GLADMAN

Undertaking a weekend tour of a few sites in the vicinity I arrive at Segsbury, the last on my ‘itinerary’ – for want of a better word (since my trips always seem to descend into improvised chaos) – too late to do it justice.

I therefore decide to kip in the car and have a proper walk the ‘morrow, bright and early. Segsbury seems handy in this respect since the road actually penetrates the hillfort’s defences before morphing into a dusty track to meet the Ridgeway beyond. It’s a brilliantly clear, calm, moonlit night, the thought of actually sleeping within a hillfort not at all unappealing – I simply love being in ancient places, me. I check in with home and am ‘jokingly’ told to remember to keep quiet and not upset the ghosts of the previous inhabitants..... Yeah, right. I’d probably have a chat and ask them what they thought about their neighbours on the Sinodun Hills....

All is fine until, some time after 3 am ‘something’ hurtles past the car in the pitch darkness – and in total silence – making it judder with the displaced air. I freak out, jump out of the car to have a look, but whatever it was is long gone – no lights, no noise, nothing. I assume I must have been dreaming...... although there’s no doubt that the car moved without a breath of wind around... ooer. Check the handbrake. On.

Next morning dawns perfectly as I go for a wander around the hillfort’s powerful univallate, D-shaped ramparts. It’s a long walk, too, this being a large enclosure, no doubt home to quite a substantial population and their animals in times of trouble. The surroundings are great, too, even the cooling towers of distant Didcot power station appearing deceptively aesthetic.

Nethertheless Segsbury clearly has the potential to do funny things to a traveller’s psyche.......

Well seen from the summit of Uineabhal, this small dun is perfectly sited within the northern end of Loch Huna

A causeway links it to the shore of the loch, but not well enough to prevent seriously wet feet – so no, I didn’t venture further. I’ve read that some crannogs deliberately incorporated this feature so that invaders – not wise to the intricacies of the causeway – would plunge to the bottom... perhaps that was the case here?

The landscape of North Uist is a surreal, magnificent patchwork of lochs and lochans, an environment where even the most modest hill seems to assume the proportions of a mountain. Uineabhal itself possesses the enigmatic remains of the great Leacach an Tigh Chloiche chambered cairn upon it’s south-western slopes and is only reached by a hard two plus mile slog from the nearest road. Dun Ban is the icing on the cake for those who are able to tear themselves away from the great tomb and clamber to the summit.

It’s hard to imagine a more remote place than this. It’s hard to imagine a more serenely beautiful one, too.

The sprawling mass of Waun Leuci sits between South Wales’ great Mynydd Du mountain range and the Fforest Fawr to the east. The whole area is teeming with prehistoric sites – predominately hilltop burial cairns and standing stones, the best known probably being the Maen Mawr and its attendant stone circle, which oversees the Tawe Valley below to the immediate west.

Waun Leuci, at 1,844ft, doesn’t quite make the ‘magical’ (to some, anyway) 2000ft mark but is nevertheless a fine viewpoint – a prerequisite for a burial cairn, it would seem – particularly looking across to Bannau Brycheiniog (Mynydd Du’s highest point at 2,631ft) and the aforementioned stone circle. In fact the view up and down the Tawe valley is quite breathtaking.

The summit is crowned by the remains of a large Bronze Age funerary cairn and there are a number of other ‘probables’ nearby. Coflein states:

“..on the summit of Waun Leuci, at approximately 560m above OD., are two cairns. The southern most consists of a pile of grass-grown rubble, measuring approximately 7m in diameter and 0.7m high..”

We approached via a near vertical ascent from the west – where it is possible to park (and visit the Maen Mawr, of course). However this proved deceptively difficult due to the rough, tussocky grass. Note that there is also a fine Bronze Age standing stone below to the NW.

I approached this wonderfully remote stone circle from the south, parking at the road terminus near Watercombe, to the north east of the small village of Torr. From here it is possible to ascend Stalldown Barrow and take in the, quite frankly, superb stone row which runs north/south along the ridge first of all. There’s also a small cairn circle to be found here, too.

The ‘Kiss in the Ring’ is a good mile or so further on, above and to the north of the confluence of the River Erme and Bledge Brook, the latter having formed a deep gulley which needs to be crossed. The intervening ground between Stalldown Barrow and the circle features an additional cairn well worth seeking out, shown on the 1:25 OS map.

The atmosphere at the circle is incredible, the sense of place absolute, the feeling of peace and calm total. Why, even if you was to meet someone else here chances are they would be a fellow stonehead, since no tourist is ever likely to venture up here in a million years! My guess is that this might be the most remote stone circle in England, even more so that upon White Moor?

As if this wasn’t enough, Dartmoor’s longest stone row continues northwards from the circle to – according to the map – eventually peter out upon the slopes of Green Hill. I carried on a little further, taking a look at a rather substantial cairn, before returning back to the circle to simply enjoy being within this marvellously evocative landscape.

Note Mr Hamhead’s warning, however. This is a rough, tiring walking in good weather. In mist the ‘ghostly hounds’ affect your sense of direction, so make sure you have a map/compass. Don’t take it lightly, please.

Aubrey Burl, in his usual ‘right-on-the-money’ style rates this as a ‘a little known but fascinating site recommended to the enthusiast’....... I’d go a bit further and reckon it’s one of the classic stone circles of Britain, all things considered. However, perhaps the sheer joy of reaching it after a two and a half(ish) mile uphill slog means I eulogise a bit too much... and Down Tor still remains my favourite Dartmoor site. But not by much, which is perhaps the highest compliment I can give.

The pilgrimage is such that I somehow manage to leave the superb triple stone row on the flanks of Cosdon Hill ‘until the way back’ – shades of Callanish, where the main event is all consuming. Managed to pick my way through the bog en-route without too much difficulty, but then again I am used to the (very wet) Welsh uplands, so I’m guessing the old tales of travellers disappearing into bottomless pits shouldn’t be altogether discarded and sticking to the path is a must. Proper walking boots – and gaiters, if you have them – will help save the poor feet from a soaking.

