22/03/2017 – Nice walk from Porlock through Hawkcombe Woods to this stone circle. Easy access from the road through a gate. I liked this one a lot. The setting in the landscape is very good with a grand view of the surrounding moor. Enough stones left to still give a good feel to the place. Always good to visit a new circle for me. Well worth the trip.
thelonious
21/03/2017 – Fine walk over Selworthy Beacon from Minehead to Porlock. This nice cairn is in a quiet spot on the hill and makes for a fine place for a rest. The views north across the Bristol Channel are wonderful on a sunny day.
28/01/2017 – Snowy walk to Hillend hillfort today. We came from Caeketton Hill. Easy access from the north as well. Nice fort with good views.
28/01/2017 – I posted a photo of this cairn a few years back but to be honest I remembered little of the cairn and the photo seemed to only show a little bit of it. I’ve been wanting to go back and have another look for a while.
Starting from Edinburgh we took the 101 bus to Silverburn. From here we had a grand walk taking in Gladman’s cairn on South Black Hill, Scald Law, the big cairn on Carnethy Hill, the little cairn on Turnhouse Hill, CastleLaw fort & souterrain, Allermuir Hill, this cairn on Caerketton Hill and finally the Hillfort on Hillend. Finished a long day at the Ski Centre for a cup of tea and then took the bus back to Edinburgh.
A good walk over the tops and a bit snowier than I thought it would be.
Three of the four cairns we visited are on Canmore. South Black Hill isn’t but as Gladman has mentioned elsewhere, it really looks and feels the part. This cairn on Caerketton is smaller and has a fence running through it. Good views on a clear day!
There are many routes and paths to link up the tops and cairns in the Pentland Hills. Pick any, you can’t go wrong. A magic day.
25/12/2016 – If you are in the area Lunt Meadows nature reserve is worth a visit for a little leg stretch. Site of Mesolithic settlements (see link below). Car park and decent track round. Good place for owls if you get lucky.
25/12/2016 – We went for a walk at Hightown on Christmas Day, just down the coast from Formby and its famous footprints. The beach is quiet and it’s a nice stroll to where the River Alt meets the sea and then along the coast. An ancient trackway was discovered here in the 90s and radiocarbon dated to Early Neolithic. Don’t think there is much to see of it now. Still worth the trip to see the ancient submerged forest in a fine layer of peat. Trees (mainly birch I think) and plants (Royal ferns?) lay in the peat, still soft to the touch. Such beautiful shapes and I did find the place quite moving. Great views out to sea. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.
19/11/2016 – It’s a funny old hill Pressendye. A decent size (just over 2000ft) but it can be easily overlooked, sandwiched between lovely small hills like Bennachie to the east and wonderful Morven and the big hills in the Cairngorms to the west.
The usual approach is from the Tarland side, south of the hill but today we thought we’d try from the north for a change.
Cold start to the day. Car said minus 5 as we parked not long after sunrise at the beginning of the track into Loanend Plantation (NJ 5112 1276). The track goes west through trees. After curving round Beadshallock Hill it gets a bit vague but nothing too bad and then becomes more distinct again up Scar Hill. From here the view of the landscape opens up as the track heads across The Socach to the top of Pressendye.
I love this top and the cairn is nice. We sat down for a sandwich and brew alongside it. The ground was a little chilly to be honest but still the rest felt good. Very peaceful place and the frost on the heather looked lovely in the low November sunlight.
I guess like most upland cairns the walk there is as important as the cairn itself and luckily the way up is good for this one. Got me thinking as we walked, about the folk who had travelled this hill before me to place this cairn in such a nice location. A fine day again on Pressendye.
12/11/2016 – Posting really just to give a different route up than Drew’s. It’s no better or worse but more options are always good, access wise.
We parked opposite the lovely church at Tullynessle, east of the hill. It’s a nice walk west along a tarmac road to Terpersie. As the road splits at NJ 5482 2007 (good parking here too and close to Corrie cairn stone circle as well) we turned left to cross the Esset Burn and followed the track past Dubston. From here it’s just a case of keeping to the track as it climbs Fouchie Shank (hut circle half way up) to the top of Lord Arthur’s Hill. For a longer walk, cross the burn just before the start of Fouchie Shank and head north along the old right of way past the disused quarry for a long loop round the Correen Hills to the Lord Arthur’s Hill.
