Latest Fieldnotes

Me and my brother set off to vist the area of the Marlborough downs, with the aid of the map that is in Interpreter. We travelled down from Norwich just for the day, to see what we could in the short time that we had. We visted several sites around the area and enjoyed the experience but the highlight for us was Averbury.
It was good being able to walk round the site with no restrictions, going in and out between the stones and able to find a spot to lay back and relax while taking in such a magical place.
We will definitely be going back.

this is my most favorite place in britain, fantastic veiws and awe inspiring.I stumbled across this site asetaining who owns old bewick. me and my girlfreind visited roughting linn which was wierd a big ole rock in the undergrowth with loads of carvings ace! mother earths got a good prescence.

I spend a lot of time visiting sites, seeking out the unvisited and unheard of but there is something about Wayland’s Smithy that keeps calling me back. Apart form this year, I have spent every beltain of my adult life at this barrow. It is so homely, beautiful and comforting. It as also worth a visit for the Summer Solstice as there are always other people there and a real sense of festival is in the air all night. One year a horse and cart turned up for the night and it was difficult to find somewhere to put your sleeping bag – that was a great night.

One year on, and time to pop back. The sign at the footpath says “no digging of holes”.

Yet as I mooched around the Southern edge this time, I noticed that not only are some cheeky homeowners fencing off bits of the ditch and bank for their gardens, one house is totally relandscaping “their” bit.

Not good.

Still a beautiful place though

... come, come ...

The highest point in Central Scotland provides a viewpoint to Arran in the West and the Bass Rock in the East. The logic of the landscape provides much of the atmosphere at this place. 1940s reconstructions and 1990s communications towers cannot remove the sense of place. Historic Scotland provide an overview of the confusing, crowded and much used hilltop. Everyone has buried someone here at some point – Neolithic to Christian – when I go, this is where I want to be!

A visit to Lundin Links is also a visit to the cover shot for `Rite`. These three are big. This is the kind of setting that conjures images of people turned to stone. Look carefully as you approach from the west, and they loiter around beyond the modern housing. Approached along the fairway, they stand and lean like hopeless golfers. Up close they are seriously intimidating, imposing themselves upon you as they direct the clouds across the wide open Fife sky.

I regularly drive past this monument, although I haven`t visited it for at least two years. I did see it from the air when I landed at Edinburgh Airport recently. The other gazeteer entries describe its sorry modern context, but within two miles of this site there are carved rocks, standing stones, burial cairns and a recently unearthed Iron Age chariot burial, unique to Scotland. 200 metres east from the circle stands the massive Gogar Stone. Beyond that looms the mass of the Castle Rock. If you look West you can see the hill on which Cairnpapple stands. Ignore the modern rubbish, the city, the noise, and imagine this circle in its rightful place in the landscape, and roll back the years...

This single stone known as the White Horse Stone or Western Sphynx, just off bluebell hill nr Maidstone, Kent, can now be only reached by taking the long walk from the bottom of Boxley hill (Nr Bredhurst) and following the path of the Pilgrims Way in the opposite direction of the steep hill of Boxley. It is a recumbent stone, probably the back stone of a long barrow similar to Kits Coty (the opposite side of Bluebell Hill) and Coldrum.
During the past 10 years or so, a group of friends and I have spent many a mellow evening at this site – with a small fire, bottle of wine and lots of good conversation. The stone is now overshadowed by the entrance to a huge tunnel as part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (which has systematicaly raped the kentish countryside). With the current drone of plant machinery and the impending thunder of high speed trains, I fear there will never be another mellow evening to be had – well , there goes 6,000 years of peace!
It’s still worth a visit though. In the pre- CTRL works archaeology digs, a Neolithic long house and undefined bronze age timber circle plus a late bronze/ early iron age settlement were found in the field opposite (now under the train tracks)

Sadly much of the Kilmartin area has foot and mouth restrictions in place. The path across the fields from the car park past the great X is closed and initially I thought we’d not be able to visit the circles, but followed the road round to gain access. The bluebells were in flower round the edge of the site, the sun came out and it felt so peaceful.
The rocks at Achnabreck are open as they are in forestry land, but almost everything else could only be viewed from the road. Still a spectacular area and I will definitely be back.

Strange place.

A fantastic ‘Cumbrian’ circle, second only in setting to Castlerigg. A pleasent stroll to the site, and suprisingly, no soul about. Enjoyed a fantastic game of ‘catch’ with a lemon. One persons offering is another persons ball. Don’t litter.

Strange place.

