drewbhoy

After an unexpected email / phone call I was kindly invited to take a closer look at the cairn on Bervie Brow, gaining access onto the site. Previously high fences blocked the way as the cairn was in a military site, records show it was built in the 1930s remaining in use until 1985. Luckily there is a new owner. Luck was also on my side as the weather conditions were much improved than my last visit.

It still survives at approximately 16m wide and 1m high, there appears to be a decent footprint, plenty of cairn material underneath the vegetation. As usual the centre has been ‘houked’. There also appears to be a hint of a kerb on the east. What a pity a concrete shelter clips the north side of the site.

Climbing onto the concrete shelter also gives superb views to Middle Know (fort) and Gourdon Hill (Long Cairn) to the south, to the west cairns, forts, RSCs standing stones etc etc etc, to north the coastline heads to Aberdeen and to the east, the North Sea.

However, the cairn might be in for a major change as it might be about to get a tidy up and perhaps some excavation work might happen.

Info will, of course, appear here.

Re-visited 15/06/2023

Long forgotten, Ellon Stone Circle is still ‘on the go’ but has been moved 50m south thanks to the building of houses.

Parking is no problem as you can park at the supermarket, one that rhymes with Baldi. Walk west a few meters west along the path until the first bench, no teddy bear sitting on my visit. (Canmore had a helpful teddy) Then walk south, if you can, only a few meters.

This was difficult to find because of head high weeds, grass etc etc. After a good 30 minutes of tramping and passers by thinking I’d gone mad, the circle was revealed.

Apparently there was 5 stones in the original circle, there are suggestions that even two of these might be from somewhere else, just to add to the confusion another stone has been added.

It’s amazing to think that many people passing knew nothing about the site, but three people did know about the stones and were delighted to see them. Most knew about Pinkie Park, the name of the area along this stretch of the River Ythan, also the area gives the alternative name to the site – The Pinkie Stones.

Weed killing on a very hot day.

Visited 13/06/2023.

Right next to the road, just north east from Glennan and its various sites. Fantastic stones, oh for the re-erection of the very tall fallen stone.

Plenty cairns nearby, so my feet will visit this area again in the reasonably near future.

Visited 07/04/2023.

A wee jump from the bigger next door cairn will see you land on a cairn that is over 6.5m wide and almost 1m in height. Also like its neighbour there has been some houking to the centre. Hints of a kerb remain.

Overlooked by most, but another part of this countryside’s jigsaw.

Visited 07/04/2023.

Straight up the track from the road and you’ll walk straight into the standing stone. It appears to have been included in a ruined dry stane dyke, which will be very old as well.

Superb views for this 2.2m tall stone, plenty sites nearby for the next visit.

Visited 07/04/2023.

Slightly to the east of Glennan 1 is a cup marked slab (there appears to be lots of cup marked slabs in the area, another visit required). Nine cup marks can be seen, three are slightly larger.

Visited 07/04/2023.

Head east on the B840, just north of Kilmartin, and pull in at the second track track heading south. If you can get a reasonable run and can jump the gate, you’ll land on the cairn.

Surrounded by wonderful scenery and prehistory Cairn 1 sits at over 11m wide being 1.5m tall. It has been houked revealing a probable cup marked cist cover at the centre of the site. Several kerbs remain in place.

Next to road, open the gate, no need to jump.

Visited 07/04/2023.

Walking south from the Castle Sween Cairn you head straight into the hill on which Dun Beag sits, after jumping the Beag Burn. The final climb and final site for this adventure in Knapdale.

The walls here must have been huge, Canmore says entrance, but a gap on the north side might suggest such a place. It could also have been made at a later stage to make an enclosure. The north climb is a bit easier than the south, where the defences are best preserved. There is some amount of fallen stonework for a dun sitting at 10m wide. A popular area for duns / forts – there are plenty nearby.

These other sites will have to wait till 2024 to see my feet.

It started with dun / fort, it finished with a dun / fort. A great end to a great week.

Visited 06/04/2023.

I left my car at the entrance to Castle Sween and walked back up the minor road until I was beyond Castle Sween cottage. Cross a flat field to the west, then make the tricky but short descent to the field below. Look north and the grass covered cairn will be seen.

A lovely well shaped site, 7m wide and 1m tall. Kerbs remain on the south arc, two large boulders on their side on the west could be the remains of a chamber, a large slab on the east might be a cist cover, it might belong to west slabs or it simply might have been dumped there. it would be nice to think it was a capstone to a small chamber.

A lovely site on a lovely evening.

Visited 06/04/2023.