Latest Fieldnotes

Situated high above Pontardawe, visited this site in lunch time from Swansea Enterprise Park (beats a sandwich and a coffee). Views are spectacular, the cairn is situated just over the brow of the hill.. The road up zig-zags but the u-bends have plenty of space to have a couple of goes at getting round. The central cist/chamber is only couple of yards square and there appears to be another collapsed chamber although it could just be some re-arranged dry-stone wall rubble. Sadly had to get back to work. Another to re-visit.

From St. Nicholas at the lights follow the signs for Dyffryn Gardens and about a half a mile down that road park under the powerlines. The site is sign-posted from the pull-in. The cap stone IS one huge mother and yet again has me scrabbling to understand the unfeasible mechanics and all from around 4000 BC. In it’s completeness it reminded me of some of the dolmens on Jersey. It’s all the more saddening when you see what places like Devils Den, Lanyon Quoit and Spinsters rock etc would have been like pre-agricultural clearance. There was plenty of debris around the surrounding fields but didn’t really have time to explore.

Since the local authorities limited the parking by the side of the Tor and introduced a park and ride scheme from the town centre the journey to the Tor can be somewhat less than a pilgrammage.
Best plan is to park in the Town centre car park, and walk along Chilkwell street to the Chalice well gardens first... although there is a charge for entry here (it can be omitted and the well water obtained from the spout in the Tor road proper).. the Gardens are extremely well maintained and are a haven of relaxation and contemplation, and a good place to drink the Chalybeate water of the Red Spring.
Next visit the source of the white spring which is in an old reservoir building 50 yards up the Tor road... I don’t think that this source can be drunk, unfortunately... but revel in the mystery of the two distinct springs joining side by side at the foot of the Tor...
Go back down the lane and on the left is a footpath running up past some cottages in what was an orchard.. I believe occult writer Dion Fortune lived here for a while... and now start the climb of the Tor proper... up the spine of the Dragon path...
Notice the remains of the spiral paths, forming a labyrinthine maze, which if you have three or four hours to spare would be the truly correct way to climb the Tor , indeed on special festival days the maze is still used...and is a powerful and evocative tool for attuning the mind to the ritual in progress...
Once at the top, take your time... this is a powerful place and believe me, the energy that can be experienced here can be overwhelming... the Xtians didn’t plonk that tower there for no reason (mind you, an earthquake took out the rest of the building.. so think on that).. and whether you think Arthur and his Knights slumber within, or that it conceals the Grail, or that it is the focus of many ley lines which radiate outwards from it’s divine essence.. or simply its just a place to be...meditate for a while and see what comes to your mind.... you will be changed by the experience.

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This is a wonderful circle situated at the end (or start) of a 3 mile walk encompassing The Grey Mare, The Hellstone and another stone circle. I recommend following the proper footpath as the path coming from the North towards it (marked on the OS map) is effectively non-existent.

Whilst you are here, make sure you visit the site marked ‘Enclosure’ on the OS map. To find this from the circle, head north down the side of the field away from the circle and perpendicular to the path. On the other side of the field go through the gate and head left. Keep walking past some sinkholes? until you reach the crest of the hill. You should find a horseshoe shaped banked enclosure about 15-20 feet across overlooking the most amazing view.

The circle was special but the view from the enclosure was something else entirely. Wow.
If anyone has any ideas about what this may have been, I’d love to know...

I was lucky enough to witness a Pagan handfasting within the circle when i was at the Uni of Glamorgan across the valley. It was a full moon and the skies were clear (a rare treat around Ponty) with much wine, cider and merryment.

Stones of Stenness, Orkney Mainland
Monday 12/8/96
Today we visited loads of sites including Maes Howe, Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae etc, but of all the places we ventured today the Stones of Stenness were the most impressive- they were just daunting! They were absolutely enormous and so beautifully shaped with their amazing sloping tops. Apart from the three huge monoliths there is also a fabulous setting of two smaller stones set next to each other only about 20 or 30 cm apart that just demand getting down to look through em. Directly in front of these two is a horizontal slab that just feels like some sort of ‘altar’ stone. Two other stones next to these complete the setting that just blew me away. It was quite quiet when we visited so I went back to the car and got me dowsing rods out and did a spot- unsurprisingly there was a lot of powerful energies around this amazing place.

