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Ring Cairn
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Visited 9.4.11. After a mooch around The Hoarstones, the obvious route south-westwards follows a track through the Forestry Commission woodland, emerging onto access land and the lower slopes of Stapeley Hill. From here it's a short uphill pull to the hilltop. Stapeley has two modest summits, roughly of equal height at just over 400m. But although modest, this is enough elevation to provide a wonderful panorama on a clear day.
To the east the rocky ridge of The Stiperstones, while a short hop over the Welsh border to the south, the view is dominated by cairn-topped Corndon. Over to the west and northwest, the various mountain ranges of southern Snowdonia, from the Berwyns to Cader can be seen, fading into blue in the hazy heat.
The northern summit is crowned by a small modern walkers' cairn. A few earthfast stones protrude through the short grass, maybe indicating that an older structure once stood here. Nothing is left now.
Crossing the saddle towards the southern summit, the cairn comes into view without much warning. A low ring of earth and protruding stones is all that's left, either suggesting serious robbing of a larger mound, or possibly a ring cairn. Some of the stones stand upright, inside the "ring" of earth that marks the outer edge of the cairn.
The southern summit is topped by a larger walkers' cairn, sitting on a natural(?) mound. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if this didn't have older origins as well. Well worth a few minutes of your time, if only to take in the view. But the real business of the day is still to come, so it's onwards southwest to Mitchell's Fold.
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Posted by thesweetcheat
12th April 2011ce
Edited 12th April 2011ce
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