The walk from The Hurlers to the Cheesewring is magnificent. As you walk across the open land, you can see the site getting bigger and bigger and more and more spectacular.
This really is an amazing landscape and once you venture to the top, it really is one of those “top if the world” feelings.
Fabulous.
Just returned from a trip here and suffered the same fate as Jane and Treaclechops did on their trip – a party of 4 adults + dogs strewn across the circle which made photography and, more importantly, investigation of the site a no-no.
It didn’t help that I misread Cronezone’s directions and had walked back to the 2 footpath signs and taken the right one from here, rather than from where I had parked the car. So, I had already spent 45 minutes stagggering through pretty high bracken wondering where on earth the blighter was!
Anyhoo, I hung around for few minutes and explained that I wanted to take some photos but they weren’t for moving, so headed off again. At least I will know where it is, next time I visit! Oh, and the views across the bay are amazing.
2nd visit – 4 weeks later. Came back determined to get some good pictures and with Vicky and a picnic in tow. What we hadn’t expected was the travellers camp which had set up just across from here! Once again, there were a few folk around but this time they were more than happy to vacate the circle so we could get some pictures and have a proper nosey round. This is a cracking site but I think it is just too accessible in a way – there were the remnants of a fire bulit in the centre of the circle and evidence of a couple other fire pits on the path; this combined with the red paint on one of the stones made me think that this merely a party-spot for some. Ah well.....
Finally!!!! After driving past this site lord only knows how many times and making a hundred promises to myself to visit, I finally made it on Saturday. Inspired by a certain Dr Burl, who we had just witnessed giving a rather humourous talk in Penrith about Cumbrian stone circles, we jumped in the car and headed out, mapless but determined. Fortunately, Dom has a great sense of direction and I had vague memories of having checked out the route when I had planned to visit previously and we found Gunnerwell Farm without too many u-turns!
We parked on the road and walked down to the farm – I don’t know whether the farm was ever sold but if it was, the new owners seem as friendly and welcoming as the previous ones. We did see the stone standing in the field outside the house but weren’t sure whether this was just one of those cheeky old glacial erratics which manage to get everyhere round this bit of Cumbria.
From the farm, you just go through the gate and follow the field straight down – access is easy and no longer do you need to take your life in your hands and climb over dangerous walls. Jane will be pleased!
The M6 wasn’t too busy and it was a stunningly beautiful day so we pottered around for some time – Dom mentioned the resemblance to Croft Moraig and I have to admit, it is equally as “messy” – it looks as if 2 groups of peope were trying to out-do each other and it just ended up as one big stone-fest! There are a couple of those lovely pink stones you find at Kemp Howe and Gamelands too which looked fab in the sunshine. Perversley, you actually get a better sense of this circle as you drive by on the M6 than when you are stood in the centre of it, so we climbed up to the top of the field to look down and see it is all of its glory.
A fabulous site to visit after being so inspired by Dr Burl and a good way to end the day. Bliss.
After yet another visit to this intriguing site it seems clearer than ever that the entrance to the henge is aligned with a notch on the hill which is due east. This appears to be the point where the midwinter sun rises.
Whether I will ever be brave/foolhardy enough to trek over boggy fields to spend a few hours on this wind swept land in the middle of winter to check this out for myself remains to be seen!
I would advise that you visit in winter so that you get a better idea of what a huge site this is. Even without the leaves and foilage, it is a hard site to decipher when you first enter but after we had walked the entire circumferance of this mighty henge, we had a better idea of what we were looking at!
It really is rather huge and impressive.
We left it a bit late to look for this stone and it was dusk as we hit the the gardens. After looking at a couple of big stones by bins (“surely they wouldn’t put it be a bin?” we hoped) we spotted it in a line of stones along the path on the right hand side as you approach the museum.
It is strange in that there is NOTHING to alert you to its presence or where it is from (this is a museum garden, after all) – it is as if they don’t even realise it is there. It seems just stuck in with a load of other path-lining rocks. Strange.
The light wasn’t good enough to get any decent shots but it was lovely to see, after being fed a diet of Romans and Vikings all day!
Camped in the field next to these last night and took the opportunity to have a good look around. Am now more confused than ever! They do look positively henge-like as you approach but there doesn’t seem to be any continuity and nothing is “finished off” Also, there is evidence of quarrying and there are a couple of large holes (now lovely – but very deep – ponds with ducks a plenty)
If these are the residue of quarrying then it seems that they would be less stylised to me. Also, someone would know because the quarrying would’ve been done in the last couple of hundred years, so there would be records, surely? BUT......why so many half henges???? Agh, it is frustrating. I’ll post some pix and see what you all think
It’s HUGE!!!!
