thelonious

10/11/2018 – A good old castle in ruins is just great. This one at Auchindoun is well worth a visit. There’s a newish carpark now a short drive up the track from the main road. Location is wonderful with fine views of River Fiddich and surrounding hills. I was really taken aback by the size of the ramparts of the bivallate Iron Age fort, they are huge. The medieval castle in the middle of the fort is really fine as well, it took me back to visits to castles in Wales as a kid. Very exciting.

It was a lovely November day out with a walk in the Cabrach in the morning, then a visit here followed by a pop in to see Nether Dumeath stone circle on the way back. All in the fine company of Drew and co :-)

28/10/2018 – I’ve not been here before, stupid me as the cairn is huge and pretty fantastic. Same starting point as Drew. Little bit tricky finding it. Don’t bother trying to follow the track on the OS map, it gets messy. Better really, once you’re in the wood, just to head up, you get there in the end. From the photos on here the cairn looked big but it’s even bigger than I thought it would be. Really good and the location is lovely in open woodland. Well worth a visit.

06/09/2018 – Long day walk visiting the various tops on south Vatersay today. On the way back we just had to visit the wheelhouse at Allt Chrysal. I just love this place. We visit a lot of the old sites and every now and again we come across one that for some reason just grabs us and stays. Standing in the middle of the wheelhouse I felt very lucky to be back. A special place. It’s a site for daydreamers.

05/09/2018 – We missed these stones last year. Looped walk from Castlebay over the tops of Hebhal and Hartabhal to visit them this time. The still standing one is just great. Close to 10ft tall I’d guess. Unlike its fallen comrade nearby, this one’s still hanging on. Maybe not as straight as it once was but it had a defiant air about it. Like it was nowhere near ready to be beat by the tag team of time and gravity. It was evening by the time we reached the stones. Meant a lot to get there. A happy visit. If you go to Barra these should be on your list of things to see, easy access by the way from the road.

04/09/2018 – These two decent sized and fine shaped stones some 10-15 metres apart are very nice. Easy access from the quiet road nearby. Lots of cows about but most seem quite friendly.

04/09/2018 – Easy enough to get to. The walk up to the top of Ben Feall is quite short. Remains of a cist on the summit. What a view from the top. There’s a fort on the west side of the hill too. Well worth going for the walk alone. The beaches nearby are fantastic.

Getting about on Coll is a little tricky if you don’t bring your own car. No public transport so we took a brave/stupid decision to hire bicycles from the Post Office. I’d not been on one for well over twenty years but they say you never forget! The ride to and from the site was a little interesting to say the least but the roads are quiet so not much damage done. Think I’ll stick to walking from now on though.

03/09/2018 – Cairn marked on OS map 1:50000. Very overgrown now and not much to see. The view’s nice though.

03/09/2018 – Easy enough to find as the summit has a phone mast on it now. Just head for that. The top has the remains of a cairn on it. Not much to see apart from two sides of a cist. I liked the place and the feeling of a wide open landscape is impressive from here.

03/09/2018 – Excellent crannog and remains of a curved causeway. Makes me wonder if the causeway was always just below the water and curved so only those living in the crannog would know the safe way to cross? Really liked this one. One thing worth mentioning is that it is a pig of a walk to get to. Underfoot very hard going on east side of the loch. We came from Ben Hogh and left NW to climb Cnocan na Ban. Tough day.

The name for this crannog – Dun Anlaimh might seem a little odd. This crannog is actual on Loch Nan Cinneachan not Loch Anlaimh to the south (which does have its only crannog). This crannog was named way back when the two lochs were just one, called Loch Anlaimh.

03/09/2018 – Interesting little area this overlooking Loch Nan Cinneachan. On a level terrace west of the crannog there is a couple of cairns (both with kerb stones showing) and a standing stone. The whole place has a feeling that it has been lived in over many years. A little tricky to get to, go on a dry day.

03/09/2018 – I’m sure this is the stone mentioned in Rhiannon’s folklore post elsewhere that Mr giant threw up to Mrs giant.

It’s just so fantastic I had to give it a little hug when I got there. It’s massive and just resting on three little stones – impossibly wonderful.

A must see place.

If you are going or have been to Coll, Boswell and Johnson’s accounts of their visit to the island are well worth a read.

Most of Boswell’s accounts miss out details of his visit to the stone, just saying it did not repay the trouble in getting to it! Link to his full account – tinyurl.com/y733kfha

03/09/2018 – Afternoon walk up to the high point of Coll. The view from Ben Hogh is just wonderful and a must visit place when on Coll. It’s an easy enough walk from the Hebridean Centre to the top. As well as the view you get an added bonus that the summit has a kerbed cairn. Trig has been plonked in the middle of it though. Kerb still showing best on the north side.

