drewbhoy

Found by Tiompan on a massive boulder 15 cups.

Visited 10/06/2011.

A new find find to me, Tiompan found this a wee while back, with 8 cup marks visible to the eye if not my camera.

Visited 10/06/2011.

Another new find to me, Tiompan once again beat me to it :-), this one has 1 good cup mark and 3 not so clear.

Visited 10/06/2011.

A new find in the field opposite, to the south, of the famous stone. This has three large cup marks with two that are badly weathered.

Visited 10/06/2011.

This rock, found by K. Sabine, has 3 cup marks. One clearly visible and two well weathered efforts. Head towards the famous rock, this stone is 20 yards from the track.

Visited 10/06/2011.

Woods Of cairnie 2 is much easier to find than number 1. If you park or start where I did you will see a track heading south east. Give or take a tree or two this leads in the direction of the cairn. Many years ago I’d been here so I thought I knew the area quite well. Indeed I do, one problem I was coming from the east heading west, not the other way round. Finding the first cairn was a fluke, but a path heading west was found which eventually led back almost to my car. Heading south east it was easy despite the rain which by this time had eased to monsoon.

This cairn also is set in a clearing and has remained undisturbed, once again being hidden by the trees has done it a huge favour. Standing at 8.6 meters wide and 1.1 meters high, grass covered, it remains defiant in state of splendid isolation which in this case is a good thing.

Another wonderful place, if in the mood for walking Springhill Stone Circle is on the Kirkton Of Skene road, the next minor road north to the west.

Visited 11/06/2011.

After the nice warm evening of Rock Ness last night (Glasvegas – magnificent!!!) Aberdeenshire was under water today. It adds to the atmosphere and creates another picture, there are always plenty of dry days. But this went to another level and getting lost didn’t help. After leaving the B9119, south after Hatton Farm, I parked at the edge of Torshinach Wood. To the east are the Woods of Cairnie.

To get to Cairnie 1, you must walk past Cairnie which is quite easy to find, number 1 is a nightmare. So in the end I walked up and down tracks, crawled under trees and generally disturbed all matter of wildlife except one deer which was nosey and followed for a wee while. In a clearing is the splendidly shaped cairn (or barrow) sitting as it has always done undisturbed protected by the trees. Even trees supposedly planted on top of the cairn seem to have walked away leaving one of their kind. As for the cairn it is almost 12 meters wide and 1.3 meters high. A single stone sits in the west, lurking around possibly a last kerb. Then all matter of hell happened, it lashed down, trees don’t offer much protection so head down I trudged on back west, I hoped.

Wonderfully shaped and beautifully hidden hopefully this cairn like it’s near but seemingly faraway neighbour will be here many years yet.

Visited 11/06/2011

Leave the B979 and take the back road to Westhills. I pulled in between two hills, Hill Of Keir to the right, Souterhill to the left. Fresh from a drenching at Cairnie I wasn’t worried about rain and ironically it stopped.

I headed up the hill, over a dry stane dyke, thru a new deer fence and clambered up the hill. Lots of flat rock but no rock art today. The cairn still sits at 6 meters wide and 0.4 meters tall with one possible lonely kerb to the north. To the north is the enclosure at Hill Of Keir, standing stones at Tertowie, Auchronie and Auchinclech are in the area, an end to a very wet but strangely rewarding day.

11/06/2011.

It is easy to see why old Fred Coles and others possibly thought there was a stone circle here – there are boulders everywhere. Possibly two enclosures are here but I managed to find one as the site is heavily overgrown. Two large boulders, 8 feet apart, mark the south western entrance. From the northern boulder an arc of smaller boulders can easily be seen. This leads onto an earthen bank. Stones can be seen in a circular shape but a winter time visit will make things clearer. Still it has impressive views of the River Don and Tyrebagger, northern slopes (the Slacks cairn etc.).

Heading east on the B977 take the second farm track south after the B979 (Newmachar) road. Just before Newmill Farm a track heads east. Follow this until the dry stane enclosed wood. The enclosure is to the eastern side, Logie Farm being immediately east.

Visited 4/06/2011.

Ann Burgess was correct when she described the Braedale Cairn as Bronze Age. As recently as 2009 Historic Scotland described it as possibly Neolithic, so I won’t disagree. Situated south of B979, opposite where I parked for Highland Wood. It is almost instantly recognisable as a cairn from the road being a small mound amongst a little wood of birch trees.