The cairn is just east of the trigpoint. A modern shelter has been built on top but the cairn footprint is still visible. The top is lovely. Great views all round from Bennachie to the east and west to the Cairngorms. The Correen Hills are usually a quiet place to visit and you would normally have the cairn to yourself. It’s a lovely spot to sit and while away a few hours.
21/08/2016 – Been back home a couple of weeks now since my trip north. I’ve been feeling a bit sad the last few days as that’s probably it trip-wise until next year. Woke up this morning thinking I should visit a nearby site to cheer myself up a little. Not a great time of year for visits to RSCs on farmland as a lot are in crop so we picked Loanhead as the parking’s good and there are no access problems. I don’t think I’ve been here in the summer before, I always think of it as a cold place. The sun on the stones made them shine out against the lovely greens all around and the whole setting reminded me a little of the cairns at Clava today. The stones of the circle were bigger than I remembered, especially the recumbent. I guess everyone does different things to blow the blues away. Saying hello to old stones works for me :-)
05/08/2016 – After a visit to Creag a’Bhlair we strolled over to the edge of the forest with Carn Liath chambered cairn just inside. Luckily the fence has a good few gaps in it but after that, the last 40 or so metres to the cairn is quite tricky because of wind fell and maybe a little unsafe but we got there in the end. Really good cairn this one. High sides with the passage and chamber visible and intact. The whole place had a feeling of calm and stillness in its clearing, surrounded by tall trees. As this cairn is a bit in the middle of nowhere I thought we would have it to ourselves. Turned out not to be the case, a million midges also decided to visit the cairn at the same time. We didn’t stay as long as we would of liked.
05/08/2016 – Between the chambered cairns of Craig A’ Bhlair and Carn Liath are these great hut circles and field system. I don’t normally add these but I do like the circleyness of hut circles and the one at NH 7377 9968 is very fine indeed. Inner face of the wall is visible and the surrounding field system can be made out. Nice place.
05/08/2016 – Started from the train station at Rogart. It’s a nice walk down the lane and then uphill to the top of Creag a’Bhlair. Just a little past the top, the chambered cairn comes into view on the south side along with an opening of the landscape. Coming from this direction, looking down on to the cairn, the setting really reminded me of another cairn Creag An Amalaidh, just a few miles farther south. Craig A’ Bhlair chambered cairn is a good one. A large mound of stones with not much in the way of a chamber showing. The placement below Creag a’Bhlair with the ground stretching out to the south and a good view east to Loch Fleet is just lovely. Great area to spend a day, ambling about in the sun.
04/08/2016 – Just west of the stone rows is this lovely little stone circle. Be good to know the timeline of all the sites on this hill and how they all relate to each other, if at all.
04/08/2016 – Hard to go wrong in the Strath of Kildonan. Pick anywhere along its length and you are going to bump into the past. Today we chose Learable Hill. Stone rows, stone circle, chambered cairn, standing stone, cup marked boulders and lots of hut circles – that will do me. Normal way up, crossing the river and the train track south of Suisgill Lodge. It’s just a short walk up hill after that. Nice cairn and standing stone but I’d come for the stone rows because let me tell you, I just love stone rows. They really are one of the great mysteries of this island’s prehistory, at least they are for me. Multiple rows are rare and this hill has plenty. Brilliant stuff. I think I once read of them described as ‘miniliths’, great word. It rained petty much all the 5 hours we were on the hill but it didn’t much matter. I could of spent all day just plodding round these stones looking for alignments (real or imaginary). Top site and there’s even as a bonus a stone circle there as well!
04/08/2016 – Interesting place this Learable Hill. Just about 600m north and a little downhill from all the stone rows are these two cup marked boulders. The lower one (NC 8948 2400) has about 16 cups on it. Lots of moss but the cups are quite deep and not too bad to make out. The second one, 40m uphill (NC 8945 2403) has 3 cups and a ring. I couldn’t see a cup within the ring? This higher up boulder lies alongside two other similar boulders and there was a suggestion in the past that they could have formed part of a stone circle. They are certainly interesting. A nice hut circle is just a little farther up the hill.