The circle itself possesses that aura that only truly remote sites have.... absolute silence. In fact I only had one visitor in some 3 hours on site – a 65 year old local who obviously knew his stuff.

Returned to the Cosdon Hill rows via Cosdon Hill itself, the summit crowned by cairns as the icing on the cake. Finally, note that the initial stage of the walk – near Nine Stones – is a bit complicated with drystone walls and whatnot. I therefore asked a passing dog walker if this was the path to White Moor and received a complete blank look. ‘No, this is the path to Whit’ Moor..... ‘

Set at an altitude of c2,460ft and crowning the majestic cliff line of Bannau Sir Gaer – which tower above the dark waters of Llyn y Fan Fach – lie the scant remnants of a round barrow which, in all probability, was the last resting place of a Bronze Age chieftain.

As is often the case, the magnificent location, the sheer ‘sense of place’ of the site, is out of all proportion to the physical remains of the monument. Why, even the modern walker’s cairn which surmounts the barrow is a pretty feeble attempt for a major summit such as this. Then again perhaps this is to miss the point… perhaps only a relatively minor structure was deemed necessary because of the location, which in itself said all that was needed about the power and importance of the individual interred. Perhaps.

To get to the technical bit, Coflein states that the cairn is “..circular, measuring 19.5m in diameter and 1.0m high. It has been disturbed and has a hummocky appearance, with a small modern cairn set upon it. The cairn is composed of mainly small stones, generally turf covered. At the centre can be seen the edge of an apparently upright slab, broken in three, with a total length of 1.3m and orientated roughly east-west. This is perhaps the vestiges of a cist. This is probably a prehistoric funerary monument and can be compared to the excavated example on Fan Foel to the east.”

The most notable aspect of the Picws Du burial site is the frankly awesome view of the aforementioned Llyn y Fan Fach, sometimes referred to locally as the ‘Fairy Lake’ because of long standing associations with the Tylwyth Teg [the ‘fair folk’, hence ‘fairies’]. The lake is overflowing (sorry) with folklore and legend, the most famous being that of the ‘Lady of the Lake’, generally considered a reference to a Celtic goddess. Well, the water association certainly fits with known prehistoric ritual practice. Whatever the truth, it is clear that this small corner of Wales has afforded mankind with a righteous experience for millennia, and continues to do so.

Best approached via a minor road from Llanddeusant to free car parking at SN 797238. Here a well maintained track leads in about a mile or so to the lake, from where a substantial climb will bring you to the summit if you so desire.

After a quick visit to nearby Ballyglass – severe barbed wire unfortunately restricting me to a roadside view, seeing as I was with company (ahem) – I donned my ‘tourist hat’ (although I’d like to see a tourist wearing my grotty old thing) to take a look at Dún Brist (’the broken fort’ in Gaelic). Sounded promising... a fabulous sea stack just off the prow of Downpatrick Head, some 3 miles or so north of Ballycastle.

This headland is teeming with legend and folklore. The prominent secular ruins replaced an earlier church founded by St. Patrick, the statue – not to mention name of the place – kinda giving a clue or two in this direction. It is said that yer man effected the death of Crom Dubh, a local warlord, by causing Dún Brist to detach itself from the mainland, marooning the poor sod on it, no doubt to starve. Apparently Crom Dubh’s ‘crime’ was to refuse to convert to Christianity… need I say more? Thought not, your caring, sharing Christian icon being attributed morals any budding SS officer would have aspired to. For those who might doubt such an occurrence (shame on you!), history records a 1393 CE date for the formation of the sea stack due to… heavy seas. Probably a bit of an understatement there, so there is.

Downpatrick Head also featured in the 1798 rebellion, when 25 men lost their lives within the channel below Poll na Seantainne, a prominent blowhole.

But what has all this got to do with TMA? Well, forgot to mention that the promontory is enclosed by a pretty substantial cross-wall, making this a promontory fort – as I understand, dating from the Bronze Age. There was certainly a Bronze Age presence here since at least one – possibly two – round barrows are also readily identifiable on the headland. Right on!

If historical records are correct this stretch of the Mayo coastline has therefore undergone fundamental changes in the last two millennia, producing an environment of exhilarating, windswept beauty backed with a profoundly rich tapestry of historic and pre-historic heritage. Needless to say the views are superb, and experiencing the cliff line plunging to the sea is not something for those prone to vertigo … so make sure children don’t go running on ahead!

Craig Cwm-Silyn, at a relatively modest 2,408ft, is the highest point of Snowdonia’s Nantlle Ridge, known to connoisseurs as one of the finest ridge walks in Wales. Snowdon rises across the valley and, happily, takes virtually all the walking traffic.......

As an added bonus many of the Nantlle Ridge’s summits, not least Craig Cwm-Silyn, possess the remains of Bronze Age burial cairns [e.g see Y Garn to the NE] and – better still – the atmosphere to enjoy them in. This summit cairn has been amended to provide shelter from the wind, but nevertheless is a prize well worth seeing, if only as a spot to chill away from the ‘civilised’ world. To be frank, the views from it’s crest are staggering.

“Remains of a stone built cairn on the summit of Craig Cwm Silyn. Roughly circular on plan and measuring about 8.5m in diameter and up to 2m in height. A modern walker’s shelter has been constructed within its summit”..... so says Coflein.

At the far-western end of the great Mynydd Du massif, and just a short scramble from the A4069, stands the barren, windswept mountain of Garreg Lwyd – all 2,020ft of it. It is crowned by the disturbed remain of a large Bronze Age burial cairn.