Sadly this cairn has taken a severe battering. Locally this is known as Gallows Hill, the cairn being built on top of a natural knoll. A farm track has been built straight thru the center destroying most of the western side. What is left is impressive. From the north to south it measures 19 meters, east -west 7 meters and 2 meters in height with a dry stane dyke protecting the eastern side.

In Ann’s house grounds there is a large flat stone that has been removed, so local myth goes, from the cairn. It is probably likely to be the headstone of a cist under which a much loved pet is buried. On top of this she knows most of the local myths and legends. I’ll record our next converstaion.

Then it was back to the Highland Wood cairn. No luck for me I couldn’t find my car keys. Hope was restored when suddenly Ann called out, the keys had fallen from my pocket near some flat rock. Back at the house I was shown some very old maps which I have been invited back to study. Several ‘bumps’ in the area have been explained so a return visit visit is a definite. Plus she makes a nice cup of tea.

Visited 4/06/2011.

Highland Wood Croft will last in the memory a long long time thanks to the kindness of Ann Burgess, some local knowledge and a piece of extraordinary luck. To reach here I headed north on the B979 stopping at the farm after Woodside. (Probably easier coming from the A947.)

I asked permission to to park from Ann which was kindly given. Being interested in local history herself she acted as a guide. It would be fair to say that the path isn’t the straightest, 0.5 miles, but it is fairly flat making it easy for dog walks and Drews. The path reaches a fence which marks the start of Highland Croft land. Sadly, like the fence, the croft is in bad shape. From here the cairn is north situated amongst a small birch wood. A beautiful setting amongst the green and white colours. Made me feel at home!

The grass covered cairn itself is some 6.5 meters wide and just over 0.5 meters high. Stones peaking thru are indeed kerbs. They arc round the northern side of the cairn, I counted 5 with 3 maybes. Everywhere near the cairn are rocks so I must come back and look for rock art.

With a few photographs taken it was back down the path to the car when Ann announced that there was a Bronze Age cairn across the road at Braedale. One big and massive problem – my car keys had gone missing so frantically I looked turning the car almost upside down, but no luck. Ann suggested that she’d drive so on we went to Braedale.

Visited 4/06/2011.

Take the first minor road west after Ardallie, and head in a north westerly direction. The first farm on the eastern side is Humblecairn.

Sadly this cairn will soon vanish probably to be ploughed out. What remains is a 13 meter wide grass, sometimes cow, covered mound standing at 0.2 meters high. Cairn material scatters the ground but the bigger stones mentioned by Canmore have long gone.

At least, on this occasion, I made it before it was totally destroyed.

31/05/2011.

Sadly the standing stones on Skelmuir Hill, two stones which would have been near the minor road, were removed or destroyed in 2008. The photograph of the fallen stone in the pics is likely to the last time one of the stones was seen. The Grey Stane still stands tho, looking rather lonely in it’s exposed position. I spent hours climbing up and down just in case they’d been pulled to the side but no luck (for the 4th time). Makes me feel very sad as I must have just missed seeing them. No picture, no reminder, sad.

Last visited 31/5/2011.

Archaelolink at Oyne, B9002, is the best place to start when heading for the sites and sights on Berryhill. Basically walk up the hill in front. There are two routes, a nature walk (quite easy) or straight up the fairly steep stepped path.

Situated on top of the hill the enclosure has in almost complete, in varying conditions, wall is 200 meters east to west and 150 meters north to south. In the centre of the site a building of a much later time barely remains. To the south is Aberdeenshire’s most famous landmark and everywhere else are loads of prehistoric sites. So this would be as good a starting point for a days hiking around as you could get. Max Hill the next hill to the east has the Gouk Stone.

As for Archaeolink itself I hope the place is taken over soon as the car parks and paths are beginning to look shabby. It appears the ancient is faring better than the modern.

Visited 29/05/2011.

On the western slopes of Berryhill facing towards Dunnydeer etc etc. The roundhouse is some ten meters in diameter. Clay has been found amongst the rocks during excavation. So the rest of the house was probably build on these rocks. The path leads to the site. Stop at signpost 17.

Visited 29/5/2011.

