IronMan

Situated on the edge of the great Malham limestone plateau, this site is a strange one. This ‘four-poster’ is probably best left to the purist. If you are bringing a vehicle, the best thing to do is leave it at the bottom of the steep bit on the single track lane, then walk the mile or so up to the site (it’s not the easiest road in the world!) On the way, one of the highlights is the cave above the farm buildings on the left, looking like an imposing skull shaped castle it fair gets the mythical juices flowing. The stones themselves are initially disappointing. Persevere, there is a lot of character in these stones, from one angle they really do grab you (they did me anyhow!) As with the other sites around this area the views are fantastic.

A lovely little site. This site hardly gets mentioned, but don’t let that put you off. The stones and setting are gorgeous, I led here for 3/4 hour, on this solo trek, without worrying once about the bitter cold. These stones have great character. The view to the west is fantastic, on this day the tops were covered in snow, and stormy clouds gathered on the high ground over Malham. I’d been feeling depressed all week, pressures of work and other niggly little problems, this place just sorted me right out. I got the feeling that this site doesn’t get much attention, I’d love to know how long it is since the last person visited before me.

If you do intend to come here make sure you look at the images on TMA! I came with a map, and no idea what the site looked like. I think I must have found about six other suspect stones and sites before arriving at the correct one! Don’t get distracted by the hundreds of boulders lying temptingly all over the area, carry on, this isn’t a completely ruined circle, it is a recognisable one. The circle is on the brow of the hill – remember that!

One of the bigger stones is covered in cup marks, and if you check around the area a few of the stray stones have similar markings.

I last visited the site in Spring 1997. It’s depressing to see such a remote, innaccessible site like this being the victim of litter. Bottles, bags, the remains of several campsites, nylon rope and plastic barrels presumably from the fishing boats are scattered all over the area. The site itself is quite small, the roof has partially collapsed, but it is worth the visit. The long walk down from Glenbrittle is fantastic, and the return journey is made even more rewarding by the view of the Cuillin. The area is well worth exploring further for other remains including a cave used by neolithic flint knappers and Iron Age smiths, old hut circles and the ruined Dun that gave the point its name.

The carved boulder at Copt Howe lies just outside Chapel Stile, on the road from Ambleside to Dungeon Ghyll. Approach slowly when leaving the village, a clearing with boulders and ferns lies to the right hand side of the road – continue down until the road runs between two walls. You will see a small lay-by, room for one car only, on the opposite side of the road is a gate. Look over the gate and if you’re at the right place you’ll see a drystone wall intersecting two huge boulders. The far boulder is carved.

This is a beautiful site. The carvings are into hard rock and are very gentle. I had been to Rombald’s Moor on the previous day, with its weather worn deep recesses, Copt Howe’s carving are much gentler and therefore much more elusive. In places the lines disappear and merge with the natural features. The suggestion that these carvings could in fact be a map holds ground here (see my annotated image).

A couple of climbers were bouldering on the adjacent large boulder and chatted with me about the shitty weather. This is a very peaceful contemplative place, and is well worth the visit if en route to the far end of Langdale valley, site of the axe factory.

On first arriving at the Badger Stone I must admit I was a bit disapointed. I just didn’t get it. I was tired after excitedly stomping straight across the open moorland from the mound above the waterfall near the White Well’s car park, so I decided to lie down and rest on the bench for a while.

A few minutes later I felt the sun streaming across my face, and so jumped up to take a look at the stone. I couldn’t help but laugh, every last feature was illuminated before me, my disapointment turned to overwhelming joy as I poured over this wonder. The sun stayed with me for 3/4 hour in which time I found myself narrowing in more and more to the surface of the rock. From the initially confusing bigger picture, I soon realised that to appreciate the stone you must get in close, and forget EVERYTHING you know about ‘art’ appreciation. Ideas streamed through my mind about what the stone represented, I thought about ideas I’d read that this was a kind of map – then I started to see the stone as a storytelling device – representing long forgotten places, people, henges, burial sites, hills, events etc. – in short a means of recording both temporal and spacial ‘things’ in an organic record. Of course any ideas about the purpose will inevitably remain just that, but just to contemplate is an amazing experience.

What can I say about Rombald’s Moor. I’ve only been a couple of times, both in the last couple of weeks. I don’t know why ‘cause it’s probably the closest major site to my home. On the first visit I headed straight for the Twelve Apostles. It was getting late, and I was stuck for time. So for my latest visit (9/2/2) I got there nice and early in the morning, and spent a full day. I ended up spending a lot of my time huddled over the sexy Badger Stone, with a tour of some of the other attractions to follow.

All I can say is this has made my love of all things megalithic even more intense. The whole moor is like a playground for the imagination. A dreamlike quality pervades as you travel from stone to stone. After a while I found myself putting my map and list of grid refs away and just looking, the place is literally full of rock art.

It is a very powerful place.

On the downside a lot of the stones are vandalised. I can understand a need to leave a mark behind, almost in the tradition of these stones themselves – but there are plenty of unmarked rocks scattered across the moor. It just seems like people want to destroy this wonder on their doorstep. Perhaps if folk were educated correctly, and taught to have a sense of pride in this, their true heritage, then maybe it wouldn’t happen, who knows.

A word of warning: Be prepared for strange looks from the runners and walkers... :)