thesweetcheat

Nine years since a drizzly visit, I managed to pick a day with even less visibility this time, as sea fret cloaked the cliff top.

Sunlight bathed the golden glow.

Nice summer’s evening light. Nine Maidens over on the left.

The outcrop from the south.

The framing aperture. Unfortunately the low light and cloudy sky meant I didn’t get any decent photos through it.

The view of Carn Galva from the rocks. The framing aperture is directly underneath.

Eastern arc of the eastern cairn. Apart from the exposed slabs, a faint bank or rim can be seen under the turf.

The eastern cairn. Apart from the slabs around parts of the edge, it’s difficult to make out much. Looking towards distant Dartmoor.

Slabs incorporated into the edge of the eastern cairn.

The western cairn, looking towards Brown Willy with Roughtor to the right.

The scant remains of the western cairn, incorporating outcrop.

The western cairn, incorporating a little outcrop into its edge.

Detail of kerb on the eastern cairn.

The low eastern cairn. Like the other two it has a kerb. The bullocks weren’t enjoying my invasion of their hilltop.

Looking south. The Beacon on the left, Tolborough Tor and Catshole Tors to the right. Bolventor where I started and will finish looks a long way off to the immediate right of the trig pillar.

Looking from the summit cairn towards the western cairn.

The summit cairn. Although robbed of stone, the kerb mostly remains. Dartmoor is in the distance, left, the tors above Altarnun/Minions centre, The Beacon, Hendra Downs on the right.

Looking towards Roughtor. Note little cheesewring outcrop in the middle distance.

The excellent kerb on the western barrow.

The interior of the western cairn shows that it has been built around a square outcrop (left). The stone on the right is suggestive of part of a chamber created using the outcrop as one side, with additional stones added.

The western cairn survives to a good height.

The excellent western cairn with its orthostatic kerb. Brown Willy on the left skyline.

Scattered settlement remains on the NW flank of Buttern Hill. Bray Downs rises above, there’s a settlement across the valley but I didn’t have time to investigate.

Looking NNW towards Davidstow, the northernmost cairn can be seen over to the right.

Looking southwest towards Tolborough Tor and Catshole Tor, which now look a long way away.

The fabulous cist in the huge summit cairn.

The northernmost cairn, looking towards Brown Willy and Roughtor.

The northernmost of the four cairns I found, looking north off the moor. The big slab in its centre must have been part of the cist.

The huge cairn on the summit of the hill. Although the mound is badly robbed, the cist is one of the megalithic highlights of Bodmin Moor.

The second cairn from the south, close to the big cairn. Looking south towards Leskernick Hill with Hendra Downs (The Beacon) rising behind, and the south-eastern tors above Altarnun over to the left.

The southernmost cairn, looking west towards Brown Willy and Roughtor. There appears to be a hint of kerb around the edge.

The southernmost cairn I found, looking NE towards Bray Down (the cairns on its summit are prominent from here).

Looking east towards the pale blue hills of Dartmoor.

The remains of a fine kerb of big slabs around the edge of the large cairn.

The centre of the large cairn, looking towards Brown Willy, with Roughtor peeking over the ridge to the right.

The large cairn, looking north with Buttern Hill on the left and Bray Down on the right, both with their own fine cairns.

Smaller cairn to the south of the main cairn, which can be seen beyond.

The remaining upright on the southern arc.

The remaining upright on the northern arc.