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Fieldnotes
| I parked in a one car spot by the footpath , just down the road from the fancy entrance gatehouse to the extremely extravagant Victorian folly Peckforton castle, now a hotel and wedding venue, and very nice place. Two sandstone monoliths stand by the footpath entrance, and on the other side of the stile is an information board telling us about the Meres.(but not the fort) There are many remnants of the ice age in Britain, moraines, U shaped glacier cut valleys, Chesil beach, but in Cheshire and parts of Shropshire and Staffordshire we have Meres. A mere is where ice blocks from the retreating ice sheet gouged out the soft glacial deposits to form basins (‘kettle holes’) which hold today’s meres. It was a nice walk in the countryside, in one of, if not the nicest place in Cheshire. But as Rhiannon points out there isn't much to see here, I couldn't even see a single earthwork. Perhaps it was in the turnip patch, a patch as big as two football patches. So without much to go on at all, nothing but an arrow on the streetmap facility, and no noticeable earthworks, I still reckon that I was stood in the middle of an iron age settlement. I channeled the genius of Stuart Ainsworth and set about walking to and fro with map in hand, glancing at it now and then. Three hundred meters south of the forts position is a piece of obvious high ground, but it looks like it's got a low barrow on it, is that why they shunned the higher ground, or was it just about the water. Walking about the field and looking down on Google earth I think I found part of the course of the old river, a boggy patch with that crappy reedy grass all over it defines the forts southern extremity, the mere still guards the western side and the now rather weedy stream is on the north. From here we would have been able to gaze up at our sacred hill Beeston crag, surmounted with the bigwigs impressive hill fort, and a mile or two south on 'my hill' Maiden castle, and above the fort is Stanner Nab, a two hundred meter high mound shaped hill. Rhiannon was right this is an interesting place, even in it's utter destruction. |
Posted by postman4th September 2012ce Edited 4th September 2012ce
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Comments (5) |
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| I got the wrong place, maiden castle on Bickerton hill no less, Beeston crags is your sacred hill i see, i want a hill named after me [ and a ufo ]. |
Posted by bladup5th September 2012ce |
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I think you'll find that's a 'precious habitat' (crappy reedy grass indeed) :) The fort was in a pretty cool location next to the crag? It is nice to visit places sometimes where the places aren't there any more, isn't it. it's like exercising your imagination in out the fresh air. And it's really interesting to see someone's description / photos of a place I've only read about, it's quite a strange thing. oh and I do love those Shropshire pools, they've got such a curious look about them. Shropshire's nice. |
Posted by Rhiannon5th September 2012ce |
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Those 'precious habitats' are far too good at hiding stones, it's what they evolved to do, hide stones, maybe not crappy, how about ' irritating reedy grass' i'd love to know its real name though. The fort was in a really cool location, but it faces Beestons more gentle slope, also the entrance to the big fort there, the crag is round the other side facing Merseyside. Cant say ive been to too many lost sites, lack of funds and a to hell with it attitude is what got me here on this day, i'll always prefer Castlerigg to Grey Yauds for obvious reasons but a trip to the latter will still have to be made someday. Shropshire is nice, it's pools too, but this part of Cheshire is nice too. |
Posted by postman 5th September 2012ce |
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Apologies, concentrate Rhiannon. I only know the shropshire ones you see. I'm sure the cheshire ones are equally if not much more nice of course. My excuse is all not getting out enough, it's very easy to get confused about geography when its all in my imagination. ps perhaps they were common rushes (rushes are round. and you can make rushlights out of them with a bit of bacon fat. so I understand.) |
Posted by Rhiannon 5th September 2012ce |
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No need to apologise, though they are much nicer. Nah, if you've seen one mere you've seen them all. If geography is in your imagination then I and we all must be in your imagination, are you the dreamer ? Common rushes Eh? don't you mean crappy rushes. MMmmm bacon fat . Droool |
Posted by postman 5th September 2012ce |
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