A fine place for a brew and bite to eat. Remember to walk a little way north to the rocking stone as well, it’s fantastic.

(The actual top of Ben Hogh is some 500m SW of the trig and cairn)

02/09/2018 – Canmore describes this as a probable ground-galleried broch or oval dun. It’s in a fantastic location and was probably my favourite of the sites on Tiree that we visited.

We approached down the hill from Carnan Mor. The weather was proper rubbish at this point. The two of us made a very wet climb up the craggy rock to have a look round the dun. Nice entrance and walls still in place. It’s definitely a site to sit down and spend a few hours at but the rain just got the better of us and we had to move on all too soon which was a real shame.

The view out to sea and along the coast is great. The walk east to Hynish from here is very good.

02/09/2018 – The cave of Calum the tinker or something like that. Named after a traveller who used to stay here when visiting the island.

Canmore have this as a megalithic tomb and describe it as a maybe ‘earth-fast dolmen’. I’m not so sure.

Still if you are in the area it’s worth a look. The bay and the hills behind are very nice for a stroll.

01/09/2018 – We approached the dun from the south. It’s a lovely walk along the beach. There’s a parking area to the south. Turn off the road at NL 9419 4428.

Not much to see of the dun. Very grassy. A few stones still showing. The walk’s nice though.

01/09/2018 – Good parking at the end of the road to Vaul. There’s a trigpoint there too if that’s your thing (I like trigs). The broch is just a short walk to the west, easy going.

Dun Mor broch is really very good. Gallery and steps still in good nick. Scarcement ledge on inner wall and a nice guard cell as you enter.

Location is strong on a little knoll. Fantastic view out to sea.

I liked the site very much.

We walked on to see Clach a’ Choire after. Well worth a visit too. Underfoot was OK but it took a little longer than I thought it would get there. Lovely area.

08/06/2018 – On route from the Isle of Bute to Aberdeen we decided to stop by and visit Rossie Law hillfort near Perth. I’d looked at the this one on the map many times and had been wanting to visit.

Parking at the start of the track to Tarnavie on the B8062, we started the walk uphill on a decent track. We both felt like zombies. This was on the way back from a fortnight of walking and we were so tired.

After a mile or so the track turns south. We left it here and crossed the Banekist burn to walk up the Slack, which is on the south side of Rossie Law. Gets a little tricky here as the south of the hill is scree. We approached this through the trees and then headed west round it to make the steep final climb to the top. Not too bad and quite fun.

The summit area is large and pretty flat. The surrounding wall quite far down off the top.

It’s a good fort this one and the views are great. After resting a while we headed back to the car.

It had been a long 14 days away and I knew I was done.

07/06/2018 – Last full day on Bute and we had a tricky decision to make. Where to go? It was a choice between heading north to visit 4 chambered cairns on the coast or heading to Scalpsie Bay and have a walk over a few tops with 1 chambered cairn. Both looked good but we went for Scalpsie Bay, just for the walk really.

Early afternoon found us back at the car and in need of a coffee shop. The one at Ettrick Bay was so fine we decided to go again. Parking at the south end of the bay we walked along the lovely beach to get there. It’s a great area for a stroll or paddle in the sea.

Refreshed I looked at the time, it was just past 3. Still thinking about the cairns to the north we started walking the coast road towards them. To visit all four cairns would have been about 8 miles and than another 1 to get back to the car. I was tired already from the morning visit to Bicker’s Houses cairn so I thought the walk to see any was too far. An hour later we were closing in on the first cairn. Bit stupid really as my feet were killing. I did like Glecknabae cairn though.

The next cairn wasn’t far so on we went again. Up hill now, it’s well signposted. The approach to the Carnbaan cairn is lovely through a wood. The sunlight through the leaves and branches was so nice.

When first getting to the site the size of it didn’t immediately become apparent. Probably like most visitors my attention went straight to the central chamber, it’s great. It’s only after you start walking about does the size and length of this long cairn reveal itself. It’s massive with chambers at both ends as well. The setting in the trees is lovely but the undergrowth hid things a little. Tricky place to photograph too.

The cairn is positioned close to a stream where just on the banks is a massive stone. I wondered if this was once part of the cairn just a short distance away.

It was getting late now and the car was a long way back. The last two cairns would have to wait for another trip. Always good to have a reason to come back. My feet moaned most of the way back. A long day out and I was sore by the end but well worth it. Tops cairns round here.

07/06/2018 – Starting from the viewpiont for Scalpsie Bay, we followed in the footsteps of Greywether (hard not to in the highlands and islands) and headed north to find Bicker’s Houses chambered cairn.