A new find with 5 cup marks 1 west side, 1 east side, and 3 down the middle. Possibly there are 2 well weathered efforts as well. Plenty of rocks and plates on the surrounding hills Mr T.

Visited 29/5/2011.

From Finzean Long Cairn we walked back to Dardunus but not to the car. By this time it was very dark so we decided to follow the path east up Corsedardar Hill to look for, what I’d been told, an impressive standing stone.

So with the temperature getting colder and rain turning more and more to hailstones we climbed. Fortunately it isn’t to far, no more than 200 fairly steep meters, on the track to Tom’s cairn.

It stands at 1.5 meters tall and looks like a chunk of rock has fallen from near the base. This gives the stone a very fragile look. Hopefully, being near the path, it will be looked after.

With that it was back, at last, to the car. Everything that could be drenched was drenched except our insides. With that we drove back to Turriff, I’d some celebrating and gloating to do. It was a very good day.

Visited 21/05/2011.

This type of post will drive the people who patch me up nuts but I wasn’t alone as the Mad Man Of Glass was allegedly making sure I didn’t get hurt. Keeping this in mind he decided that we should head west from Dardanus to Finzean Long Cairn. The conditions were perfect, it was getting dark, pouring with rain, underfoot was muddy therefore a drenching was assured. Perfect.

An almost 1/2 mile walk along the track, (take the first left) leads to a fantastic cairn. The forest feels very old with the rain and mist adding to the atmosphere. As we walked along two young deer sheltered under a tree (more sense than us) not moving as we passed by not more than 15 meters or so away. After a short climb the path turns north with the cairn straight in front.

It is wedge shaped being some 33 meters in length, 26 meters wide in the east, 9 meters wide in the west and some 3.5 meters in height. Various hollowed sections or wind breaks have been built into the cairn. This is an area with many huge cairns so plenty to see nearby. Even closer still is the supposed remains of another. That can wait till another drier day as we decided to go back to Dardanus.

Visited 21/05/2011.

On the way back up road from Glasgow it was decided to go over the Cairn O Mount. Normally a scenic route but today it was very misty making driving conditions dodgy to say the least. However we reached Strachan and headed north west thru the village of Finzean (pronounced ‘Thing in’, say fast) on the B976. By this time the mist had lifted and the rain had subsided to downpour and hailstones. Perfect conditions for a stroll in the Deeside hills.

The first stop was Dardanus Stone named after some Pictish King who had been slain in the area. Originally nearer the top of the hill the stone has been moved and broken then repaired. It now stands in an excellent location opposite the War Memorial. Now cemented into the ground and it stands at over 1.5 meters tall. Very impressive, even in the rain.

The stone nearest the field is the Birse Millenium Stone, obviously put up recently, but pretty impressive. Corsedardar is up the hill path about 150 meters away.
Visited 21/05/2011.

Taking all leave of my senses but in need of fresh air, on the way down to Hampden, the Mad Man of Glass (supposedly looking after me!) and myself went to look for the cairn at Finnercy. Traveling east from Echt, on the B9119, take the first minor road south. Stop in between Braigiewell and Finnercy farms and look west.

The cairn, to the credit of the farmer, stands in prime agricultural country in the middle of a field with excellent views to mountains in the west. Ploughing has given it a square edging but the circular outline of the cairn can still be seen. Although grass covered plenty of cairn material can be seen. Larger boulders, presumably field clearence are strewn around the edges. Neolithic pottery has been found here and Canmore say that this is probably a Bronze Age cairn. What is not in doubt is it’s size, some 27 meters wide and 2 meters high. Excavations have left an 8 meter hollow.

Sadly it was fairly cloudy so the foties don’t show the cairn at it’s best. Personally I think it is wonderful that the monument still survives in such a prime farming area. Top marks to the locals.

With that we headed back to car and on to Glasgow for a lovely afternoon, albeit a very wet one.

Visited 21/05/2011.

Driving down Hilton Drive towards the ARI I spied this standing stone quite by accident. Supposedly Bronze Age it stood in the grounds of Hilton Secondary School (brave thing to do!) but was moved to it’s present home at Hilton Heights. It looks like a part of the stone has been broken. Still it remains looking magnificent and now has excellent views to the mouth of The River Don and the North Sea.

Visited 9/5/2011.

