16/07/2021 – Walking a few tops east of Spittal of Glenshee. A visit to a fine four poster in sunshine was a nice way to finish the day.
thelonious
05/09/2020 – As we were visiting Benbhraggie Wood Chambered Cairn nearby, I had a look on Canmore to see if there was anything close. This ‘souterrain’ was listed near the top of the hill so we thought we’d have a look.
Canmore just has a pretty vague 6 digit ref so we used their photos as a guide. After a good search in the sunshine and rain we found the place. Canmore’s description from 1911 sounds quite exciting – a souterrain, 40ft in length.
The hole we found matches their photo but is it a souterrain? Odd place to have one so high on a hill.
It’s pretty much hidden in amongst the heather. Entrance is OK but gets small pretty quick. I didn’t do much more than stick my head in. Love to know if it really went back 40ft and opened up to 5ft in height. Maybe one for TMAers with expendable small children to send down!
Walk up the hill is nice and the search was fun.
05/09/20 – Had to get away. Just to feel a bit normal again (well at least normal for me). It’s been a long time without searching for the old stones. Too long. We took the early train up from Aberdeen (pretty much no one on it) to Golspie for the weekend. Got there round midday, dumped our stuff in the B&B and headed off for an explore.
I’d seen this cairn on the OS 1:25000 before lockdown and had been wanting to visit as I like it round here. Easy access, there is good parking if you come by car just before Rhives Farm. Sign posted trails for walking and bikes. Short walk from here to the chambered cairn. Just follow the track up the hill and right. The cairn is in a field so could have cows, none today.
On a rise, the stones of the chamber and entrance are still standing. There is a fantastic huge lime tree growing right in the middle of the chamber. It’s brilliant. Quality location with great views past the trees to the coast and sea beyond.
This Orkney-Cromarty type chambered cairn is really worth visiting if you are passing by. The walk up the hill to the statue is good as well. Top views from the top.
Good to be visiting the stones again.
21/03/2020 – Should have been in Dublin this weekend but that’s on hold until later in the year (fingers crossed). Just needed a bit of height this morning so off to Pressendye we went. Decided to start on the east side. Track just north of Holmhead. It’s probably one of the shorter ways to the top. Maybe 2-2.5 hours round time. It’s a nice walk and very quiet. Bit cold this morning and with a chilly breeze. The cairn is pretty trashed but it’s still worth a look and the view is very good. Good place to spend a few hours away from it all.
16/03/2020 – It had been a really good day out so far. The walk over from Rhossili is nice and soon it was time to catch the bus back at Penmaen. Just Cefn Bryn to go. Reaching Reynoldston trigpoint I was tired. We were in two minds as to whether to bother with Arthur’s Stone, it’s a little way off. I could see the cairn in the distance though. After a stop at the trig we decided to make one last detour and head for the stones. I didn’t know much about them so wasn’t expecting much. First Cefn Bryn Great Cairn which is lovely with a fine placement and very good vantage point. Next we walked over to Maen Ceti. Wow with a cherry on top, to think I nearly passed this one by! It’s just fantastic. The big stone is a bit of a monster, great space underneath. The cairn looked lower than the surrounding ground. Wonder if they dug down to get under the big stone instead of trying to lift it up? This site is really a must visit, guessing the area gets pretty busy in the summer months with a car park nearby. The site turned out to be the last of our trip south. On the bus back we heard that it was time for non-essential travel to stop. Time to cut short our trip and the next day we headed back home to Aberdeenshire. Long way to come for a couple of days but this big stone made up for it – top site.
16/03/2020 – It’s a fine walk over Llanmadoc Hill from Llangennith to Llanmadoc. Not a big hill but you really feel away from it all. Lots of cairns on this one. Cairn XII just before you get to the Bulwark is very good. I was really taken with it and a great place to sit and admire the scenery. Worth mentioning the lovely Llanmadoc community shop at the foot of the hill as well. Good place for a coffee and slice of cake.
16/03/2020 – A day of blue skies, big stones and good walking in a fine landscape. I’ve always wanted to visit the Gower. Bus from Swansea to Rhossili in the morning for a walk over 3 hills, Rhossili Down, Llanmadoc Hill and finally Cefn Bryn to drop down to catch the bus back from Penmaen. I knew the area was full of old stones but with a longish walk ahead we decided to not deviate from our route too much to look at stuff. Just go with the flow and if we happen to come across things great, if not there was always next time. The walk and views were more than enough.
Heading up to the Beacon with its wonderful views, we carried on along Rhossili Down. My decision to not leave the track went straight out the window as soon as I saw Sweyne Howes down below. They looked too good to pass by so off we went. First Sweyen Howes south then on to the north one. Both in the very good category, North is probably more a wow than a very good.
Wished we had more time here, Rhossili Down is not a hill to be rushed. Always hard when you live a long way away and you only have a day at a place. Tricky to try and not do too much. If you haven’t been here (I see plenty of TMAers have) please go, pick a sunny day, the area has a bit of everything.
15/03/2020 – Wet morning walk up Mynydd Dinas from Port Talbot train station. Good access up the Wales Coast path. We did get a little lost finding the best route under the motorway near the start though. It’s a shortish walk up, a little steep in places. The cairn is a little off the path, there’s a faint track there. It’s not too tricky to find. Cairn is grassed over with a trig on top. Nice to see a few daffodils out already. Location is good with decent views all round. Might be a bit overgrown in the summer months. A fine way to spend a couple of hours.
26/01/2020 – Staying in Kyle of Lochalsh for a few days. Decided to take the bus out to Broadford for a stroll. This really is a lovely location for a cairn and a fine walk there and back. The weather had a bit of everything today. Luckily the sun popped out as we reached the cairn. There’s a bench nearby for a sit and a grand view. Nice day out.
28/12/2019 – Grassed over cairn on summit of Cave Hill. Small hole in the middle. It’s a decent sized cairn with fine views.