This is pronounced “ro-aw” Tor in case you are asking for directions, I used to come here as a child with my hippy parents.
There’s a few spots on the top of the Tor that are bucket shaped, I don’t know how, I doubt weathering or glacial movements could cause such a thing, but if you don’t mind sitting on some lichen, they make excellent seats!

Theres no hotels or such like around this area, its dead on Bodmin Moor. There is a car park.

At the top is a little black post, placed by OS I think.

I’m going from memory here, as I live on the other side of the planet these days, but Roaw Tor is certainly a special place, when the wind kicks up on an autumn evening, looking up at the steadily brightening stars, you can feel like you’re the only thing alive, on this barren outcrop of granite.

Port na Con Souterrain, Sutherland
NC428613 (9) Thursday 8/8/96
Today we had a lazy morning but eventually set off from Durness camp site and went to Smoo Cave once more- good fun and we found lots of hag stones on the beach. Then we headed for the souterrain by Loch Eriboll- we stopped off at the Tourist Information on the way through Durness for directions to the site- the woman was v. good and knew exactly where it was. Out of the car and over the road in amongst a load of bracken we found it- the entrance was quite a deep one with small stones steps, it was pitch black and creepy as hell! On the way down into them I keep telling myself that they are no more than iron-age food stores. However, once out of them your mind can really start to wonder what they were used for and I really don’t think so many man-hours would have been spent building big stone lined tunnels just so they could keep their sliced loaf in there! Kat actually came down into this one for a look, but we couldn’t go very far as most of the floor was submerged and I wouldn’t have gone much further if my life had depended on it as we had no way of knowing how deep the very black water was, or how long the souterrain was. Photos were taken and Kat managed to smack her head of one of the roof lintels and her knee on one of the steps-ow! All in all a very satisfying (if somewhat scary) souterrain.

Directions
From Durness follow the A838 round to a sea loch called Loch Eriboll. Just before the few houses and pier that go by the name Portnancon, there is a small grassy siding off the main road on the right, you’ll find the site hidden in bracken bushes on the side of the road nearest the loch.

Barns of Airlie Souterrain
Visited twice in Oct 92 and May 94.
This has got to be my fav souterrain (or fogou if yer Cornish!) that I have visited so far- I think cos it’s ‘wild’- i.e.- it hasn’t been restored in any way- no plexiglass roof or nice safe ladders or doorway in. This is another one of these sites that I read about in “Scotland Before History” by Stuart Piggott long before I actually visited the place. The farmer has been totally fine about me tramping around his fields to go see this- be prepared though- in wet weather the side of the field you have to walk through to get to the souterrain can be real muddy and wet. At the end of the second field just to the west of Barns of Airlie farm there is a dry stane dyke, follow this along until you see a black hole in the field then drop down into this! It’s not the biggest of entrances! Along with my souterrain/cairn exploration stuff (powerful torch, candle lanterns, waterproof matches) I’ve also found it useful to take my caving helmet- I’ve smacked my napper off too many roof lintels! The passage is really wide- almost two metres in places and it’s apparently 24 metres long. There are a couple of cup markings on one of the roof lintels and what looks like some sort of snake pattern too. The thing that always gets me about this site is the temperature inside- I mean it’s cold, but in a strange way it’s really comforting- I could easily spend many hours in here in quiet meditation.

Directions
Follow the A93 north of Perth to Blairgowrie. Through the town, crossing the River Ericht and take the A926 towards Alyth. Past Alyth til you reach Airlie-there’s a road up to the left just past the school towards Kirkton of Airlie. Barns of Airlie is just after here on the left- ask permission (and directions to the site) at the farm.

I visited this site after discovering Silbury Hill to be fenced off and since I was in desperate need of solitude and peace, Devil’s Den is ideal.

I found the best way to actually reach the site is to follow the path along the side of the field until it tails off to the right. At this point follow the walked track through the plants (it was August) next to the field until you reach the closest point to the dolmen. The stones seperate from the Dolmen that Julian talks about in TMA lie here and the fence is usefully mutilated allowing easy passage.

