Ireland Excursion - Pt 4
The story continues...
A break from the stones? No chance! – 2nd July
Today was supposed to be a relaxing day, just driving around the Beara peninsular with just a single scheduled stop to see Ardgroom Outward before moving up towards Killarney. Needless to say, we never made it.
We started out with all good intentions, and thoroughly enjoyed driving over the Healy Pass (approx 1200 feet above sea level – high!), meeting and chatting to a couple from Devon at the shop at the top of the pass. Dropping down on the other side, we took a wrong turn, and spotted a signpost to Shronebirane Stone Circle. A quick check in the books and maps showed that it lay a long way off the road, so gritting my teeth, we carried on.
In this part of the world, the circles seem to be well signposted, in comparison to the Rosscarbery area. The next sign we saw was to Cashelkeelty, and I had to stop.
After the climb, I was in need of a drink so we carried on into Ardgroom for lunch at the Village Inn. The seafood chowder was to die for.
And so on to Ardgroom Outward, slightly later than anticipated. I was bullocked again! The adjoining field contained a couple of cows with their calves, who were none too friendly, and the field containing the stones held their better halves. Once again I had to content myself with a couple of distance shots from the safety of the trackway.
We continued on, aware that time was running out to get to Killarney. Mikki kindly suggested that I take a look at Drombohilly, so we headed over that way. Another high road through the mountains at a crawl until we found somewhere to pull off the road. As luck would have it, a woman and her son were just coming down from their walk, so I asked where the stones were. She turned and pointed “there they are”! About a quarter of a mile away, the stones could clearly be seen on a ridge. So off I set. Mikki waited in the car and tracked me with the binoculars, although she got a little worried when I disappeared behind a ridge to avoid a bog for a short while.
We did eventually make it as far as Kenmare, where we did a little shopping (and I picked up a copy of McNally’s ‘Standing Stones’) before I noticed in the Tourist Office that they had a circle in town! Just five minutes walk from the Tourist Office; it sits in a small park-like area and has a nice boulder burial in the centre. It’s also unusual in that the stones are mostly boulders rather than shaped stones.
So, for a stoneless day, I guess four circles isn’t too bad! I’ve yet to see any proper tombs though – I must try to find some for tomorrow’s jaunt.
An enforced break! – 3rd July
We both slept fitfully last night, and I woke up with severe neck and shoulder pain (hopefully, just from sleeping in a strange bed). I hadn’t planned today in any detail, and Mikki suggested staying in to rest, although she wanted to go to Clonakilty market. I felt that wouldn’t be too bad, so off we went, stopping for a breakfast before hitting the (small) market. Small it may have been, but I ran out of cash, and tried three different ATMs, none of which would cough up the dough. I asked in two different banks, and neither could give me cash on the strength of my Switch card and passport, but one did suggest a bank in Bandon may be able to help. So off we set. Having reached Bandon and refreshed my wallet, I suggested lunch in Macroom. We passed through Castlelanaght, so stopped and looked at both the standing stone and the row. Our only stones today.
Pete McCarthy, in his book ‘McCarthy’s Bar’, describes Macroom as the arse end of nowhere. I think he may have been right but an information board in the town shows many of the archaeological sites in the area. We were both far too tired to hunt any more stones though, and made an early return home. Here’s hoping we get some sleep tonight! Tomorrow is Skibbereen and the Sheep’s Head Peninsular.
This circle lies on an ancient trackway called the ‘Old Green Road’. It’s a fair climb up from the road at V755578, firstly through boggy woodland next to a stream, then across open moorland. There are several stiles to traverse. If you've got the time, it's a wonderful trek, and is part of the much longer Beara Way walk.
Once at the circle, only 3 stones of the original 5 remain. Close by, is a row of alignment stones and further off, the ruined remains of a multiple stone circle. Excellent views can be had of the surrounding mountains and down to Killmakilloge Harbour.
I found a large lump of solid white quartz nearby, and left it in the middle of the three stones before leaving – it seemed to fit there somehow.  |
A quarter mile off the road, clearly in sight, but this took some time to reach, due to the (barbed wire) fences in the way and the boggy ground underfoot. Again, like so many Irish sites, wonderful views can be seen in all directions.
This circle is accompanied by an ancient low wall, which heads off to the west from the circle. A wonderful row. I'm not sure if it wasn't even more wonderful in the past, as there is a recumbent stone in the row (covered with odd scratches which may just be plough scars) and a low stone at the high end which potentially could have been a fifth, taller stone in the row at some point.
|
Ireland Excursion - Pt 3
The third part of our travels to Ireland...