28/12/2019 – Nice walk up from Cave Hill Country Park. Not too long but a little steep in sections. Excellent place for a fort. McArt’s fort is on a rocky promontory protected by steep sides and a bank and ditch. The views across Belfast to the far distance hills are worth the walk alone. The hill is basalt and reminded me a lot of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh. Great place.
The profile of Cave Hill is thought maybe to have inspired Jonathan Swift to write Gulliver’s Travels. Resembling a sleeping giant.
27/12/2019 – I liked this one. A lonely stone on a misty hillside. Easy enough to get to. We took the 106 bus from Belfast to Hannahstown and got dropped off at the start of Divis Road. From here it’s a nice walk up Divis to the top (very cloudy today) and then round to take the track north to this standing stone. It’s just off the side of the track. About 6 feet in height. No access problems and the fence next to it is easy to cross. Nice day out.
14/09/2019 – We’ve been visiting different Tumps in our patch over the last few years. It’s a fine way to see new places. Bit tired at the moment so we didn’t want anything too big today. A quick look at the map and Learney Hill looked about perfect for this morning.
Good parking at NJ 6496 0478, at track entrance off the B996 (There’s a nice walk up Hill of Fare from here was well). The track heads west pretty much all the way. Just a short bash at the end to reach the top. We visited the trig on Ordie Caber first. It had been years since our last visit. No trees now, looked very different. I liked the top of Learney Hill, nice open woodland. I really struggled to make out any of the cairn beneath the modern one.
It’s a lovely place for a walk.
31/08/2019 – The amount of quality sites in Ireland is a little overwhelming. Planning our trip was hard and I just didn’t know where to begin. In the end we said pick 3 sites for the week. That would be a good start. First pick – Drombeg, easy start, this was a must for me as it was an Irish recumbent. Next up was Maeve’s Cairn, an upland cairn of unbelievable size. Last pick was no problem too – Brownshill Dolmen. I just had to see that capstone. 3 picks done, now to plan the trip. I had no clue where the sites where in relation to each other. Turned out a little tricky as they where in 3 different parts of the country. After a little think, we decided to go for it. More travelling than I’d have liked but least we’d see a good bit of countryside.
It had been a great holiday so far. Maeve’s Cairn was amazing, Drombeg was as good as I’d hoped. Today was our last full day in Ireland. Tomorrow we’d be back in Aberdeenshire. Early train from Cork to Dublin then a train back to Carlow. Got there about 11 o’clock. It’s a walk of just over 2 miles to the dolmen. Mostly pavement but the last section for about 400 metres is just along a narrow verge and the road is a little busy at times. Not brilliant but it’s short.
Reaching the carpark, there were just a few cars there. We walked down the track to the site. Great access. Brownshill Dolmen can be seen across the field but it’s only when you get up close does the size hit you. The capstone is just a monster. We had a sit on the bench there as folk came and went. Great to watch expressions as folk came face to face with the dolmen. Everyone looked pretty amazed and so they should. The site is a proper head shaker, how the hell did they lift that size!!? We got the place to ourselves soon enough and I had a walk round the dolmen. I loved the back of the capstone. So rounded and huge, very huge, like huge plus 1. I didn’t go under the stone. You can easily but the weight above! The weather was just lovely, blue skies and white fluffy clouds gave a perfect backdrop to the stones.
This was the last of the sites on our trip to Ireland and what a visit to finish on. This big friendly monster just made me smile. Hard to leave to make the walk back to Carlow to catch the train to Dublin.
I remember commenting that I had to visit here on a ryaner photo earlier this year . He replied saying it should be compulsory, he’s not wrong.
29/08/2019 – Morning bus from Cork to Rosscarbery. Takes about an hour and a half. It’s a fine way to see the countryside. Rosscarbery is a nice town, good shop and pub. Plenty of buses back, every couple of hours.
From Rosscarbery we walked west along the quiet country roads towards Drombeg. A walk of just over 3 miles. It seemed to pass pretty quick. The excitement built with each passing mile. Drombeg had been a long time in coming. For the last few years we had often talked about making the trip to Ireland and each time it was always Drombeg that was top of the list. Living in the north east of Scotland, the land of the RSC and to make the journey to see a recumbent stone circle so far away in the south west of Ireland was beyond exciting. In a week of many adventures, this was the big one.
Passing the good sized car park, we walked the short track to where the stones lived. First sight, I was a little surprised. Though not the largest of circles, it was still bigger than I’d imagined. The stones looked so solid. A few people were there already so we gave them space and walked on to the hut circle. There’s a fine rocky bit behind, which we headed for. A great vantage point to sit and take in the scene. Though not busy with people, it was steady. We decided to have our lunch first before finally making it down towards the circle. We sat, looking down and across the hut circle to the stone circle, it was a great way to take in the location. Interestingly folk were giving, consciously or unconsciously, other groups time in the circle to themselves which was lovely.
I’m not sure how long we had sat, eating, chatting, daydreaming away but I noticed that everyone had drifted back to their cars and the place had gone quiet. We got up and strolled the short distance to finally touch the stones. We had made it to Drombeg. A happy moment.
I was keen to see if it felt like a RSC. It did, it really did. The recumbent is lovely and the placement of the stones and shapes were just great. I was pretty blown away. Maybe it was because this was the sole focal point of the day. There are plenty of other sites in the wider area but today it was just Drombeg for us and I liked it for that.
Circling the circle, close to the stones first then on a wider arc. Dark greys turned to light as the sun broke through the clouds. Just for a short time but it was enough. The circle seemed to come alive. We had been there a couple of hours by now. Time to go. Why do stones always look their best when you have to leave? Are they giving you something to remember or just trying to make you stay a little longer. Just a few more minutes... and then we would go.
Seemed longer returning to Rosscarbery to catch the bus back to Cork. What a day, what a circle!
27/08/2019 – I really wanted to get to Carrowkeel. Looks like it had everything. Quality cairns, high on a hillside in a top location. After seeing rayner’s sunset photos on here a few months back I knew I had to visit.