But.....is it a long barrow????? We had just spent the morning at an archaeology conference in Penrith and had been told in no uncertain terms that there aren’t any long barrows in Cumbria. As we had spotted this site on a previous outing last year (as we were on the road to Moor Divock from the Clifton stones) and had promised ourselves a return trip, we felt that today was the day. Could we prove the archaeo bod wrong?
As Dom quite rightly pointed out, its situation is perfect for a LB, on a slight rise and highly visible from all directions. But....if it really is a LB then it should be famous and have a visitor centre because it is absolutely massive!!
We went into the field alongside it and it must measure at least 100m. It ticks most of the boxes but it just seems impossible that such a huge structure could’ve gone un-noticed by so many folks for so long.
So, maybe that guy from Cumbria Archaeology unit was right and there aren’t any LBs in Cumbria afterall?
My 2nd attempt to find these stones was fortunately successful; Vicky and I tried around a month ago but the OS map was slightly out and we spent an hour wandering around the woods in the rain geting more and more frustrated.
The easiest way to find them is to park by the picnic benches at the bottom of the public footpath. This is a steep path initially, and very slippy underfoot in the rain so beware, but levels out after about 10 minutes. Just as you start dropping down there is a gate on the right hand side with a map giving directions to “the rocking stones” There were bullocks in the field but they didn’t seem very interested in us and when we finally came across the stones, it felt like we were totally alone in this most beautiful of landscapes.
I would definitely recommend visiting in late autumn when the trees have lost their leaves and you can see the whole landscape, it is stunningly beautiful. When you first approach the stones they seem much smaller than they appear in the pictures on here but when you get up close they seem to grow in stature. Lovely.
Bloody hell, it was windy! We nearly got blown off the hill when we reached the Broch and Mark gave me one of ‘those’ looks which I took to mean, “never again will I follow you up a hill in a force 8 gale”. Oh well.
Easy to find, with a brown tourist sign pointing you in the right direction. The visitor centre is closed in winter though, although the toilets remain open all year round (very obliging folk, the Hebrideans)
This was my first broch and to say it is impressive is an understatement. When I visited Newgrange I was blown away by the corbelled ceiling and here I was equally amazed at the skill and ingenuity of the people who built this. Incredible.
I have driven past this stone on previous visits to Harris but this was the first time I got to see it up close and personal. There is a sign on the road for parking, with a bench by it. Park here and then make your way across the beach and up the sandy headland...it initally looks closer than it is and with the wind howling around us we were knackered by the time we reached the stone. But it was worth it. The views across to Taransay were amazing and the stone is another of those skinny Hebridean ones which shouldn’t still be still be standing after all of these years.
My second visit to this site in 3 years and the most striking difference is that the landscape in November is even more extreme. The peatland is now a glorious rust colour and the hills are covered in low cloud. This time I did the walk between the 3 sites alone and it felt exhilirating. I saw no one else the whole time and other than wondering whether I was about to be consumed by a peat bog at one piont, the whole experience was spine tingling.
I stood at the stones and kept looking around me, surrounded by the stones of Callanish on all sides and with Cailleach na Mointeach on the horizon; it really is the most incredible of places.
It has been closed every time I’ve tried to visit! Anyone else had better luck?
At last, at last!
Embarrassingly, this was my 4th attempt to find this circle and I set out today in the knowledge that this time I absolutley KNEW where it was. In the past I have parked at Bent Lane but today I continued past for another 1/2 mile or so up the hill until I came to the next public footpath on the left and parked here.
The footpath is really very stoney and uneven so not suitable for those with mobility problems, or pushchairs. When I hit the 5th field boundary, I stood on the gate and spotted the circle; it is tiny so quite easy to miss. Then I spotted the bull....bugger!
There was no way I was going home without getting closer than this, so I hopped over the drystone wall into the adjacent field and walked down the very steep and uneven hill until I was level with the circle. I then had to contend with some of the most belligerent sheep I have come across but finally made it to the circle, keeping my eye on the top end of the field where the bull was residing. It was then I remembered I was wearing a cerise pink top and started wondering whether bulls react to pink in the same way they react to red!