The path(!) to Bicker’s Houses is waymarked from the car park. I lay the challenge down right now. If you ever come here and can actually find and follow the waymarked path all the way to Bicker’s Houses, you win the pathfinder of the year award. Don’t know whether it was just because we were sleepy, it had been a long couple of weeks away (excuses, I know) but there just wasn’t one. We decided we were using up more energy looking for it than just bashing in a straightish line to the cairn through the bracken and grass. Luckily for us the ground was very dry from the good run of weather we’d been having.

It’s not a bad walk really and we did eventually get to the site of the cairn. Maybe not the best time of year as the bracken was starting to get high. Only the big stones were showing above it.

Got to admit, I liked this one. Maybe more for the setting and the walk but the stones that we could see were good as well.

We looped back via Barmore Hill and Quien Hill. A nice area for a potter, a little off the beaten (nonexistent) path.

06/06/2018 – I don’t really know how but here we were, by pure chance, on a hot sunny afternoon, plonked down next to a cup marked rock with a couple of cups ourselves, of the tea variety.

The holiday had been a little different so far then I’d expected. The plan was two weeks of walking. First time in years I’d not really picked places with stones in mind as well. So off we went each day for a walk but even when you’re not looking for it, old stuff is everywhere, it’s hard to miss it sometimes. No more so than on the Isle of Bute. If someone, who hadn’t seen much prehistory before, asked where to go to seek out the past, I’d probably say you could do worse than Bute. It has a little bit of nearly everything, in quite easy to reach places but still with a sense of adventure. I think this is important. Good to have a little Indiana Jones moment or two on holiday even if it’s just dodging cows or bashing through bracken to find a hidden cairn or stone that you’ve spied on an OS map. It’s what makes going to sites fun for me and so different to my 9 to 5 at work, staring at a computer all day, with my soul being slowly crushed (still it pays the bills and for trips like this I suppose). Chambered cairns, long cairns, cists, hillforts, cliff forts, crannogs, stone circles, standing stones, rock art etc, the list is long for an island this size. It’s easy to get about on too and the buses are good so you don’t really need a car.

On a hot and sunny day (the weather is amazing at the moment) we started at Kames Bay, heading past Hilton to visit the chambered cairn there and then higher up to Windy Hill (top of Bute, toughish walk across underfoot). After that we headed round the Lyeing Hill to drop down into Glen More to pick up the West Island Way. A few fences to cross but nothing too bad.

Feeling tired I wanted a sit down. That bit of grass over there by them rocks will do. As we approached, the cup marks on the rock stood out clear as day. What’s the chance of that! History is everywhere, you just need a bit of luck.

Canmore states 11 plus cup marks, I agree and there could have been more. Lovely location for this one and so peaceful in the afternoon sun. We sat for ages drinking our brews and just chatting rubbish to each other and the stone. Finally it was time to head off. The way south had the promise of a stone circle and a tea room with ice cream (turned out they had rum & raisin flavour, could this day get any better!!).

It was a magic moment, a chance encounter with the past. It might not be a wow site but it was my favourite of the trip. One to daydream about now I’m back to the daily grind.

06/06/2018 – Easy parking on the north side of Kames Bay (layby marked parking and picnic area on OS map)

Take the track towards Hilton farm. It’s waymarked as it’s part of the West Island Way. As the track turns left to Hilton, continue straight on up the hill on a small path. Cairn is in the field to your right but you have to pass a lot of gorse. Best to head up higher than the cairn and then once past the gorse head right and then back down a little to the cairn. No problems really.

The location for this one is great. Impressive views across Kames Bay and beyond. The cairn hasn’t fared well over the years though. Lots of stones left but hard to figure out what’s going on. Chamber can be made out and there is a Bronze Age cist in it as well. Bedrock (for want of a better word) has been incorporated into the cairn.

Maybe not the best chambered cairn on Bute but the location is worth the walk. I liked it.

Canmore mention a possible cup marked rock 25m W of the cairn. Very faint marking so I wasn’t so sure.

05/06/2018 – The south of Bute really is excellent for a walk or two. We started today at the car park for Blackpark Plantation stone circle. After looking at the stones we headed south to climb Suidhe Chatain and then down to join the way-marked walk round the south end of Bute. Next we passed the remains of St Blane’s church with its mysteriously named ‘The Cauldron’ behind, lovely area here. Then on to the two forts at Dunagoil for lunch. Back to St Blane’s after to pick up the track again heading SE to the coast and Glencallum Bay.

Finding the cairn in an area full of bracken proved our challenge for the day! I was pretty happy once it was discovered. It’s a nice little cairn with the remains of the cist showing.

Our walk continued on north along the coast (great for geology) to Kilchattan Bay and then back to Blackpark Plantation and our car.

