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Fieldnotes
| A rare event – the solstice falling on the weekend and no cloudless sky forecast! I got up out of bed at 3.45am and (fallowing a quick cuppa) was out of the house by 4.00am. Driving past Tinkinswood I noticed two cars parked so knew there were people there. Was there anyone at St Lythan’s? In a word – no. I parked up and took the short walk from the gate towards the dolmen. The grass was heavy with dew and my boots were soon sodden. The weather was beautiful. Not a hint of a breeze, clear blue skies and no sign of the ‘wild dog’ warned about by Evergreen Dazed! I looked all around the chamber before standing inside to watch the sun come up. The strange thing is how much warmer it felt inside the chamber compared with outside. As the weather has been so hot over the last few days it must have heated the stones up which then radiated the warmth back out when the air cooled. It really was quite noticeable the difference in temperature. At this point I realised that the sun would be coming up from behind trees, something I hadn’t expected. I was hoping for a clear horizon. Perhaps the people at Tinkinswood knew something I didn’t? I decided to head to there instead. I squeezed in next to the other cars and quickly made my way across the field. Two people were stood at the entrance of the chamber and a third chap was stood on top of the capstone. It looked like he had been there all night as a tent had been set up. We acknowledged each other and I stood and watched and waited. The sky was starting to brighten and I knew it wouldn’t be long before the sun came up. However, much to my dismay, the sun was going to come up right behind an electricity pylon – nightmare! This certainly wasn’t how I wanted to watch the solstice. I decided the only thing for it was to go back to ‘Plan A’ and rush back to St Lythan’s – I still had time to make it. Also, (no offence chaps) but it felt better watching on my own. I arrived in time to watch the sun slowly rise behind the trees. The good thing is the trees filtered the brightness of the sun so I could comfortably watch it without hurting my eyes. After about 5 minutes the sun rose above the trees and it became too bright to look at. A short while later, two of the people I had seen at Tinkinswood arrived and we had a quick chat. One of them commented on how he was feeling cold. I suggested he warm up by standing inside the chamber! Not unexpectedly, the sun did not line up with the entrance of the chamber but I wondered if it lined up with the winter solstice? If it did, there would be an unobstructed view of the sun coming up. Weather permitting, I will return to this lovely little dolmen at the winter solstice to see if it really does line up? All in all, a good (if early) way to start the day. Now, where to watch the sunset from? |
Posted by CARL 23rd June 2014ce |
Comments (1) |
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Great stuff Carl. Glad that mutt didn't put in an appearance! |
Posted by Evergreen Dazed23rd June 2014ce |
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