It was our last day in Sligo so it felt a bit now or never. Unfortunately the weather forecast was grim. We toyed with not going but we’d have got wet anywhere today. Might as well be on a hill with great cairns.
I worried that without a car this one might be tricky to get to. Turned out fine. It’s close to the main road from Sligo to Dublin so there’s a good bus. We caught the 8.00 from Sligo bus station to Castlebaldwin. Didn’t take long and we were walking by 8.30. There’s buses back from here in the afternoon every couple of hours so there was no need to rush. Nice to not have to treat the day like a raid. Worth mentioning the petrol station in Castlebaldwin has a great cafe/shop so ideal for waiting for any bus back to Sligo.
It’s a 3 mile walk from Castlebaldwin to Carrowkeel. Very quiet country roads and more enjoyable than I thought it would be. The rain was pretty terrible. Fell for most of the day. The worst weather day I’ve had out for many a year. No wind which helped and we did stay quite cheery powered up by chocolate and Tayto crisps (I love Taytos, very hard to find in Scotland).
The final approach is a gentle incline up an ever decreasing quality of road. You can drive up to the top. I’d love to know if any TMAers have braved it? There’s a newish carpark at the bottom. Much better to start here as the walk up is nice and your car will thank you for it. The landscape here is wonderful and my favourite on our trip. The road takes you between steep limestone ridges. Huge cairns could be seen on the tops through the mist and rain. The road bends back left and then up and around to near the top. From here it’s a short climb to the first of the cairns.
Cairn G – Not the most exciting of names but it’s good, very good. As we approached, it appeared from out of the mist to greet us. The excitement upon seeing the entrance for the first time, nearly too much. We had stepped into a megalithic wonderland. Suddenly the crap weather was working for us and the rain and low clouds created a vibe to the place that was amazing. A feeling of quiet wild loneliness, just us and the cairns on the hillside. Like we had entered a different world. Rucksacks off and a quick shimmy through the entrance, we entered the short passage and then the chamber. Standing up in the high roofed centre, a relief to be away from the rain. Dark but with no need of our headtorches, peacefully away from the outside world, what a contrast! Great chamber and recesses. Loved the orthostats.
Cairn K – After leaving cairn G and having a look at cairn H, we made our way to the high point of the hill and Cairn K. The passage is longer on this one. A bit of a hands and knees job. The cruciform chamber just wow. Great corbelled ceiling. A few cracked lintels so best not to climb the outside.
The rain stopped for a short while so we plonked ourselves down next to K to have our sandwiches. What a place. No views but because of the mist it felt like this cairn filled landscape could have gone on forever. The rain came back hard and though I’d have loved to have explored the hillside more, it felt best to leave it for another time. I was so happy with the day so far, more wasn’t really needed.
We walked back to Castlebaldwin and the bus, very wet but very happy. A great day out and one of my favourite megalithic days ever I think.
26/08/2019 – It was afternoon by the time we reached Carrowmore. I was tired. We had made the journey over Knocknarea and then walked the quiet roads to here. It was a welcome sight to see a coffee shop/van next to the visitors centre with a few outside tables and chairs. I needed a rest and a coffee (plus iced dough ring). Then with my power up, it was time to enter Carrowmore.
There’s a nice few info rooms to walk through and you can get a map (and an audio guide if you want) to the site. The rain had started to fall now but nothing too bad. We made a slow walk round the grassy fields, tomb after tomb. The place is jampacked with them. Each with their own little character. You don’t get access to them all but the walk takes you past a good enough number. I think I read that 65 tomb monuments were noted in the 1800’s but only about 30 survive today. The earliest dating from around 3700 BCE. No access to Site 7 at the moment which is a shame but you can still view it from afar. Site 51 is a bit mad. Great tomb hiding in a reconstruction cairn held in place with lots of wire. I wasn’t that keen but Mrs T liked it.
I can’t remember how many tombs the walk takes you on, both sides of the road, maybe around the 15 mark. I liked the little ones the best like site 54.
It was a great afternoon spent there and it really is a must see place.
We left to make the slow walk back to Sligo. The roads are OK-ish to walk. A few fast cars, fat trucks and big tractors but nothing too bad, we survived to tell the tale.
26/08/2019 – I was pretty excited waking up. Today the plan was a visit to Knocknarea then on to Carrowmore megalithic cemetery. They looked on TMA to be two wow sites. It was misty yesterday so I was a bit worried about the hill having its cloudy hat on again today. A quick peek through the curtains and I was happily greeted by the morning sun. It was a good start.
There’s a good bus service from Sligo to Strandhill (S2 – every hour). A 20 minute journey took us to just north of the big hill along the coast at Mannionstown (Brees Pub). From here there is a great signposted walk up Knocknarea. It’s not a huge gain, maybe around 300 metres. The hill looks pretty great from this side, very steep. The track was good. There is a section of walkway that was hard going but we took our time. It wasn’t a day for rushing. The top of Knocknarea is quite flat but you still have to get close before you see the cairn and then there it is! What can I say about Maeve’s cairn, it’s big, very big. It must be a good 10 metres in height. Standing next to it, the cairn just seems to grow. Stone upon stone, taller and wider. Close up my vision was just one of cairn and nothing else. It’s just fantastic.
We circled it once and then walked a little way north to the ruined cairn there. It was easier to take in from here and also the surrounding view which is very good. Luckily it was very quiet on the hill today. It’s a fine place to sit with your sandwiches and a brew and just look out to sea and along the coast. I could have stayed all day.
I liked the stones in the big cairn. There’s a lot of fossils in them, coral maybe, just guessing. Worth mentioning also that there are a lot of signs round the cairn and also on the way up asking folk not to climb the cairn. Seems a reasonable request considering how many people climb Knocknarea each year.
After one last goodbye to big Maeve and a look at the stones to the south we headed down SE towards the carpark on what looks like the main route up. It’s not as steep as the north side. Near the bottom you can loop back round the hill to the start again but we carried on, walking down the quiet roads to our next destination – Carrowmore megalithic cemetery.