Despite the proximity to the road, you’ll find a real, tangible sense of wilderness here, the view of the main Mynydd Du peaks to the east one of bleak, untamed moor. In many respects you’d think finding a cairn at such a place would temper this feeling a little – the human connection and all. But to be honest places such as these set my mind a’racing, particularly when a veil of mist comes sweeping around, stripping the senses back to primeval levels of awareness. Which I guess was the whole intention placing it here....... I’d swear that was not the wind but the chants of some long forgotten ritual held at this very spot. Or not.

To quote Coflein; “Towards the SE edge of a large flat-topped hill of turf covered limestone pavement are the disturbed remains of a once substantial round cairn, approx 20m in diameter. It is of loose limestone rubble & boulders with much modern disturbance and the SW part has been rebuilt in the form of a tower, 6m dia x 2.5m high, probably as a boundary mark”.

Dominating the eastern side of Fforest Fawr’s Llia Valley, home of the superb Maen Llia standing stone, Fan Llia is a big, stranded whale of a mountain, its flanks eroded by a myriad water gullies. Yes, it rains a lot....

Few people come here, save the occasional die-hard walker or SAS man on exercise. Fewer still come to hang out – in sub-zero temperatures – at the remains of a Bronze Age burial cairn in order to escape for a while from Christmas ‘festivities’ .. but it takes all sorts, I suppose.

Coflein says “A robbed round cairn located on Fan Llia, on the crest of a ridge, close to a point where the ground begins to fall away steeply to the S. It measures 11.3m in diameter and stands to a height of 0.5m. It is composed of consolidated stones and is surmounted by a small modern cairn of loose rubble”.

The distinctive, decapitated summits of the Brecon Beacons rise beyond Fan Fawr to the east, these also crowned by Bronze Age burials. In fact, come to think of it, the Welsh uplands are, in many ways, one huge prehistoric monument. Right on!

Fan Llia is most easily climbed from the local picnic area to the south.

Visited back in May, this little beauty must be one of the easiest, yet hardest circles to see at the current time.

Easiest..... since it’s just a short walk down a forestry track and through the trees to your left (where the dilapidated field wall begins to border the track).

Hardest... since I had to clamber over umpteen fallen, soaking wet trees in the process and nearly lost an eye and broke a shin or two along the way. Must have took a fair ten minutes.

Needless to say it’s worth it!

The A4061 climbing out of The Rhondda Valley passes above a dark and mysterious lake, cradled beneath the – more often than not – glowering escarpment of Craig-y-Llyn rising to not far short of 2000ft.

Fisherman are now usually seen lining its shoreline, but this lake once held a far greater significance to locals than merely a good spot to spend an afternoon away from the wife and kids.....for it was in its murky depths that the famous Llyn Fawr hoard was discovered between 1911 and 1913 during the construction of a reservoir.

These objects, clearly votive offerings – unless you accept that they were put in here for ‘safe keeping’ (Doh!), or, er....sort of ‘lost’ – date from the late Bronze and early Iron Ages, a Hallstatt sword in particular being tentatively dated to c650 BCE, which would make it the earliest iron object discovered to date in South Wales. Probably all of Wales, as it happens.

One wonders how many of the tradesmen and weekend punters who park to have their sandwiches overlooking Llyn Fawr have any idea of what once took place below them? I’d recommend a walk along the escarpment edge of Craig-y-Llyn to gaze down into the waters and contemplate if this is where Malory etc got the idea for Excalibur and the ‘lady in the lake’.

There’s even another little lake – Llyn Fach (of course) around the corner........

Can there be a more striking example of how society can completely balls up its heritage than the comparison between this wonderful structure and Land’s End – complete with ghastly ‘theme park’ – across the water?

Land’s End should be a wild, inspiring place chock-a-block with myths and folk tales. It is not.

Carn Gluze, surrounded by the smoke stacks and debris of past industry and just outside a town should – by all rights – be a ‘quick look around’ jobbie.

It is not. Not by a long chalk........

Bit embarrassing, this. Running very late, I kip overnight in the parking area past Cockmoor Hall – before the road descends to Troutsdale, that is.

Waking next morning bright and early, not that I had any choice due to somewhat boisterous local cows, notice there are substantial earthworks in the vicinity [the Scamridge/Six Dikes complex] and connect the adjacent mounds to these.

Wander over, eating my Coco Pops, and the penny suddenly drops. Doh! A number of quite substantial round barrows – no wonder I was out like a light last night. Good vibrations.

Well worth dropping in for a look if you’re passing..... not to mention the dikes.

Visited with the Mam C after atrocious conditions put paid to any thoughts of climbing Cribyn that day...

Cadair Fawr crowns a vast, billowing area of upland moorland crossed by the A4059 from Hirwaun to Brecon. Now I’d long been intrigued by the numerous cairns marked on the map to the south of Waun Tincer, but, you know how it is? Always find somewhere else to go rather than tramp over bog in the rain.

Therefore a quick climb up Cadair Fawr to see what we could spot seemed a good idea and – sure enough – there were cairns [both of the field clearance and burial type] and hut circles a’plenty in the vicinity – particularly to the south of the summit.

Didn’t get to Waun Tincer, since we enjoyed the walk here too much, and no pictures since the camera was languishing back in the car. Hopefully there’ll be another chance.

In the interim check out the link...

I found M’lud Yatesbury’s directions in the Megalithic European pretty much spot on for this.

Parked by the exceedingly overgrown bridge and walked up the farm track, getting no answer at the bungalow. However the farmer happened to walk by with his dogs and said ‘no problem’ – I think – in a heavy Cork brogue. Didn’t ‘quite’ – ahem – catch the directions and didn’t want to press it, so asked the lady in the farmhouse opposite the closed gate..... ‘as long as you’ve got boots and don’t mind the cows’.....