Some successes, and some failures - 30th June.
Torrential rain during the night meant that it wasn’t really the right conditions to go tromping across fields, so I picked a few circles that could, in theory, be seen easily from the car.
First up was Carrigagrenane. The NE stones apparently aren’t that spectacular, and difficult to get to so I plumped for the SE circle for the start of the day. Another plan shot down at the first hurdle. Despite being on the spot on the map, we couldn’t see the stones from the car, so we moved on to the next junction and Maulatanvally. We did spot these, but a couple of fields away from the car, with a stream and hedgerow in the intervening space. Likewise the next stones at Lettergorman (South). No easy way to get to the stones without getting (at least) ankle deep in mud (on arriving back home later, I re-read Fourwinds’ notes on this site. Apparently there’s a gate which makes crossing the stream unnecessary. Maybe later in the week).
I had slightly better luck at Lettergorman (North). Parking by a gate and walking up the rise of the hill, I spotted the stones just on the crest. However, just as I broke the crest of the hill I also spotted a few cows in the far corner of the field. I quickly took some snaps from afar of the circle and outlier, before the cows noticed and started to saunter over. After yesterday’s events, I have no problem in admitting that I turned tail and ran back to the safety of the car. So, 9:30 in the morning, most of the day’s targets already spotted, but no contact with the stones themselves as yet.
Our original plan was to take a slow drive up to Dunmanway, make our way across to Skibbereen for lunch before heading back home again. We actually encountered some reasonable roads today, so decided to pop up to Bantry for lunch instead. Mikki did her usual faultless navigation routine, and spotted a stone circle at Inchybegga, so we turned off onto a small track at Dromore once again to find the stones. Outside Dromore School is a fine standing stone, 6-7 feet tall, but leaning at quite an angle. Carrying on up the lane to Inchybegga, this time I had to ask some locals, who directed us to a house a little further down the lane to ask for directions. They even phoned ahead so the woman was waiting for us as we came around the bend! Her partner not only pointed out the way to the Inchybegga circle, but suggested that I leave seeing the Cullomane stones as they “aren’t that great. Baurgorm is better”. Sadly, I took him at his word and avoided Cullomane, to make my way up to Baurgorm, just off the back road to Bantry. A long walk up a steep lane, then a leap over barbed wire put me into the kind of landscape I’d envisioned in Ireland: boggy ground all around, interspersed with huge stones. I wandered around for a bit, taking care where I trod and not getting too wet, but I couldn’t find the circle. I should have tried for Cullomane…
So we set into Bantry for a very nice lunch indeed, at O’Connors fish restaurant on the main square. Well recommended!
Stonechasing done for the day, we just relaxed and took a slow drive back along the N71 through Skibbareen (where Mikki enjoyed an ice cream), stopping to take in the scenery at Glandore before popping into the tourist tat office at Drombeg for some postcards and information leaflets. They’ve got a nice scale model of the circle complex in there, which made the slight diversion worthwhile.
Back at the cottage, the weather had cleared and I managed to get a clear view of the Reanascreena circle from the upstairs window, only a mile as the crow flies.
Only four days left before we have to head for home again! So much to see and do…
Mountain trails – 1st July
I’d spent some time last night putting together a very optimistic itinerary for today. A total of some 16 sites, but I knew in my heart of hearts I wouldn’t see them all. And so it proved. We spent most of the day on very minor roads, driving at 10 mph at best! Clodagh was our first stop, but despite tramping uphill through long, wet grass, I couldn’t find the circle at all. I know I was in the right spot, maybe the stones were just hidden in the waist-high grass. Luckily on the way back to the car, at least I saw the Clodagh Stone Row just poking above the grass by the side of the road.
I was apprehensive about the next stop at Cullenagh, because Fourwinds had reported a ‘demon dog’ at the site. But no need. I got into a long conversation with the house owner and made friends with the dog(s) too. Bullocks in the field meant I couldn’t get too close to the stones, of which only two remain.
Inchireagh was next. A nice small circle, in a lovely setting - the only sound was of the nearby Garrown River, running water near the stones being a recurring theme for several of the sites on this holiday.
On to Cousane, but the stones weren’t visible from the road, there was no real place to stop, and no obvious way down the hill, so I had to pass. Second failure of the day, soon to be followed by the third.
