17/11/2013 – I’ve been saving this one for the right day. Sunday felt good when I woke up. Cold and clear skies. Parked at the picnic spot by the Deeside Gliding Club by the A93. We headed north over Craig Ferrar to Blue Cairn. Bit hard work to the trig but the walk after that to the cairn is very nice in open woodland. A couple of fences to cross but nothing too much to worry about. Once at Balnagowan Wood cairn, my eye caught sight of Blue Cairn through the trees for the first time. A giant sleeping stone dragon. We approached quietly so not to wake it. The size is quite something with a lovely colour to the stones. Amazing atmosphere to the place. Quiet and peaceful. Special site in one of my favourite areas of Aberdeenshire.
thelonious
10/11/2013 – We took the alternative path as suggested in Les’s fieldnotes (thanks). Starting from Forgue, it’s a nice mile or so walk through a wood to the circle. The trees look so lovely at this time of year and we even had some sunshine. The circle is not too hard to find just off the path. The recumbent looked quite sad with bits of it lying all around. It must have been quite fantastic in its day though. Flankers and a couple of other stones are still there, if a little hidden in the undergrowth. I liked this circle. Not a must see but a fine way to spend a morning.
27/10/2013 – Standing on top of Hill of Barra, looking out over the impressive ramparts to Bennachie and its own hillfort on Mither Tap, I gave myself a telling off for not coming here sooner. Really nice walls surrounding large summit area. The views all round are fantastic. The view down the corridor between Bennachie and Hill of Foudland to Dunnideer and Tap O’ Noth being particularly good. Started from Oldmeldrum and walked over Hill of Barra to Kirkton of Bourtie stone circle and back. Signposts all the way. Great stuff.
06/10/2013 – Not been to this one before, though viewed it from afar many times. We made a bit of a hash of getting to it. Starting from the car park for Dunnideer hillfort there is a circular walk of about 3 miles which goes near the circle so I thought it would be good to include with visits also to the circles of Stonehead and Dunnideer and finishing back at the fort. The walk is signposted and starts a little down the road towards Insch. The path does go quite near the circle but two wire fences and a ditch have to be crossed so it’s not ideal. Best really just to visit from the road east of the circle. Still it was a fine walk.
I really liked my visit to this circle, more really for its setting in the landscape than the actual stones. Just a broken recumbent, flanker and one other stone left. Great view all round to the usual suspects – Bennachie, Dunnideer etc. Worth a visit.
13/07/2013 – It’s been a while since our last time on Ben Newe. A lovely hill in the heart of Strathdon. Always very quiet. I guess not many folk apart from locals would have heard of it. Small carparks on east and west sides of hill, we started from the east. Good paths through trees lead to the top, very nice at this time of year. Worth the climb just for the view up Glen Buchat.
The well is found on the north side of the summit tor. A few coins could be just made out through the murky water.
Go on a warm summer day with a book or just your thoughts. It’s a place that should not be rushed.
20/06/2013 – After visiting Skara Brae and Maeshowe we were in the need for a leg stretch. The walk up Ward Hill is a pretty gentle 3 hour walk there and back. A nice way to send an afternoon above the stones and chambered cairns below.
There’s parking at the 113 spot on the OS map, on the minor road west of Orphir. A track heads over Gruf Hill to Ward Hill. It gets a little vague in places but not too bad. A couple of fences to cross but these are not a problem. The last bit of climb is steepish but short.
Very good views from the tumulus on the top of Ward Hill.
It’s worth walking the short distance north to Mid Hill (true top of Mainland Orkney, a few maps give it as Ward Hill). The view down to the land containing the great monuments of Stenness is fantastic. We did this walk towards the end of our week’s holiday and it was great to have a near aerial view of the sites below and their place in the landscape
19/06/2013 – I don’t know what I can add to the brilliant fieldnotes on here already but I feel I have to write something. This has to be one of the best sites I have ever been to in my life. The effort to get here is worth it, felt a bit like our own little pilgrimage.