The tomb is a superb example of a wedge tomb, so called because the whole double-walled structure, with two spindly, fragile-looking portals, is contained within a heel-shaped cairn.
Brambles encroach upon the site as if to remind the traveller who this really belongs to.....

The tomb commands far reaching views and the cows were far more docile than the psycho bovines which chased us out of Kealkill earlier in the week. Luckily.

Although the views are not in quite the same league as its namesake near Church Stretton (although the beautiful Shropshire landscape is always worth writing home about nonetheless), this lovely hillfort is arguably a superior example of the genre, relying entirely on its own defences.

These are pretty formidable, it has to be said, two banks and ditch being supplemented by an additional bank and two more ditches (I think) on the more vulnerable northern flank. The entrances are at the eastern and western ends of the enclosure, the western being more heavily fortified.

Sited overlooking the village of Chapel Lawn, somewhat to the north-east(ish) of Knighton, it would appear that very few come here – the cows were certainly most put out by my appearance..... Not signposted (at the time of my visit, anyway), leave the A488 at New Invention for Chapel Lawn and take the first sharp right, parking at a kink in the road where a footpath heads off to the east. The hillfort crowns the, er, hill in front. Enjoy.

Maes Howe...... of all the chambered cairns you’d wish to be teleported to the end of a two mile mountain track, far away from the vaguely interested hordes, it’d be this beauty. But that would be elitist, wouldn’t it? And of course remove it from its finely determined position within the Stenness landscape.

Despite only being accessible via (the dreaded) guided tour, there are no carvings or Neolithic art to protect here. Just the – no doubt drunken – braggings of Erik the Viking scrawled on the walls like some 15 year old in the school toilets (no doubt Helga would have disagreed and asserted that he was crap in bed, actually.... ha!). Although not without interest, surely a few slabs of perspex would cater for what are, after all, nothing more than graffiti? In my opinion too much emphasis is placed upon the runes and not nearly enough on what must surely be the finest chambered tomb in the British Isles? But everyone’s heard of the Vikings, right?

Everything about the construction of Maes Howe is exquisite, from the unfeasibly long slabs fitted together in a manner that would make a dry-stone wall builder freak out (not to mention an Inca), to the superb entrance passage and blocking stone. But for me the four monoliths built into the corners – more than suggesting an existing stone circle or other arrangement was deliberately incorporated within the design – is the salient point. Never seen this before.

Maes Howe will never possess the atmosphere of, say, Cuween Hill or Wideford Hill just up the road. But it is the crowning achievement of Neolithic Britain and an essential visit.

One of the very first ancient sites I came across many moons ago....... and certainly one of the most extreme, crowning the ridge between 3,425ft Carnedd Dafydd – itself, as the name suggests, bearing a burial cairn or two – and 3,211ft Pen Yr Ole Wen. Clearly these majestic mountains held great ritual significance back then, the abode of the gods even?

The word ‘Carnedd/Garnedd’ refers to ‘cairn’ in Welsh, but only in such a landscape could this example be referred to as ‘small’.

Although much denuded and turned into a windbreak by people who really should know better – but clearly don’t – this is a truly awesome spot, particularly for those who know its significance.

I doubt even the most hardened stone-head will make a special trip – be warned, The Carneddau are serious mountains – but if you happen to pass by (as you do)......... bonus site!! Right on!

A large round barrow/cairn standing near the summit of King’s Tor, to the north east of Grimspound and possessing superb panoramic views to the north.

Although ‘hollowed out’ by the usual treasure seeking muppets of antiquity, this remains a substantial monument and a great hang. One would assume the reference to royalty isn’t that far from the mark and that some individual(s) of serious prestige were interred here once upon a time.........

Best approached from the aforementioned – not to mention superb – Grimspound, the walk is simple enough in good weather. Needless to say you need to know what you’re doing at other times since mist can suddenly sweep in.

Bit surprised to find nothing already existing for this fabulous site at the northern tip of North Uist, sited on an island within Loch an Sticir.......

One of the best preserved brochs in the Western Isles, I was most impressed by the entrance arrangements here, with a causeway leading to an island, from which a second causeway leads finally to the broch – sort of like a prehistoric precursor of Bodiam Castle, for all you castle-heads out there.

The medieval connection is upheld, since a rectangular house was apparently built upon the island at some time during the period, the existing causeways being adaptations of the original arrangement.

Legend has it that a poor sod named Hugh Macdonald – I take it he was a Scot! – hid out here before being taken to Skye and imprisoned within Duntulm Castle.... with salt beef and an empty jug. Nice.

Not far from Newtonferry on the Berneray road off the B893.

Dun Ruadh is a one-off. Not quite sure what other term you would give to a massive horseshoe shaped cairn [still about 2.5 to 3m high – I reckon – in places] with a 17 stone circle defining a central courtyard. Apparently 13 cists were discovered in the cairn, some still visible, the whole site surrounded by a low bank and ditch......... so there you are.

Sited in the hills north of The Creggan visitor centre near Crouck – and featuring in its glossy brochure – the traveller is nonetheless on his own with this one – or at least you were at the time of my visit in June 2006, anyway. I therefore knocked at the nearest house, the woman who answered the door promptly ‘ordering’ her son, Brendan, to show us the way to the ‘fairie ring’ forthwith. ‘Er, OK mam’. Right on! Needless to say we bunged him a few quid for his trouble and traded political viewpoints.... suffice to say we both have a distinct problem with bigots of all types and I hope I showed him a positive side to us ‘Brits’... he was 16 at the time, but very clued up. I probably came across as a muppet, having said that.

Anyway the circle/cairn/whatever is a peach, very well preserved with great views of the Sperrins and bundles of atmosphere. Not surprising really, when only the locals know where it is and they can’t understand why us crazy people want to go there. Long may it continue for this is one of Ireland’s best.