We took all day and I think it’s probably my favourite walk on Bute. It was a great day out all and all and a nice cairn to visit in the hot sunshine.

05/06/2018 – What to say about Dunagoil to do it justice? I just loved it. Two forts to look at, a burial chamber and just wonderful scenery. This really is a must visit site if you’re on Bute.

Good parking and access from NS 0888 5354. Short stroll to Dunagoil Bay and the first fort (Little Dunagoil). There is a small cave at the front of this one where a shell midden has been found. Walking between the forts, don’t forget to keep a look out for the small burial chamber (it’s good). After that, a little climb brings you to the top of Dunagoil.

The main fort is just great. I love a fort with a bit of vitrification and the walls on this one have loads. It’s one of the best I’ve been too. Such a mystery as to why and how.

The geology of this place is pretty special too and the views!!

Lots to see here. If you are thinking of going, I thought I’d mention two little books I bought at the tourism information centre in Rothesay which I found most useful whist on Bute. They are pretty cheap too.

Reading the Landscape of Bute – Hill & Buist (great for short walks looking at geology)
Archaeological Landscape of Bute – Geddes & Hale (great for prehistory)

We were only supposed to make a flying visit here as part of a longer walk but Dunagoil was too good and we ended up staying far too long. Very hot and sunny day.

05/06/2018 – Of all the sites on Bute this was the one I most wanted to see. Each stone looked so distinctive from looking at the photos on here. Only 3 left but each had it’s own character.

The first one is like no other stone I’ve come across. So thin at the bottom and then ballooning out higher up. A megalithic lollipop.

The middle one is my favourite. Split now and a good size. And the faces!! Once you’ve seen them you can’t un-see them, just great.

The third is smaller and has it’s own little booster mound so it can hang with the bigger guys.

Great vibe to the site, surrounded by trees. Easy access and parking, A must see place.

04/06/2018 – First morning on the lovely Isle of Bute. Straight off the morning ferry (I love ferry trips, always a sense of adventure about them). First port of call was Barone Hill. Ticks both ‘need to climb a hill’ & ‘look at old stuff’ boxes.

We drove out of Rothesay on the B878 a short way then took the small yellow road south to the end where there is good parking before Loch Fad (NS 07926276).

A track heads up the hill towards works and a dam. As the track turns left near the reservoirs, a path leads up to the summit of Barone Hill (one stile to cross). No access problems.

The fort is quite overgrown but you can follow the wall in places. Still a little overcast this morning so the distant views weren’t great.

Nice fort and hill. Worth a visit as the climb isn’t too bad and the effort is rewarded with a good view of Bute and beyond. I guess you would be unlikely to bump into folk here as well (though probably cows as they’re everywhere on Bute).

After a bite to eat and a sit on the top we took Gladman’s tip and headed back to Rothesay to check out the castle which is really excellent.

03/06/2018 – Great Cumbrae is a lovely island just a short ferry ride away from Largs. The ferries are very frequent and cheap (about £6.00 return for the two for us). You don’t really need a car on here. A lot of folk seem to go to hire a bike in the town of Millport (buses run there and back from the ferry) and then spend the day cycling round the island.

The walk on quiet county roads to Craigengour Wood is nice. Small paths lead you through the trees to the standing stone, which is near the far end.

At about 6ft tall, it’s a good sized stone. I was really taken with it’s surroundings. It stands in a little clearing protected by lovely tall trees. I think they look after the stone well, as do the people of Great Cumbrae. It has a small info board next to it with a square thingy you can point your phone at to get more information. The back of the stone has a lot of initials on it, don’t know why.

It’s a nice stone as is the whole island. Good views from the top and the cathedral in Millport is worth a visit too.

02/06/2018 – Nice little hillfort above Largs. Easy access from Douglas Park below. Path is a little steep in places. Great views from it and a fine place for a sit.

02/06/2018 – Managed to get proper lost looking for this one. At least now I could go on Mastermind with the ‘Backstreets of Largs’ as my specialist subject!

Turned out it is dead easy once you look at the map properly and follow a few signs. Head through Douglas Park to the back and arrows point you to the right and the cairn – simple!

Don’t let the town location put you off going to see this one. It’s nicely tucked away in a slightly overgrown area of trees and tall grass. Very, very green and sunny today. The heat was something else as well.

The cairn is great. I liked this one. Bigger than I thought it would be.

There is an uphill path behind it to a viewpoint and hillfort which is well worth doing if you have the time.

31/05/2018 – Looking at the map I liked the look of this one. Old cairn on top of a hill, bit in the middle of nowhere feel. The hill is even called Cairn Hill. Turned out this isn’t Nithsdale’s answer to Tinto. The Cairn’s not that exciting, still the walk was good.