What a beauty! Similar in size to the 9 Ladies on Stanton Moor but with the added bonus of the most spectacular views over the Lune Valley and sitting on it’s own tiny platform, this is just the most perfect of circles. I wish I could’ve stayed longer but I didn’t want to push my luck with the livestock and so took a few pix and a video then headed back up the VERY STEEP hill. Knackering but worth it!
We were taken to Knowth first as part of our “Newgrange Experience” and although the site was amazing, the whole tour side of it was slightly disappointing. Our guide just seemed really, really bored, which I can appreciate when you have to give the same talk 6 times a day to groups of barely interested tourists.... Our group consisted of a large number of people who didn’t really speak English, so the whole thing was just odd. However, I would’ve thought that having 2 excited, squealing women, who were obviously REALLY INTERESTED may have offered a bit of a challenge to him, but it wasn’t to be.
I loved the whole layout of Knowth with the excavated satellite tombs exposed so we could have a good old nosey at them. I also liked the fact that they had made an effort with re-erecting the timber circle but I was more than a little hacked off at the extent of what we got to see inside the tomb.
I did like the exposed wall, showing the depth of the tomb and the layers of construction (I think I am turning into a bloke, I am becoming more fascinated by engineering and construction!!)
I tried to engage the guide in some conversation, hoping he would suddenly become animated and tell us lots of amazing things, but he didn’t. Oh well, you can but try.
The carved kerb stones really were amazing to behold though.
We were luckier at Newgrange with our guide than we had been at Knowth. He was far more interested and interesting, even though he had such a short amount of time to “talk the talk”.
I had been so thoroughly warned about the commercialism of this site that I turned up expecting to be disappointed; a great idea, as it turns out, because it was actually less Disneyfied than I had imagined and I had a great time!
We really didn’t have enough time to walk around the outside of the site though and our photos felt rushed rather than thought out – I think we just pointed and clicked, hoping we could get it all in! That evening, when I read about the site I realised that we had missed loads of interesting stuff. Ah well, good excuse for a return visit.
At Loughcrew I felt quite emotional, seeing inside the passage and into the chamber. A similar thing happened here but it was the roof which took my breath away. I just kept staring up at it, unable to comprehend the incredible feat of engineering I was witnessing. I’m not sure about the facade of the tomb, whether the quartz was indeed used as a covering, although it seems as plausible as using gypsum to cover sites. I liked the idea of it being used as a ceremonial walkway though.
All in all, I was mightily impressed with Newgrange and I have to say that, if you have to have a visitor centre, then have one like this! It was very sympathetically designed and the interpretative centre was pretty good.
Just to echo others here; as we were leaving around 2pm, they were turning people away as all of the tours were fully booked. I would recommend you get there by lunchtime at the latest (oh and the food was great too....I now have a bottle of Bru Na Boinne springwater on my shelf with Newgrange on the label; great souvenir!!)
We were so hungry and tired by the time we got here that we just sat and ate our butties, whilst lots of Italian tourists came by, stood by the dolmen, took a picture and then left. Why is it that men always have to pose for photos like they are trying to pull? One arm, ever so casually raised, resting on the stone and a look of disinterest on their face? Maybe I’ve just met some strange men over the years.
Anyway, when we eventually felt revived by our tuna butties and apple juice, we explored. This is a huge bugger! The capstone is so enormous you just cannot imagine how it ended up on top of the portal stones. It must have been in-situ and the rest built up under it, surely?
The rather industrial backdrop of garages and workshops doesn’t exactly lend itself to an atmospheric location and the chikcen wire fence is less than lovely but this really is a site/sight to behold
We walked around the whole site, trying to get our bearings and were just amazed by the evidence of 5000 years of habitation, before heading towards the Mound of Hostages (another great name!)
Sadly, after having such excellent access at Loughcrew, the metal gate at the entrance of the tomb was a real downer. I managed to take some photos through the bars but the site felt unloved and neglected, which is strange as there were quite a few people around. Rubbish was strewn on the floor of the passage and it made me feel sad that such a site should be treated like this.
The carvings on the stone in the passage were clearly defined, even from the “outside” and I would’ve loved to have been able to see them closer.
After visiting Loughcrew, we headed for Tara. Unfortunately, before you hit the site of these 2 stones, you have to cross the path of St Patrick, which somewhat offended our lapsed-Catholic sensibilities!!