Oh, and cheers to Four Winds for his web-site prompt.

When I first came to the Tursachan back in 2001 -on a bus trip after travelling as a foot passenger from Ullapool – it was the sight of this circle from the window that made me realise I’d made a big mistake..... oh dear, one day is never going to be anywhere near enough when there’s gems such as this as ‘satellite sites’. Only in Lewis, my friends.....

M’lud Yatesbury was right – of course the main circle and avenues blew me away in every way possible, but nethertheless I knew I had to come back to see this classic concentric stone circle, with two further beauties nearby.

That was in 2004, but the recent Ultravox reunion brought it all flooding back.... check out their ‘One Small Day’ video and see what I mean, although probably showing my age a bit here.

A first class site which would take first billing anywhere else but here.

youtube.com/watch?v=rSCAb8yzHQ8

An obscure site, but very much worth the effort as this is a classic long barrow – combine with a trip to White Sheet Hill or/and Cley Hill if you aren’t local... [update – more to the point the excellent long barrow and round barrows on and around nearby Cold Kitchen Hill]

In Monkton Deverill, take the minor road past the church and keep left where it does a sharp left-hander. Ignore two footpaths on the corner to park further on near two more public footpaths on the left (before you reach the track to Pertwood Farm). Head for the prominent copse of trees to the north and skirt this on its left. The long barrow is visible beyond, easy access.

Very well preserved, including ditches, Dyer gives it at 2m high and 76m long..... although it felt taller to me – perhaps it was the ditches? An usual feature is a berm separating the ditches from the mound itself.

Atmosphere in bucketloads, too, since you won’t get any tourists here. Simply a great afternoon’s hang.

An excellent little promontory fort to the south-west(ish) of the much larger hillfort upon Martinsell Hill.

Perhaps best reached by way of a steep climb from Sunnyhill Lane (great name) near Bethnal Green – no, not that one!! – heading north on the White Horse Trail, before veering to the right up the obvious slope in front.

The enclosure boasts great views all round, particularly towards The Vale of Pewsey, not to mention a pretty substantial ditch and rampart isolating the fort from the ridge to the east leading to Martinsell. Which begs the question ‘what was the relationship between the two sites?’ Were they occupied concurrently by the same people – unusual, bearing in mind their close proximity – or at different periods in time? Whatever the truth of the matter, I loved it here........

Giant’s Grave is perhaps best viewed from the A345 just north of the village of Oare.

This rocky outcrop has to be the most moving, aesthetically pleasing piece of sculpture I’ve ever seen – naturally occurring or otherwise.

Shaped by millennia of the viciously inclemental Bodmin Moor weather – and let’s face it, it can be pretty bad – the graceful, flowing curves and contours exhibited here make it seem ludicrous to think that this just sort of, er, ‘happened’. But then, Mother always has known best, hasn’t she?

I can’t help thinking the upper most segment looks remarkably like an archetypal dolmen capstone. Seeing as this was obviously an prehistoric ‘special place’ maybe the connection isn’t as far fetched as I first thought. An intriguing thought......

At some 15ft high and almost 90ft in diameter, this magnificent cairn is surely one of the great forgotten sites of Aberdeenshire?

Possessing sweeping views up and down the valley of The Water of Feugh from its elevated position, it’s a marvellous morning’s hang, particularly in late Spring when bluebells adorn the environs......... even if the weather didn’t exactly want to play ball.

The cairn is best approached by taking the minor road north at Castle Hill – so named because an overgrown Norman motte stands in the field to the south – about a mile west of Strachan on the B976. I parked by farm buildings about half a mile up this road before walking up a rough farm track to the right to some dwellings. The cairn is accessed through the garden of the final house over a stile. The owner was out when I arrived but didn’t bat an eyelid upon returning – so no access issues, then.

Not exactly the best preserved broch on the Mainland, but they certainly knew where to put it, didn’t they?

Boasting majestic views of The Kyle of Tongue and of Ben Loyal, this is worth a couple of hours of anyone’s time, I’d have thought?

Although somewhat dishevelled by a couple of millennia of Highland ‘weather’, the usual broch details can still be ascertained – entrance passage, stairs etc. But it is the views which made this a truly memorable experience.

This vies with Dun Mhaigh as my favourite broch on the Mainland.

Superbly sited, with excellent views up and down Strath of Kildonan, it’s a bit of a climb to reach, but well worth the effort. Although collapsed in on itself to a degree, internal details can still be discerned and there’s also a substantial circular ditch surrounding the site.

Although I received a fearful hammering from progressive showers sweeping up the valley, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.

Access is not an issue since as I parked the car the farmer came by on his quad bike (complete with collie clearly enjoying the ride as only a dog can do) and waved cheerfully. Right on!

Check out the beautiful hue of the stones, too!

Not a place to linger.......thoughts of ‘goldfish’ and ‘bowls’ spring to mind... as well as those fake stone circles that have become an integral part of every new Welsh housing estate and park in the last few years.

The difference is that here, of course, it’s the real thing! A surreal experience, particularly since it’s a bloody good ring, too, and well worth a diversion to see. Simple, pleasures, eh?

Visited 17/5/09 – after seeing the Bucharn cairn (near Strachan) earlier in the week, the comparison with this one regarding atmosphere is ‘chalk and cheese’.

Having said that, this is still well worth a visit if you are in the area since it is a simply gigantic cairn, apparently the sole survivor of three such examples in the vicinity. No fuss, no frills, but consider the effort required to construct it as you make your way to the summit. Truly mind blowing.

Sadly I also have to report that I was ‘studied’ with binoculars by an old muppet and friend from across the main road as I relaxed on top. I can only assume the old fools believed I was somehow interested in their lives, for whatever reason. How deluded can you be? So much so I couldn’t even be bothered to go and have a word about their blatant lack of respect for others – this is an official Historic Scotland site, after all. Well, I had infinitely more important things to ponder at Memsie cairn......

