Three Kings

I’ve been desperately wanting to come here for years, It was a toss up between the Lleyn peninsula and Northumberland, seeing as this year has been labelled the year of the stone circle and because of Hafodygorswen I’ve taken on a bit of a quest for the four poster. So here we are, Phil the daughter and I, well, I parked in the little car park at Blakehopeburnheugh, same as Hob ten years ago.
The walk starts going up the toll road (£3) forest drive, but we take the first right turn and follow the track parallel to the river Rede. The track heads up hill slightly then branches into two, turn left. Then almost immediately right, up a grassed over track. Almost immediately again turn left, this left turn is a pretty vague path but is marked by a 3 kings sign. Steeper up hill now, with a slippy algae covered hand rail to steady ones self, or not.
Daughter Phil usually has the get up and go of the average 15 year old, but today she is really impressing me, no moaning at all, perhaps taking archaeology at collage has had an impact.

Up ahead there is a sun filled clearing and my spidey senses start to tingle, the stones must be just up there, and so they were.
Three bright stones shining in the sunshine, a smile challenges my calm demeanor, beats it over the head with a heavy stick, and takes over my face completely. I just love arriving at a difficult to get to high on the list site, I imagine it’s how Rory Mcilroy feels when the last ball goes down the hole and the championship is won, probably is.

Some armholes have had a campfire in the circle, I cleared as much of it away as I could, then we sat down on the fallen stone. Three kings? not four? obviously if you fall down you don’t count, at all.
Since Greywether and Hob came, the trees have really grown, tall and thick, all the view is gone, but I recently bought a big box of matches so it wont be long now. This little clearing is acting as a sun trap this morning, and with the stones mooning at me, this is a terrific place to be.
I’m on a bit of a quest concerning four posters, Hafodygorswen, in far off North Wales is in my opinion a bona fide northern fourposter, I was a bit concerned with it being associated with a cairn, but as i’m finding, four posters are more usually than not, associated with a cairn.
Whilst I was walking about photographing the stones, I saw a little brown vole scurry from one big tuft of grass to another, then two seconds later and one foot away a little green lizard, an out of place sand lizard, or just a green common lizard, either way, nice.
The information board, wasn’t expecting one of those up here, is a bit different than most, the left side is all very normal, saxon kings, bronze age, burial etc etc. But the right hand side has three poems all by local school children one of which I would like to perform for you now........

Tall stones standing spotted, grey, looking out
across the trees.
Lonely peaceful in the clearing.
Your lichen patterns change colour in the shadows.
Ancient people left you here guarding the grave of their loved one.
Only the buzzing of the bees and the song of the birds can be heard.
And the smell of the fresh green grass stays with you forever.

Nicola Collingwood

Apart from the smelling bit I’m totally on board.

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