We started from Glenim Cottage on the Mennock Pass (good parking and access). A fine day out, looping round Auchensow Hill, Dalpeddar Hill, Cairn Hill and Meikle Snout. Steepish to start with but after that the walking was good between the tops.

The cairn at the summit of Cairn Hill has a large footprint but is very low lying. Canmore mention traces of a kerb but I couldn’t really make one out.

A very similar cairn is on the top of Dalpeddar Hill as well but I can’t find any reference to one on the web.

Go for the walk and just take the cairn as a small added bonus.

Though nothing to do with prehistory I thought I’d give the nearby villages of Leadhills and Wanlockhead a plug. They are well worth a visit and surrounding hills make for good walking.

26/05/2018 – Starting from Biggar we took the small path off the A702 (NT 04673824). It’s just after the new housing estate and a bit easy to miss. The path goes straight up through the trees then turns right through tall gorse. After that, cross a couple of fields and a final climb up to the top.

It was a busy Saturday in Biggar so it was nice to get away from the rush and spend a peaceful hour or so on Bizzyberry Hill (great name). Sunshine was lovely and the views fine.

I enjoyed my visit to this one.

26/05/2018 – Easy parking for this one. Layby on A701, just to the north of the hill (NT10343911). Walk south down the road a little and a gate and small bridge gives access to the field. From there it’s a short but steepish climb to the top. Cows in the field today but a long way off so no problems.

The hillfort has grassed over double ramparts. It’s nice enough and has good views all round. Worth a walk up if you are passing.

19/05/2018 – As the weather was so fine we decided to make a day of it and take the longer approach from the west. We parked at Glackhead (NJ 44382797) on the A971, a lovely scenic road from Rhynie to Cabrach.

A steep climb up Orditeach then little ups and downs over fine rocky tops to Turf Hill. Great view from here east to our way to Cnoc Cailliche hillfort. I’ve been wanting to visit this area for some time as it looked good from Tap o’ Noth. Rocks and boulders everywhere. The walk from Turf Hill was easy going. No access problems.

If yellow has a smell, it’s gorse on a sunny day, it was wonderfully strong on the last little climb that brought us to the top of Cnoc Cailliche.

It’s a nice fort with grassed over ramparts. Location is excellent and well worth a visit. Great views of the surrounding area.

We made our way back via Red Craig (fine place for a brew). A lovely sunny day out.

12/05/2018 – What a lovely sunny day to visit this one. Good parking and access from the east. A track then small path leads straight to the top. The place was full of butterflies today enjoying the sunshine, mainly Green-veined White but also the odd Peacock and one Orange Tip which was nice as we don’t see many of them round here.

Not much in the way of ramparts to see of the unfinished hillfort. It covers quite a large area and would have been some site had it been completed.

It’s worth walking on to have a look at Fernyhowe cairn as well.

This was our last visit of the day so we had time to have a sit on top for a while and take in the view. I love this time of year. Everything seems so green and alive.

12/05/2018 – Good parking at the bend on the minor road just before Boddomend (NJ 5492 0013). Nice track leads north towards Little Hill. After about half a mile or so we passed a biggish borrow pit on our right, then took the next track after that which led to the top of hill. From the top (which had a trace of what might be a cairn) it was an easy stroll east to the enclosure. Not a bad time of year to visit as the bracken hasn’t started to grow back yet.

Interesting enclosure. I’d love to know what it was used for and when. It’s location is lovely with grand views out across the countryside.

Fine place for a stroll on a sunny day. You can extend the walk with a visit to Mortlich to the NW as well if you have the time.

Easy access with no fence problems.

14/04/2018 – It had been a nice day so far mooching about a few hills between Keith and Fochabers. We were making good time so in the afternoon we decided to head a little north to the coast and visit Binn Hill. I had remembered seeing Drew’s post about the cairn on TMA a while ago and thought the location looked good.

Parking and access from the south is good. The walk around Binn Hill is excellent. A very pretty place especially in the sunshine. The cairn wasn’t too hard to find at this time of year before the bracken does its thing. OKish cairn with a couple of decent sized kerb stones still left.

If you visit and have the time, it’s worth walking round the hill. The top has what looked to me like an old enclosure, very intriguing. From east of the summit you can head down through the ‘sea of stones’ to the sea. Just a lovely area with one of the most extensive shingle systems in Britain.

I’ve been a bit fed up recently so it was a good visit to cheer me up a little. Sunshine, a nice place to walk and old stuff to look at, that will do me.

17/02/2018 – Must be well over ten years since our last visit. The reason for our trip was the Prop of Ythsie. Neither of us could remember if we had been there last time (the old memory is going).

