Gwern-y-Cleppa Chambered Cairn View all content for Gwern-y-Cleppa

Visited 28.11.10 I pass this site twice a day, driving back and fore to work. Every day driving home I quickly glance up and see the stones through the seasons, in all kinds of weather and in kinds of lighting – it is surprising how different they can appear. I had planned to make a proper visit for a long time and at last, today was the day! I chose a Sunday as I thought it would be easier to park in the industrial site car park and to my delight the place was deserted (I suppose the artic weather conditions helped!) Walking up the farm track to the left of the car park you soon cross over the motorway and immediately afterwards there is a gap in the fence to the left. (At this point a Land Rover came down the track and I thought 'here we go' but they just drove on) Through the gap in the fence and a brisk walk through the knee height snow across the field heading towards the trees. The chamber is visible from this point. You then have to clamber over a barbed wire fence, through the trees and up to the stones. This may sound like a bit of a hike but it is only a 10 minute walk from the car park. This is the first time I have (I think) visited a site in the snow and it is surprising how much difference it makes. To coin a phrase the snow lay 'deep and crisp and even' and it was a lovely sight to see the dark stones sticking out above the white snow. I counted 6 large stones and several sticking out of the grass/snow. The traffic from the quieter than usual M4 whizzed past nearby but it did not detract from the moment. The sky was blue, the snow was glistening in the sunlight and I had the place to myself – wonderful. It wasn't too long before the cold set in (it was well below zero) and I gave each stone a pat before bidding my farewells. As I was returning across the field about 20 cows came running across – they obviously have better hearing than me as soon after a tractor arrived with a huge bale of hay. At this point I darted back into the trees to retrace my steps – I don't think the farmer saw me? I returned home so glad that I decided to go out for a couple of hours despite the snow. It really does give a different feeling to a site. One I would highly recommend.

Posted by CARL 1st December 2010ce

Comments (0)
You must be logged in to add a comment