25/08/2019 – First full day in Sligo. What to do, what to do? We are on public transport all week so a bit restricted. Buses don’t get going until late morning on Sunday but there’s an early-ish train so we decided to go for that. Looking for a combination of hills and prehistory we picked for our first day a trip to Slieve Daeane.
Short train ride (09:05 from Sligo) to Collooney. We headed along the Sligo Way north east through Union Wood (nice area) to Ballydawley then using the forest tracks past the stone row we climbed to the high point of the Sligo Way just south of the top. Leaving the track we made the short but steepish climb to the top of Slieve Daeane. There’s a decent sized cairn at the summit with a trigpoint on top. I bet the views from here are great on a good day. It wasn’t that day today. The cloud base was low. We sat next to the cairn, eating our butties, looking into not much of nothing. Good vibe to the place though.
Next we made our way west to the cairn on top of Slieve Dargan about 800 metres away. The straight line distance is short but the cloud made things a bit tricky plus there’s a good down and up between the two tops, very steep, grassy slopes. The cairn on Slieve Dargan has a good sized footprint but it’s pretty trashed. It’s listed as a passage tomb but I couldn’t see any internal structure.
Downhill and another 300 metres to the west is Cailleach a Vera’s House, a passage tomb on the last of the rises. The cloud had lifted by now so the view past the cairn to the landscape beyond was impressive as we made the approach. This is the pick of the three cairns we visited today. Visible passage and chamber which you can look down into. Really taken with this one and the location is excellent. Well worth a walk up.
From here it’s only about 350 metres back to the Sligo Way path. The terrain is rough and a bit wet but nothing really to put you off.
Meeting up again with the path, it was back west to Collooney to catch the train back to Sligo. A really nice day out.
25/05/2019 – Tricky site this one. Not to get to though. It’s next to the road and parking is easy. The gorse and stuff has been cut right back so the site is looking pretty good nowadays.
Why tricky? Well, because I don’t really know what it is. After reading Canmore I’m still not sure. I’ve added it as a stone circle (looks like one to me) but if anyone thinks different please say and I’ll change it. Other contenders are cairn, cairn circle or even a henge.
There’s a cist in the middle of a grassed over cairn with good size boulders surrounding this (only the north side remains of the circle) and there seems to be a bank and ditch outside this as well. A lot going on.
To the SW is the big standing stone Clach Biorach. Was this an outlier to the circle? It is a very different stone to the ones used in the circle.
Interesting place and our last site of a great trip up north. A good way to finish.
25/05/2019 – We’ve driven past this one a few times. Never really felt the right time to visit. We had got moving early as the rain was due. Coming through Lairg we decided to stop and have a look. Good parking in the layby to the north on A836. Just a short walk along the road to the gate leading to the rough pasture where the circle is. I liked the little climb up to the stones. Only half the circle left and a few small stones hinting at an inner circle. I liked this one.
24/05/2019 – This one is not far from the road. Easy parking. This cairn is right in the middle of a cleared township. Makes you wonder what they thought about it as they went about their daily lives. The cairn is pretty ruined but it’s still worth a look if you are passing. We walked on a bit further to have a look at the hut circles to the north and then on to Pole Hill. This area is full of hut circles. If you have time Carn Gruama Beag is worth a walk up. The views down Loch Naver are excellent.
23/05/2019 – On the way back from visiting the stone rows to the south east we finally reached Clach an Righ. What a welcome sight. It’s a lovely looking circle. Not that big but the stones are a good size. Each upright stone’s axis is radial to the centre. Reminded me of The Great U of Stemster in that regard. I can’t think of others like this. I’m sure there are lots though. We plonked down on a nearby log to finished off our brews. Just taking in the scene.
With a nod to Gladman, it was finally time to head off again. His photos and fieldnotes had put an idea in our heads to seek out this place. He’s good at doing that.
23/05/2019 – Lets start this by saying one thing – Multiple stone rows are brilliant. Look where these are on the map! Right bang in the centre of the middle of nowhere. I just had to visit. 14 or so miles in the rain there and back. Maybe we are all a little odd for going to sites like this. It’s good to be odd a little I think. Hello to my fellow oddities :-)
We were going to start at Rosal but there was logging going on so we parked a little SE at the start of the track off the B871 near the corner of the forest marked on the OS map (NC 7021 4141). From there it was up over Beinn Rosail to the kerb cairn on Meall a’ Choire Bhuidhe. Raining and a bit rubbish underfoot. To visit the kerb cairn there’s a deer fence and trees to contend with (I’ve grumped about this elsewhere). From here we made for the track to the south at NC 6943 3778. I was really tired today and the damp wasn’t helping my mood. The stone rows still looked a long way off on the map but from now on it was track most of the way so after a couple of Jammie Dodgers for power we headed SE.
It’s a pretty straight forward enough walk from here. Just keep on the track until you hit the ride heading SW at NC 7189 3516. Straight up along that and it takes you to the big clearing which has the rows in it.
42 stones in 4 rows counted in 1975. The ground is slowly eating them up. We could only find 9 or 10. The big 4 terminal stones are still showing well. I use the word big in relation to the other stones. They are all pretty small. I’d say none over 0.5m. Such a great site though. Prehistory mini mysteries.
There’s a probable standing stone to NW too.
We sat and had our butties and a brew. Tired, wet but very happy. It was now just a matter of a trigpoint and another hill top to find and then it was back to the track and the start via the excellent Clach an Righ stone circle.
One big lovely walk in rainy Sutherland.
23/05/2019 – Cairn with kerb stones on west side.
I was proper in a grump on the way to this one.
Rubbish weather and tough walking to get there. Once there a high deer fence to contend with. Last 50 metres was a thick forest of trees and a quagmire underfoot. No views and the cairn is pretty hidden.
I’ve been, you don’t have to.