We took the early ferry from Stromness to Moaness on Hoy. It was a beautiful morning as we walked the 3 miles or so along quiet roads to the Dwarfie Stane. The setting is lovely for the stone and we stood for awhile, just gazing at it and the surrounding landscape before entering. The feeling of calm inside is hard to describe. We sat and said little to each other. Time passed and we moved on.
Goes without saying, a must visit.
We looped back over Ward Hill with its incredible view over Orkney, back to the ferry.
A special day in my life.
17/06/2013 – We decided to leave the car at Tingwall and just go over to Rousay as foot passengers. This meant that some of the further away sites where out of reach but there were still lots to see and do within walking distance of the ferry terminal.
After leaving the ferry we made our way to Cubbie Roo’s Burden Chambered Cairn then retraced our steps 100m west along the road to a path (RSPB sign) that gives access to the hill. A stroll uphill soon found us at Knitchen Hill cairn. Not the most exciting of cairns but the view is good from it. From there we walked over Blotchnie Fiold to pick up a track at High Brae of Camps. Folllowing this south down hill brought us to Knowe of Yarso Chambered Cairn (loved this one). Back to the road we walked east to Blackhammer cairn (it’s OK) and then Taversoe Tuick Chambered Tomb (another brilliant one). Back to the jetty with plenty of time before the ferry was due.
A lovely day trip. Easy walking, nice views and five great cairns.
16/06/2013 – Standing in front of Wideford cairn I could not believe just how wonderful and beautiful it is. Something built by humans to be so completely in tune with the surrounding landscape. We had walked over from Fairy Knowe, across the tops of Keelylang Hill, Burrey Brae and Wideford Hill itself. The cairn getting slowly ever closer on a lovely warm day. After spending some time exploring inside, we sat down on the grass outside the cairn, just gazing out over the Bay of Firth. Life doesn’t get much better than this.
15/06/2013 – Not the most exciting visit to a broch I’ve had but it was near to where we were staying and it was the first evening of our holiday so I was still a little over excited. We were in the Land of the wideford and after reading so many of his fieldnotes it was good to be there. Broch wise it’s OK, very overgrown and a little dangerous underfoot. If you are going to visit I’d said go on a Friday between 4.30pm – 8.30pm at least then you can go to The Peedie Chippie. Quality fish supper at the seafront carpark with good views across the bay to the broch.
15/06/2013 – Day 1 of a trip to Orkney. First we had to drive up to Thruso to catch the ferry. I always get worried about missing ferries etc so we left very early in the morning. 40 miles to go and I realised we were going to be 3 hours early! A quick look on the OS map showed a standing stone and a broch nearby so we parked at Borgue and walked the short distance down the track to this stone. And what a stone! 12ft 8in in its stockinged feet. It stands peacefully alone in the landscape. If you are ever in the area this stone deserves a few more visitors. Wonderful.
09/06/2013 – Not much to add to Drew’s notes apart from mentioning that the car park on the B9002 has been locked for a few years now. There is still just space for a couple of cars at the gate. Another option could be to park at Wantonwells RSC on the road south of B9002. After visiting the stone circle a short walk north leads to the track heading west to Hill of Christ’s Kirk. Not much to see of the hillfort on top but the view is nice. Better forts in the area like Dunnideer.
21/05/2013 – Starting from the car park opposite the churchyard at Trumpan, a visit to the two brochs near the northern point of Waternish makes for a lovely walk. A good track passes just west of each broch to Waternish Point. The first broch we reached was Dun Borrafiach and is probably the pick of the two condition wise. It’s outer wall contains many impressive stones. A mile or so on and we got to Dun Gearymore. I liked this one more. Nice white stones in the sun and the view over to the Outer Hebrides is quite fantastic. We sat for a while just gazing out to sea. What a great place to live.
Don’t forget to pop into the churchyard at the start to look for the Heaven Stone (we forgot).
24/05/2013 – We got the morning ferry from Sconser over to Raasay to have a walk to Dun Caan. I’d forgotten this broch was here until we walked past the old free church and there it was on top of a hill in front of us. A track leads past the church straight uphill to the broch. It’s a nice one and I like Canmore’s description – ‘a semi-broch or oval dun exhibiting broch characteristics’, seems to fit it better. The trees have been cleared round it so the view over to the big hills on Skye is quite special. Worth a visit with many good walks to be had in the area.
