Someone clearly takes care of this site and has put in this neat little path across the interior of the enclosure.
Someone clearly takes care of this site and has put in this neat little path across the interior of the enclosure.
Looking along the northwestern bank, with external ditch on the left.
Approaching the little enclosure from the northwest.
The small burial cairn, fern covered, outline just about seen on the right side, badger track through the middle. Ed checks the details.
Ramparts at the eastern end of the fort.
Looking south along the inner western rampart.
Outer earthworks on the southwest side of the fort.
Approaching from the southwest; I haven’t come from this direction before.
It’s not that far a walk from the car park to Bryn Celli Ddu. But far enough that my mind was full of thoughts of what it might be like. You can’t particularly see the tomb until you pop out of the hedges right at the end. So my expectations were high. But I felt weirdly underwhelmed by this place. I suppose I have got a problem with distinguishing reality and imagination. But what more do you want Rhiannon, it’s got everything you’d think you’d like? Perhaps it was so different from your average stone-in-a-field or collapsing dolmen that it felt wrong to me. Too messed with. Too neat.
When I went inside I was really appalled at the amount of tat (sorry, respectful offerings) inside. I wanted to sweep it all into a bin bag and take it away. I probably would have done but there were other visitors and I was vaguely aware they might think I was being disrespectful. Particularly egregious were the hand prints and crosses painted on the stones. Conceivably, the builders of the tomb might have liked your sea shell or even that hideous leather owl. But a cross?? Painted on?? Just stop imposing your 21st century beliefs on someone from 5000 years ago.
Yes I felt quite irritated by now, at myself for not “feeling the vibes” and feeling a bit flat, and also at the graffiti.
Then I noticed the gorsedd. I really liked the gorsedd. It felt like the important bit. I should have found a way to get to it. But it was starting to rain and I felt Mr Rh had been imposed upon enough. If I came back I’d go over there straight away.
The latest imposition at Trefignath is the building of the Holyhead Hydrogen Hub. A worthy effort I’m sure, using renewable energy to produce hydrogen via electrolysis. But I hope it doesn’t obscure the mountain beyond too much. The business park at Parc Cybi is still mostly empty fields otherwise. You’d like to think the stones will still be there when everything else has long since fallen down. They’ve managed to make it so far.
It’s probably heresy but I think I liked the bedrock parts of the tomb better than the tomb itself. But maybe that’s what the creators liked too and that’s why they stuck it here.
There isn’t anywhere particular to park a car but the wideness of the verge of the big new road gives you plenty of options. I liked that they’d designated the stretch of the original lane into a cycle path / for pedestrians.