Vicster

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.