This is a wonderful site with a wonderful location. Bennachie, sits right in front, to be exact Craigshannoch and Oxen Craig sit in front. The site itself is surrounded by prehistory, the Gouk Stone is across the road, Berryhill (which I’ll add later) is near Archaeolink and there are quite a few RSCs and standing stones in the area.

As can be seen from the pics the cairn is in a garden. Permission for my visit was obtained by Amanda Betts, one of my pupil’s mum and permission was granted by the owners Susan and Tim King. Tim kindly showed me round and answered all of my questions.

To me it looks like a triple ring/kerb cairn which has seen some bad treatment thru time. It looks very similar to the ring cairns at Hill Of Selbie and Cairndale. To the North East sector a passage way can be found. At 22 meters wide it must have some place. Tim explained that previously a steep slope to the north of the cairn had been levelled out without any damage to the site. Indeed the cairn is very well looked after no stone has been moved and must provide a very thoughtful place to come and relax. Tim also explained that the picture of site becomes clearer in winter so a return visit will be organised. Aerial pics would also do the place some justice.

A good end to a good day!

Visited 2/5/2011.

To the north side of Backley there are some massive boulders. On one of them Tiompan discovered 17 cup marks, mostly along the rock’s edge.

For Jan.

Visited 29/4/2011.

Instead of 5 cup marks there are 8 cup marks. Handy having Tiompan to count for me.

This is an incredibly hard place to find if you follow my path. Leaving Turriff head west on the B9025 and pull in at the old Forglen manse, just up the road from the Auld Forglen Kirk and graveyard. (made famous by George Findlater VC, the bagpiper who became known as the Cock Of the North). Looking at the OS map this seemed to be a short walk thru trees. Wrong oh so very wrong. Basically it was a scrap between the trees and me, often resorting to being on my knees but eventually I came across a track but no tumulus. However I did find a mausoleum to the west. So I re-tracked a little and found a track heading south. The tumulus/round barrow appeared as if by magic. Older trees had been chopped down with younger trees growing in their place.

How I’d missed this on several previous visits beats me but I’d obviously didn’t think about deforestation. The barrow is 25 meters and 1.7 meters high. Sadly this will vanish in time as it is taking a severe battering. It also has been dug into which revealed that no stones had been used in it’s construction just sand and clay. Three burials had also taken place here with various beakers and urns being donated to the Antiquities of Scotland. Now the barrow has little trees, whins, jabby things and turf growing all over making it very hard to spot. I left with a depressing feeling that this place had been forgotten about. I’ve told the local heritage people, who knew nothing, so they might tidy the place up with permission. Somehow I doubt it.

To get back I followed the path south into the trees and found a very easy route back to paths which led back to the manse and the car.

Visited 25/4/2011.

Situated just north of The Home Farm of Potterton on the Potterton to Belhelvie road (western side), this once impressive cairn somehow survives. Trees grow on top, ploughing has caused damage, a road removed most of the eastern side and just to make matters worse some idiot has thrown cushions onto it. Sad because this truly had a wonderful shape as can be seen in one of the pics.

The cairn stands at 15 meters wide and is 2.3 meters tall. It’s builders were sensible and built it on top of a natural mound. Fairly good views but not today due to the mist.

Visited 18/4/2011.

Tillydrone is known for all sorts of things but this is a well kept secret. I studied at Aberdeen University (living in the equally luxurious Torry) and hadn’t heard about this artificial mound till today whilst at Foresterhill.

This steep sided mound is some 30 meters wide and 9 meters by 5 meters at it’s oval shaped top. What it was used for is anybodies guess but it seems to have been in use since before the Iron Age.

Go down St Machar Drive in Aberdeen, past the academy with same name, until the first roundabout. If coming from King Street it is also the first roundabout. Go along Tillydrone Avenue heading north (past the Zoology dept.) and stop a the buliding that looks like a wee castle. Follow the path east which leads straight to the mound. Don’t go west or you might fall down the path into the River Don which this landmark overlooks.

Visited 18/4/2011.

Heading west on the A944 go thru the hamlet of Roughpark until the first minor road heading south, indicated Culfork. Opposite that is road heading north to Inverernan house. Take this and go to it’s end. I asked permission to park which was granted. From here walk thru the forest following a path which leads to fence. The cairn is in the field in front.

