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Cae'r-Hen-EglwysStanding Stones
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My daughter is in her second year away at university in delightful Stoke on Trent, I miss her terribly, but I needn't worry about her as she now has a boyfriend to look after her, and he does. When she is home, twice now she's asked me to drive her down to his house so they can be together. This is a double edged sword, he lives in Wales, near llantwit Major, South Wales, just about as far away from us as is possible whilst still being in the country next door. But on the other hand there are plenty of stones round here that I haven't yet had the pleasure of because they are so far away. The first time I took her down I dropped her off and went to see some cairns on the edge of the Brecon Beacons, this time I took the time to go in and meet his mum, but she was out, so I hugged the daughter and said goodbye, then Eric and me went off to find some stones. I don't own the map that I need to find them, but I took some photos of the online map and Eric has his smart phone, so I trust in my 17 year old son and head off north towards Bridgend. A lot of traffic slowed us down but in the end he took us down some narrow lanes and suddenly said stop, were here, are you sure I said turning to look at him, and there they are through the window beyond him. Ok well done say I. I remember reading Gladmans scathing report of the site, lots and lots of rubbish strewn all over the place by the sounds of it. So I'm a bit apprehensive. There is a broken information sign hiding in the bushes but I don't think it's for the stones, I climb the gate and enter the field. Immediately I'm relieved to see there is no rubbish at all, but the double edged sword comes into play once more, this is still farm land and there is a massive pile manure not twenty yards away, but being anosmic this only offends mine sight. Between the stones and the manure is an unnavigable muddy quagmire, a treacherously unpassable sea of shit and earth, cows come here every day to feed and pass through the gate, it is a disgusting mass. No rubbish though. That all being something or other the stones are pretty fabulous. Standing closely a certain distance from one another, about five feet tall, one stone a tall and somewhat pointy stone leans only very slightly, but the other a broad round topped stone, it's lean is considerable, without being very exact it's lean is perhaps 55 degrees from the vertical plane. Nice stones, Bad mud and poo. |
Posted by postman5th January 2020ce |
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Visited 9.5.10. Thanks to Gladman's directions I eventually got to visit this site. One little thing I would add is that the field gate you are looking for is more or less on the junction of the lanes. Park where you can at the junction and the stones are eaily seen the other side of the gate - only about 10 yards into the field. When I visited the gate was wide open with plenty of rubbish around the area but not much actually next to the stones. Plenty of nettles though! There also appeared to be a large bone 'offering' left near the top of one of the standing stones. |
Posted by CARL 10th May 2010ce |
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Tall, (usually) dark, well proportioned (ish) and with a multi-faceted character suggesting hidden depths.... if you can penetrate behind a veneer of apparent couldn't-care-less-ness. But enough about me. These Cae'r-Hen-Eglwys stones are pretty good, too! Surely few megalithic monuments can invoke such paradoxical sentiments in the visitor as these two beautiful monoliths? Hidden away in a field, to the north of the charming village of Laleston and sandwiched between the, er, somewhat less appealing urban sprawl of Bridgend to the east and the M4, the profile offered from the minor road upon arrival is achingly evocative... shades of Duddo, perhaps? The stones themselves possess exquisite grain, the resultant texture combining with the colours of the lichen, ever changing in the constantly evolving light patterns of today, to send the perceptive senses into overdrive. Then the paradox... the downside. The piles of household rubbish littering the approach, the old trailer wheel and coke bottle defining the space between the stones, the patch of blackened earth nearby no doubt marking the location of the last rites of another stolen car, now removed, the stones looking on in mute witness at the violation. Hell, how did it come to this in a society which is only too ready to proclaim its spirituality and its supposed affinity with its ancient heritage, the 'Hen wlad fy nhadau'? Why, they even sing about it in the new cathedrals, the rugby stadia! How indeed.... it seems to me that actions certainly speak louder than words in this respect and that, following the demise of the chapels, the new South Walian 'religion' of rugby and beer has very little time for the 'Old land of my fathers'. As Karen Matheson once succinctly put it, the '..country's been wearing the emperor's clothes..'. Surely it shouldn't be up to an Englishman all the way from south-east Essex to attempt to restore some dignity to this relic of past cultures? Then again, perhaps it takes the outsider to see things as they really are? A 'souped up' pretend rally car - you know the sort - roars past, the 'occupants' looking at me as if I'm from another planet. Although I know the area well, I feel I might as well be, if the sadness which wells up within me is any indication. But then, suddenly, the paradox inherent here provides the defining moment of the visit.... The sun streams across the defiled landscape to illuminate the two monoliths, which appear to these eyes like a shining beacon of hope for the future in their very survival against all the odds. Melodramatic? Perhaps. But then again...just maybe.... the 'chavs' won't win after all as long as there are some who realise this is not the way to treat the past. It can be different. No, it HAS to be different. So visit these stones, if you can, and perhaps we can help bring them back into the local conscience. To reach Cae'r-Hen-Eglwys take the A473 Bridgend turning (roundabout) towards Laleston from the A48. Take the next left and, ignoring any turnings, pass the cemetery on your right. At the crossroads turn right and head east to a junction. Turn right here and, in a short distance, the stones appear silhouetted beyond a field gate to your left. |
Posted by GLADMAN10th April 2010ce Edited 29th December 2011ce |
| I spent a frustrating hour or so looking for these stones last year - to no avail. They are not marked on an O/S map as far as I can see. Can anyone give detailed directions? Thanks in advance. |
Posted by CARL 9th April 2010ce |
| I was given the wrong OS ref for this and searched a very large very overgrown field to no avail. I dejectedly went back to my car and drove back along the road. I happened to glance to my right as I passed a heap of household rubbish and glimpsed the stones peeping out of the undergrowth. These are very strange stones that appear to bow to each other. If you are near Laleston give them a visit. |
Posted by hamish30th August 2005ce |
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