20/05/2019 – Iron Age Aisled Roundhouse or Wheelhouse or Wag? You take your pick. All I know is that it is brilliant.
It made for a good sandwich spot on our walk over the hills from Laid to Durness.
Worth a visit for its lovely location. Some of the lintels look like they have been put back up. They look proper dangerous! No way would I sleep under them.
20/05/2019 – Finally made it here. Our visit to this cairn had been a long time coming. First noticed it on the map well over a year ago. It ticked a lot of boxes for me. A cairn, high up on a hill, in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t really matter if it turned out a bit rubbish, the adventure to get there looked worth the trip alone.
After spending the last year boring Mrs T about how we really should make the journey up to see it, we decided to go for it. Our whole trip up north was based round this cairn marked on the map. I didn’t really know anything about it and avoided looking for photos on the web. I wanted a surprise.
Staying in Durness I didn’t really relish the idea of a walk there and back so after a bit of digging we found out Durness run a Dial-a-bus. It’s not everyday and mostly in the morning I think. Phoned up the evening before and the woman said no problem, pick you up in Durness at 10.00am tomorrow to take you to Laid, on the other side of the hills east of Durness. 8-9 miles or so, less than £2 each!!! Brilliant service.
We got dropped off at the start of a track heading up hill (NC 4160 5958). Just north of the phone box (marked on map) on the A838. We used the track to gain a bit of height and then followed the Allt an Lagain uphill. Don’t start heading off early towards the cairn. Best to hit the ridge as it’s stone and makes walking a lot easier. Very interesting area for walking. The stones/rocks are great round here. Weather today was very rubbish. Our heads were down and our hoods were up. The rain was heavy at times and the hillside misty. It didn’t matter though. In fact it added to the atmosphere. After a time a shape appeared in the distance, I thought surely that’s not it. It looked brilliant. As we got closer the rain lessened and the mist cleared. There it was – a wonderful D-shaped Neolithic chambered cairn. Wow!
I was really taken with this one. It’s still in great nick and these folk really knew how to pick a location. Everything combined to make a wonderful visit. The mist on the hill, the quiet, the cairn and the great views down to Loch Eriboll and beyond.
Nice front to the cairn and you can make out where the passage would be. After walking round it a few times we just stood to catch our breaths and take it all in. Finally we had made it here and it felt good.
Worth mentioning are a small lines of cairns heading north from here. Some even have small standing stones by them. I don’t know if they are from the same time as the big cairn but there is something going on here. People have been visiting this special place for years I think.
With the rain still falling we reluctantly left the cairn behind and started north to our next destination – the aisled roundhouse below Meall Meadhonach. From there it was back over the hills to Durness. A long day and hard on the legs but just great, really great. The cairn was worth the wait.
17/05/2019 – Did my knee in a bit a few weeks back and it’s still sore. Our trip to this patch was mainly for walking, a few ups and a few downs. Thinking I didn’t want to chance my knee with hills every day, I turned to trusty Canmore for a bit of inspiration. Looking at the map I noticed two chambered cairns marked at Cromalt I’d never seen before. I thought that will do nicely for a day trip out. They are a little bit in the middle of nowhere nowadays. After a bit of umming about the best route to them we decided to start at Knockan. There is good parking in the layby on the A895 (NC 2119 1058). There’s a decent track, marked on the OS map, heading SE that took us about half the way. After that it was a bit of bashing over rough ground, trying to head in a straight-ish line to the first cairn at NC2393208131. After a good look at the cairn (very good with nice stones of the chamber still in place) we headed east to this cairn at NC2500907977.
No access problems but I think I’ll mention the going underfoot. There hadn’t been much rain round here for ages so the ground was very dry and that made the walk easy going really. If it had been raining for a week before we came I think it would be a completely different kettle of fish. Very soggy and tough going would be my guess. Also a few streams to cross.
The cairn itself is very nice. Not in that bad a condition and a few big stones showing. Location is a little different to a lot of the chambered cairns round here. Very open area. It did remind me a little of Loch Ailsh chambered cairn. Same kind of ditch round this one which may be natural due to the rate of peat build up surrounding the cairn compared to the stony cairn itself.
Very enjoyable day out. Two nice cairns and a bonus one near the start at NC21721041.
17/05/2019 – Tricky to pick my favourite between the two chambered cairns at Cromalt. The one to the east still has plenty of stones left and the cairn shape is better. I did like this one though to the west. Just the stones of the chamber showing on top of the grassy remains of the cairn. If you’ve made it this far you might as well visit both.
17/05/2019 – On the way to Cromalt chambered cairns we noticed this one. Just off the track heading SE from the houses at Knockan. I didn’t know of a cairn here but thought it looked like a could be through the binoculars. We decided to have a closer look on the way back. Turned out it was a chambered cairn on a nice little rise. Top surprise at the end of the walk. It’s not in great condition but there are plenty of stones left and one big orthostat still in place. I liked this one with its fine location overlooking the river below. Worth a look.
16/05/2019 – First day of our trip up north. The sun was shinning and it even felt a bit warm! We arrived at the good sized car park off the A837 feeling a little bit excited as we had been wanting to visit these caves for a while. There is a good path to the caves, about a mile up the lovely Allt nan Uamh. On a sunny day this really is a nice walk. The climb to the caves isn’t hard. Lots of orchids about today lining the path up. There are 4 main caves to look in. They don’t go back too far before getting narrow but are a good size at the entrance. Easy to imagine people living here. The view is wonderful too. The caves are probably best known for the many animal bones found here like Brown bear and even Polar bear! Human bones have also been found and dated to the Neolithic period. Suggestions have been made that it could have been a place of burial.
If you are ever in the area this place is well worth a visit. The hill (Beinn an Fhuarain) behind is worth a bob up too if you have the time, for some wonderful views.
