thelonious

24/06/2023 – A nice heel-shaped chambered cairn on a rocky knoll just above Bays Water loch. The slightly concave front of the cairn faces SE. A fantastic Neolithic settlement just beyond.

24/06/2023 – Heading over Gossaford after a visit to Muckle Roe we stopped by to see this cairn. It’s a low cairn of stones but big diameter, round 17m. The location is just great, really fine view to the sea and Busta Voe. Worth a visit to while away an afternoon in the sunshine.

23/06/2023 – After having a good look round the Neolithic Axe Factory, we walked the short distance to this chambered cairn. Passage and chamber survive. I wasn’t that sure about it at first. Placement on the hill and direction of passage seem unusual. We sat and had our sandwiches, after an hour it was time to leave. I felt happier about the cairn after spending some time with it. The location is wonderful.

23/06/2023 – A sunny visit to Beorgs Of Uyea. West of North Roe at the top of mainland Shetland. Neolithic Axe Factory and a Chambered Cairn marked on the OS map proved too hard a pull to ignore. I’ve been wanting to visit here for years. Straight off the ferry and an early start. Good parking at North Roe and then a track west to the site. It’s a lovely place to spend the day. Neolithic Felsite quarrying is all over a large area. Broken stones of Felsite dykes are scattered everywhere. Grey stones of Felsite surrounded by pink stones of Ronas Hill Granite. There’s a gallery covered by lintel stones that could have been a workshop. Weather was just great. Magic day out.

The paper about the role of Felsite in Neolithic Shetland is well worth a look – see links below.

27/05/2023 – Canmore has a ‘probable crannog’ listed at the north end of Loch Builg. We were passing on the south side so not really close to have a good look. I’m not too sure after looking at aerial photos online. Thought I’d add anyway, you never know.

Might go that way next time. It’s a little bit in the middle of nowhere. Nice area though.

19/04/2023 – Evening walk to Cairn-mon-earn. It’s been 12 years since our last visit here. This was our first time up after sunset, just for something different really. Started from the small parking area just off the Slug Road. It’s an easy 45min walk up a curving track to the top. Quiet this evening. We sat, had a brew and watched the sky slowly turn dark. Really good stars tonight. The Bronze Age cairn at the top is big, 17m in diameter by 3m in height. A nice midweek walk.

31/03/2023 – Newgrange. Last stop of a lovely day out looking at stones and the main reason we had made the trip. Great to finally make it here after our cancelled trip 3 years back. We took a tour bus from Dublin. Mary Gibbons tour of Hill of Tara, Knowth & Newgrange. Can’t recommend it enough. She’s excellent. I know tours ain’t everyone’s thing, but you don’t get any less or more time there than if you made your own way to Newgrange and it just takes all the hassle out of getting there from the city. Only small groups too which was a really nice bonus as it was peaceful.

Allowed time there is short but again like Knowth, not overcrowded. The entrance of Newgrange passage tomb is pretty in your face but I liked it. White quartz covers the front, the just fantastic entrance stone guards the way in, with its spiral motifs. A wonderful stone. The inside chamber is wow. To look up and see that wonderful corbelled roof, very special. The light demo is very well done. Too soon it was time to leave. We had a quick walk round the outside of the mound, looking at the rock art on the kerbstones then headed back to the bus, a bit soggy from the rain but very happy.

Just magic to have finally made it to the Boyne Valley. Guess we all spend most of our time at sites that get seldom visited and it’s just us and the stones. Always a bit of a worry going to the big sites like Newgrange, Stonehenge and Skara Brae that the people/noise/rush with spoil the vibe. Newgrange/Knowth tour turned out great though, really enjoyed it. Should mention the visitor’s centre too, it’s excellent, I got myself a Newgrange tea towel to add to my collection!

31/03/2023 – Knowth Neolithic passage grave. Great site, big mound with 17 smaller satellite tombs surrounding it. I really liked this place. Top Site. Only a short time allowed there on the guided tour but that meant fewer people so the vibe was good. The rock art is just amazing. It rained but it didn’t much matter, a must visit site. The very good tour guide took us round the outside of the monster mound. 127 kerbstones surround the base. The carvings are a wonder. just too much to take in on one visit. A few seem to show both waxing and waning phases of the moon maybe. Both passage entrances with good. I like the standing stone in front of each. The ground at the entrance is covered in quartz. I maybe just preferred Knowth to Newgrange. It is an amazing site. You can walk to the top of the mound. The view is nice and good for seeing Knowth’s place in the landscape. It was a very good visit.