The site itself is stupendous. I lay for an hour on the stone recollecting myself. I would recommend this site to anyone.

Having made the long trip down from london via stonehenge, primarily to climb and meditate on the top of the hill I was very depressed to find it fenced off.
It is impossible even to walk completely round the base of the hill at present (if it ever was), since barbed wire stops progress seemingly at every juncture.

Still, this being my first visit, I was awestruck at the sheer size and shape of silbury. It is easily within walking distance of West Kennet longbarrow, and a suitable consolation? is close by in the form of Devil’s Den.

Midhowe Chambered Cairn, Rousay
Wednesday 14/8/96.
Went to Rousay today- the wee ferry from Tingwall (’Eynhallow’) was cool- just really a dirty great noisy bus-on-the-sea! We hired bikes from a woman called Helga near the pier and started cycling (my backside is still killing me- it’s been a while since I’ve been on a bike and it shows!). We decided to cycle to the North of the island past all the sites and up to Midhowe chambered cairn and broch- then we’d visit all the sites on a leisurely cycle back down again- at least that was the plan! Of all the sites we visited on Rousay the most impressive was the Midhowe Cairn- it’s housed in a massive stone n metal hanger and it’s the biggest tomb I have ever seen- huge so it is! There are white metal girder walkways suspended from the roof that run the whole length of the cairn- it’s cool cos it means you can wander about above it and get a real good look, but not very hands on. Went out and had lunch below the broch and were amazed at the wave power in Eynhallow Sound- scary stuff.

What can you say about this place? You have to go, even though it’s a bit of a pilgrimage...I first visited last year for a few days, then felt drawn back and spent a week there this summer, staying in Ann + Angus Smith’s holiday cottage – an ideal location less than 10 minutes walk from the site.
The site is almost painfully impressive – maybe because of its scale or state of preservation – or maybe because of the nature of the stone that makes it. When you then add in the lunar (and solar) calculating factor one’s mind becomes blown! I found it was very difficult to stay in the present time when there – there seems such a sense of history; but also a sense of drama and maybe theatricality.

When you go you MUST meet up with Margaret Curtis (see Gyrus’s post ). By all means visit yourself first – but you’ll never see it the same way once you’ve done a walkround with her. She’ll show you the burial cairn by her house(ruthlessly bisected by the road builders several years ago) which she reckons is the start of the place of procession to the site itself – maybe a mile up the slopes, much in the way one might imagine processing up the Avenue at Abury...then the alignments of the stones, the “windows” between various pairs of stones which align with landscape points relevant to moon set/sunrise etc.

One of my pleasures when staying for a week was to walk up to the stones after sunset and sit, in the starlight, in splendid isolation, playing appropriate sounds on my walkman – Odin worked particularly well! After an hour or so, it becomes as close to a shamanic experience as I’ve had anywhere (even the midges ceased to concern me).
It really is a must!

The path/road leads away from the Watermill/Heritage Centre car park and ford. It says it’s Private for access to B&B but some locals said just to say you’re going to the camp site at the end which is a Forestry Commission/Scout site. The cairn is in a field to the right of the top car park surrounded by trees. It’s kind of a naked Belas Knapp. Took some low level photos but thought better of emulating Julians aerial shot from the tree. Reasonable food and ale from the Gower Inn just up the road on the way back to Swansea

This site gets pretty busy, especially in summer. I’ve been there a few times in the past couple of weeks and it’s always got a steady stream of tourists visiting it, people jogging through it and all that kind of thing. I always find that when I first see them on approach I get butterflys in me stummick. It is a great place and SPACE. Also it’s a good place to see the local landscape as the three hills of Carn Brea, Cear Bran and Bartinney Castle are all visible from here and the line from these through Boscowan-un and into Lamorna valley can be viewed.
The second to last time I was here I experienced a very dramatic weather change – very low cloud or mist or something swept in in a matter of minutes and completely obscured the view, like the site was being hidden. Then later it left almost as quickly.

Living in Aberdeen and having explored many RSC’s , I was stunned to learn of this one so close to the city.