05/05/2019 – Big car park to the west (NO14462366). This area looks popular for locals. Lots of signposted walks. We took the track east to near the hillfort then just a little climb to the top. The walk’s nice enough, lots of lovely trees to look at and a nice time of year to visit. Everything is starting to look very green. The hillfort covers a fair sized area but there isn’t much to see. One really just for the hillfort addicts. Views are good though from it.
The walk from the same car park to Kinnoull Hill to the west is better and worth doing as well if you happen to visit. Also to the south east the gothic looking Binnhill Tower is good on Bin Hill.
04/05/2019 – 10 years since my last visit! Too long as it’s a fine cairn in a lovely location.
04/05/2019 – This place has been in the back of my mind for ages. I visited Dunsinane Hill and King’s Seat cairn 10 years back. I completely missed the broch. Only noticed it on the map when I got home. Finally decided to make the trip down to have a look.
Parking for 3-4 cars at the bend in the road south of Collace (NO 20703212). Short steepish walk up to Dunsinane Hill of Shakespeare’s Macbeth fame – “I will not be afraid of death and bane, Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane”. The hillfort is very good and there are a couple of cup marked stones here as well (if you can find them!).
Up and down to cross Black Hill and then a little heather bash to Little Dunsinane, a small knoll and the site of the broch. Easy enough walking though my knee’s bad at the moment so it grumped a bit.
From Canmore’s description, I hoped for some walls and features but it’s very overgrown so there’s little to see. Just the odd stone poking through the heather. The knoll is nice and a fine place for a brew and a rest. Views north are lovely to the big hills. We were lucky with the weather, sunny for most of the today, wind was a bit chilly though.
After a sit we made our way up to King’s Seat to say hello to the cairn and then looped back to the start via Buttergask Hill and Balmalcolm cup marked stone (NO 21543 32284).
A good day out with plenty to see and nice walking. Great to finally get to the broch after so many years.
13/04/2019 – Easiest way to this site is from the road to the east and south. To link this up with the other two hillforts to the west turns an OKish walk into a bit of a prehistory orienteering course.
We started from the west at Belladrum. Good parking at the track entrance. Using this track for as long as we could, we then went off road to climb Cnoc an Uird. Tough going. Then north east to Castle Spynie. Better underfoot here. Nice walking in open woodland.
I really liked this one. Once thought of as a broch but probably a dun. It’s not the biggest but it’s on a fine little knoll. Plenty of stones everywhere. The location is lovely amongst the trees. A little bit secretive. Nice place for a sit on a sunny day.
We then headed back west to visit the two hillforts, Phoineas and Dun Mor. Tricky walk between them. Lots of tracks but none really going in the direction we wanted. Bash, bash and a bit more bash, not to mention a deer fence as well. All good fun (sort of).
It all made for a great walk and a lovely day out with Drew, Mrs Drew & Bess. Even had a ice cream in Beauly to finish off with, felt a bit like summer apart from the chilly wind.
13/04/2019 – Day trip to Beauly. On the way Drew, our excellent tour guide for the day, mentioned we would be visiting a chambered cairn at Tarradale. I’d never heard of this one, it’s not on the OS map and Canmore’s description is pretty much nothing. I guessed it was just going to be a couple of stones and use your imagination job. How wrong was I going to be!
After a nice stop just to the south to view Redcastle crannog in the Beauly Firth (Drew had thoughtfully arranged a low tide for us so the crannog was showing well) we made our way here. Good parking at the start of the track to Hughston. It’s a pleasant walk, first along the track then bearing west through a lovely open wood to the chambered cairn. It’s situated on a small hillock just inside the wood. No access problems.
I was really taken with this one. There is so much going on here. Lots of good size stones. What looked like multiple chambers. The main one is great, formed by some really nice stones. The view from it is a little tricky because of the trees but it does look a very good location.
It was a perfect day to visit. The sunshine filtering through the trees lit up the whole scene. It really gave a magical feel to the place. A must visit site if you are in the area.
The sort of place that reminds me why we love searching out the old stuff in our free time. Just a brilliant visit, thanks to Drew for finding it.
22/03/2019 – We started our walk at Kirkby-in-Furness. Heading over Kirkby Moor, visiting the enclosure and cairn there. Over the high point at Lowick High Common, we dropped down to cross the A5092 to visit the two tops on Great Burney. Luckily these couple of cairns between them make for a nice bonus to the walk. After that we headed back passed Kirkby Slate quarries to our start point in Kirkby-in-Furness. A very nice day out and easy enough walking underfoot. Turbines don’t really detract (just in case you have an allergy to them). Quarry’s a bit brutal up close though.
The northerly of the two cairns marked on the OS map is in a great location. Good view all round. It’s in poor condition now. Shame as it looks to have been a good one back in the day. The cairn to the south is pretty much gone. You can just about trace the raised outline of it in the short grass.
22/03/2019 – About 300m north of The Kirk, there is a pretty decent round cairn. It’s a bit trashed in the middle but there’s a cist showing. A good overall size. The location is nice with lovely views down to Duddon Sands.
22/03/2019 – The weather didn’t look too bad for the day so we decided to head off for a walk on Kirby Moor. Starting from Kirkby-in-Furness train station, it’s a nice walk through Beck Side and then up the footpath alongside Gill House Beck. ‘The Kirk’ is easy enough to find in the open moorland.
‘The Kirk’ had intrigued me beforehand. The OS 1:50000 has it as an enclosure, the OS 1:25000 marks it as a stone circle. Pastscape says Bronze Age embanked stone circle or ring cairn. Sounded like it could be anything.
I’ll put up a few photos of the site. Looking at them there doesn’t look a lot to see. Stone wise there isn’t really. What’s there is a well-defined large circular embankment. The bank is wide and seems to be made up of small loose stones in the sections you can see, through the grass/heather. The embankment is about 20m in diameter. There are a few larger stones showing that hint of an interior edge to the ring. Nothing that screams standing stone or stone circle. My money would be on ring cairn.
Just to the north of the embankment are what look like pairs of upright stones. 2 or 3 sets that hint of a stone row leading to or away from the site.