A classic, special site and, due to it’s remoteness, a visit here is not to be taken lightly. It’s an approx 5 mile round trip across rough, tiring terrain.... not sure the TMA book makes that quite clear enough, to be honest.

Park at the ‘kink’ in the road west of Beinn a’Charra – if heading north-east, this is just after the third loch on your left (Loch a’ Charra). There’s a track heading north-west at this point – ignore this, since Uineabhal is the low hill away across the moor to the south-east. From here you are basically left to your own devices to cross approx two and a half miles of peat bog, trackless, as far as I could tell. If not, I certainly missed it! Since the weather was somewhat ‘changeable’ I therefore took a bearing on the southern tip of Loch Dubh and then another to the southern flank of the hill, upon which stands the chambered cairn.

Known in Gaelic as ‘Leacach an Tigh Chloiche’, it’s a substantial cairn with large orthostats forming a kerb. The chamber (roofless) and entrance passage are in the south-eastern flank of the cairn, with a large, free-standing monolith some way beyond the south-western corner. The disturbance at the north end of the cairn is apparently the remains of an Iron Age house inserted during the, er, Iron Age....

However it is the siting, the views and sheer remoteness which make a visit here a must, the landscape a patchwork of lochs leading to the coast. Climb to the summit of Uineabhal and a small dun is visible on an island within Loch Huna below to the east.

A favourite spot of mine, set as it is on the lower, eastern slopes of Mynydd Du, overlooking the infant Afon Tawe and with sweeping views up and down the valley.

The connection with water here is unmistakable.... not only in the most obvious sense, since the circle is often waterlogged from mountain run-off (The Black Mountain is not exactly adverse to rain, it must be said), but also because a diminunitive avenue of very small stones leads up to the circle from the fledgling river below. Whether this was simply a pragmatic guide to arrival – the site is not visible from the Tawe’s banks here (and, in fact, is only visible from certain points in the valley, assuming you know where to look) – or purely symbolic is something we’ll obviously never know. Judging by the dimensions of the avenue stones I’d go with the latter, since the Tawe is very much non-navigable at this point, being little more than a cascading stream.

The circle stones are just as small, many barely breaking the surface of the mountainside, which makes the substantial bulk of Maen Mawr – the ‘large stone’ – all the more striking. Two very, very much smaller uprights just beyond hint at astronomical sightings.

Approached via the mountain road to/from Trecastle, look for a glimpse of Maen Mawr above the river when the prominent Nant-y-llyn waterfalls grace the hillside beyond. Note that the river can be VERY difficult to cross, particularly after heavy rain, so take care. This is a hostile, windswept spot, so dress up or your visit may end up short – and wet!

A wonderful site, and totally unique in my experience, not to mention one of the most mysterious, enigmatic prehistoric sites in Britain.

Not a typically contrary Cornish variant upon a circle-henge.... since there’s no ditch. Plausible suggestions I’ve heard range from a mortuary enclosure [i.e. where cadavers were left to be de-fleshed by wildlife before burial] to M’lud Yatesbury’s own ‘tribal meeting place’ scenario in the paper version of TMA – perhaps the site name reflects a long-standing folk memory of political activities being held here?

Although there are (apparently) parallels in Brittany, my understanding is that archaeologists have yet to come to any agreement whatsoever as to what King Arthur’s Hall was actually used for. Well, archaeologists do tend to be a rather conservative bunch, don’t they? Having said all this, isn’t it great that such enigmas still exist in today’s society of information overload. Less is more, anyone?

I approached the site across Treswallock Downs, parking at Casehill Farm. Follow the wall (roughly) eastwards to join the line of a footpath coming in from the right. The path leaves the wall (where the latter veers southwards) and heads towards the site. Watch out for mist.......

Revisited 17/10/08 following a long, long overdue first visit to the hillfort sited – strangely enough – on the summit of the hill above and to the east.

A neat little cairn-circle, which would be well worth a visit if situated within a car-park in Luton...... but here, with a sweeping – frankly awesome – vista of Tremadog Bay and the Dwyryd Estuary, topped by the mountains of Central Snowdonia and the peaks of LLyn... well, words fail me, they really do.

Probably the finest view from a stone circle I’ve seen (Ardgroom, Moel-ty-uchaf and, I guess, Pobuill Fhinn run it close), this is arguably one of the finest, most exquisite sites of the British Isles. And possibly one of the least well known. Perhaps there’s a connection to be had there, so the irony of this post is not lost on me.....

I had intended to move on and see Bron-y-foel-isaf, but that must now wait for another day – the attraction Moel Goedog has upon the visitor is simply too powerful.

Although very popular with the tourists and with scant traces of defences visible upon the summit plateau – to the layman such as myself, anyway – this hillfort is still very much worth a visit simply because of the superb views up and down Borrowdale to Derwentwater, Skiddaw etc

I would say you’re best to stick to the main track since I ended up at a dead-end ‘round the back [Low Hows Wood-way] and faced a vertical ascent through trees. Serves me right for trying to avoid the quarry and for being flash.

Castle Crag is a great place to come when low cloud obscures the major summits around and about, with a pleasant walk by the river to get there from Rosthwaite, too. Note, however, that the National Trust holds Borrowdale in a vice-like grip, so if you come by car, either be prepared to park outside the town (if you can) and walk in, or pay an extortionate fee. Now I accept the need for proper maintenance and conservation as much as the next man... but this is out of order. Catering for the wealthy only.

Visited September 2008

Greyweather’s spot on with this one – a classic chambered cairn.

First thoughts upon looking at the map were...uh oh... forestry... but the track’s clear all the way and the cairn stands proud and treeless (well, save the little fella in the picture) above and to the left of it.