Just to add my agreement to the other posts below, it is a truly awesome site, large flankers propping an impressive, if slumped, recumbent, the other stones of the circle becoming smaller away from the recumbent.

The views down over the airport and the city beyond, to the sea, add to the appeal of this site, and give it an extra special sense of presence amongst the landscape around it.

Go Visit!!

went roaming about for this on Friday (28/8/2001), but couldn’t see anything, only arable farmland.

hot and sweaty, and stumbling over footpaths across fields being harvested ... dust in the air.

Cuween Chambered Cairn (AKA The Fairy Knowe)
Sunday 11/8/96
Visited Cuween cairn today- a wee climb up a hill to the mound and Historic Scotland sign. There was a wooden box next to the mound- so I had a look inside- lo and behold!- a torch- very thoughtful! The entrance passage was quite small and was a hands and knees job in the mud, but the main chamber is large enough to stand in and has a very impressive roof on it. There are three pitch-black side chambers where the remains of eight humans and 24 dogs were placed. Actually for all the complete darkness of this tomb and it’s history it doesn’t really freak me out- there’s a certain calmness about the place.
PS- I totally agree with a23- this is one of the most atmospheric places on Orkney.

Tomb of the Eagles (AKA Isbister)
Thursday 15/8/96
Tomb of the Eagles was totally fabby- best £2 I think I have ever spent (well- Kat spent as she paid me in!). I actually got to handle a 5000 year old skull (along with many other archaeological artefacts)in my shaking hands- wowsers! After the ‘hands on’ museum (which is housed in the conservatory/extension part of the farm house) we went to the next part of the tour which was the burnt mound and here we met the manny who had actually excavated the tomb (along with his dog ‘Sky’!). Then to the tomb Émost of the tombs we visited on Orkney (and elsewhere) are crawled into on hands and knees- but not here- oh no- you get down on yer belly on a wee cart-like thing and zoom in on it’s shaky wheels! Once inside I had realised I’d gone and forgotten torches etc etc, but luckily there was a guy in there (who was the double of Jarvis Cocker as it happens!) and he gave us a shot of his for a look into the side chambers- of course one of them has a button to press to light it up to revealÉÉ

Dwarfie Stane, Hoy
Friday 16/8/96
We were up at 6:45am in our caravan at Durrsidale, near Evie, to get to the ferry terminal at Houtan for the 7:45am ferry- drove like a rally-driver-madman-possessed (which I’m not keen on!) to get there on time. It was a beautiful crossing on the ‘Hoy Head’. We got to Linksness and decided to drive past the Dwarfie Stane first, which was an extremely difficult thing to do, and go see the Old Man beforehand. The weather was okay til we got about half way up the island and then a blanket of fog came down and stayed down! The Old Man was fab and I would recommend it if on Hoy to see the Dwarfie Stane. The cliffs around it are amazingly high and not for the faint-hearted. Anyways- back to the car after our very wet outing and back down to try and find the Stane. It’s not the most obvious as most of the other large stanes/rocks/boulders that have fallen from Dwarfie Hamars all look very similar. However once in the car park there is a path straight (ish) to the right Stane. This is a really nice tomb cut from a solid piece of rock- it must have taken an age! I had my souterrain/tomb kit with me (ie- torch, candle lanterns, waterproof matches) but it’s not really needed for this one as the chambers are just big enough to sit in. I carefully lit some candle lanterns anyway to add to the atmosphere and spent a very quiet, peaceful and contemplative time inside. Hoy is a cracking island and has some beautifully named places on it- just have a look at the OS map- Candle of the Sale, Summer of Hoy, Burn of the White Horse, Geo of the Light.