However, we struggled gamely by and entered the churchyard, the 2 stones immediately apparent on the right hand side. No-one else seemed remotely interested in them and we tried to photograph the larger stone with its carvings but the light just wasn’t right (the pictures I did take are pretty much duplicates of what has already been posted here, so I won’t bother you with them)
I like seeing stones standing in churchyards, there’s something quite heroic about it! Many people we spoke to whilst in Ireland commented upon how superstition had actually saved many of the sites from being destroyed, which is the only good reason I can think of for holding such beliefs!
As we approached Loughcrew, we wondered about getting the key, as advised in the many books we had read. However, when we got to the car park there was a note saying that guides were up on the hill and to come up and join them. So we did!
There were a group of 5 people head of us so we spent the first 30 minutes looking around the satellite sites and stones & taking some photos. We then approached one of the guides, a really lovely man called George Knight, and spent a good 15 minutes with him, chatting about the sites and asking him about access to Patrickstown. He was so enthusiastic about Loughcrew and had many, many theories about the site that I could’ve talked with him all day. However, we still hadn’t been inside the pasage tomb and he was due to take 4 other people in, so we joined them.
Bugger me, that is one impressive place! I thought Vicky was going to pass out with excitement at one point, the whole place is just so awe-inspiring. My head hurt when we tried to think of the science and maths which must’ve gone into working out all of the alignments. I get that tingly feeling all the time when visiting ancient sites but this was ridiculous! We were like love-struck teenagers!
George spent a good 20 minutes describing the alignments and the way that the sun floods the chamber on the winter solstice. He also talked about the theories he has about the alignment of other passage graves within the area. Other than the light from his torch, it was dark inside the tomb, so we were just pointing and clicking with our cameras, some of the pictures were incredible, others less so; though I really don’t think photos can do this place justice.
If you only have time to visit one place in Ireland, I would suggest you go for this one. It is incredible.
A word of warning. The approach to this beautiful wedge tomb is short but very, very steep! My knee almost gave out but I perservered and I am glad I did because it is well worth it. Although in a ruinous state, it is set amongst some lovely woodland and there is still plenty to see. Andy explained that local youths tend to use this area for partying and car burning but it seems to have survived this latest onslaught.
Again, the views must have been spectacular when it was first built; if you remove the planted forest, you would look straight over what is now Dublin and across to the sea.
Ballybrack is siutated on the beautifully named Cromlech Fields. Someone obviously thought long and hard about that one! It isn’t fields at all, but a council estate just outside Dublin, but never mind.
Having recently visited Hully Hill near Edinburgh, when Andy suggested we visit this site, we both jumped at the chance. It is so unusual to see prehistoric monuments surviving the onslaught of the 20th/21st centrury, that I am always somehow lifted by these sites. Yes, they are shown little respect and are often mis-treated, but they do still exist.
There was broken glass and crisp packets strewn all over but the stones retained some beautiful markings and at least they hadn’t been too badly damaged over the years.
This was our final site on a very short but packed evening in the lovely Ryaner’s company and it seemed fitting to leave him at this site and head back onto the motorway and back into Co. Meath.
This was Vicky’s favourite site of the day. I must admit, the journey up there did help; having to risk the electric fence (switched off!) and the hounds howling in the distance made for an exhilirating few minutes..... and then, when we saw the huge capstone before us, in amongst the gorse, it was incredible. Vicky spotted a fox, running into the gorse which made things even more fantastic!
Having been at Browne’s Hill a couple of hours earlier and being slightly disappointed by the atmosphere of the place, this was just perfect. I like having to make an effort to see a site and the fact that this beautiful portal tomb is siutated in what feels like a wilder, unvisited landscape made the whole thing seem that much more impressive. The capstone is massive and has a “head”, almost serpent-like. Andy said that it has been described as sphynx-like and I really could see the connection.
We explored for a good while and then Andy took us over to some stones which he believed had some markings on them. It was bit of a hairy climb up, trying to get all three of us balanced on the stones below but when Andy pointed out the stone in question, it was worth it. A definite pattern of chevrons was carved into the rock edge and continued on the other side. It was pertty hard to see because of the way the rocks have been dumped by land clearance but it was definitely there.
This is an awe-inspiring place; once again I had to wonder at the ingenuity (or madness) of the people who engineered the massive capstone into place on the dolmen and the fact that it is still intact.
This was our next stop after Athgreany circle and was just as spectacular. Again, it is signed from the main road and there is a wee parking space by the gateway.