The cairn is substantial indeed with a small, intact chamber. I sat inside relaxing out of the sun [strange but true], waiting for someone to arrive and spoil the moment. But no-one did...

The forestry track entrance is somewhat obscure being, as you would expect, un-signposted. Make sure you have the OS map and if you are heading north and pass a fine waterfall on your right, you’ve gone too far.

Cheers Greyweather. Nice one.

It seems everywhere you look along the flanks of this wonderful valley there are brochs, standing stones and – last but not least – chambered cairns.

Standing to the right of the burn as you approach uphill from the A897 (incidentally, how can a single track road be an ‘A’ road? – only in The Highlands...) this quite substantial chambered cairn is well worth a visit. While I was here a couple of stags approached, looked me over and then ushered their females out of sight. Sorry fellas.

Further up the Strath of Kildonan (heading north, just beyond the forestry plantations on the right) the hillside is again chock-a-block with cairns. A quick scramble from the car will not only reveal (at least) two more pretty substantial chambered cairns, but also – if you’re lucky – a grand view across Kinbrace Village, the sun glinting off Loch an Ruathair and leading the eye to Ben Loyal – I think – on the horizon

Visited 11/5/08

The track to the left of Tigh Chromain climbs steeply up hill (who’d have thought it, eh?) until – upon approaching the farmhouse – I see, or more accurately ‘hear’, the farmer working the fields in his tractor. Waving him down, he readily agrees to me taking a look at the site. Excellent.

The monolith is a beauty, the coastal views towards Gigha and Cara (like a sea monster making its way up the Sound) exceptional.

The chambered cairn has been badly dealt with, but a few stones still remain in situ... and of course there’s that view! Incidentally the fence is currently ‘step-over-able’, so to speak, so no need to descend/re-ascend.

The icing on the cake is the remains of a dun at the southern end of the ridge (beyond the monolith, that is). Great stuff.

Visited May 08 in blazing sunshine...... the farm track entrance is difficult to spot – I went racing past (well, as much as you can in an old Rover 45 – Right on!) before it dawned on me that the barn with the red roof was ‘the one’.

Parked up the road in a beach lay by (of sorts) opposite Taigh Sona and walked back along the A83 to the site. Three superbly-proportioned monoliths and a perfect, diminutive little chamber stand on the side of a hill overlooking the Sound of Gigha.

The farmer arrives, I assume to check me out, and tells me that after 30 years or so he finally checked out the Mid-summmer sunset to Cara Island last year. Great bloke and a reminder not to succumb to belief in stereotypes..... hopefully he left with the same impression.

The swifts dart in and out of the nearby barn, the lambs do what lambs do and the ferry to Ghiga slowly crawls across the horizon. Not much happens at Ballochroy. Isn’t that great?

Sister peak to Pen-y-Fan – and only a little lower at 2,863ft – Corn Du was also graced by the presence of cairn builders in prehistory. A visit here will leave the tired traveller in no doubt as to why....

These peaks have always provoked a mixture of fascination and awe in human beings, alternately beguiling and life threatening, sometimes within a very short time frame indeed. Not for nothing are the Brecon Beacons the main training selection ground of the SAS.

Unfortunately there’s not much to ‘see’ of the cairn these days, what there is being a modern reconstruction designed to protect the internal construction of the monument from erosion by the many visitors who climb the mountain. However, judging by the photos taken during the excavation of 1978 [see link], the originial cairn covered a pretty complex cist. Oh, to have seen it exposed! Nice.

Nevertheless in many respects the summit – the landscape itself – IS the monument, the views exceptional on a clear day. A natural temple..... why, even the col leading to Pen-y-Fan is known as ‘Arthur’s Chair’. And I’m guessing this wasn’t a reference to Arthur from ‘On the Buses’...A visit to Corn Du should naturally include a visit to its nearby neighbour, itself blessed by an excavated cairn.

Corn Du is most ‘easily’ (relatively speaking) approached via the A470 at Storey Arms. However the more adventurous traveller, in search of a more intimate approach, may wish to try an ascent from the north (via magical Cwm Llwch), or the south (starting near the Neuadd Reservoirs, an islet within the larger of which boasts a couple of probable prehistoric cairns).

Finally, note that if it’s hard enough for the SAS, it’s certainly hard enough for mortals such as you or I. So pity the trainer-clad muppets, equip yourself properly, take care and accord the mountain due respect.... for this is truly the realm of the ancestors.

Note: the cairn itself is actually at SO00752133 upon the summit plateau.

Pen-y-Fan and its companion, Corn Du, are the summit peaks of the Brecon Beacons at 2,907ft and 2,863ft respectively.

By far the most recognisable mountains in South Wales because of their enigmatic ‘flat tops’ – the result of a layer of hard ‘plateau bed’ rock upon the soft Old Red Sandstone – it’s hardly surprising these high places were venerated by the ancient cairn builders.

Not a great deal remains of Pen-y-Fan’s summit cairn nowadays – the monument having been reconstructed, following excavation in 1991 – but what does exist only adds to the ‘other worldliness’ of this magnificent viewpoint. To be buried here must have been the Bronze Age equivalent of a spot in Westminster Abbey.... only many times more relevant being ‘up here’.

The summit of Pen-y-Fan is not a quiet spot by any means, the eroded footpath scars testament to the many thousands of visitors who make the pilgrimage, for one reason or another, every year, a high percentage from the Storey Arms to the west. But find yourself a perch upon the crags a little below the summit to the north, gaze down into beautiful Cwm Llwch with its circular tarn, a cwm resplendent with ancient tales, and Pen-y-Fan remains an awesome place to be indeed. Just make sure you don’t forget the sandwiches the Mam Cymru had lovingly prepared. Doh!