03/08/2016 – Just a short walk along the road north from Burn of Houstry brings you opposite Cuag chambered cairn on the other side of the burn. There’s a bridge at ND 1542 3308. Nice cairn with chamber stones visible. It’s in the middle of an area of newly planted trees so could lose its view in a few years time. Buoldhu chambered cairn is just a short walk up hill to the NW.
03/08/2016 – We started from the Laidhay Croft Museum on the A9. You can park much closer but we fancied a bit more of a walk (nothing to do with the fine cakes in the tearoom there honest!) A few miles along quiet lanes and we were there. Easy access across a field. The cairn has had most of its stones removed to the side but the chamber stones remain and are worth a look. Great location for this one with plenty of other sites nearby.
03/08/2016 – If you are up in this part of the world for a day of stones, I think this circle should be included alongside the big hitters of the Grey Cairns, Hill O’Many Stanes etc. It’s a nice change to the wildness of many of the sites in Caithness. Only about 6km away from Stemster but the feeling couldn’t be more different. Located by the banks of the Burn of Latheronwheel (love that name), nestled between gentle hills the placement of the circle is just perfect. About 8 stones left of a large circle. At this time of year the feeling is one of peace and life. Strong summer colours of greens with fluffy white clouds in a blue, blue sky surround the circle. Timeless, perfect, wonderful...
03/08/2016 – After a visit to Broubster, a similar stone setting, a few days earlier we thought a pop in to say hello to the Great U was needed. I love this site. Lots of stones, interesting shape and just a brilliant middle of nowhere feel to the place. One that’s always worth another look. Not sure I’ve been at this time of year before. Loved the wild flowers and grasses growing around and over the stones. Colours of yellow and green against the grey of the stones looked so nice in the sunshine. A must see site.
02/08/2016 – I’ve been wanting to visit here after seeing Gladman’s photos a few years back. Hillfort and cairn in what looked like a great area. Finally made the trip and wasn’t disappointed. The cairn is nice and the view is one of the best I have seen from any of the cairns I’ve been to, just wonderful. Parked at Dorrery, followed the track up to the trigpoint and then walked across to Ben Freiceadain. Great spot for wildlife at this time of year. We had five ospreys in the sky at once on the way. Sunny visit to a lovely place.
01/08/2016 – Easy access from the road (ND 0511 5844, good parking). Only about a 200m walk. Nice views from this one.
01/08/2016 – We came from the stones at Broubster to the north. Underfoot not too bad. We left the circle, heading SW to the road near the ruins of Broubster Village. A little warning that this way was very, very boggy. Still doable but wet. Maybe better from Achnacly, directly west of the circle?
A large circle and fine placement in the middle of an open landscape. A few stones still standing and it was good fun trying to find more hiding in the bog. Enough left to get a good feel of the size of the circle. Nice visit and good site to link up a walk with any of the other many sites nearby.
01/08/2016 – Only about 100m between these two stones but I was tired by then so it seemed like forever. Nice stones in a lovely grassy area.
01/08/2016 – Not many stones left standing but it doesn’t really matter. Broubster stone setting is good. An elongated horse shoe shaped setting of standing stones like the Great U of Stemster (I think these are the only two like this round here? Please correct me if I’m wrong). Like Stemster, the stones are turned to point towards the centre. I had been looking forward to this and I really liked it. Access is a bit of a pain. We came from the SE, through rides from the Tulach Buaile Assery. OKish this way. Access out of the forest is tricky from here though. Heading south down the fence line, we found no gate so a deer fence has to be climbed to head across to Aultan Broubster stone circle. Could be better from the north.