I loved the 2 great hulking quartz stones, surrounded by smaller granite ones (my knowledge of geology isn’t great, so feel free to correct me at any time) but had to wonder at the discarded stones behind a tree; one had been drilled so accurately across that it had broken in two.
Again, this is quite a small and very round circle, set amidst the most stunning of locations. Some of the stones were incredibley weathered, where others have survived the last 4 milleniums quite well.
You can just about make out the inscription marks on this stone, which is rather weirdly placed within a green in the middleof the village and stands alongside a statue of the Virgin Mary!
After the disappointment of not being able to get close to either the Punchestown Stone nor the Craddockstown Stone, we arrived here fairly down-hearted. We pulled onto the side of the road by the sign for the circle and headed up the hill.
When we reached the top of the incline, our mood immediately lifted when we saw the most beautiful circle in front of us. This is a very round circle and reminded me of Glenquickan in Scotland, both in size (although the stones here are much bigger) and the location.
There was a family already there, father and 3 kids and I noiticed that he had Burl’s guide with him. We started chatting and he explained that he had been helping a friend excavate the site on the day the picture for Burl’s book was taken. This was the first time he had been back to the site and he was trying to work out the postion of the photo. After 30 minutes of chatting, he recommended other sites for us to visit in the area and the combination of the stones and the kindness of strangers made our disappointing morning a distant memory.
I think that this was my favourite of the sites we visited on Sunday with Ryaner. Maybe it was the rather hilarious walk, with all 3 of us stumbling and getting caught on bits of dead tree at some point (and me almost falling into the smallest ditch imaginable) but it is more likely the absolutely magical setting of the stones.
Andy’s previous visit was still in evidence and the bracken was quite low, revealing the most beautiful stones. Some of them were almost completely covered in moss and lichen but they still looked amazing. Vicky and I had a good wander around the outside to see if there was an outlier but there doesn’t seem to be anything else in the woods linked to this site.
Andy pointed out and named the hills surrounding the site (which I have now forgotten!) and you can imagine the views from here before the forest was planted up. Fantastic! On the way back down, he noticed a stone amongst a pile of broken wood which could very easily be one of the missing stones; same size and weathering.
Oddly, there were 3 cider drinking Scandinavians sat in the centre of the circle which was pretty unusual because it isn’t the kind of place a causal observer would stumble on and they didn’t actually seem that interested in the circle itself, just their Bulmers! Made photographing the circle a bit hard but nothing could ruin the absolute magic of this place.
We passed by here on our way from Hully Hill to Glenhead Stone Row (we took the scenic route!)
We parked in the handy lay-by but couldn’t find a way into the field. The double row barbed wire fence was more than off-putting and there was no gateway evident, so we had to make do with gazing upon it from the roadside (not ideal)
The large stone looked magnificent and reminded us of some of the Machrie stones, weathered and lined with age......and I do like a stone with a hole in it!
Tried to get some pix but nothing worth posting here came out. It would seem sensible to have a stile to allow people into the field. I guess some farmers just aren’t as open to having folks traipsing around their land as others. Shame.
After the disappointment of not being able to get close the to stone row, due to HUGE crops in the field, this beauty more than made up for it!
We followed the path down towards the farm, taking the right turn up a scrubby, nettle-filled pathway. Negotiating our way past copious nettle plants and bitey insects wasn’t fun (it was boiling hot and we weren’t exactly dressed for the jungle!) but when Vicky pointed out the stone through the trees on the left, I got that familiar tingle and felt more than pleased that we had come here.
We turned left at the end of the short path and walked a few yards along the edge of the field – the stone was almost hidden amongst the wild plants and flowers and glowed a wonderful white in the evening sun. In fact, it looked so white that I wondered for a moment whether it was actually real! It looked like it was made out of chalk or plaster.
It is a shame that the metal post is so visible but this stone is really rather beautiful and suits being set amongst the cool, green foliage. A cracker!
When we arrived it was late afternoon and the sun was still shining and the sky was still a dazzling blue. Excellent photo weather!
However, the field was in full crop and there was no way of getting to the stones. We could just about see the tips of the larger two sticking out over the top of the crop! Vicky had visited about 3 weeks earlier and had presumed the rape seed would’ve been harvested by now but sadly, it hadn’t been. Ah well!
There were quite a few people at the SAS monument but no-one even seemed aware of the fact that there was an even more beautiful and historic monument just a few hundred yards behind them!
I would advise that you visit in early srping or late autumn to avoid disappointment.
