GLADMAN
I agree with Coflein – quite obviously the real deal.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Quite a decent monument in an outstanding location. The marker cairn looks like it has been en situ for donkey’s years, let alone the footprint. The wondrous Craig-yr-Aderyn (hillforts/cairn) can be seen beyond, below western Cadair Idris.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Looking towards the central summits of the wondrous Cadair Idris.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Sometimes one is surprised by that bloody YouTube algorithm....
Apparently, one shouldn’t ‘shiver’ or ‘tremble’ here? The Citizen Cairn did. Rather ‘damp’ at times, but wondrous nonetheless.
The great crossbank of Bodbury Ring can be seen beyond...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
No longer that upstanding, but quite obviously the remains of a large cairn...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
OK, it’s not The Goat’s Hole, granted. But the weight of ‘presence’ here fair sucked the oxygen from my lungs.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
How could anything possibly follow The Gop Cairn and not be a disappointment in comparison? This is the way... step inside.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Highlighting the restricted nature of the entrance. Boyd Dawkins discovered a crude ‘chamber’ here containing 14 Neolithic human skeletons and associated grave goods... a natural chambered tomb, no less.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The inner recesses... again, 30 second exposure. It is somewhat darker in reality, albeit not prohibitively so.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The first of a series of 30 second exposures to show some detail without the dreaded flash...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Interesting and informative website – good info on a site which fair blew me away. Ironically, perhaps, since the wind had failed to remove me from the extraordinary cairn which towers above. What price the two sites have always worked in tandem?
Hillforts everywhere you look around these parts...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Looking down upon the horrific National Trust Car Park that I had the misfortune to encounter last year. Motorist TMA-ers are strongly advised to park in town and approach via the golf course.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Looking approx west down into Carding Mill Valley
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Historic England (List Entry Number: 1007695) states the following:
“The monument includes the remains of a bowl barrow situated on the highest point of Bodbury Hill. The barrow is visible as a low, flat topped mound 12m in diameter, of earth and stone construction. The top of the mound is irregular and disturbed, probably as a result of exploration at some time in the past. Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, surrounds the mound. This has become infilled over the years but will survive as a buried feature some 2m wide.”
The memory not being what it was, I’d forgotten how impressive this one really is....
With Gaer Fawr under half a mile downhill to the north, here we have two for the price of one, my friends...
Question: What’s the difference between a fortified settlement on a hill... and a hillfort? A tramp around the sprawling earthworks of Gaer Fawr.
Pierce Wood and Piercefield Great Camp
A soggy afternoon at Pierce Wood and Piercefield Great Camp, near Chepstow.
Forcing my way to the crest of the eastern inner bank... some things have to be done if you relish that ‘hands on’ vibe.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Looking approx east across the enclosure. One wonders how much has been claimed by the estuary waters over time?
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The now no longer very ‘new’ second Severn crossing from the western end of the main inner bank.... incidentally, currently just about the only section of the defences one can ascend owing to otherwise extreme brambles etc.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The inner bank from within – looking approx southeast
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Looking towards the massive – if more-or-less prohibitively overgrown – inner bank from the approx northwest.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