01/08/2016 – Described on Canmore as a ‘turf-covered long horned cairn of the Orkney-Cromarty group, with a Camster-type chamber.’ This cairn really is a good one. Over 200ft long with the east side looking to be intact. Small entrance to a passage on the cairn but looked too small and dangerous to go in. Setting is just great, looking over Loch Calder. A real favourite. This and the nearby Torr Ban Na Gruagaich chambered cairn are well worth a visit. Access wise we followed the shoreline of the loch from the south and then headed into the forest west to Broubster stone setting.
01/08/2016 – I liked this one. Good location, overlooking Loch Calder. Similar to Tulach Buaile Assery chambered cairn nearby. A fine couple of cairns, well worth the walk.
01/08/2016 – Grassed over chambered cairn. Started from the road to the west (ND 0511 5844, good parking) near Monadh nan Carn. Just follow rides through the trees. Probably just as easy to walk the shoreline of Loch Calder round to the cairn from either north or south. There is a gate just east of the cairn to gain access to the forest from the loch side.
30/07/2016 – Tried to visit here last year but felt too tired to give it a go when passing. Better to come back another time, a bit more awake. A year on and we got another chance. Probably the shortest route is from the A9 near Upper Latheron but we thought we’d make an afternoon of it and instead started from the north at the parking for Rumster Forest (marked on OS map), just down the road from Loch Stemster. Nice walk south through the forest on good track (two brochs nearby to visit if you want as well). When we got near enough to the circle, we left the track and made our way across. Not far but very boggy! Got there in the end but with wet, grumpy feet. The circle sits just west of the river, a little up stream of where it flows into the loch. Only 3 and a bit stones left of a biggish circle (Canmore states a diameter of about 48m). The location is lovely and we were both very taken with the place. A little out of the way but worth it if you fancy a walk. Lots of other stuff to look at just south if you come from that direction. We looped back over Ben-a-chielt, with its fine views over Caithness.
02/07/2016 – I didn’t think I’d get time to fit a visit to this stone in during my trip but luckily plans worked out well and on the last afternoon we found ourselves in Arisaig, good to go.
We started from the The Land, Sea and Islands Visitor Centre, a lovely small community run visitor centre in Arisaig. Well worth a look around and it has a nice shop. On display there is the Rhu Stone. Link below for more info. Very interesting.
nosasblog.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/rhu-arisaig-neolithic-hide-and-seek/
It’s a nice walk of about 4 miles to the stone and back on good tracks. Lovely for a sunny afternoon. The stone isn’t hard to find, just off the track at NM 66917 84483. Over 80 cups on it. In the visitor centre there was a notice asking folk to stop putting coins in the cups as it was causing damage. Luckily the cups were empty today. Location is good with fine views of the surrounding hills.
If you have time, make the short walk on to the pebble beach at Camas Ghaoideil, it’s a lovely spot for a brew and a sandwich.
29/06/2016 – Lovely walk today around high lochs and hill tops on Eigg. Follow the same track as the walk up An Sgurr then leave the path just as it turns to climb the ridge and instead start heading north and spend the day exploring the lochs and rocks of this beautiful area. No paths but easy under foot.
Loch Nam Ban Mora is just past An Sgurr. It’s lovely and its little stone islet with its dun is well worth a visit to see from the shoreline.
If you have time, walk on to the top of Cora-bheinn (not far). It has one of the best views of the island.
I think Loch Nam Ban Mora means ‘The Island of the Big Women’. Interesting folklore about the Loch – infinite-scotland.com/poi/st-donnan-and-the-island-of-the-big-women/
Worth mentioning is a great little book you can pick up in the shop at the Harbour – ‘The geology of Eigg’. Nice to have with you as you walk around (especially if you know as little as me about rocks and stuff). It suggests some good walks/routes at the back.
28/06/2016 – This site caught my eye when I was looking for places to visit on Eigg. Location looked great from the map and the Canmore classification of ‘Ritual Enclosure (prehistoric)’ sounded pretty intriguing. So on our first full day on Eigg, off we went to see if we could find it.
Two ways to this one, from the north or from the south – east is the sea and west are the cliffs of Beinn Bhuidhe. We walked in from the north. There is no path this way and at this time of year the bracken is bad. Easier from the south, access to the ground below the cliffs is at Bealach Clith. An OK-ish path heads north for a mile or so but then it’s again like from the north, just a case of bashing through the bracken. As you near the site, the whole place becomes one massive boulder field. You have to really watch your step. Finding the site proved tricky (even with GPS) as it’s in the middle of this boulder field. Some of the boulders are huge!