22/05/2013 – Easy access from the little road to the north. Just a short walk uphill past the house to Carn Ban. Marked as a cairn on the map but after reading Gladman’s post below it makes more sense to me now as a dun or possible broch. Fantastic setting.
04/05/2013 – Lovely hillfort just off the A9, north of Avielochan. Parking is not easy here so we stopped at the Laggantygown Cemetery carpark next to Loch Vaa. A track just south of here leads back to the A9 and the start of the path to the hillfort. Quite steep sided hill with a nice wall at the entrance. Wooded now and lovely in the sunshine.
22/03/2013 – Classed as an unfinished hillfort but there is still a bit to see. Ramparts are quite easy to follow and the view is very good. Easiest access is from the minor road at Upper Marchbank through a couple of fields.
22/03/2013 – Visited this cairn on the way to Knock Hill hillfort. We left the Annandale Way just west of the cairn and a quick cross of the Dog Burn brought us to the field with the cairn situated pretty much in the middle of it. I had looked at Google Earth before we went and it looked quite impressive. There certainly are a lot of stones but according to Canmore most of them are field clearance. The original cairn seems to be the turf-covered mound but I quite like the look of some of the exposed stones as well.
22/03/2013 – As cairns go this is not the most exciting to visit. Just down the road from Beattock Hill hillfort, the heavily robbed cairn sits on a small knoll with little still showing. Probably of more interest is its name. Witch’s Wate is the spot just north of the Crooked Road where travellers would arm themselves with a rowan tree “rung” and two pieces of red thread as protection against witches lying in wait there.
22/03/2013 – Nice hillfort just off the Southern Upland Way, west of Beattock. Good location with nice view south east. Bit cold today.
21/03/2013 – Iron Age bank and ditch beside the Tail Burn, marked on the OS map as the Giant’s Grave. According to the noticeboard and Canmore there seems to be various theories as to the use of this site. Believed to be for defence but some now think it could have been a site for pagan pilgrimage, due to its view of the impressive Grey Mare’s Tail waterfall. This is a must visit just for the scenery alone. From the top of the bank the view down the glacial shaped valley of the Moffat Water is quite beautiful. The Grey Mare’s Tail is one of the nicest waterfalls I’ve seen. It’s quite easy to imagine this place as one of pilgrimage.
Grey Mare’s Tail and the Giant’s Grave gets a mention in Walter Scott’s poem, Marmion (published in 1808)
“Where deep deep down, and far within
Toils with the rocks the roaring linn;
Then issuing forth one foamy wave,
And wheeling round the giant’s grave
White as the snowy charger’s tail
Drives down the pass of Moffatdale.”
20/03/2013 – Starting from the RSPB car park (NY 5886 5847) just past Clesketts, we headed south to climb Cold Fell. A bonus before we got to the hill were the fantastic cup marked stones at Tortie. After that I knew this was going to be a good day. There is a track for most of the way but the last Km is a bit tough. The snow line was about 320m so it was hard going today but the wind wasn’t too bad and it was quite sunny. The cairn on the summit has a big footprint but has been severely altered in more recent times. It was quite beautiful up there and I will not forget my visit to this place. I would love to go up in the summer to see what it’s like someday.
19/03/2013 – Starting from the church car park at Tundergarth Mains (NY 1754 8080) we headed south down the track to Burnswark Hill. If you have the time this is a lovely approach to the hill. What can I say about this hill apart from it has it all. A hillfort, an ancient cairn, a Roman fort and a Fairy Craig. There’s probably much more. It’s an amazing place. I had been looking forward to my visit here and it didn’t disappoint. My favourite was the Fairy Craig. A must visit.
18/03/2013 – Not many places to park round here. There’s just room for a car at the junction north of Hightown farm (NY 0304 8418). We took the track over Hightown Hill to the hillfort on White Hill. Not much to see but it’s a lovely area with nice views. Saw our first lambs of the year on the way back down. Cold and windy day.
