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Fieldnotes
| Forming the final visit to a triumvirate of long barrows today - and preceded by the mighty Crippets and evocative Coberley - Lamborough Banks was, in retrospect, perhaps on a hiding to nothing in the Gladman appreciation stakes. The unusual nature of the visit to come was perhaps foretold by a village sign along the B4425 duly announcing 'Barnsley'.... now my route finding is bad, granted. But not that bad, I'd have thought? It's not, the Ablington turn off at Bibury leading me past the former to an seemingly abandoned farm within trees to the left of the minor road. With no sign of a farm house (that I could see) and a deserted commercial concern of some description to my right, I decide to go walkabout down the seriously muddy track, veering right as suggested in previous posts. Sure enough, a break in the trees heads left past a large enclosure of chicken wire.... and there it is. A seriously overgrown long barrow. And I mean seriously overgrown, a single orthostat upon the southern end of the mound all but consumed by brambles. So then, not a place to hang out unless you have a cast iron constitution... or happen to be a devotee of the Marquis de Sade. But hey, who am I to judge? Despite this, a walkabout hacking one's way through the undergrowth reveals Lamborough Banks to be quite an upstanding monument, one featuring traces of what may well be chambers in addition to the previous mentioned stone. And then the shooting starts.... shotgun reports to my north, south, east and.... yeah, there it goes... west. I'm surrounded by 'individuals' with guns, the sort who think shooting 'things' is fun. Oh dear. Time to leave unless I fancy a walk on/carry out part in a remake of 'Southern Comfort'. Speaking of which, a man lurks silently in the trees as I return to the car. To be fair, however, a landrover parked in the yard suggests this to be the farmer not wishing to make a big deal. If so, I appreciate the gesture. So, self preservation took precedence over the study of antiquity this time around - although the visit did last an hour. Come to Lamborough Banks when the guns remain silent and no doubt a great time can be had by all. |
Posted by GLADMAN9th March 2011ce Edited 9th March 2011ce
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Comments (2) |
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| the shooting could well be automatic bird scarers, the two sound the same |
Posted by wideford9th March 2011ce |
| Possibly... although the rapidity was nothing like the bird scarers I've heard before, predominately in Essex. More to the point there were about half a dozen or so fancy 4x4 vehicles parked on the verge a little way up the road suggesting people were out and about. |
Posted by GLADMAN 9th March 2011ce |
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