thesweetcheat

The stones on their coastal knoll.

The western rampart.

The impressively massive but seriously overgrown rampart.

Looking down on the fort (centre of image, at the end of the field in the foreground) from the west.

Looking towards Dippin promontory fort (approx centre of image, on the clifftop) from Porta Leacach to the southwest.

The land rises steadily to the north.

Looking out to sea, Ailsa Craig rises on the left horizon, Pladda Island straight ahead.

Northern rampart.

Looking down on Pen-Twyn Camp from Hatterrall Hill. Ysgyryd Fawr is the distinctive hill to the right.

Twyn y Gaer in sunlight in front of a cloud-darkened Pen-y-Fal/Sugarloaf. The central cross-bank cutting the fort in two can be clearly seen. From Hatterrall Hill.

Hatterrall Hill in shadow, far right. Looking down on the Monnow Valley.

Looking towards Rhiw Arw from the beautifully heather-clad Hatterrall Hill. Herefordshire stretches away on the right.

Lanscape context from across the valley on Hatterrall ridge. Cwm Bwchel cairn is on top of the spur in the centre of the picture. Graig Ddu cairn is on the spur on the far left. Chwarel y Fan is the summit rising far right.

Seen from Hatterrall ridge, with sunshine hitting the Vale of Ewyas.

A little landscape context from the Vale of Ewyas below to the southeast. The barrow is on top of the spur in the centre of the shot.

Looking down on the Vale of Ewyas.

Looking towards Bal Mawr.

The cist.

Looking towards Bal Bach and the Bal Mawr ridge.

An August visit finds the cairn rather more overgrown than Gladman’s winter trip.

Looking down on the Vale of Ewyas and towards Pen-y-Fal/The Sugarloaf.

The shape of the cairn is reasonably well-defined, but there’s no sign of a kerb. Looking towards Hatterrall Hill across the Vale of Ewyas, with Ysgyryd Fawr over to the right.

The exposed 1.8m cist slab edge, boot for scale.

Detail of the exposed cist slab.

Looking north uphill.

The disturbed centre of the cairn. The single exposed edge of a long slab, forming the southern side of a cist excavated in 1981 can be seen left of centre.

Looking WSW across the cairn towards the Bal Mawr ridge. It took me bloomin’ ages to find this cairn.

Zoom on the next visitors. The ramparts of Twyn y Gaer hillfort can be seen in the background.

Retrospective view on the way to Craig Ddu. The cairn is framed by Ysgyryd Fawr and The Sugarloaf.

Pen y Gadair Fawr, boasting the highest Bronze Age cairn in the Black Mountains, is briefly illuminated far left.

Looking southwest, with Pen-y-Fal/The Sugarloaf far left.

Approaching from the south.

Seen from the ridge to the north, flanked by Ysgyryd Fawr and Pen-y-Fal/The Sugarloaf.

Hatterrall Hill seen across the Honddu valley from the west on the way to Garn Wen.

Inner rampart and outer.

The low remains of the outer rampart.

Looking across the river and gorge towards the location of the mostly destroyed Burgh Walls camp on the other side.

The fort is located at the top of daunting cliffs dropping straight down to the river.

The western rampart. If Gustav Klimt did hillfort ambience...

Looking along the northern rampart.

Summer interior.

The eastern entrance with inturned banks, rather more overgrown that on my previous late winter visit 6 and a half years ago.

The eastern rampart.

The eastern ditch, with the eastern rampart on the right.