Visited Orkney last week and spent a day on Rousay. Unfortunately Midhowe was closed due to Foot in Mouth, but we went to 3 of the other chambered cairns.
Walking from the ferry terminal, the first along the way is also the most impressive-Taversoe Tuick. Discovered about 100 y ago, in true Victorian fashion by the Lady of the house in whose grounds the tomb is located (she was shocked to think of the summer afternoons spent lying on the mound unaware of the skeletons a short distance below the surface). The tomb is unusual, having two layers, and seems to have been designed this way rather than having a second tier added at a later time. Access is through an artificial opening in the upper layer-the original creep is very low & narrow and blocked by a grille. There’s an exciting feeling inside – a metal ladder allows access to the lower chambers, all of which are well preserved. There’s a glass roof which leaves the chamber feeling bright and airy, not damp at all. Outside there’s a small chamber adjacent to the main tomb with a heavy wooden door covering it over – the boy had to creep inside and be closed in...
About a mile further along the road is Blackhammer cairn, situated about 50 yards from the roadside. This is a long stalled cairn, reminiscent of Unstan, but longer. It is preserved up to chest height, with concrete walls & ceiling. A heavy sliding door permits access in the midpart of the tomb – alas no symbolic crawling to enter.

The third cairn we visited was the Knowe of Yarso. This is a further mile away, but requires you to take a path (signposted) up a farm track and over some heather hillside for about 1/2 a mile from the roadside. We did this in a sudden blizzard of snow and hail, which made the cairn a real haven when we reached it. Again it is of stalled construction, with an outer and an inner chamber, reasonably large. Entry via a metal door – no creep. Again, it is preserved about 5 feet from the ground, with concrete above. A bit of a disappointment after the walk up – had little atmosphere I felt. The view from the top is spectacular however – looking over Eynhallow and the mainland.

I have to agree with Chris. I have just retuned from a trip to Aberdeenshire and visited as manysites as I could. On the first day i visited Cullerlie, Sunhoney (lovely), Midmar Kirk. East Aquorthies and then Loanhead. Finally I decided to try to find Tyrebagger as I was heading back to Aberdeen. It’s not easy but eventually i found the farm track and drove up to the farm where the farmer was more than helpful, many thanks to him given the current situation with Foot an Mouth. I walked up the hill to the circle which is always visible even from a distance. No photo I had previously seen nor site visited ealier in the day had prepared me for this wonderful place. None of the modern intrusions matter, in fact they are hardly noticable, such is the power of this place. It is truly awesome and has to be one of the best sites I have ever been to. The effort is certainly worth it. Of all the recumbent cirles in the area the only one which comes close is Sunhoney, the others (East Aquorthies, Loanhead, Midmar Kirk etc) are all rather sterile in comparison. If you find yourself in the Aberdeen area you owe it to yourself to get to this circle.

It would be awesome seeing a sunrise over Robin Hood’s Bay from this site, which is surely why they were built here.

I chose the Rollrights as my place to be for the turning of the century (1999/2000). Earlier in the evening (8pm) in the King stone’s field a massive fire beacon was lit by the villagers, as one of a line of beacons from Cornwall to somewhere North. It was too foggy to see the previous and next beacon to ours though.

Come midnight around 30 people gathered in and around the Rollright Stones. I’d met a girl hitching to the stones with her Japanese boyfriend earlier, and so I stood with them, not beleiving the year 2000 was really so close.

On the horizon we could see far off firework displays in the towns all around, and at the stroke of midnight (someone else had brought a radio to listen to Big Ben’s chimes) fireworks were let off from the circle.

It felt good being away from the tawdry celebrations in the towns, as did being alone with 30 strangers. I can’t think of a better place to be at such a time.

We visited this site on the first warm day of Spring, and were surprised how atmospheric this site was. It stands out brilliantly on the approach to the village. From it’s summit you can appreciate how well positioned it is in the centre of a low valley, and can’t help but wonder how much more impressive it would seem if it was still surrounded by its massive bank. The finds from the 19th C Victorian excavation (which took a whole 10 feet off it’s summit) can be seen in the excellent museum in High Street, Hull. The displays on prehistoric East Yorkshire here are well worth a visit, especially for the Roos Carr figures ( now complete with the wooden penises that the Victorian curator removed for fear of offending the public).

THREE SITES IN NORFOLK

I was hoping that I might be able to help Mr. Cope with his next book by suggesting a few places he could visit in Norfolk, perhaps when he plays at UEA here in May. Then the spectre of Foot and Mouth loomed, however two of these three could probably still be visited, as they aren’t actually on farmland.

There is very little to actually find in Norfolk, since there is a fairly large amount of reclaimed land here and much of the rest has been heavily ploughed over the years. As such it’s likely that many possible sites have now been permanently lost, only the occasional aerial photo giving us a glimpse of what might have been!

So here are a few slightly obscure sites that I have managed to locate...