What a lovely day yesterday was. Little wind, sunshine and blue skies. A good time of year to visit the stones with everything died back. The circle was a little bigger then I remembered, I had it in my head as just a little thing.

It looked just lovely in the sunshine today. We stood in the middle for ages, looking at the stones and then trying to spot skylarks singing high above against the clear blue sky. Magic visit.

The piece from the split stone seems to have gone. Anyone know anything about this?

04/02/2018 – Not been here before and you know what, I really liked it. Way up is short but a little gorsy and a bit of windthrow to get round. The fort sits in a lovely clearing. Nice size outer wall, very tricky to see any inner wall. After a rainy start to the day, the sun came out whilst we were there which made our visit. Well worth a trip if you are visting Old Keig RSC.

04/02/2018 – Been over Satter Hill a few times but didn’t remember the cairn. Made sure to have a look for it this time. Same route as Drew’s. Old maps list it as ‘a pile of stones’ and it’s hard to argue with that. Not much to see but the view and walk was nice. A little rainy first thing but nothing too bad and a very light dusting of snow on top.

28/01/2018 – Heading back from Edinburgh to Aberdeen on the train we decided to stop off at Dundee for a walk. We didn’t pick the best of weather days for it. Got off the train just after nine and 10 minutes later the rain started and didn’t really let up for the rest of the walk.

Very quiet Sunday morning streets as we headed first to Balgay Hill. Nice hill with an observatory on top. Don’t think there is anything old here but it look a good place for a bit of megalithic.

Heading east we moved on to Dundee Law. Easy to get a little lost in the streets between the two but nothing too bad. A short climb first through allotments and then steps got us to the top. I guess the views from here are great on a sunny day but today the low cloud and rain put paid to that.

Hard to see if we were looking at any bits of the original fort as we walked around the top. Impressive war memorial and trig there as well.

We headed south back down through the streets to the train station. Overall a nice quiet walk to visit Dundee Law hillfort. Worth going on a clear day just for the views.

27/01/2018 – After a very windy walk round Arthur’s Seat in the morning we made our way up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle.

Our siege on the castle was quickly halted at the entrance by a very nice woman who informed us that our rucksacks were too big to take in (44L size in case you were wondering, pack small if you visit). With our attack thwarted so quickly we made the slow walk back to where we were staying to regroup.

One hour later we were back. Travelling light we made it past the guard this time and into the castle. Our second assault again came to an abrupt halt. This time by a long snaking chain of people. Quickly realising this might work to our advantage and offer us a way through we joined the queue and tried to blend in. What seemed like hours later (probably nearer 10 minutes) we reached the head and another nice person to deal with. This time we made it past first go though not unscathed, my wallet took a direct hit on the way (£34 for the two of us).

Finally we made it into the main areas, we went into full tourist mode and started taking photos of anything and everything so not to draw attention to ourselves. High point is a little debatable but I liked the rock outside St Margaret’s Chapel though I felt a little silly standing there for the obligatory photo. Views from the castle are wonderful and it’s such a good location with a history that stretches back through the mists of time.

We thought our ruse of acting like tourists had been rumbled when a loud bang nearly gave me a heart attack. A quick scan of the map we had been given informed us it was just the one o’clock gun firing and they do it every day. Relieved we headed further inside and went to look for the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny. The security was tight and my belly was starting to rumble so we left empty handed and made for the cafe. Turns out we weren’t the only folk looking to get their hands on plenty of loot, nice food though despite the price.

With happy belly again and all batteries walked we made our way out. I sadly resisted the urge to sit on a cannon for a photo as the oldest person doing so looked about 5 years old and I didn’t want to draw attention to myself (bit rubbish getting old, I should care less what people think but I like to stay hidden in life).

Yes it’s a bit of a dear do to enter and nothing megalithic to look but there’s a wonderful sense of a continuing history to the place as you walk around. It’s well worth a visit.

20/01/2018 – It had been over ten years since our last visit to Benaquhallie. Don’t know why really, it’s just a short drive away from where we live and it’s a nice quiet walk with good views. High chance of avoiding humans all day as well which is always a good thing. Guessing most folk start from the south but to make more of a day of it we started near Tillyfourie, to the north. Good parking at the start of the forest track (NJ 6390 1262).

Main point of the day was to revisit Benaquhallie via Red Hill (couldn’t really remember if I’d been there last time). The night before I’d had a look on the internet and found two cairns marked on the old OS maps. One just south of the trigpoint on Benaquhallie at NJ 6070 0859 and the other to the north in Culthibert Wood (NJ 6217 1122). Aberdeenshire SMR also had two possible cist burials on Red Hill at NJ 6182 0999 and NJ 6194 1003. So the day was planned – Tillyfouire to Benaquhallie via Red Hill and back, with a look at two cairns to see if they might be old and two possible cists. Sounded good to me.