I didn’t know what to make of the enclosure surrounding the underground chamber really. Again the bracken didn’t help with trying to make out the structure (I’ll put a link to HES, which gives a full description, below and also Canmore which has some nice diagrams and photos)
The entrance to the underground void isn’t too bad but you have to watch your head on the roof. Inside the space is good and it extends a fair way. It’s a bit of a shock after a few hours of walking in the sunshine in an open landscape to suddenly be in darkness in such a small space relative to the outside world. After a while it felt peaceful and we both liked it very much. Lots of limpet shells on the floor near the entrance left by something or someone.
Overall I found the place a mystery and it was wonderful for that. Hard to get to and then find, especially at this time of year but if you are ever on Eigg it’s worth the trip, I’d love to read others’ thoughts on the place. Worth the walk just to be in such an amazing landscape for the day.
27/06/2016 – Morning ferry from Mallaig for a few days on Eigg. The highest place on the island is the magnificent pitchstone ridge of An Sgurr. As the ferry gets closer to Eigg it’s hard not to be totally captured by the hill’s ever increasing dominance of the surrounding landscape. The walk from the harbour is pretty straight forward. Just head west and then follow the red dots marking the way on the track leading to the hill. Approaching from the east, the sheer sides of the hill makes access seem a near impossible task but follow the track along the north side and about 500 meters west of the top a small gully allows access to the ridge. It’s then just a case of following the red dots to the top. Nothing too technical but a small word of caution, the three sides of An Sgurr are sheer and it wouldn’t be a great place to be in the wind and rain. I have no head for heights and did find the feeling of exposure a bit hard work. The views from the top are amazing. Rum, Skye and back to the mainland, very good indeed.
There is not much to see of a fort on the top though, just a dry stone wall running north-south near the access gully, that cuts off the eastern end from the rest of the ridge.
It’s possible to make the climb to the top and back to the ferry on a day trip but if you can it’s better to stay over a few days on wonderful Eigg and take the whole place in. The hill is a special one. It’s been 10 years since I was last on Eigg so it was great to finally make it back to visit this hill. Fantastic day.
30/04/2016 – It was supposed to be a quick bob up Ros Castle and back on the way to Wooler but this area had other ideas for us. We started from the car park just past Hepburn. Short walk up the road and then a climb up to Ros Castle. The views from here were good. We had just driven down from Aberdeen in the morning and had made better time than I thought we would. A quick look at the map showed a hillfort, cup and ring marked rocks and a cairn to the south. With still plenty of day left, we left Ros Castle to take a look.
It’s a nice walk over Hepburn Moor to Blawearie Cairn. The cairn is very good. I can’t think of another like it that I have visited before. Great big stones surrounding a ring made of small stones (containing cists) with a small cairn of stones in the middle. The location is good and the whole site has a very peaceful feeling to it. I liked it very much.
We carried on to the excellent cup and ring marked stones and hillfort at Old Bewick.
On the way back we just had to visit this cairn again as the sun was still shinning and the stones did look good. Finally we left to head back to the car via the Hillfort at Hepburn Crags.
What should have been a half hour walk turned into a 10 mile plus day out with hillforts, cup and ring marked rocks and cairns in a wonderful landscape. I love days like this.
01/05/2016 – In the end I gave up looking for this one and decided to make my way back to the path through the heather. Of course, as soon as I stopped looking the rock appeared at my feet. Sometimes you can try too hard, better just to let fate decide :-)
This was my favourite rock on the hill (which is covered in cup and ring marked stones). The rings are nice and dobby. It’s worth the effort and good fun trying to find.
01/05/2016 – I’d been looking forward to this one. A quick look at the map showed a hill jam packed with stuff – cup and ring marked rocks, hillforts, settlements and even a stone circle.