A classic site....... I make it about a seven and a half mile round walk from the Loch Brittle campsite, but the loch-side walk – with The Cuillin towering above and numerous streams discharging into the loch as waterfalls – is well worth doing for itself, never mind with the prize of megaliths at the end. Think of it as a lay pilgrimage, or something like that.

The route is pretty straightforward until the final section, near Creag Mhor, where the path veers inland towards a drystone wall. I, er, sort of lost it here, neglecting to take a bearing on Loch na h-Airde until it was too late. Anyway, persevere, passing an abandoned croft which may well bring a lump to your throat (it did mine) and find the loch best you can.

The chamber sits above the northern shore of this loch and, although roofless, still has a facade and well preserved entrance passage. To be honest, although gloriously unkempt with the facade stones leaning this way and that, it’s virtually intact – save the roof.

And yes, there is a lot of litter around, which does detract somewhat from such a truly isolated spot..... but closer inspection revealed this to be of the marine variety, whether chucked overboard or washed in on a storm, I couldn’t say.

Visited on 15/5/08

A great little site away from the more popular Maen-y-Bardd, with superb views over the Conwy Valley and the great mass of The Carneddau looming to the right.

Much better than I thought it would be, to be honest and I couldn’t believe I’d missed this little gem on my first visit to its much more famous neighbour (in 2001, if I remember correctly)

Not the most spacious of chambers, but I guess that makes it all the more appealing.... and a great spot to drift off for a few hours or so, avoiding the almost obligatory wind and rain of a Welsh hillside inside in the dry. So long as you don’t mind sharing with the odd creepy-crawlie creature with the same idea, that is. They live here, after all, while we’re just a ‘passing through.

Just down the road from Aubrey Burl’s Berrybrae – needless to say combine a visit – this fine RSC stands neglected in a circular-walled copse of trees behind the farm buildings of Netherton of Logie.

An elderly woman readily gave permission to visit, the farmer, clad in ubiquitous overalls directing me through a gate to the right with nae bother.

Sure the circle is uncared for, with sundry bits of bottle, wire etc scattered around. Yet the myriad bird boxes attached to the trees reassure you these are decent people.....

The recumbent and flankers are intact, together with a good many circle stones [sorry, I gave up counting years ago – we used a calculator at school, fat lot of good that was]. This RSC has a ‘rough and ready’ feel light years away from Cullerlie, but arguably is all the better for that.

Well worth the visit. Incidentally the farm has a shop so you may stock up on milk etc before you go. Probably straight from the cow!

A favourite monolith and one of the first I came across as a ‘stone-illiterate’ walking Fan Nedd and Fan Llia during the mid-Nineties. Remember them?

Completely dominates the valley, guiding travellers along the nearby ancient track – later bastardised by the Romans to become Sarn Helen – and perhaps serving as a place to stop and offer up a few, er, offerings......

Daubed in graffiti by mindless fools several years back, a few Welsh Winters – not to mention Summers (!) – have made light work of that. Maen Llia will still be guarding its mountain pass when they are long gone and forgotten.

The eastern prow of Waun Rydd, a vast moorland plateau rising to a very healthy 2,522ft, is currently adorned by a recently restored (see photo) cairn of a magnitude way in excess of that required for a mere ‘walker’s cairn’. Perhaps the most likely explanation for this apparent eccentricity is that its original incarnation superseded – for whatever reason, now lost in the mists of time – a Bronze Age burial cairn which once stood here upon this exposed mountain top.

Indeed, according to a ‘Field Monuments in the National Park’ pamphlet, published by the Brecon Beacons National Park Committee in 1983, “... a few paces to the west... [of the existing cairn]... are the mutilated remains of a probable prehistoric burial cairn, much of it having been destroyed by generations of passing walkers” (suffice to say that ‘walkers’ is not a term I’d use!) This assertion is supported by the local Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, not to mention the name ‘Carn Pica’ itself. Seems pretty solid reasoning to me.

It has to be said that very little of the original cairn remains, but – by all accounts – the site is authentic, the views sublime, the vibe likewise. Well worth a visit.

If the thought appeals, Carn Pica is perhaps best reached by a somewhat arduous walk/climb from Tal y Bont Reservoir, via the Twyn Du ridge. Map, compass and waterproofs essential.

Wolfscote Hill is a fine little 388m high hill near the village of Biggin, in The Peak District’s ‘White Peak’ area.

A fine viewpoint – as you would expect – it has the added bonus of being crowned by a fine round cairn, too. Needless to say it’s not the only hill in the area to have this privledge since, according to the map, many of the summits either side of Wolfscote Dale are similarly blessed. If only there was more time.........

I parked near Wolfscote Grange, carrying on a little further down the minor road before the short, steep ascent to the cairn at the summit – unfortunately surmounted by a OS trig point, but there you are.... National Trust.

Despite a few violent showers the views were superb, especially in that uniquely clear, fresh light just after a dowwnpour. Exquisite.

A 1,850ft outlier of Pen-Pumlumon-Fawr and to its north-east, Carn Hyddgen is as remote a mountain as you could wish for, standing guard above the trackway through Cwm Hyddgen – surely a prehistoric route?

If I remember my history correctly it was here that Owain Glyndwyr ambushed and annihilated an English army during the rebellion – or War of Liberation, depending on your point of view. Despite – or perhaps because of that – this is an ethereal, haunting location......

Needless to say the two cairns which grace the summit are peace personified – not many people come to walk Pumlumon, even less come here. In fact I only did due to a map reading error! But it was a fortuitous mistake, you might say.

After a day braving the elements........ and having just endured the mother of all thunderstorms on Iron Hill [not far from The Thunder Stone, of course] the sun came out and bathed this lovely little circle in light for the remainder of the day.

The gate is still padlocked and the farmer drove past while I was there.... paused... and then carried on. Using this field exclusively to feed a few motley beasts is sacrilege, it really is.

An hour or so here is a great way to end any day.