Very cold start to the day, 6 below and it never made it back up to 0. Easy walking along the track to its highest point (NJ 6255 1028) where we left it to head SW to Red Hill. The trees had been felled since our last visit so the views were great on this cold, clear and sunny day.

Finding the cists was a little tricky as the heather is deep here. First one (NJ 6194 1003) all we could find was a single stone. It could have been anything and nothing. Second one (at NJ 6182 0999) was much better and really looked like a small cist to me.

We walked on to the cairn near the trigpoint for a brew and a bite to eat. It’s a large modern cairn and although there is a hint of a bigger footprint, my guess would be not old.

Heading back we skirted round the south side of Red Hill and then headed back the way we came. Nice views down to Old Kirk of Tough stone circle from here.

Back along the track through Culthibert Wood we took a detour off to see the cairn at NJ 6217 1122. Very small lose pile of stones. Though it’s been there a few hundred years, my guess is it’s not much older than that.

It had been a good day out (apart from a blister on my foot, which was annoying as I never get blisters). Fine hill and an interesting walk. The cist looked good to me, if a little worse for wear and it was good fun trying to find.

13/01/2018 – Earlyish start, least it felt like it as the lazy sun is still having a bit of a lie in at this time of year (I can’t wait for the longer days). We started from Port Elphinstone and walked the Old Kemnay Road which is a nice beech tree lined track nowadays. Good views down to the River Don and Bennachie in the distance along here.

The track took us to Duncan’s Forest and then we made a similar climb to Drew’s, up to Bruce’s Camp. No problems really access wise, it’s pretty open woodland to the top.

In fact everything was going OK until near the top when about 30 seconds after mentioning Drew’s fence problem from his fieldnotes to Mrs T, Bruce’s Camp decided to claim another TMAer. All I will say is that there was barbed wire and blood! There’s a curse on this hill, I tell ye.

We did make it to the top which is a nice open area. The ramparts are pretty overgrown.

I forget to look for the cup marked rock which is a little annoying. I’ll have to go back sometime which is OK as it was a nice walk.

23/12/2017 – Proper rubbish weather visit to Warton Crag. Low mist and fine rain. Didn’t really find too much of the hillfort and it was just too wet for me to be bothered looking about much. Just a quick up and down to the trigpoint really.

We started and finished our walk at Carnforth train station (lovely tea room). Quiteish roads to Warton and then a lovely climb up through a wood to the top. Nice rocky bits as well. I guess on a hot summer’s day this would be a lovely place to be.

Overall I did enjoy my visit even if my time spent at the fort was just a brief encounter :-)

24/10/17 – Some places really grab me when I’m having a look on the OS maps. From the first time I noticed these two hillforts on Dun Dearduil I’ve been wanting to visit. When Drew mentioned them a few months back on here it was too good an opportunity to miss.

Dun Dearduil isn’t the easiest of places to visit though and that’s to put it mildly. Very cliffy on the west side and a big river to cross. The only access we could see from the map was from the east. Starting point was the track just south of Balnagaeline (NH5536625781). Nice walk along this track past Dirichurachan where after that the track turns right towards the trees and Dun Dearduil beyond. From this point onwards the walk took a more adventurous turn. No path, wet rocks, bracken, rotting trees to clamber over – it had it all! We climbed the small top, east of the forts first. The view from here of Dun Dearduil, with Loch Ness and the hills behind – just wow. Sunshine as well. From here we had to drop steeply 50m or so to then climb up to the forts. Very tricky terrain but we made it up the NE ridge to the top. Happy us to finally make it :-)

The north fort is fantastic, like a grassed over mini Tap o’Noth. The second fort, a short distance to the south is nice as well. The location of the forts is as good as it gets. When the sun came out, it felt like there could be no better place to be. We had our sandwiches sitting on the steep east side of the hill, looking out over the wonderful landscape. This really is a lovely area to visit.

From here it was again a tough bash back to the track. Never fallen over so many times in my life!

Drew, Mrs T and me all made it back to the car in one piece (a minor miracle given the terrain). Top day out that had a little bit of everything I love when visiting sites even though my legs were still feeling it two days after.

A proper adventure :-)

25/09/2017 – We had popped down to Scarborough for a long weekend just for a bit of walking really. A few days before we came I noticed that we weren’t too far from Rudston so we crammed 3 days of walking into 2, leaving our last day free for a visit to this mega monolith.

Easy enough to get to by car but we were on the bus, which still wasn’t too tricky. Morning 121 bus from Scarborough to Burton Agnes and then a 3 mile or so walk down quietish country roads to Rudston.