We started from Wooler. Walking over Weetwood Moor via the St Cuthbert Way (passing a few cairns on top) then crossing the Weetwood bridge to start the climb up Dod Law. Good paths all the way.
After reading the fieldnotes on here, I was a little worried that there wouldn’t be any stones still standing. Seemed like another one had fallen each time someone visited. Pleased to say that the one remaining upright stone is still hanging in there. I would loved to have seen this one complete. It’s a lovely little circle and a fine spot.
We left the circle behind to make our way uphill, looking for cup and ring and visiting the forts on top. Fantatsic hill.
Looped back to Wooler via the rock art stones on Weetwood Moor (great site). Good day out.
05/05/2016 – Standing inside Lordenshaws hillfort, just looking around at the view, I thought we were done for the day. Then I turned to face Garleigh Hill. The little white trigpoint seem to call out to me and the rocky side of the hill looked just to good to pass up on. Easy walk across and lots of interesting rocks to look at on the short climb up. The cairn is just next to the trigpoint. Large capstone visible. A fine way to end the day.
Old OS maps have stone circles marked on them at the top. I guess this is just the cairn. Anyone know anymore?
05/05/2016 – We parked at the Lordenshaws car park really just to have a walk on the Simonside Hills. Once there we realised that maybe we were heading in the wrong direction! The 1:50000 OS map doesn’t give that much away but a quick glance at the 1:25000 revealed a hillside full of megalithic wonder. Luckily we had all day so we chose Simonside first, leaving the afternoon free to roam the tops on the other side of the road.
The hillside, topped with a great hillfort, is just full of rocks with markings on the them. First up to the big one. Great rock art and the location is fantastic. Close views of the Simonside Hills and The Cheviots looking fine in the distance. After that we spent the rest of the time there just wandering around looking at random stones and taking in the scenery.
So much to see but the one that will stay with me is the Channel Rock. On the far side of the hillfort is this most fantastic rock. It’s huge and has this channel in it that has to be seen. I can’t really explain why I loved it so much but I just found the groove and the smooth surface of the rock so pleasing to the eye.
Top site. If you go (and you should) make a day of it. So much to see.
05/05/2016 – Nice walk over the Simonside Hills from Lordenshaws car park. I think I passed about 5 decent cairns on the way over. The one on Tosson Hill (highest top of Simonside Hills) is a good one. Great view north to The Cheviots.
08/05/2015 – Starting from the village of Guisborough, we set out for a day strolling about the moor looking at cairns and really just taking in the fine views from the top. No set plan, just a day taken slow.
The low cloud from the day before was still hanging around as we climbed the hill but by the time we broke clear of the trees the early morning sun had worked a bit of magic and the rest of the day was left to us and the sunshine to go for a walk.
Making our way south across Gisborough Moor, we stopped to look at the cairns called Three Howes just past the trigpoint. Whilst there we got chatting to the game keeper (top man) after he saw us looking at the cairns (the place is covered in them!). Seeing we were interested in old stones, he told us about this stone circle and gave us great directions, so we duly set off to see if we could find it.
Though it’s in a open area of the moor which the track to the north looks down upon, I could easily have walked past and never known it was there. Look for a couple of old gate posts, either side of the track and look southish. It is about 200 meters away.
This is a lovely stone circle of about 18 small stones and a wonderful place to sit and while away the day. A really fantastic spot for it too with fine views. It was hard not to drift asleep as we sat there in the warmth of the sun. A real favourite. It was tough to leave to make the slow walk back over the moor.
06/05/2016 – Starting from Thrunton Wood. Anticlockwise loop round Callaly Crag, Hard Nab, stopping by this cairn for a brew then south to Long Crag, Coe Crags and back north to the start. Nice walk. (The cairns just north of Hard Nab are a bit hidden amongst trees).
02/05/2016 – Sometimes when I’ve read about a site and seen the photos, if the place is as good as Kettley Crag it’s hard to actually believe it exists and that I was there, walking up Chattonpark Hill with the rock shelter just on the other side, a few minutes walk away. It doesn’t get much better than Kettley Crag with its floor covered in the most wonderful rock art.
