one of the most peaceful sites I’ve visited along with the hillfort is a neolithic camp and is sited on the Ridgeway.
I liked this place so much, in true Remington style, I bought a house that sits opposite with beautiful views of this enigmatic gargantuan.
So if ya passing drop me an e-mail and I’ll meet ya there
:-)

What a size!!!
Set in a secluded site, I see how Mr Cope had a great journey to get there, very difficult to see until your nearly on top of it. The view looking along the Llyn is impressive, and as I went there on a very cold but sunny day, managed to have some lunch there.
From looking at the OS map, there seems to be many other stones and chambers within a short distance of this site, which I hope to visit soon.
If there are any other gazeteers out there thinking of visiting, do go, its well worth it, the capstone itself is one of the largest pieces I’ve ever seen in this part of Britain, how they managed to get it up is one of the most unexplained mysteries to which we can still wonder about today.

LYNEHAM LONGBARROW – Visited 23/12/00

I have realised that my last report here was inaccurate...as we found the Hoar Stone in 1999, not 2000 as I originally said.
On this day (20/12/99) I tried in vain (with my good friend and fellow Modern Antiquarian, Rich Simpson) to locate Lyneham Longbarrow (as usual without the OS Map) by driving around the village...it became colder, darker and more icy so we gave up. However, a year later, armed with the right map and location we found it, helped by the large stone in front of it, which was easy to spot from the road as we drove past. A good spot to park is by the bridle path entrance a few yards along the main road to the north.
Spookily, the shutter on Rich’s camera jammed open whilst taking a picture, however, despite the light that must have been flooding in, he got a perfect photo...strange

HETTY PEGLER’S TUMP – Visited 26/8/00

After visiting the Longstone of Minchinhampton we continued driving around in circles in the Gloucestershire countryside until we came upon Hetty Pegler’s Tump. This was a really fine barrow that you could get right inside of, provided you weren’t put off by the enormous slugs that guarded the entrance, preventing the passage of the more squeamish amongst us.

(Visited 4/8/00)

After a long climb, we were above the man himself, but couldn’t see him anymore. We decided not to clamber down, as they are trying to prevent erosion on the hill.
However, its definitely worth continuing over the top of the hill, to explore the barrows and be rewarded for all your efforts by breathtaking views in all directions.

THE LONGSTONE OF MINCHINHAMPTON – Visited 26/8/00

My god...Minchinhampton is a bit of a maze. Once again we tried to locate this without an OS map, and the many and varied streets of the town and the common didn’t make using the road map very easy at all. However, as we passed the correct field we spotted the elusive stone, stopped, turned around and jumped over the fence to view this strange object. The type of rock was like many others we had seen, but the holes and shape added a uniqueness to the stone.
We took our photo, but alas, were not rewarded with a rainbow. We shall return at night, with Mike Reid, to see if it really does RUNAROUND the field!

REMPSTONE STONE CIRCLE, ISLE OF PURBECK – Visited 18/4/00

This is truly a magical place.
At the end of a long, wet day touring Dorset (Hambledon & Hod, The Cursus, Knowlton and Badbury), we drove through Purbeck along the B3351 from Corfe Castle to Studland. As the fog and gloom of late afternoon/early evening set in we walked through the woods, past what we took to be fallen stones from the original monument, to what was, in the opinion of myself and my companion, Pete, the best site of the day. That fact that it was sunken and broken up, made it all the more fragile and beautiful.

EGGARDUN – Visited 20/4/00

We arrived at the fort with it shrouded with fog. After dicing with death along the narrow road encircling it, we parked and headed up to the top. With the fog blocking the view all around, we contented ourselves with exploring the fort itself and located a strange octagonal feature shown on aerial photographs...a henge, an enclosure...who knows..?

THE DORSET CURSUS & ACKLING DYKE – Visited 18/4/00

A trip to Dorset gave us loads of time to tick a few more sites off from the book...if only the weather had been better.
Along with fellow enthusiast, Pete Barrett, we took upon ourselves to locate sites as never before this cold, wet, windy Tuesday. After climbing BOTH Hambledon and Hod, our next task was to locate the Dorset Cursus. Heading down Ackling Dyke from the B3081, we tried to decide at what point we were actually ‘on the cursus’ as it were. We managed to get our bearings via a few barrows, then found a very useful post on the edge of the adjacent ploughed field, with a map showing the cursus and marks in the next field going off to the south, which we reckoned might be there to show its course.
Photograph taken, with a token Pete peering menacingly from the bushes (a la the book), we headed back in the rain to the car. Unfortunately we couldn’t seem to locate the spot where Cope’s picture was taken....does anyone know?