Parking is easy, room for a few cars and when we arrived there were about 10 cyclists all parked up too. Access is up a set of stone steps and then a walk up to the site so could be difficult for some. We headed straight for the Nissan hut, wanting to ask the guide whether Galabraes was linked to the site but she didn’t know. However, she was incredibly friendly and more than happy to talk us through the site itself.
Upon entering the cairn, the first thing I noticed was the smell; it was boiling hot outside but as I started climbing down, the smell of damp, dank earth hit me and the coolness of the enclosed chamber was startling. The damp air obviously had it’s effect on the stones, which were bright green in places; so green in fact, that I initially thought it had been painted on for effect!
It is hard to explain just how wonderful it is to see the stones in this way. Although you are surrounded by a fairly modern building, you can forget about that as you see the stones in the half-light and with the smell of the damp earth around you. Most burial chambers are now exposed (certainly the ones I’ve visited) and this just felt more real, somehow. Although the site was fairly busy, we were alone down there for a good 15 minutes. When we came back out, the heat and light was a bit of a shock. I took a 360 degree video from the top of the cairn, taking in the amazing landscape; as Vicky said, it felt like we in the middle of a bowl of hills, and the volcanic ridges to the east looked incredible. It’s not hard to see why Cairnpapple was built in such a place.
The post holes which are exposed on the east side fo the site are huge. You have to wonder at the size of the trees which once filled them and the energy it would have taken to get them there.
The huge mast really didn’t bother me too much, the whole place has such an amazing feel to it that it would take something really monumental to have a negative impace.
Am not sure whether the nearby industrial estate has just grown so much that the directions given by others are now obselete but I would suggest that anyone who wishes to witness just how much of the modern world has engulfed this site follow these simple directions.
Come off the roundabout by the petrol station and take the first left turn into the industrial estate. Take first right turn onto Chariot Way (I kid you not). Next right turn in Hully Hill Road; park along here and make your way towards to the tree lined area across the road. (You can actually see the smallest of the stones if you look to your right as you drive past the petrol station) Then, sit and wait 5 minutes for the first plane to fly overhead, so low that you think it may land on the cairn itself!
Just returned from a weekend on the West Cumbrian coast, where my main aims were to get to Grey Croft and Blakeley Raise. Mid summer, the weekend following the hottest week of the year so far and what happens? RAIN AND WIND...and lots of it. Grey Croft was a no-no as the wind and rain were just too much (we had packed expecting light showers with mainly sunny intervals, as the BBC had promised us!)
However, we did get to Blakeley Raise, following the road over the moors from Calder Bridge to Ennerdale. We nearly missed the site though, as the mist was so thick and low, we could barely see 10 ft in front of us. Mark wouldn’t even get out of the van, it was torrential rain but I risked it and I’m glad I did, such a beautiful site.
I’ll post the pix I managed to take, not because they are exceptional, but to show all you lucky blighters who seem to have been there in the sun, what the stones look like shrouded in mist and rain – very atmospheric!
I visited on a dull, grey day and my mood didn’t lighten when I realised that there were “ceremonies” being conducted within the circles. A group of women were being (for want of a better phrase) sprititually massaged by a middle aged man, whilst listening to “plink plink” music. Grrrrrr.....my issues with this kind of behaviour is that it makes the stones almost inaccessible for any other visitors. This was a Sunday morning (11am-ish) so I would assume it was pretty likely that others would want to visit at this time.
10 minutes later, a coach party of pensioners turned up but they were at least interested and I got a bit excited when I realised that Mike Parker Pearson was the tour guide! Once upon I time, I got excited when I met Michael Stipe; these days I’m an archaeology groupie!
I liked Stanton Drew but it felt a wee bit empty to me. Maybe it was the miserable weather but it didn’t lift me in the usual way...maybe I ned to return and have a better experience?
I first heard about this site from my friend who lives close by. He sent me some pictures which made me think it was a new find – 2 circles on Lewis and on the east side of the island. Pretty exciting stuff!
When I visited last week, I wasn’t so sure. As you approach, you can see 2 stones standing on top of the hill. Nothing unusal there as many Lewis circles are on prominent ridges.....but when I reached the site, some doubts kicked in. The complete circle is almost too perfect and is obviously man-made but I cannot be sure of its age. Mind you, I am no archaeologist, but it just looks like it is too precise and perfect.