This must have been a large cairn which at some time must have been oval shaped. At 37 meters north to south, 24 meters east to west and 2 meters in height it has received some unfriendly treatment. The shape has gone due to a dry stane dyke (itself in a state of collapse). Field clearence has also been dumped on top along with a tree trunk or two.

A shame as it has a really fine location.

Visited 14/4/2011.

From Balnagowan I walked all the way back going past sothern edge of Scar Hill and the northern edge of Mulloch. Walking fairly fast I walked past the kerb cairn so that will give an excuse to come back as there is plenty more to see in Drummies Wood and Corrachree, Craig Glas etc.

Anyway I made it back to car and the resident at the house informed of hut circles near the back of his house. There are three but they are in bad condition with one being smashed by a farm track road leading to Knockenzie. Field clearence cairns can also be seen. Further evidence that this must have been a busy area in prehistoric times.

Ironically I had to walk past the western edge of Mulloch on the way back. Two men with chainsaws were busily cutting down most of the heavy vegetation.

Visited 14/4/2011.

In between the Balnagowan Wood cairn and Blue Cairn are at least 6 smaller cairns. Some are moss covered and some have trees growing out of them. All of them have been hollowed at some stage. But they have individual charm as well as being all different sizes. I’ve put the map reference with each pic from this site.

Visited 14/4/2011.

From the cairn at Balnagowan Wood walk the fairly short distance north. (I gave them both different sites as both cairns are totally different.) It is almost impossible to miss this long cairn as it is 70 meters in length and at it’s highest is 2 meters. The horns are 3 meters. Quite simple this is a wonderful place, the woods as indeed does the whole Cromar area reek ancient history. Freachem said the cairn resembled the stars and their constellations. To me, its a beautiful place amongst beautiful places.

As usual the more modern human has added clumsy finishing touches such as hollowing, fences and a graveyard for fence posts. One thing the more modern human couldn’t change was the tranquility and atmosphere. Silence is a great thing in the right place.

Visited 14/4/2011.

From Balnacraig I cut across the field in a north easterly direction, jumping a burn, to reconnect with the path. Keep heading east the path goes thru the undulating hills with a couple of streams to jump. Keep going until a gate appears, head another 100 meters or so until the next gate then surprise surprise the path vanishes again. I walked in a straight line and ended up at the very pretty Balnagowan Wood cairn.

The cairn is circular being 12 meters in width and 0.7 meters tall. It has been hollowed out which has allowed trees to fill the space.

The next stop isn’t that far away, no chance of getting lost!

Visited 14/4/2011.

From Scar Hill I climbed down following the fence and shortly found a gate. The path heading east re-appears, keep going until the trees clear on the southern side. Look across the small valley and the long cairn can be seen on the crest of the hill behind some clearence boulders.

This is a very impressive cairn which has seen a lot of damage but it still hangs on. It is some 35 meters in length and 2.5 meters at it’s tallest. Even the horns at both ends are large being at least 4 meters in length. the views south are exceptional with the views east focusing on Balnagowan, my next stop.

Visited 14/4/2011.

I climbed down Mulloch by heading north to look for a kerbed cairn but instead I became lost. However I found a track which led to Altonrea and Burnside. From there thru a couple of gates then head east, or that is what the map said. The path quickly vanishes and then reappears and then vanishes. (this happened a lot today.) So I headed in the direction I thought would lead to cairn, straight east. This ploy worked but several boggy bits had to be crossed. Eventually I came to edge of the trees, still heading east and flukily found the cairn.

It is a large cairn being some 17 meters wide and 1.7 meters tall. It has been hollowed out and has a fence running thru the middle of it. Once again tremendous views. As well as west, Tarland can be seen in the north. Scar Hill’s peak can be seen due east.

Visited 14/4/2011.

After the disastrous attempt of last summer, hours and hours toiling away in hot conditions getting nowhere, an alternative route was required. Thelonius suggested an alternate route which I think I followed. (thank you)

Head east from Dinnet taking the first track north indicated St James. Follow the road until the track veers east towards the last house. This leads to the ruined farm of Knockenzie. By this time Mulloch Hill will have been passed so head north thru a field until the heather appears and head up hill. A path eventually appears which leads straight to the cairn, on the west of the hill.

