The fort occupies the rocky promontory in the centre of shot, rising above Abermaw/Barmouth.
Image credit: A. Brookes (13.8.2015)
thesweetcheat
Landscape context, with Cooper’s Hill centre and High Brotheridge over to the left. Seen from Crickley Hill fort.
Image credit: A. Brookes (9.8.2015)
Birdlip Camp seen from Crickley Hill fort.
Image credit: A. Brookes (9.8.2015)
The linear Neolithic earthwork.
Image credit: A. Brookes (9.8.2015)
The enigmatic circular feature inside the Neolithic enclosure. Looking towards Cooper’s Edge and Gloucester.
Image credit: A. Brookes (9.8.2015)
The northwestern escarpment. Bredon Hill, with two forts, can be seen far left skyline.
Image credit: A. Brookes (9.8.2015)
Looking towards the long barrow from the almost-gone round barrow (the lighter green area in the foreground).
Image credit: A. Brookes (9.8.2015)
Shiny new information board has a nice aerial shot showing the rampart and the square enclosure around the barrow, thought to be an Iron Age burial site.
Image credit: Hamish Fenton/Kite Aerial Photographs 2011
Larger round house parch mark inside the fort.
Image credit: A. Brookes (9.8.2015)
One of the round house parch marks inside the fort.
Image credit: A. Brookes (9.8.2015)
The view north, taking in at least three more hillforts: Bredon, Nottingham Hill and Cleeve Cloud.
Image credit: A. Brookes (9.8.2015)
Barrow I, with a mobbed Barrow II over to the right.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.8.2015)
Very overgrown Barrow I, at the western end of the group.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.8.2015)
Barrow II, the largest barrow in the group on the summit of the hill.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.8.2015)
Terrific view from Barrow II up the Taf valley towards a hazy Brecon Beacons.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.8.2015)
Folks give scale to Barrow II, on the summit of the hill.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.8.2015)
Barrow III, the least impressive of the group. Terrific views across the Hafren towards Somerset though.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.8.2015)
Looking across the top of Barrow IV towards Cardiff and the Hafren/Severn.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.8.2015)
The low and overgrown Barrow IV, the second-most easterly.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.8.2015)
Barrow V in some proper summer weather.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.8.2015)
Superb Barrow V, the most easterly of the group, with even bigger Barrow II visible beyond.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.8.2015)
The brown stuff is mineral deposits (predominantly iron) bubbling up through the heated water.
Image credit: A. Brookes (2.8.2015)
There is a possibility referred to in the GGAT SMR that Roman masonry was exposed around the well during a flood in 1799.
This suggests that the well may have been in use during prehistoric times and reused by the Romans.
It is the only known thermal spring in Wales.
According to local legend, the ghost of a ‘Grey Lady’ once haunted the well. The lady, dressed in grey, is said to have beckoned a man collecting water from the well. As he approached she asked the man to ‘hold me tight by both hands’. The man obliged but his grip loosened. As he let go a stabbing pain caught him in the side, the Grey Lady complained his grip wasn’t tight enough and now she would remain a ghost for another hundred years. She vanished and has never been seen again ... or has she?
From the info board on site.
In Chris Barber’s “Mysterious Wales” (1982 David & Charles) he says that the well was famous for healing rheumatism and similar ailments.
It was reported that one child, who went there as a cripple, was able to throw away his crutches after a fortnight’s bathing and run about the green meadow on the riverside.
‘One of the most remarkable decorated stones we’ve ever seen’
On this remarkable, sunny day we can do one of two things. We can ransack our box full of superlatives to describe what has happened, or just ask you to look at the photographs. Go for the pics, kindly supplied by Ola Thoenies (thank you Ola!)
orkneyjar.com/archaeology/nessofbrodgar/2015/08/dig-diary-monday-august-17-2015/
The rocky eminence of the fort rises above the town of Abermaw/Barmouth. Seen from across the Mawddach estuary.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
Pared y Cefn-hir rises to the right of centre, in a scene that could be from a Scottish loch, but is the Mawddach estuary from the toll/railway bridge.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
Despite the damage and dumping, this a substantial monument.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
The exhaust pipe crucifix isn’t a great addition, to be honest.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
Empty beer can gives scale to the displaced capstone.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
After the mud of the forestry tracks, it was a relief to finally find the clearing with the cairm.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
Eastern stone and sea view.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
Western stone with cairn silhouetted behind.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
The adjacent large round cairn is over the wall. Pared y Cefn-hir hillfort is the backdrop.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
The large round cairn next to the stones is in the centre of the shot, with the stones to the right and Pared y Cefn-hir hillfort rising far left.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
Remains of walls on the south side of the track. The western end of the Cadair Idris massif looms in the cloud, the Bedd y Brenin cairn is hidden in the forestry.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
Enclosure wall curves across the foreground slopes.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)
The remains of a later rectangular structure can be seen inside the curving enclosure wall. Fairbourne lies way below.
Image credit: A. Brookes (27.7.2015)