The second circle actually looked more like a kerb cairn to my untrained eye but may well be a small, slightly ruinous circle. I have put up these pictures and fieldnotes to let others see and possibly give some insight.
Oh, and Margaret Curtis isn’t convinced (but maybe that’s because she is peeved she didn’t find them first! lol!) However, a report is soon to be published by the archaeologist who has been working on the site so maybe I will wait until I read it to come to a final decision.
Directions; travelling south down the island you will pass through Ballallan (Baile Ailein). There is a sign for a pub on the left hand side as you pass through the village and a left hand turn signed posted South Lochs. Take this turn and follow the road past the pub on your left (and the standing stone put up recently by a local on your right). On the right hand side is an unmarked road which leads to a cattle grid. The hill is straight ahead of you (park here) and you can see the 2 stones on the hilltop. It is a 5 minute scrabble up the hill (boggy peatland, be prepared).
What a site! Visited on our way up to Lewis for the Lunar Standstill and, having stayed overnight at a nearby campsite, decided to check this place out.
I had no idea it would be such a great site. The field was full of sheep with very young lambs so I didn’t want to stay too long for fear of freaking them out. The setting is superb I got a couple of excellent shots which I’ll post when I get my stuff downloaded.
I was impressed with the stones which make up the cairn but even more so by the solitary standing stone. I can’t think of a similar site but thn this is my first Clava Cairn so maybe they all look like this?
A beauty!
Visited today and someone had erected their own stone circle on the info board, which was a nice touch!
I think this is one for the enthusiasts though. I enjoyed seeing the unexcavated site and trying to work out how it must’ve looked but, even on a boiling hot day, it was pretty wet and boggy, so come prepared!
Strange, I must’ve been to Long Meg at least a dozen times over the last few years but I have never been to Glassonby before. Well, this weekend, I decided to rectify that and am really glad I did.
I spotted the site over the hedge as we drove out of the village – take the left hand fork at the village centre and the circle is in a field on your right hand side.
The grass was quite high and the approach is lovely; the centre of the circle was covered with blue bells. It is hard to photograph, other than on the approach, so I took a video. No sunlight = no shadows so I didn’t see any rock art.
Now I realise quite how easy it is to get to, I’ll come back on a better day and spend more time here. Lovely.
We asked the very old inhabitant of the equally old farmhouse at the bottom of the track if we could park for an hour and he was more than happy for us to do so. From what we could understand, the farmhouse was up for sale, so it’s probably been sold by now and parking wont be an option. Shame.
Anyway, we set up off the track and it was bitterly cold. West Cumbria in the first throws of Spring can be a bit of a shcok to the system! As usual, both Vicky and I managed to mistake small clumps of rocks and the occasional sheep for it – cries of “oooh, is that it?” were followed by an embarrassed silence as one of “the stones” stopped eating grass and raised its head to look at us. Oh dear.
Finally, we suddenly realised that we really could see it in the distance. As you approach, it seems smaller than it is and I found it hard to make out the dimensions. Once you are in the field though, it takes shape and the setting amongst the hills is just amazing. So perfect and round. Beautiful.
Moth wrote: “I wonder if at some stage someone will add some notes about this circle and not mention rain?”
Well, when I visited in June 2005 it was glorious weather, no rain at all!
We arrived in Killin mid-afternoon having aborted our trip to Aberfoyle after one night, due to noisy barking dogs and weirdo B&B owner. As we hadn’t planned on being in Killin, we didn’t have our OS map of the area, so I had to phone a friend in Chorley (“Hi Dom”) who had visited earlier in the year, to get directions to the circle.
By the time we’d eaten and settled into our new B&B it was approaching dusk, so we set off to find it. The walk to the circle was lovely, a fox crossed our path as we spotted the stones in the field but as it was getting dark (and the midges were getting frisky) we decided to come back the next day to look a little closer.
Next morning was less sunny but still dry. Walked back up to the circle and just revelled in the site – no one else around, peaceful and set in the most lovely of spots. Vicky and I did our usual “what do you think....?” “is that a cup mark?“, “why here....?” bit and I took a 360 degree video of the site. I love the compact feel of this circle and pondered whether 9 Stones Close may have looked similar in its original state?
I think I must just be a rubbish navigator (see most of my other field notes!).
Mind you, when Mark drives at 40mph down windy little roads and I’m looking for tell tale signs of stones or trying to follow the (usually excellent) directions left on here by others, what do you expect?