This would have been perfect for the hillfort but the cairn has pride of place with tremendous views over to Loch Kinord and Morven, in fact good all round views. The cairn is some 15 meters in diameter and 1.4 meters high. Almost unbelievably easy after last years trials.

From here its a long walk east to take in several other cairns.

Visited 14/4/2011,

Head west from the village of Glenkindie (A97) taking the second entrance, to the north, to Glenkindie House. Pull in at the first gate to the north. The souterrain is in the fenced clump of trees in the middle of the field.

It is in excellent condition as the locals said, being some 10 meters in length and 1.8 meters tall. Once upon a time a cairn covered this site but it has long since vanished leaving the fantastic site unblemished. All the details are in the Canmore link below.

Wonderful site, wonderful start to the day albeit a very early start.

Visited 14/4/2011.

Old Fred Coles suggests that this might have been once part of a circle. There are boulders scattered nearby and a quick look of nearby dry stane dykes didn’t reveal any circle type stones so this would have to go into the might have been but unlikely category. However it is a beautiful stone in a beautiful valley just along from the Coleburn Distillery. Standing at over 1 meter in height it has almost the width at the bottom gradually tapering to 0.5 meters at the top.

Once again nice scenery being located between Hart Hill (to the west) and Brown Muir Hill (to the east). Head south from Elgin on the A941 going thru Fogwatt and past the Coleburn Distillery. When the trees stop on the distillery side stop, the stone stands beside the fence and trees some 50 meters from the road.

Visited 12/4/2011.

This site is a tragedy and a severe disappointment after Davie’s Castle Fort and the unexpected Upper Auchenreath. If there are any standing stones then I didn’t find them. I looked everywhere with jabbies and whins taking full revenge on my legs. What is left is a badly mutilated cairn with stones possibly buried underneath a pile of vegetation. Still it must have been a nice place in its day with nice views west to the Black Isle and north, to the Moray Firth. I’ll go back and look in winter maybe something will turn up apart from me.

Continue up the road, north, from Upper Auchenreath. Turn west at the crossroads and go about 100 yards, the cairn is on the other side of the road.

Visited 12/4/2011.

As the alternate name suggests a chapel once stood in this area and near it also stood this 1 meter high standing stone. The stone was moved slightly to the east to allow for the erection of the war memorial. With Spring in the air and daffodils adding welcome colour, this is an attractive little site.

Go south from Elgin on the B9010. Kellas is the first small place on the road with the site near the war memorial slightly to the eastern side of the road.

Visited 12/4/2011.

Go west from Buckie on the A98 taking the minor road north at the Mill Of Tynet handily placed near a hotel. Upper Auchenreath is the first farm track east. Go the end of the track, then head north to the second field. The cairn is slightly to the west.

As its alternate name suggests some kind of justice was carried out here. Canmore seem to do it an injustice by saying a small cairn some 18 meters wide once stood here. I’d like to know what they think is big!

To me the satisfying thing is that there are any remains at all. the present farmer must take a massive amount of credit as it looks like he takes care of the site. I know that he puts poles up to mark the site so it doesn’t get any further damage during harvest. So good on him.

The site is about 18 meters wide and is 0.5 meters high with views to the Moray Firth and maybe more importantly south east to the Hill of Maud.

Strange to be happy when there isn’t much to see. Then again it’s good to learn that some people care.

Visited 12/4/2011.

From A98 just before Cullen head south on the B9018 thru the village of Lintmill until the first minor road west at Nether Blairock farm. From here go for a mile (approx) until the first corner. Stop here, as forestry roads lead to the site. Walk a few yards and take a the track going in a north easterly direction. This is a beautifully quiet place, a stark contast to noise of the match I’ve just been to and the singing on the bus (1-0 us). But a great way to start the day. Its early morning and the this part of the world, at least, is tranquil. Follow the track for another mile and the tree clearing narrows and a hill appears. Cross over and climb.

Most of the rampart seems, to me, to be in quite good condition. The west heads north to arc round and head south in the east to eventually end with an abrupt drop into quarry. The ditch/rampart height must average at 4 feet all the way round except for the two ditches at the southern flank. A possible entrance is in the north. The fort’s interior is now covered in trees but in the middle there seems to be usage. A small circle of stones contains a couple of skulls and limbs of something. Seems pretty deliberate to me. Some kind of sacrifice, I hope not but I don’t know much about these things so I can’t really comment.

