drewbhoy

Leaving the standing stones Carse I followed the B8024 as it headed north. I asked permission to park at Keppoch farmhouse which was kindly given. Also kindly given were some painkillers as by this time I was starting to limp noticeably.

Fortunately, the route to the site was easy – 300m, gates and short grass. The cairn itself is a grass covered mound standing at over 17m wide and is 1m tall. Canmore says that cists are all removed, one stone remains visible that looks like it might have been part of a cist.

After a short look around I headed back to the car, thought about heading back to Tarbert, thought again and continued on. Nearby sites can wait until 2025, I was going to press on to an impressive coastal standing stone.

Visited 09/08/2024.

From Achadh-Chaorann I headed back to the B8024 and headed west to park near the entrance to the old church at Carse.

A pair of stones and a single stone, about 110 metres to the west, contribute to this site. They are easily found and gates provide easy access.

The 2 eastern stones are both almost 2.5m high, the furthest west stone is slightly smaller being 2.3m tall. Some choke stones can be seen at the west stone, fortunately field clearence mentioned in Canmore has been removed.

Superb site.

Visited 09/08/2024.

My next stop exploring the south side of the B8024 would be to follow the first minor road heading south. As soon as a clearing in the trees is reached look south east, Achadh-Chaorann Standing Stone should be easily spotted.

The well shaped slab stands at 2.1m high in a field which has been well maintained by the local greenkeepers. Cup marks are still there but barely visible almost weathered to invisibility. Plenty room to park at the first corner south of the site.

Nearby Ardpatrick, a hillfort, can wait until 2025, the legs weren’t feeling very happy.

Visited 09/08/2024.

This year’s plan, 2024, was to visit the sites on the south or west side of the B8024, in 2025 it will be north and east side of the road. Barr Na Cour is on the west side.

Finding a place to park is easy, follow the road from Avinagillan until you pass the Dunmore Farm, look for a forestry commission road on the north side, plenty room. Directly opposite there is a barn, during my visit men were working improving the old barn, one of whom gave me directions to dun. He mentioned that I would be the first person to climb the hill since a field visit by people from Historic Scotland in 1982.

Be warned there is no path, there might have been such a thing a long time ago, but not now. The first thing I was told look for was a stile, which after battering my way through all types of vegetation I found. As soon as I put my foot on the stile, it fell down with me quickly following. Picking myself up I climbed the deer fence and stepped onto a dry stane dyke which like the stile promptly fell down. Unluckily for me some of the stones changed the colour of my legs.

However, the wall leads to the top of hill alongside a deer fence. Parts of the wall can be walked on when the vegetation becomes too dense. Eventually a cliff face is reached, this forms the northwest part of the dun. As soon as I put my foot on the fence, like the stile and wall -it fell down – once again I followed it to the ground.

Head to the northeast, to avoid climbing the cliff, and the entrance will be found. Facer stones can be found along with little guard rooms creating the galleried section. Sadly, the entrance and small rooms are filled with fallen stonework. The dun is 14m by 10m, the surrounding wall in parts reaching over 1.3m in height. As the walls head west, they become more ruinous until they vanish almost altogether on the northwest. Outer walls also reach a height of 1m and over but is obscured by massive ferns.

It must have been impressive when built, and in a way it still is. How it survives is something of a miracle – it has been robbed, used to build nearby dykes, fallen over the cliff edge and somehow survived me standing on it, previous man-made structures hadn’t coped so well.

Finding my way back was easy enough, a trail of destruction and flattened vegetation.

Visited 09/08/2024.