18/03/2013 – I like this one a lot. Easy access along signposted track from road to the south. Good ramparts and brilliant location with fantastic views across the Nith estuary. There’s even a bench to sit on and lose a few hours. A quiet place. Caerlaverock Castle nearby is also a must see.
16/03/2013 – Parked car at start of forest track on the east side of The Mount (NT 1001 4143). Short climb on pretty snowy tracks lead to the cairn on top. Not much to see cairn wise, small modern cairn on top of it, but the walk was nice with good views over to Broughton Heights.
03/03/2013 – We parked just off the road where the Gordon Way crosses the B992 heading west to Knock Saul. There’s space for 2-3 cars (NJ 6108 2170). Walking south we passed the track to Towmill and took the Gordon Way heading NE. This took us to about 300m south of the circle. We left the path where it turns east to head up Bennachie (NJ 6170 2187). Climbing over the fence and crossing the Broclach Burn, we followed the field edges to the circle behind the deserted Druidstone Croft. This is quite a good way to the circle as you can see if the field is in crop. Field edges take you to within 30m. What a great circle this is. Stone wise, it’s pretty ruined but it doesn’t detract from the setting and feel of the place. Prone flankers still there and the big outlier is nice. Well worth a visit. It’s a nice place just to sit and watch the world go by.
23/02/2013 – There’s a few starting points for this one. Car park to the east, on the track to New Kinord is closest. To the west, the car park at Burn o’Vat is good if you want to visit the Vat as well. Today we took the sightly longer walk option and parked in Dinnet. Following the waymarked path, we walked a lovely circuit of about 7 miles round Loch Kinord with its crannog and the hut circles at Old and New Kinord. The weather was a bit cold but the sun came out now and again. The impressive Old Kinord settlement is just off the path that runs between Loch Davan and Loch Kinord. Pretty easy to find but not a great place to visit in the summer due to bracken. The settlement is quite large with well defined hut circles and nearby souterrain. If you like hut circles, this place is well worth a visit. A really nice walk in a birch wood. Canmore link below for more details.
20/11/2011 – We left the car at Knockhill racing track car park (non race day). Made our way over Knock Hill to the hillfort on Saline Hill. There is not much to see of the fort but the weather was pretty terrible to be honest, low cloud and raining, so we probably missed the better bits (if there are any?). Cloud lifted and it stopped raining as we got down off the hill as it always seems to do with us.
28/07/2011 – Kerrera is a lovely island just off the coast near Oban. A short ferry trip dropped us off at the start of a really nice waymarked circular walk (7 miles) around the southern half of the island. A shortish climb off the track and the high point of the island is reached with its ancient cairn. The cairn is not much to write home about but the memory of the view from it will stay with me for a long time. There is a nice tearoom (shut Tuesdays if I remember right) on the island plus the parrot sanctuary is a must visit.
09/02/2013 – This is a good one. We parked at the farm and and asked if it was OK to visit the circle. No problems and friendly folk. The RSC is in a lovely little copse and with quite a few stones still standing. I liked the feel of the place, hidden away behind the last shed. The recumbent and flankers are great. Quite sunny today which lit the circle well through the bare trees. Nice farm shop as well. Bought some cakes which went down well with a cup of coffee at our next stop – the bench next to Strichen stone circle.
03/02/2013 – Like a lot of folk, I found this too restored and pristine for my taste last time I was here. Today I left with a bit more love for it than before. Winter is good at making places more rough and ready and today it was working its magic on Cullerie for me. It’s an odd little site and reminds me a little of Forvie kerb cairns. I don’t know if it’s the same dog as the one in Chris’ photo from 11 years back, but if it is, it still loves playing fetch. Nice end to a good day out.
03/02/2013 – I don’t know what it is about stone circles in woods but I love them. I guess that most were not originally in amongst trees but I think a nice clearing in a wood sure adds an enchanted feeling. Glassel stone circle is a special place. Five, small, upright stones, looking for all the world like they are deep in conversation and after a few thousand years they still haven’t run out of things to say.