To be fair, the weather was atrocious; when we left Kington it was OK but as we started driving up here, the mists descended and we could barely see 50 yeards ahead at most times. Our frustration was growing and then, out of the mists, emerged an elderly gent with a waterproof OS map – fab!
We got our barings and set off again and eventually came across this beauty. We didn’t get to appreciate the views across the valley but we did get to see the cap stone rising out of the mist as we approached. Awesome.
If you follow IronMan’s directions you should find it OK
(Find it hard to believe that any drug user would come all the way up here to shoot up and saw no evidence of nocturnal passions either!)
A word of warning – try to make sure you don’t visit this site on the same day as the Red Arrows are in town!
A beautiful summers day, I thought I’d pop over the River Lune and check this out at last, only to find the whole of the hill swamped with families who had come to the highest point to get an amazing view of the Red Arrows flying over Morecambe Bay; it was HEAVING with people (even busier than Castlerigg usually is!)
My other visists have been in the evening, when it is a little quieter but I like the fact that locals use this place for gatherings, picnics and ocassionally camping.
It really does have the most amazing views.
Interestingly, the modern day crematorium is within spitting distance....
This is an absolute cracker! It is HUGE and you can see it as you drive along the moor from Bentham.
Some more enterprising folk have obviously brought modern power tools out here to “carve” their names in to the rock but as the surface of this stone appears to have been defaced over thousands of years, I guess we should applaud their ingenuity!
Fantastic views over to Ingleborough; climb up the carved steps and sit a-top this huge piece of stone and just gaze upon the view. It must’ve been amazing with the other 3 stones in situ. Lovely.
This was the first site we visited on our trip to Arran. Vicky had been before but it was my first time and I wasn’t about the let the inclement weather ruin my fun.
What a beautiful place this is – the views out across the water are stunning and the site so easy to access. However, it really did rain – and rain – and rain some more. Gave us lots to talk about in the car though, whilst trying to dry off a bit – kerb cairn or circle first?
Last time I visited, some hideous (human) beast had left a pile of excrement, complete with toilet paper, in one of the dips on the henge. I could not believe it! Kind of ruined the beauty of the whole site for a few minutes...
This is one of my favourite places, even though it has rained on each visit I’ve made and the last visit was in (what felt like) a force 10 gale. I think it adds to the sense of the place though, the wind and rain made it more exhilarating and when we climbed onto Gibb Hill and faced the direction of the weather, the rain hit our face like a thousand tiny needles. We had planned to try and get across to the incomplete henge in the next field but the elements were in control that day and we headed back for the car absolutely soaked to the skin but deliriously happy.
I couldn’t help but feel some small disappointment when we finally realised that the low hump at the top of the field was indeed the place we were looking for.
Maybe its something to do with the rather OTT name (Hill of Skulls???) but once you wander up the field and stand on top of what remains, the beauty of the vista before you and the fact that you can see both the Goggelby Stone and the site of the Thunder Stone make up for the initial reaction.
I would recommend walking between the 3 sites (and Asper’s Field) to get sense of the landscape.
This stone is just over the wall from the Goggleby Stone and has some lovely cup marks.
From the top of (what remains of) Skellaw, you can just make out this stone, standing in a field behind the farmhouse in the distance.
Very friendly farmer was more than happy for us to wander around in his field and the sense of how the sites were once connected is quite amazing.
We walked from The Goggleby Stone, across to Asper’s Field and onto Skellaw before heading out here and it is really worth it – bit too lazy to walk all the way back to Kemp Howe though!
This is a lovely stone, standing quite close to the roadside on the road to Attymass from Ballina.
(I think the hamlet is also signed as Currower)
As we approached, the first sunshine of the day broke through (it was 5pm and had been raining all day!) and the stone was visible on the left of the road.
One of the very few sites I managed to see on my very short break to Mayo but a lovely one, all the same.
I really should learn to look at the OS maps before I visit sites, you know.
On our way to the Merry Maidens we drove past this and I said “oh, wonder what that was” (Mark was doing his usual 60mph on country roads whilst I try to spot the stones as we whizz by!) and then spotted the Maidens in the field ahead.
We parked in the layby at the top of the road, walked down to the circle, across to Rith Menhir and then back along the road, via Tregiffian. I got all excited when I realised what we were approaching and, even though the road dissects the chamber, it is just great to see it within the context of the other sites. This muts’ve been the most amazing landscape at one time, littered with stones and fogous and chambers.