Well worth a visit to this mystery on the moor. Nice walk plus the cairn just north is very good.
21/03/2019 – This was our third attempt to visit Swinside in as many years. The last two were thwarted by bad weather and then a train strike. Today I felt lucky so off we went.
I really wanted to combine a visit to the circle with a walk up and over Black Combe as it looked a good day out on the map and a fine approach to Swinside.
Early train from Barrow-in-Furness to Silecroft. The train journey along the coast here is lovely. There’s a good path from here that heads pretty much straight up Black Combe to the trigpoint at the summit. Cloud base wasn’t great in the morning so the last 200m gain was a bit rubbish for visibility. I do like walking in the mist though, it gives the hill a lonely feeling which I quite like. Very quiet and away from it all. After a brew at the trig we made our way across the top north-ish to Swinside about 2 miles away. The clouds soon lifted to give us some proper lovely views of the surrounding countryside. Black Combe is a really fine walk and pretty easy going once you have made the climb up to the top.
Skirting round Raven Crag we passed Swinside Farm to make our final approach to the circle. I like it when we walk a bit before getting to a place, builds the anticipation and helps get a feel of the area.
Entering the field, we walked alongside the wall to a small rise and there it was, suddenly in front of us, Swinside stone circle – megalithic perfection.
I’d seen the photos beforehand many times but it still took me by surprise. This stone circle is just a wow site. Everything about it is great. The size of the circle, the number of stones used, the height of each one and their relationship to each other – I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s just the most circley (is that a word?) of stone circles I’ve ever been to. So round, so very round. I was just happy standing on the rise and staring down onto the circle. Megalithic wise it doesn’t get much better that this. After a while I started to notice the surrounding landscape. What a great home the circle has. We made our way into the circle to have a closer look at the stones. I didn’t much feel the need to inspect each stone closely and I soon found myself back at the wall. There’s a nice flat stone we plonked ourselves down on for a sit and just took in the circle’s loveliness.
We were lucky as it was very quiet today, just one group of folk came and went. It was just us and the stones, both taking in the afternoon sunshine on what had turned out to be a pretty fine weather day.
When it was time to leave we decided to take the footpath west of Knott Hill that leads to Hallthwaites. Along the way, we made a diversion up Knott Hill, worth the effort for the view down to Swinside which is very good, though there’s a tricky wall to cross near the top, nothing too bad. The footpath between Hallthwaites and Swinside is a nice option if you have the time and it fits in with your plans. From here it was quiet country roads to Green Road station to catch the train back to Barrow-in-Furness
I love it when a famous site you visit for the first time turns out as good as you hoped. Is this my favourite circle? Maybe, I’m struggling to think of a visit to one that’s been much better. A wonderful day out.
19/03/2019 – We had to catch a train up north from Bristol in the afternoon so the morning was free. We decided to take the early train to Weston-super-Mare to have a walk round Worlebury Hill. From the station we headed north along quiet streets and then made the short climb up the hill. After spending a bit of time pretending we knew were the actual top was (large flattish area covered in trees) we went west to look at the hillfort.
I didn’t know much about the fort before going and was really taken aback with the number and size of the ramparts. Looks like the whole fort has been cleared of vegetation recently. They have done a fantastic job. The fort and the many pits (I believe close to 100) are showing great now.
Sadly short of time, we looped back down to the prom all to soon to make our way back to the train.
Quality hillfort, well worth a visit if you are in the area.
18/03/2019 – Only had a plan to visit here as a maybe for our trip, if the weather was good. The night before we checked the weather forecast and it predicted rain all day, low cloud and a bit windy. Not ideal but it looked like we would get wet anywhere so we decided to give it a go.
Early train from Bristol to Cardiff then the T4 bus up past Merthyr Tydfil to Storey Arms. As the weather was a bit rubbish and it was Monday I thought at least it would be quiet on the hills. Getting off the bus, I was surprised to see how many cars were parked up already!
We took the normal route up via the Beacons Way. Not too busy to be honest and most folk we met were in decidedly cheery moods considering the weather. The forecast was spot on, rain and more rain! All day, never stopped. We said goodbye to the views as we entered the clouds at around the 600m mark. It’s a decent walk up on a good path. The cairn on top of Pen y Fan is good. I liked the kerbing on it. It seems well looked after considering the amount of people that climb this hill each year. After a few misty photos we decided to head east to visit Cribyn.
On the way between the two tops the cloud broke a little and we were treated to some lovely views north and south. What a fine location and glad it cleared for a while, it would have been a shame to miss it.
Cribyn was a lot quieter, just us and the hill. I couldn’t find any remains of a cairn on top.
I would have liked to continue on east but thought it best to leave that for another time. After a brief sit on a rainy hillside for a quick brew and bite to eat, we headed back over Pen y Fan. This time I was paying more attention and noticed the fantastic ripple marks in the Old Red Sandstone left by the seas so long ago it hurts my head to think about it, wonderful.
After leaving the top again we headed over to the cairn on Corn Du. Very similar to Pen y Fan’s cairn, I think I liked it a little more though. From here we arched NW to follow the track back to Storey Arms.
As it was a good 30 minutes until the next bus, we passed the time by eating bacon butties from the van in the layby there which I thought was a very good idea.
A really good day out and the hills round here are a must visit.
A shame about the rain but it didn’t really effect the day too much. I had a bit of bad luck at the end though as water must have got into my camera. It’s now well and truly dead. I’ve had it for over 6 years and loved it, took a little shine off a great day but that’s how things go sometimes.
17/03/2019 – Staying in Bristol for a few days we decided to take the Stagecoach Falcon bus south past Bristol airport to visit Brent Knoll. The bus stops on the A38 at White Cross just south of the hill. It’s a shortish walk to Brent Knoll from here. We took the marked footpath up from behind the church, there’s parking for cars here too.