So with that done it was a pleasant walk back to the car from a site that I found quite inspiring for reasons I don’t know why. Time for a few more sites before catching the supporters bus to Perth for tonights game.

Visited 12/4/2011.

Head south from Logie Coldstone on the A97 taking the first minor road, west, signposted Groddie. Keep going until Bridgefoot were the tar ends and stop. There is plenty of room for parking. Also you will just have gone past Milton Of Whitehouse souterrain.

Good boots, sticks, waterproofs, water, clean clothes are or pretty much essentials for this walk. Look west and a stile can be seen. Up and over, thru the gates, past the ruined croft until the next gate. At this point there are two choices, take the path south or north. I chose south. From here the path, sometimes good or bog or snow or mud winds itself around the bottom of the Little cairn hill gradually climbing. I kept going until the path met a track which went further up the back of Little Cairn. At this point I headed cross country, crossing the Coinlach Burn to go thru the heather in a north westerly direction bypassing the 2nd hill, Mid Cairn. From here it begins to get quite a bit steeper and snow still hung about. Fortunately I’d fitted spikes to my boots so hardly any chance of slipping.

Over the ridge and go in a North Easterly direction. This led to a path that leads straight to eastern end of the top section. The cairn is at the top on the western end, so another 1/4 mile. As seems the norm the trig point is surrounded by built up stones forming a much needed wind break.

Slightly to the south the cairn still stands defiantly against modern man and the weather. It is made up of quite large stones. Unfortunately misguided idiots have placed smaller stones on top making a weird pyramid shape. Shame, but it still stands at 17 meters wide and 1.7 meters tall. The views are fantastic, almost unbelievably Bennachie can be seen to North East. Lochnager to the South, the Cairngorms to the west and rural Aberdeenshire to the east.

Even tho it was a warm day it was violently cold and windy up top. So wrap up warm.

On the way down I chose the path down past the Mid Cairn. To start with, tho rocky, this seemed a good idea. Go past the cairn and go steadily down to jump the upper reaches of the Coinlach Burn. Climb up the ridge following the path. From here it became, for me, a nightmare. It is violently steep, unrelenting it would have been much better to go the way I’d came but curiosity had taken me to the other cairn. The path by this time is a slippery shambles and with the spikes and sticks serious injury was avoided. Eventually I reached the bottom but my ankles and feet were in agony. The little shuffling steps being a tall person’s problem. 874 meters of sheer hell!

Still I’d reached the bottom, no real injuries and weather, as arranged, had stayed reasonably good all day.

(31/2 hours up, 21/2 hours down)

Visited 7/4/2011.

Monandavan is set in a beautiful valley in a beautiful part of the world. It is also set in the middle of a field used for equestrian sports. Fortunately the season hasn’t started so no dirty boots.

Follow the directions to Kinord but stop 100 meters approx along the track and look north. The low outer ring is some 16 meters wide with the inner ring being 8 meters. To my eyes it looks possible that most of this site remains except the passage to the inner chamber. Almost makes me wonder what a little TLC would reveal. Then again that is maybe the reason to keep on looking and wonder. Sadly some field clearence fills the inner circle. On one side of the valley was the soon to climbed Morven (and it’s horrifying descent) and Mulloch with it’s nightmare western side. (that is for another day!)

Visited 7/4/2011.

Sunnybrae was very apt name as the sun, as arranged, had become very warm which made the woods a very pleasant place to be. Canmore says two kerbs south and west, I agree, but I think fallen trees have covered another 3 or 4 kerbs, so this might be more complete than expected.

So some of the kerbs remain in situ in a cairn that is 8.5 meters wide and stands 0.6 tall. In it’s day it must have had tremendous views south especially to west and Morven.

I stopped at the southern end of Witchlock Loch on the A97 (cue for folklore I’d think) pulling in near the tree forestry station. The cairn is to the west, basically walk 100 meters west and look for a very squint tree. As can be seen from the pics I removed some turf. After I was finished I placed the turf back to leave the place looking the same.

Visited 7/4/2011.

Deskry Farm can be found by going south on the farm track just before the A97 crosses the Don. I parked at the farm and made my way up the hill. The cairn is situated between two small woods.