We arrived at the south side of the church and had a little debate as to which way round the church we wanted to go for our first sight of the stone. These things are important I think, it’s not every day you get to see the tallest standing stone in Britain for the first time. We chose clockwise.

Rounding the corner of the building and there it stood in all its glory. It really is impressive and as wonderful as I hoped it would be. It seemed to grow and grow as we edged closer. It was hard not to just keep staring at it. So solid and timeless. I know the church and graveyard setting isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I quite liked it and loved the difference in height between the monolith and the similar shaped gravestones round it.

After having a look at the small stone and cist in the corner (it looked a little sad hidden away and dark with the overhead leaves at this time of year) we sat across the road on a bench and had our butties.

The inside of the church is worth a look and has a small display about the history of the area.

After one last look at the stone we started the slow walk back to the bus stop. We kept an eye out for any sign of the cursus that crosses the road to the south of Rudston but no luck. Did manage to find a coffee shop in Burton Agnes which helped with the wait for the bus.

Top day out and the Rudston monolith is a must see site.

Happy us on the bus back to Scarborough for an evening of chips and gravy and two penny falls.

24/09/2017 – I liked this one. Not really much to see but the walk up from Scarborough is nice and the top very green with a good clump of trees hiding the beacon. Worth going for a little leg stretch. Nice views and the access is fine.

If you are in the area it’s worth popping by the Rotunda Museum near the sea front. Nice display of objects from Star Carr and Bronze age Gristhorpe Man with his fantastic tree trunk burial.

23/09/2017 – X93 bus out from Scarborough to the Falcon Inn on the A171 to start a nice loop of three hills – Brow Moor, Stony Leas & Barns Cliff End. Long day and it was dark by the time we caught the bus back.

Good track to start through the trees and then out to the moor to make the small climb to the trig on Brow Moor. Even though it was still early in the day I knew already we just didn’t have the time to look round this area for cup marked rocks which was a bit sad. We pushed on and headed west.

The walk between Brow Moor trigpoint and Louven Howe on the top of Stony Leas was easy going but felt long. The crossing of Jugger Howe Beck was nice and Burn Howe was worth a look. It did feel good to finally make it to Louven Howe for a sit and a brew.

There’s plenty of round barrows around here and from the ones we saw, they all looked pretty much of a muchness. If you want to visit one or two, this and Lilla Howe make for a nice walk from a few directions. I don’t think this would be the best place to visit in rubbish weather though.

Louven Howe has a large hole in it, I couldn’t make my mind up about it. Bit odd.

After a stop to rest and take in the views, which are good, we headed south to enter the trees and make the long walk back to the A171 via Barns Cliff End.

Nice day out but couldn’t quite fit in everything we wanted to see.

10/08/2017 – A linear walk today along the west coast near the top of Barra. Starting from Eoligarry, we visited Dun Scurrival first. After a quick bob up Beinn Eolaigearraidh Mhor we walked south along the beach at Traigh Eais. A rocky coastline led past Dun Chlif to Ben Cliad cairn. From here we climbed Beinn Chliad and then headed back to the beach near Cleat. Started getting tired by this point in the day and it had been a long week but I really wanted to see Dun Cuier broch so we pushed on up the road and then along the A888 to the cemetery just NW of the broch. There’s a gate here on the other side of the road and an old waymarked path leading to the site. I think it probably carries on to Dun Bharpa cairn.

If you only have time to visit one galleried dun / broch on Barra and Vatersay this is probably the one to go for. Easy access as well.

Located on a small rocky top, it has good views all round. Nice bits of wall still there and you can make out where the galley is. Section of scarcement on the inner wall also.

The various thoughts of what is a fort, dun, broch etc I find interesting and the discussion on Canmore about this site is worth a read (link below).

canmore.org.uk/event/587363

This was the last dun we visited on a great week on Barra and Vatersay. If you like a dun or two it’s well worth coming for a trip to these islands. Lots to see and the scenery is lovely.

10/08/2017 – Canmore has two entries for cairns close to each other near this location. After visiting this cairn and reading the descriptions on both I think they could be one and the same, could be wrong.

I really liked this one. A little tricky to be sure quite what I was looking at though (like a lot of stone settings on Barra I came across). Smallish structure with a kerb of stones. Two larger upright stones on the south side which felt like an entrance into the centre to me.

The location had a quiet feel and was a little lonely (in a good way). A place to come and gaze out to sea with only your thoughts and the cairn for company.

10/08/2017 – Nice feeling of away from it all with this one. It’s pretty easy to get to though from either way along the coast. This possible galleried dun is situated on a small tidal islet along a rugged coastline. It was by chance that we reached here at low tide so were able to cross to have a look around the dun. It’s worth a visit just for the location but why anyone would have built the dun here is a mystery to me. Must have been very different times.