First things first, I had to get past the rock art on the south side of the hill. Easy parking in the layby and good access straight onto the hill. There’s rocks everywhere. The simple action of walking a hillside, having a nosey at each new rock we came across for any trace of markings is one of pure joy. Still happy just thinking about it again today. What a wonderful afternoon.
The pull of Kettley Crag proved too strong, so we made the walk over the top to the north side. It felt too soon. The Rock Shelter is quite magical and I hadn’t realised how good its location and view of the landscape was going to be. Wonderful markings.
After a while we strolled back to the Chatton rocks again. This time just sitting by the largest panel and trying to take in all we had seen. The sunshine was in and out of the clouds, making the markings on the main panel seem to nearly disappear then magically reappear again to surprise us once more. Again the views from here are too good. The Cheviots in full view.
Finally it was time to go. I came to see Kettley Crag but in the end this main panel at Chatton stole a little bit of our hearts. Perfect day.
09/05/2016 – Starting from Clay Bank car park, nice walk over the tops to Drake Howe. Fine weather today with good views. The top of Drake Howe is a really good place for a cairn and this cairn is a fair size. Time hasn’t been good to it though. Wainstones worth a look at on the way.
12/05/2016 – If you are thinking of visiting one of the two hills mentioned in local rhyme posted by Rhiannon below I’d pick Rubers Law over Dunion Hill any day of the week.
Access can be gained from most directions but I liked the walk from Denholm (nice coffee shop there) to the NW. Follow the footpath heading SE out of Denholm, then take the path through the trees which lead you first SW then SE. After that it’s a short climb up to the top.
The fort is on the summit of a great little rugged hill. Some nice overgrown walls to see but this fort’s best defence is the hill’s natural outcrops. Lovely site to walk around and great views from it.
12/05/2015 – Like Rubers Law hillfort nearby, the history of this fort looks quite complex. Unlike fantastic Rubers Law, this fort and the hill it’s on has been quarried to near oblivion. It’s in a sad state nowadays. Parking at the entrance to the quarry we walked past Dunion Hill on the way to the much nicer Black Law. Access this way is probably frowned upon but if you don’t tell, I won’t either.
03/05/2016 – From The Chevoit. Weather was cold, sunny, windy, cloudy, snowy, calm ...
03/05/2016 – It’s a fine walk round The Cheviot and Hedgehope Hill apart from one thing – the bog. As Rhiannon’s folklore post below puts it – ‘..a perfect bog’. We’ve walked a few soggy hills in our time but this was something else. The top’s so bad they’ve laid over 1 km of stone slabs to help folk across the flat summit. It wasn’t that much better before or after the top as well today. I’m not sure my boots will ever recover. Apart from that, it’s a pretty straight forward circuit of the hills from the end of the public road in Harthope Valley. Couple of cairns on The Cheviot and one on Hedgehope Hill to look at but I guess the main reason to go is a day in the hills away from the hustle and bustle of modern life.
07/05/2016 – After missing the view on our misty trip to Erra Moor in the morning, we thought we’d try another hill in the afternoon but if anything the cloud was even worse on this one. Starting from the Cross Keys hotel on the A171 to the south, footpath heads north up the hill all the way to the top. Nice walk and the hillfort looks decent from what I could see of it!
07/05/2016 – Easy walk up from Clay Bank car park. Cairn on summit with trigpoint on top. Thick cloud today so the views (which I bet are good) will have to wait until next time.
11/05/2016 – In an area of many hillforts, if you are looking for one with good views they don’t come much better than this. Starting from the village of Morebattle, we took the St Cuthbert’s Way until just after Grubbit Law then followed the gentle incline round to Hownam Law. A fine walk that didn’t take as long as it first looked from the bottom. The summit is an ideal place for a fort. With its impressive 360 view, no one’s sneaking up on you here. Not really much walls to look at, best maybe on the south side. There is an enclosure to the east and two probably artificial ponds on the level ground north of the top. The trigpoint sits on a grassed over cairn. Great place for a day trip. We sat for a good while eating our sandwiches in the sun and murdering the theme tune to Grange Hill after noticing the name of the top just to the west on the OS map. I liked this one.