Faskally Cottages
Wednesday 8/8/01 5:55pm
This ring is set in a well-tended garden next to some wee cottages (“Greengates”). I just got out of the car and was peering over the fence at the stones when the owner of the cottages appeared- a Mr. Ian Townsend- who stays at the end of Pitlochry as it happens!)- he asked if I was interested in the stone circle- indeed I was :). Mr. Townsned was a really nice guy who says it’s fascinating to have such a circle in is garden, but admitted there wasn’t as many visitors to the stones as there used to be which I thought was a bit of a shame. He’s just come back from his cottage at the very end of the row with a cracking picture of the site which he took (and for me to keep) which shows the circle in spring time with snowdrops and crocuses in the middle of it. We chatted about other Perthshire sites including Croftmoraig, Lundin etc.- he told me he had met Dr. Margaret Stewart- the excavator of Lundin (amongst others) who had visited Faskally before she died. He also has a copy of the 1908 excavation report from the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities bound in brown card for visitors to the site to read whilst having a look at the stones. The report has a great opening paragraph-
“In a narrow strip of ground between the Highland Railway on the east and the great main road to the north on the west, is a garden, shielded from observation by a tall hedge on the roadside, and in it there are yet standing in situ the seven stones of this Circle. Never surely, was the pre-historic past brought so closely into contact with the steam power and motor traffic of the twentieth century. In addition to these more or less disturbing conditions, we are told that, during the most recent government survey, the men of the theodolite arrived at the conclusion that this little circle is really the centre of Scotland”.
There are six upright stones, well I use the term upright in the loosest possible sense of the word as one of the stones can only be about 20 to 30 cm tall! But the largest stone has a beautiful sloped top from west to east and has split into three huge chunks. Two other large stones with three small make up this circle of six, 21 foot in diameter, with the large stone to the north four foot outside the circle according to the 1908 survey. Was the north stone always the prominent one in this circle? Okay- so maybe this site doesn’t have the quiet atmosphere of the nearby Clachan-an-Diridh, but it is a charming place and well worth a visit- I’m sure Mr. Townsend would be very happy to speak to other interested folk about the circle in his garden. From here it was a glorious early August evenings drive back to the Kavan across the moors with a soundtrack of Ganger.

PS- Chris- this is definately a real site! (well- according to the excavation report etc). I found it
in Burls “Stone Circles of the British Isles” as ‘Faskally Cottages’.

Directions
Travelling through Pitlochry to the North on the A924, look out for the “Greengates” sign for cottages to let on the right hand side of the road.

Meall Nan Clachan (AKA Na Carraigean Edintian)
Sunday 12/8/01 3:15pm
It’s taken a trip of almost 4 hours to get here- 1 hour travelling from the Kavan at Bridge of Cally and another 3 hours walk from the car park at Allean. Saying all that we’ve got Harrydog who has been tracking deer through the forest and Aedan in his heavily-laden off-road buggy, plus we also stopped off for lunch! We’d tried before to get to this stone circle a few years back, but we set off a bit too late on a Winters afternoon and it was starting to get dark whilst we were still on the Allean forest trail so decided to leave it for another day. This is one of the best preserved of the Perthshire four-posters and is in a fantastic setting- I expected the circle to be set in trees, but these have been felled since the last OS survey leaving a great moorland top. There’s views over to Schiehallion and Farragon to the south and Ben Vrackie to the east with Beinn a Ghlo just hidden by a line of trees. The stones are four fairly large granite blocks which run in a perfect N/S E/W alignment. The southernmost stone has a beautiful spiralling quartz pattern with rose quartz veins. Up here there’s only the sound of very distant dogs barking, flies buzzing past (on the way up here we saw some monster dragonfly- we’ve seen smaller birds than those), and the occasional squeal of delight from five month old Aedan who is looking at a map of the area with Kat. Another cracking site that’s well worth the journey.
NB-see the folklore section- I never noticed the hut circle (not on Pathfinder map) or the avenue lined with stones- however, this was probably written before trees were planted here and could have all been lost in the cultivation process.

Directions
Travelling through Pitlochry to the North stay on the B8019, past a caravan site on the left hand side, then turning next left over the Garry Bridge (still on the B8019) towards Queens View and Tummel Bridge. On past the Queens View visitors centre and just beyond is a sign for Allean Forest walks etc on the right. Turn in here and start walking! I used a combination of maps- Pathfinder 294, a rather good 1:10 000 orienteering map I had bought a few years before from the Queens View visitors centre and the guide to Tay Forest Park (mebbe a bit overboard, but I’m dead sad and love a good map to myself :)). The easiest way to get to the stones (though mebbe not the most direct route) was to follow the red way markers to a junction in the forest track at 862605 (basically the furthest northeast of the waymarked trail). From here we followed the forest track round Meall na h-lolaine (this was built after the OS survey and is only marked on the orienteering map) and had cracking views on the north side of this hill. A pretty indistinct path leaves the main track at 841619 approx NWW across the moor to the circle. Whew!

