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Round Barrow(s)
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To my south, barrows appear on the top the Whimble and the western summit of Bache Hill. By now I'm too tired to leave my main route and visit them, so they'll have to wait for another day. But the summit of Bache Hill itself now looms ahead, just a matter of climbing the grassy field and I'm there. The barrow here is magnificent. Much larger than the Black Mixen barrow, although similarly topped with a trig pillar, this is as fine a specimen of a round barrow as you could hope to find, especially on top of a Welsh mountain.
I collapse at the barrow, wring my socks again, have some lunch. As I sit, the surrounding gloom begins to lift properly, revealing an astonishing view to the south. First of all, patchwork fields emerge across the farmland below, finally acknowledging the elevation attained up here. Then, much further south, a black ridge of hills becomes visible: the Black Mountains escarpment. As the sharp profile of Mynydd Troed clears, I have an warming sense of place, with another piece slotted home into my Welsh jigsaw. I must come here again, when the views are clearer and my feet are drier. But in some ways the all-covering mists, giving way to a tease and a slow reveal, has heightened the satisfaction of making it up here.
There is a further barrow to the east of the main one, less impressive in itself but perfectly situated on the edge of the summit ridge overlooking the farmland below.
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Posted by thesweetcheat
1st August 2011ce
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