Maughanaclea NE was easily found. I knocked at the farmhouse, but there was no answer so I shimmied over the rusting fence to visit the stones. Maughanaclea Centre should have been as easy, but I couldn’t get the car up the lane (it grounded a couple of times before I gave up), and there was nowhere obvious to park to allow me to walk. Strike three. Someone more intrepid than I could doubtless make it up there easily.
We continued on the road for one of my major targets for the week, Kealkil. I parked halfway up the lane, outside a friendly woman’s house, who came out and pointed out the Breeny Mor and Kealkil circles, and explained that roadworks further up the lane would prevent me taking the car any further anyway. I started up the lane, and opted for the Breeny Mor turning first. A steep walk, but I eventually got to the gate leading to the stones, only to find the way barred by a herd of some dozen or so bullocks. With horns. After the Cow Episode on Sunday, I wasn’t about to tackle bullocks. With horns. So I had to content myself with a brief glimpse of the stones through the herd before moving back down and then up the lane again to Kealkil. I had to dodge through a JCB digging up the lane, but I got there, and it was well worth the climb, and even better than the anticipation. I could have spent all day up here, but I had to think of Mikki waiting patiently below for me in the car.
For lunch, we stopped briefly in the Brown Pub at the bottom of the hill, where the barmaid was hand rearing a 1-month old sheepdog puppy, Sally, who had been orphaned at one week old. Inevitably, Mikki wanted to take the puppy home, especially after she started suckling on Mikki’s finger while her milk was being prepared, so I dragged her away after a swift half as the pub didn’t serve food (to humans) and we needed to eat.
After a toastie at the Ouvane Falls pub down the road, we departed from the plan. Instead of working up to Maughnasilly, Knockbreteen, Derrynafinchin and Borlin Valley, we popped along to Mill Little (another circle near running water) so I could take a look at a boulder burial before turning toward Glanbannoo Upper.
We missed the turn for Glanbanoo driving into Bantry and had to turn back. Thus today’s adventure began in earnest. Once we’d found the correct road, we needed a small, minor turn off, which led to the stone. Unfortunately, the road we were travelling was undergoing extensive roadworks, and we either missed the turn, or I’d refused to take it as the turnings we saw did not appear suitable for cars. We therefore took the first turn-off that did look suitable (at first glance). Big mistake. The road led sharply uphill (up-mountain?) and soon narrowed to a very narrow single lane. With sharp drops off on one or both sides. I was now in first gear, driving up a steep hill with lots of sharp bends, and no visible means of support. And the weather was closing in fast. It was now getting scary as we reached the peak of the mountain. “Ah”, I thought, “it’s all downhill from here”. I should learn to keep my mouth shut, as it got seriously downhill. The weather also caught up with us, reducing visibility drastically. I joked to Mikki that I was running out of petrol. She wasn’t amused. Up till now, she hadn’t realised she had a problem with heights. We were nearly 1000 feet above sea level at the highest point.
Eventually we came back to earth safely, by Castle Donovan. Both slightly shaken, we were ready to forget about any more stones for the day (although I did want to swing by Gurranes stone row), but on the way we passed Cullomane and I couldn’t resist an attempt. I walked up the lane to the house, where a bunch of young kids were playing. I asked if their parents were home, but just got blank looks. I then asked if I could walk up the track to look for stones and the oldest, a lad of no more than 7 shrugged “s’pose so”. I walked further but encountered a gate and couldn’t see any stones at all. Looking back, the group of kids had doubled in number and they were all watching the weird stranger who’d walked into their lives. I gave up, and returned the way I’d come. As I got to the house, all the children had disappeared, shunning any contact with me. As I returned to the car, I looked back and they were all out playing again. Weird. Tired from the day’s journeying, we made straight for the cottage, another day’s adventures complete.
Parking in the farmyard, follow the track through the farm, which eventually snakes up the hill (it’s marked on the OSI map). The stones are beyond the second gate on the track.
I found it difficult to make out the form of the circle, which doesn’t seem to follow the Irish RSC pattern. I may just not have seen it, as all the stones are quite low, only about a foot or so high. A nice setting though, even if the stones aren’t that great.