Wolfhill (AKA Blairmuir Wood) Standing Stones
Saturday 11/8/01
These standing stones are actually signed off the farm road past Loanhead as a Stone Circle. I happened to ask permission at Blackfaulds to visit Blackfaulds Stone Circle and the very helpful farmer pointed out many other sites of the Pathfinder to me- including this one. It’s a wild and dreich and windy day up here that adds to the atmosphere in this small strip of woods. There are two main stones, both large slabs one of which is quartz-veined. Immediately west there is a pile of small stones, but I suspect that these have been removed from the surrounding fields. The stones run in an approximate NW/SE alignment and are marked on the OS map as “Standing Stones”- but very nice “Stone Circle” sign nonetheless. There are many other examples of paired standing stones in Perthshire similar to these which makes me doubt this was ever a circle (plus the fact that these are pretty big blocks and would doubt someone to go to any effort to remove others from an uncultivated wood).

Directions
North of Perth on the A93 towards Blairgowrie. Just before the 30 mph signs for Guildtown there is an un-signposted road off to the right- drive up here and keep heading straight towards Blackfaulds farm on the metalled road. There is a new farm track before the farm buildings not marked on Pathfinder 337. Follow this up past Loanhead farm and the stones are in the woods on the left of the track in the strip of trees. Ask directions (and permission) at the Blackfaulds or Loanhead farms.

Saturday 11/8/01.
In a birch woods off the track to Blackfaulds Farm there is a squat circle of approximately 10 stones, but it’s difficult to tell due to the fact that all are covered in a thick blanket of moss. This also makes it impossible to see the questioned cupmarks mentioned by Burl. I, of course, have left the car without bothering to put on my hiking boots and gaiters and now, consequently, have soaked feet- ah well- worth it I s’pose. This is a very calming wood and a long forgotten site by the looks of things-it’s so overgrown but I can see that at least one of the large stones has split into 3 pieces. According to Burl, there are two sites here- Blackfaulds A and B, but I’ve had a scout in the surrounding woods and this has proved fruitless- however, both A and B are on the same co-ordinates. I climb into a tree to try and get a decent photo of the circle- the tree’s soaking so I’m sliding all over the place and it doeasn;t help that it’s windy so the tree is also swaying (as it turns out re-writing this afterwards the picture I took is all over the place!). Back at the car I find my pockets full of twigs...

Directions
North of Perth on the A93 towards Blairgowrie. Just before the 30 mph signs for Guildtown there is an unsignposted road off to the right- drive up here and keep heading straight towards Blackfaulds farm on the metalled farm road. The circle is in the woods on the right just opposite an entrance to a field- best to ask at the farm for permission- the man (Guy I think his name was) was very friendly, helpful and had a great knowledge of local stones.

Wednesday 15/8/01, 1:40pm.

Wow- another magickal site! I’ve just done a very orienteering style romp through Druids Seat woods to get here and am now pouring with sweat as it’s very humid in the trees. A 10 stone ring in a rather great and very atmospheric forest. The largest stone to the SW is amazing- the outer face on this approximately 1m high block is very smooth whilst the inner face has a great stone wave! Someone has also been drawing spirals on the bottom of it- I also see in the middle of the circle is a Blair Witch-type setting of stone, twigs, pine cones and feathers. This circle has a real amazing atmosphere and I lit up when I spied it through the trees. There are six trees in the middle of the stones and they almost feel part of the circle as they draw your gaze up to the open sky above. I’ve just noticed that the forest floor is covered in mushrooms. I feel very very strange here...

Directions
North of Perth on the A93 towards Blairgowrie. Just before the 30 mph signs for Guildtown there is an unsignposted road off to the right- opposite this is a farm road signposted to Loanfolds. Follow this into the woods and look out for a very indistinct path second on the left. The stones are almost at the end of this track- best to use the Pathfinder 337 map.