Nothing much remains of this grass covered cairn which must have been massive. Nowadays it’s width can be measured at 17 meters and height at 0.4 meters. Somewhat ironically a pile of field clearence, no doubt containing cairn material, sits slightly to the east.

Visited 7/4/2011.

The Luib is a place with a very good atmosphere and has a beautiful location. One kerb defiantly remains whilst the central mound has been hollowed. The remaining stones forming an inner circle of types. It stands at almost 6 meters wide and 0.4 meters tall.

From the A944 take the A939 east towards Corgarff and the Lecht (ski centre). These roads are very famous as they are normally the first to be blocked in winter time. Go past the primary school then stop and were two tracks head in a northerly direction. (The Luib is the farm down the road.) Following the directions given to me, I found the gate, saw the telegraph pole and aligned it to the pylon further up. In this way the cairn can be found in the middle.

Visited 7/4/2011.

There seems to be lots of souterrains in this area Clova, Buchaam, Whitehouse etc. Sadly this is the one in the worst condition. Only a pile of stones is left and a small depression in the ground. Sad, as going by the Canmore notes there have been loads of discoveries.

Once again one of the locals came to my aid and led me to the remains. She almost seemed embarrassed when I told her about Buchaam but she went on to tell me about a cairn at The Luib. Thanks to her directions I found that no problem.

Keep going onto the A944 when the A97 crosses the Don. Take the first road heading back east and keep going till it runs out near Castle Newe. Walk down to gate and take the path north, then head west. The pile of stones is 20 meters approx away.

Visited 7/4/2011.

Buchaam is on the A97 south west of Glenkindie but befor the croosing of the Don. Head up the signposted track and go to the farmhouse to ask permission. This souterrain is in the garden.

Mr Ogg who runs the farm took time out from doing paperwork to give a history lesson. In 1895 the house was extended at both ends which led to the souterrain being terribly damaged. However they repaired it as best they could. In later years he asked permission to block the entrance as his children would have been endangered. The end nearest the house he covered until the children were well into their teens. I’ll stick up the Canmore notes which gives a fuller account.

To get into the souterrain is simple enough if you fancy crawling in on your stomach. Still, an excellent start to the day.

7/4/2011.

I drove thru Portlethen, past the police station and church pulling in at the Mains Of Portlethen farm. (note where I parked) From here walk to the track on the severe corner and follow the path to its end, turn south and the path leads straight to the fort. (no fences!)

A narrow passage leads to the fort which has a natural harbour to the north and a dangerous inlet to the south. The cliffs are of course very dangerous so watch your feet. Massive earthworks protect the fort from the land side. Like Gladman found at Garn Gawr so I found here, a gun emplacement was here during the 2nd World War, the military had been in action. The earthworks have been split in two to form a walkway. Two concrete slabs allow the walker to cross.

So all in all a very nice place. On the way back to the car wasn’t so nice. Waiting at the gate to the track a farmer stood and waited for my return. His language used I won’t replicate here but to say he was annoyed was an understatement. After giving my ears a severe pounding for 15 minutes, he was astounded to see me walk past the car in question. I kept walking and he stood amazed having built up a good rage for nothing. The guilty person was just walking past my car with her dog. With a wee word of warning I left the scene. To be fair the farmer was right as her car blocked two gates. Good fun!

29/3/2011.

Leave Aberdeen by going south on the A90 and take the second minor road west. Stop just after the first farm track heading the south. Looking the same direction a mobile telephone mast can be seen. The cairn is a 100 meters approximately to the north.

This would have been in the middle of a cairnfield but many have been removed thanks to agriculture and communications. The cairn itself has been damaged by similar if older methods. It had been used as a base to a tower, which was destroyed, and now houses a direction aid (which gives all the local places, somewhat ironic as that was the reason it was built presumeably to have these views). A small flight of steps leads to the top.

From the cairn there are tremendous especially north as Aberdeen and it’s bay are clearly in view. Portlethen is to the east. Inland the Highlands can be seen along with a lot of rural Aberdeenshire. It stands at 8.5 meters wide and 1.3 meters high with added bits of cement. I would the imagine the cairn will still survive whilst a lot of the stuff around it e.g. the phone tower will vanish.

Visited 29/3/2011.