drewbhoy

This barrow is found in amongst the trees of Innes Wood. Head east fromWallfield thru the village of Lochhill until the junction. Turn north and keep going straight onto a farm track past the Newton Of Innes farm until the tracks end. Over the gate and a crossroads will be found a few meters in front. Head east for about 300 meters, then look south and the barrow will be standing nearby.

Today, with sun and heat, the trees make for a very beautiful setting, silhouetting the barrow perfectly. It still stands at 11 meters wide and is over 1.5 meters tall. Damage has happened to the south western flank but on the whole the barrow seems to be reasonably intact.

Visited 27/03/2012.

From the minor road south of Wallfield farm this platform barrow looks to be in reasonable condition with just parts of it being covered in the ‘jabby stuff’. On closer inspection it is sadly rather different. The southern and eastern flanks are hidden by farm machinery, concrete blocks etc but it looks like the barrow hasn’t been damaged recently. Northern and western flanks are protected by a fence but have been damaged by ploughing. Still it still stands at 14 meters wide and 2 meters high. Finds discovered at the site can still be seen in Elgin Museum.

I took the minor road from Garmouth heading east towards Lochhill. Look for the farm track heading north towards Wallfield Farm after the junction heading south west (this will take you to Innesmill/Standing Stones Of Urquhart, no devil today!) signposted Urquhart/Llanbryde. I asked permission from the farmer, who was ploughing at the time, to have a look around.

Good area this, plenty of cairns, stone circles and forts nearby. The barrow is also used as a viewpoint. Maybe not a good idea going by recent debate, but up here the view belongs to everyone.

Visited 27/03/2012.

This was fairly easy to find eventually, the difficult bit being that none of the locals I spoke to knew about it. Leave the A96 at Fochabers taking the B9104 north towards Garmouth. The streets of Garmouth bring new meaning to the word narrow so take care if driving or using any mode of transport.

I parked in the car park beneath the Water Tower and climbed west up a stairs, past an old primary school and onto the path which leads straight to the circle. Two stones of the four poster remain standing whilst a third might be a possible cist cover. The info board dates at 1500 BC and also gives details about the Tower and the Spey Bay area.

This must be one of the most beautiful places in Moray with fantastic views of the Spey, it’s Estuary, Moray Firth, Black Isle and all views wast west and south. Stunning place!

Visited 27/3/2012.

Spring Equinox arrived so a trip up to Moray beckoned with Tor Sliasg the number one priority. Head west from Buckie on the A98 turning south at the B9016. Keep going until the second minor road heading east and stop at the Oxhill Woods car park. From here it is a steady climb of about 2 miles in the pleasant Corsekell/Stonyslacks Woods to the top of the hill. However radars, telephone masts make the place look like a retirement home for spaceships. Just beyond these monstrosities a hardly used track veers south. Follow this for about 300 meters and the cairn is spotted slightly to the south.

After reading Canmore’s description I feared the worst and the cairn would be full of rubbish etc. However somebody has cleaned the place up to such an extent that cairn is clearly visible. It sits at about 14 meters wide and is 1 meter high. Unfortunately it has been robbed, trenched and quarried but it still survives. Cairn material can also be seen popping through the grass. As usual if it wasn’t for the trees (who look ancient themselves) wonderful views of the Moray Firth and Highlands to the south could be seen. Today only the view east can be seen.

If very lazy the track to the space station could be driven to but don’t do that. Moray is a beautiful place so get out and have a walk.

Visited 20/3/2012.