thesweetcheat

Close-up of the barrow, looking north towards Carn Bean.

The round barrow is visible as the lighter area in the foreground. The prominent mast tops Carn Bean, with its own barrow visible as the low mound on the skyline to the right of the base of the mast.

Heather and gorse still cover the common, although the bracken around the stones is much reduced, being easier grazing.

General overview, showing how low the midsummer bracken is, compared with previous summer visits. Ironically, the heather and gorse covering the main part of the moor (beyond, up to Carn Kenidjack) appears largely unaffected by the grazing policy.

Rabbit’s eye view.

The northern end of the chamber. More rain on the way...

Looking along the passageway to the partially collapsed northern end of the chamber.

Looking over the broken capstone to Hay Bluff (centre).

Dorstone Hill from the SW. The fort is hidden by trees at the right-hand end of the hill.

Hay Bluff/Pen-y-Beacon (far right) and the Black Mountains’ northeastern edge. Seen from Vagar Hill.

The ‘W’ (or ‘M’).

Looking SSW, the Black Mountains escarpment can be seen from the stone.

Looking east along the trackway.

You can just make out the OS benchmark at the top of the eastern side (the less lichen-covered one).

If you get down low enough, it almost looks big. Almost.

Casting a lonesome shadow.

The Black Mountains are presented with this face.

The chunkier aspect, looking NNE.

The south side of the stone, showing the slender, tapering shape.

The broader sides of the stone point down the valley towards Michaelchurch Escley, with Ysgyryd Fawr beyond (sadly obscured by trees from the stone itself).

Looking southwest, with the backdrop provided by the Black Mountains’ northeastern escarpment.

Wide angle to show the full size of the cairn mound, underneath the modern beehive effort.

Looking south. The cairn extends right under the greenery in the foreground.

Looking NW along the ridge towards Bal-Mawr, with Chwarel y Fan behind.

Showing the upper surface of the cairn. Ysgyrd Fawr can be seen to the right.

Looking to the SE, with the Sugarloaf behind.

Approaching Garn Wen from the south, showing the wide diameter belied by the modern additions.

The first sight of the distinctive beehive (centre) seen from the south, along the ridge leading up from Twyn y Gaer hillfort.

Twyn y Gaer (left of centre) seen from the north, along the ridge leading up to Garn Wen. Ysgyryd Fawr far left, Pen-y-Fal/The Sugarloaf on the right.

The NE corner of the fort.

Impressive earthworks at the NE corner of the fort.

The northern rampart, showing the curve at its eastern end. At the end of the ridge across the valley far left is Pen-Twyn camp.

Double rampart at the western end of the fort. Looking towards the Black Mountains peaks of Pen y Gadair Fawr (left) and Chwarel y Fan (right), with the top of Rhos Dirion peaking out in between.

The rampart at the SW corner of the fort. Looking west across the Grwyne Fawr valley towards Patrishow Hill.

The central bank, dividing the east and west parts of the fort.

At the southeastern corner of the fort, looking towards Pen-y-Fal (The Sugarloaf).

The ground falls away steeply on the south side of the fort, reducing the need for substantial earthwork defences. Ysgyrd Fawr (The Skirrid) is a prominent landmark on the right, with the shoulder of Bryn Arw in front of it.

Approaching Twyn y Gaer from the north.

Huge fallen slab in the NE quadrant.

Small sarsen in the NE quadrant. This is likely to have been the size of many of the “missing” stones of the circles – easier to topple or carry away than their larger companions.

Stones of the northern “circle” in the NE quadrant.

Northern “circle”, NE quadrant.

NW quadrant.

In the NW quadrant.

The remaining stone.