There’s a nice photo on Canmore of the circle with the fallen stone re-erected from 1903, link below
02/02/2013 – Easy access for this one but cows are often in the field. From the Slacks (NJ 84433 14734) we went through the two gates across the road from the car park and walked the 500m NE to the hut circles. The three hut circles lay pretty much in a line, on top of a raise just before the ground slopes sharply down to the River Don. The first hut (NJ 8487 1509) we came to is easy to make out and the biggest of the three. 40m NE, the second hut (NJ 8489 1514) is the pick of the three. Good wall with some great stones standing just outside. The last hut (NJ 8491 1517) is another 20m on but was quite hard to make out. There are quite a few cairns in the area as well. Lovely weather today. Cold but sunny with the odd snow shower. I was really taken with the place. The view from the hut circles over the fields to the River Don and beyond to Bennachie is quite special. Easy to see why they picked here to make their home. If you are in the area visiting the Slacks cairn, its well worth adding these to the day as well.
27/01/2013 – I been wanting to have a walk round here for a while. Looking at the photos on TMA, the big stone at the cairn had caught my eye. Overnight, it had been quite warm so snow was melting pretty fast and with the cairn being in a wood I guessed it would be pretty snow free. I was wrong. I managed to get the car stuck at the start of the walk. We just left it there and walked the short distance to the cairn. There was still too much snow to make much of it out so I’ll have to come back later in the year. It is a nice setting in the wood though and the snow was nice to walk in. Back at the road I finally managed to get the car out with a helpful push from Mrs T. Short walk in an area full of interest.
12/01/2013 – We started from the small car park at NJ 5285 5467. There is a path heading north just past the entrance to the farm as the road turns left to Knockbog. Climbing a short way through trees the path then turns east to contour round the hill. This took us to just north of the circle with an easy walk of 100m through the wood south to reach it. Last time here the undergrowth hid the small stones and it was quite hard to make out the circle. Today it had all died back and what a brilliant difference it made. This really is a nice little circle on the edge of a peaceful wood. We headed back to the path and then north along a fence line to climb Knock Hill. If you are going up the hill it’s well worth paying this circle a visit as well. Lovely if a bit chilly day.
06/01/2013 – Last time I was here was 5 years back. Unbelievably windy day that had us hiding behind the trigpoint in case our sandwiches blew away. Today, though still pretty windy, we managed to have a better look at the ramparts that make up the fort. I wonder why it was never completed? As Drew writes in his fieldnotes, the views all round are great. We parked at the start of the Ben Rinnes path (NJ 2847 3596) and made our way round the track on the west side of Meikle Conval to the col between it and Little Conval. A short climb up a path took us to the fort. Back over Meikle Conval is a nice way back to the car. Fine day out.
02/01/2013 – Slowly working my way through the recumbent stone circles. I’ve looked at this one from Tap o’Noth a few times but never visited. Today the weather was good so after we got back to the car from visiting the hillfort I thought we’d give it a go. The circle is in a small copse of trees not far from the road. We parked pretty much south and walked along the edge of a field to get to it. Barbed wire fence blocked our way but with a New Year spring in our step we were soon over and into the wood (if only that was true, we got over eventually though). What a cracking circle this must have been back in the day. Just one stone still standing with a few others lying where they fell. I liked this one very much.
07/09/2010 – Nice cairn on summit of Cronk ny Arrey Laa (Hill of the Day Watch). Easy access from east. Very cloudy when we went but the view must be great. Worth visiting if you have time is Lag ny Keeilley (site of an early 8th century christian hermitage) on the steep west slope of the hill. One of the most amazing places I’ve been to in my life.
07/09/2010 – Great hill with fantastic view not that I saw it as the day we went the cloudbase was very low. Nice hillfort covering summit with good access from the west. More folklore about this hill than you can shake a stick at.
27/12/2012 – Parked near the top of the Horseshoe Pass. We started the day by visiting the cairns on Cyrn y Brain. Once back at the car we took the ridge west to Moel y Gamelin cairn and then on to Moel y Gaer hillfort. I had not realised just how up and down the walk was (do they do flat round here?) and was quite tried but happy when we reached the fort. What a great place for it! Wall best viewed on west side. We sat for a while watching the rain making it’s way towards us then carried on to Moel Morfydd before it got too bad. Took the footpath on the north side of hill back to the car. Worth mentioning is the Ponderosa Cafe opposite the car park. Very friendly folk and good value. (I had pasty, chips, peas and gravy – Happy Christmas belly god).