The sun was shinning and the sky was blue (very windy though). Visibility was very good. Brent Knoll might be a small hill but wow what a position it has. Full 360 views for miles. We could easily make out Dunkery Hill in Exmoor and the wonderful Glastonbury Tor to the east. The large univallate fort itself is very good. Nice big ramparts and the interior is a good size. We tucked down just east of the topograph that occupies the position now of the long gone trigpoint to shelter from the wind to have our sandwiches. Just lovely to sit and gaze out across the landscape.
Really good hillfort and well worth a visit.
We made the slow walk back down to catch the bus north to Wavering Down (nice hill here too for walking, anyone know if the trig sits on an old cairn?)
16/03/2019 – We were staying a little way south in Bristol but it was just a quick train journey in the morning to Cheltenham Spa, followed by a stroll along the old railway line through town to get to the bus stop and the bus which would take us to Cleeve village and the start of our walk. Good bus most of the week, not quite as frequent on a Sunday. Normally it’s just me and Mrs T when we visit places but today we were in the fine company of thesweetcheat.
We headed up to the top of Cleeve Hill via the nice Cleeve Cloud hillfort with its fine views out across the countryside. The forecast had promised rain at some point in the day but so far it was holding off. The wind though was pretty strong. After a visit to the county top and back round to The Ring trigpoint, we strolled across the hillside to make our approach to Belas Knap. The approach from Cleeve Hill is good. You get a good feel to the barrow’s place in the landscape as it can be seen from a fair distance away. I was taken with the stonework on the false entrance beforehand, it had looked great from the TMA photos, even better seeing it for real. We tucked ourselves inside the chambers for a break from the wind. Made it easier to hear each other speak as well. The southeast chamber was a bit of a crawl. The restored bits of the long barrow are well done. The roof of the chambers are a little odd, like an upside down driveway, I liked it though.
We walked from here down in to Winchcombe for a bit of cake and a coffee before taking the bus back to Cheltenham.
A lovely day out and luckily no rain! So pleased to have finally visited this one.
Great to meet up with tsc.
09/02/2019 – Train trip to Forres to visit Cluny Hill and the wonderful Sueno’s Stone nearby. Nice stroll up the hill on tracks through open woodland. Good view from the top to Findhorn bay. Nothing much really to see of the fort. Nice walk though and bakeries/cafes in Forres were worth the trip alone, yum.
28/01/2019 – Early morning bus out to Wilkieston from Edinburgh (big thumbs up to the Edinburgh bus network, cheap and you can get a bus nearly anywhere). Good access, sign posted path to the top of Tormain Hill from the north. We reached the stones just before sunrise. Lovely open woodland setting. I think we counted seven stones with cup marks on them. The pick of the bunch is the one with the cup and ring markings, it’s very good indeed. Really enjoyed our visit here. It was pretty special watching the sun rise from behind the Pentland Hills to slowly light up the stones and surrounding area, magic.
26/01/2019 – Walking a few of the tops in Edinburgh. Blackford Hill was the last of the day so we thought we’d have a go at finding the deer carving. Turned out not too bad to find. Close to the top of the hill, just a short distance from the steps behind a big tree. It’s steep though but nothing too tricky if you take your time.
I was fair chuffed to find it. A nice little adventure away from all the runners and dog walkers on a pretty busy hill. I didn’t know what to make of the carving really. It didn’t seem that old to me but I still really liked it. A proper mystery.
Plenty of nice walks round and over Blackford Hill. Pretty easy going. The top is the site of a fort but not much to see of it. The views are very good of Edinburgh and the surrounding area. This carving was a nice cherry on top of the Blackford Hill cake.
31/12/2018 – A few weeks back most of the Aberdeen bypass finally opened, first talked about in the 1950’s, it’s been a long wait for folk round here. I can’t put into words the level of excitement this has caused. It’s all folk have been talking about for the last few weeks (apart from that new RSC!).
Today I thought we would have a trip south on it to see what all the excitement was about. We decided to head to the Caterthun hillforts. I’d been to White Caterthun years ago but for some strange reason I didn’t visit Brown Caterthun at the same time! Very odd.
We parked up at the roadside layby between the hills just past 9 o’clock. We went first to White Caterthun. It’s such a fine hillfort, great walls and a lovely cup marked rock. Next it was time to climb our last hill, Tump, top, call it what you want! of the year. It’s an easy stroll up (no cows which was a bonus). Brown Caterthun hillfort might not be as impressive as its neighbour but it’s still a good one. It’s big! Lots of grassed over ramparts. You can easily find a quiet spot for a brew and a bite to eat. The views all around from both forts are fantastic.
It was a fine way to end the year and that new bit of road round Aberdeen was quite good too :-)
29/12/2018 – Day trip to Inverness for a loop round three little tumps. It was a fine walk that also included along the way this chambered cairn and a hillfort later on.
We took the Great Glen Way from Inverness to make the steepish climb up to this cairn. It’s a little off the path but not too hard to find.
Leachkin chambered cairn is of Orkney-Cromarty type. Though just a few stones remain, the entrance and chamber can be made out. The tallest stone is over 6ft in height.
Really nice location for this one and I loved the feel of the place, very peaceful in the morning sunshine.
The stones are nice. Reddish cobble and boulder conglomerate (Kilmuir Conglomerate Formation formed 385 to 398 million years ago, an age that hurts my head a little to think about). Same stones as under the hillforts of Craig Phadrig and Ord Hill to the north.
Well worth a visit if you are passing by.
22/12/2018 – Down in Lancaster for a few days of walking. Train strike today, had to change my plans a little. After a hill in the morning we ended up near Morecambe so decided to visit here. Tump, trigpoint and barrow with a fine view – can’t go wrong. Easy access from the lane to the south. Cows might be a problem but not today. It had been a bit rainy in the morning but the sun came out as we made the short climb to the top. Really lovely views from this one for such a little hill. Not much to see of the barrow, just a grassy lump. After taking in the surrounding landscape from the barrow we headed to Morecambe for an afternoon walk along the prom. Nice day.