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Henge
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Parking is easy, room for a few cars and when we arrived there were about 10 cyclists all parked up too. Access is up a set of stone steps and then a walk up to the site so could be difficult for some. We headed straight for the Nissan hut, wanting to ask the guide whether Galabraes was linked to the site but she didn't know. However, she was incredibly friendly and more than happy to talk us through the site itself.
Upon entering the cairn, the first thing I noticed was the smell; it was boiling hot outside but as I started climbing down, the smell of damp, dank earth hit me and the coolness of the enclosed chamber was startling. The damp air obviously had it's effect on the stones, which were bright green in places; so green in fact, that I initially thought it had been painted on for effect!
It is hard to explain just how wonderful it is to see the stones in this way. Although you are surrounded by a fairly modern building, you can forget about that as you see the stones in the half-light and with the smell of the damp earth around you. Most burial chambers are now exposed (certainly the ones I've visited) and this just felt more real, somehow. Although the site was fairly busy, we were alone down there for a good 15 minutes. When we came back out, the heat and light was a bit of a shock. I took a 360 degree video from the top of the cairn, taking in the amazing landscape; as Vicky said, it felt like we in the middle of a bowl of hills, and the volcanic ridges to the east looked incredible. It's not hard to see why Cairnpapple was built in such a place.
The post holes which are exposed on the east side fo the site are huge. You have to wonder at the size of the trees which once filled them and the energy it would have taken to get them there.
The huge mast really didn't bother me too much, the whole place has such an amazing feel to it that it would take something really monumental to have a negative impace.
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Posted by Vicster
16th July 2006ce
Edited 16th July 2006ce
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