(1) Arminghall Henge (Map ref. 134 – 239060)
- Just to the south of Norwich, this is likely to be closed off due to foot and mouth as it lies in an area used for pasture, but usually it can be reached via the footpath that cuts though the field – the henge is actually marked on the OS map. Its remarkable that it hasn’t been totally destroyed, as it is close to the railway and an electrical sub station (a pylon actually stands on its outer edge). However it has been very nearly ploughed out... you can just make out bank and ditches from ground level. The henge is mentioned in many books (there’s a nice bit about it in Mike Pitts’ “Hengeworld”) and was discovered from the air in 1929 by Wing Commander Insall, who also discovered Woodhenge in the same way. Carbon dating shows it to be contemporary with many dates for Avebury and Durrington Walls. There is an excellent photograph of it (and some of the other places I have mentioned) in the Norfolk Museum Services book “Norfolk from the Air Vol.1”

(2) Ditchingham Longbarrow (Map ref. 134 – 344912)
- Amazingly, this place isn’t marked on the OS Map (it’s just to the West of the point on the map where the footpath and bridleway cross), yet Broome Heath in Ditchingham must have been a veritable prehistoric metropolis in it’s time. Not only is there this huge longbarrow, but there are a number of Bronze Age round barrows close by, and just to the south west of the barrow is a curved enclosure, which can be perceived from the ground. The barrow itself hasn’t been officially excavated but the enclosure has and looks to be neolithic. There were certainly a number of flint flakes around with the tell-tale percussion marks on them.

(3) The Stockton Stone (Map ref. 134 – 386946)
– This is marked on the OS Map (it’s on the bank between the road and the layby that runs around it) – Norfolk’s only standing stone, and at a huge three and a half feet, quite impressive!! A curiosity...the stone itself looks remarkably similar in nature to many of the stones used in Wessex monuments...but is it genuine or not? Even so, why is it there...I haven’t really been able to find this one out. Still, a standing stone in Norfolk, no matter how small, is very special.

Once the foot and mouth restrictions are lifted I am hoping to continue to locate what I can of Norfolk’s few ancient sites (including an area of barrows at West Rudham – Map ref. 132 – 810253). Also of interest to others might be Warham Camp (Map ref. 132 – 945408) and Holkham Camp (Map ref. 132 – 874447), both Iron Age Hillforts which I think are on farmland – it’s been a while since I went last – and the constantly surprising Holme next the Sea – former site of ‘Seahenge’, the replica of which is on the edge of an orchard, just north of a kink in the road at map. ref 132 – 719433, and clearly visible from the road.

Last year, just as Summer was on its way and Autumn was beginning to make its presence known in the colour of the land a small group of friends and myself took a trip (in everysense) to Castlerigg. We camped at a small but funtional site about a couple of miles from the site.
In the day time we trekked up to the circle and were at once blown away by the perfection of the setting. The surrounding vista of hills and mountain hugging the circle was breathtaking. The only downer was the day-glo walkers and tourists swigging coke and squatting on the stones, unintentionally besmirching the vibe. We walked on into Keswick with a view to returning in the evening when the mountain bikes and lunchboxes had gone home.
Late at night, under a sky fit to burst with stars, we imbided a small amount of the ma’s own fun-gals and headed back up to Castlerigg. The moonlit site was if anything more beautiful by the lady’s light (though we did have a couple of torches). As the atmosphere brought the mushrooms up, the serene joyfulness of Castlerigg impacted on me and I did the only thing reasonable. I danced, with no music save that of the low pulse of the stones themselves. I felt obliged, out of politeness, to introduce myself to each stone and so went around and whispered my chosen name to each and every one. By the time I completed the circle, the stones were whispering back; a kind of shadowy mantra of my name coming back at me! We stayed for about 2 hours, us the stones, the sky, the stars...the cold a minor hinderance in contrast to the sustaining vibe of the circle.
Beautiful. It may not be the biggest, but for sheer setting and evocation of something ancient and magical, Castlerigg is a primo-atmos-circle and I feel I must return.
Bless!

Having driven past so many times it was the perfect day to make the treck. It was in the snow that came around christmas last. Not cloud in the sky and glaringly bright sun.
This must be the top of the world. You feel increadibly small as the obelisk towers above and the land sweeps down beneath you ( it actually made me feel a bit sick, so don’t look down if you have vertigo! ). You can see for miles and it gives some perspective on youre place in the world. We wandered around, played in the snow took some increadable photos of the twinkling feilds and then made our retreat with rather more bruises than we came with. A great day, it’s a hard one in the snow as it’s so steep but well worth it.

The first time we visited it was very foggy and visbility became worse as we climbed. We could only see about 10 feet infront so we could make no realionships or actualy know where we were. We reached Adams Grave without knowing and rested for a while. In the fog I explored and walked from the stone at the front , I circled the mound and lost all my bearings. When I called to Lee that I had found another stone he told me I had gone full circle and I couldn’t see how , it was very eery and time seemed to stand still. This was a very intemate experience, just us and the grave, we could see nothing else due to the fog. We wanted to walk on further but we became worried we may get lost so decided to call it aday. The next time was so amazing , it was wonderfull to see the mound as a whole in it’s setting and and wow at the fantastic view that was hidden on our vist .
You can’t go here without feeling the urge to walk every hill and down within site (and there are lots). A beautiful and quietly awsome place.

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.