26/12/2012 – It’s been a while since I was here. I remember a pretty miserable trudge over Kinder to camp at Hayfield for the night as a teenager, many moons ago. Today we parked in Hayfield, opposite the campsite and set off walking past Tunstead to climb the west side of Kinderlow to the cairn. From the 427m mark on OS map to the cairn it gets quite steep but it is a nice walk with the view getting ever better as we climbed. The cairn is grassed over but has a few visible kerbstones. At around the 600m mark the view from the cairn is fantastic, looking west to Manchester and beyond. The weather was kind to us today, with the sun coming out as we reached the cairn. Well worth a visit and a pretty good way to burn off the Xmas pud as well.
11/11/2012 – After a visit to Jock’s Cairn on the west side of Sma’ Glen in the morning we headed up Dun Mor from Newton Bridge to have a look at this hillfort on the east side of the glen. Straight forward walk over shortish heather. The fort is fantastic. Double walls, best seen on the south side. Great location. Well worth a visit.
11/11/2012 – I was on the hill north of Jock’s Cairn earlier in the year and had made my mind up to visit this one when I next got the chance. Weather was pretty good on Sunday so we headed to Sma’ Glen. Parked at Newton Bridge and climbed the steep north side of the hill to the cairn. The cairn has a pretty big footprint but is topped by a 2 metre modern cairn. The location of this one is superb. Sma’ Glen is a favorite place.
21/10/2012 – This cairn is halfway along Gleann Beag on the east side of the river. The road is on the west so if you want the quickest route to the cairn you are going to have to get your feet wet. We crossed the river just north of the cairn and it wasn’t that bad today but could be tricky after heavy rain or snow melt. The cairn is on a small rise with a fantastic view up and down the glen. Most of the stones have been displaced to the east side but the cist is visible with a possible capstone next to it. It’s worth a visit if you are passing through.
21/10/2012 – Parking at the Spittal of Glenshee church we headed down the track on the north side of the Shee Water. Passing the fantastic standing stone behind the church on it’s little hill called Dun Shith (Hill of the Fairies) we walked 500m to the cairn. The robbed cairn is very low laying with few stones showing through the grass. Not really the most exciting cairn but the area is lovely. If you visit, keep an eye out for the fairy folk, if they are real this is as good a place as any to catch a glimpse.
14/10/2012 – Harvey’s Cairn is pretty close to Tyrebagger stone circle. We took the track that runs SW- NE until we were just north of the cairn then made our way through the trees to the cairn. The cairn is quite wide but has suffered over the years. There are a few bigger stones around the base. Tucked just inside the wood with lots of thick green moss on the stones gave it a bit of an enchanted feel today.
29/09/2012 – On the way back from Cornwall to Aberdeen we stopped off to have a walk on Long Mynd. Starting from Carding Mill Valley we made our way west to Pole Bank. A few good tumuli on here to look at but once I saw Bodbury Ring I had to make my way over to have a look. Great hillfort in a superb location. Big wall on north side, steep down to valley on south. Great view to the Wrekin and beyond.
27/09/2012 – For weeks to come I’m going to be having nightmares about this one. It looked so easy on the map. Park in the layby (SW 68763639), take right of way on west of hill then stroll up last 300m to cairn, job done. All was going fine until the last bit. The final 300-400m is a hellish bash through bramble & gorse. Finally getting to the cairn we were left battered and bloodied and we still had to go back down. The cairn is a good one though. Spoiled slightly by trig, mast and reservoir. There must be a better way up then the one we took.
27/09/2012 – I like this one. Castle Pencaire fort sits on top of Tregonning Hill (boring fact alert – it’s the most southern hill in Britain with a drop of 100 metres or more on all sides). Because of the drop, the view is very good. Quite overgrown but the walls of fort are easy to make out. Parked at Balwest, waymarked path to top.