The map also shows a Standing Stone and Burial Ground close by, but I didn’t spot them. Looking at the map, this sits beyond a farmhouse at the end of a trackway. I followed the track past the house, but couldn't see anything of note. I was being watched by a clan of kids, so couldn't go past the gate to see what was further in the field. I could barely make these out from the road, above all the vegetation. It's no surprise I couldn't find the Clodagh circle on the ridge on the opposite side of the road with this level of growth... Fourwinds reported on his website that a ‘demon dog’ from the adjacent house guards this site. As I parked the car, a dog did indeed come bounding out, barking aggressively. The dog’s owner soon followed, and I explained that I wanted to see the stones in the adjoining field. She was very friendly, coming from London (Wembley) herself, and was amazed when I told the story of the ‘demon dog’. I made friends with both her dogs, and used her garden to take photos of the stones themselves. Sadly, I couldn’t get into the field to see the circle close up, due to the presence of a couple of young bullocks, but it’s plain that only two stones remain of the circle.
If you do visit here, the house owner desperately misses a good English cheese and I’m sure would appreciate someone dropping some in! I could only get the barest glimpse of these stones. The cows I saw weren't as friendly as the ones in the pictures here, and had horns. Bullocks! A wonderful site, well worth the climb up the hill. There is now a rather obvious unlocked sprung gate, with the now obligatory 'No Trespassing' sign attached, leading to the site from the top of the hill. It took some time to traverse the boggy ground leading to the stones, and approaching the site I was sure there was a recumbent sheep guarding the way. It turned out to be a smooth boulder, outside and away from the main complex. The cairn has a couple of bushes growing well in the middle, but I was amazed at the intricacy of the cairn and the sheer number of stones.
The uprights have a very pronounced male/female aspect to them, but I couldn’t spot any glaring alignments to them in the surrounding scenery.
I’ll confess I was so blown away by the cairn, uprights and views, I didn’t really take much notice of the circle at the time. I did notice the gradation appeared to be opposite to other circles in that the stones increase in height toward the axial stone as opposed to the more usual decrease in height. I must study my photos closer. A confusing site. I’d come here for the Boulder Burial, but other aspects intrigue. There appears to be a ruined circle, what looks like a ‘mini-cove’ enclosing a cairn, and a couple of large boulders which may have been burials in their own right at some point in the distant past. All accompanied by the sound of running water from the nearby river. Too much for me to make sense of.
|
Ireland Excursion - Pt 2
The story continues...
Arrival in Ireland - 28th June
Up at 1am to book into the ferry port at 2, for a 3:15 sailing that didn’t sail till nearly 3:30. 3 hours rest but no sleep (and the boat was cold) and a small greasy breakfast on the boat saw us hit land at 6:45.
Heading toward Cork, we diverted briefly to take a look at some of the Waterford sites. We found the Whitfield and Powersknock stones, but were unable to spot either the Savagetown stone or tomb despite being in the right spot – the hedgerow was just too thick and high.
We carried on for a spot of lunch in the English Market in Cork, which appears to be where all the road building for the county is concentrated at the moment. It was like driving in London with traffic chaos everywhere you turned. We finally arrived at the cottage (between Rosscarbery and Leap) around 3 in the afternoon. The cottage is very nice indeed. After a spot of tea, I sat down to sketch out these notes so far, and make a preliminary plan for tomorrow before getting some well-earned rest. If I had known the roads in Ireland were ‘B’ standard at best, I might have had second thoughts about the trip. And the speed limits! 20mph when driving through the smallest villages, from a national maximum of 60mph. I can only take my hat off to Tom Fourwinds and the mileage he covers in an average weekend…
Some Irish stone circles at last! – 29th June
14 hours sleep! I crashed out watching TV at around 6 last night. Mikki dragged me up to bed at 8, and I slept through until 8 in the morning. Mikki also slept through, which is extremely unusual for her – she’s a bit of an insomniac when it comes to sleep.
We took an hour over breakfast, planning the day. Looking at the map, it should be easy to get some stone circles in – several are only a few miles from the cottage. I planned for 5, knowing full well we’d pass near some others, which Mikki would spot on the map for me…
First up was Reanascreena, only 10-15 minutes drive away (at the normal snail’s pace given the state of the roads). Probably only 5 minutes on English roads.
Drombeg was next on the list, and this really is as touristy as people say. There were a group of 8 Americans, a couple of Dutch and 4 Germans while I was there. A pile of coins, some tealights and dead flowers adorned the centre stone of the circle. Nice to see the wardens are doing their job then! I took my photos quickly and left. Sadly, being Sunday morning, the tourist tat kiosk was closed, but I spotted some nice cards and a booklet I wanted, so I may pop back later in the week to pick those up.
The next target was Bohonagh. I wasn’t certain about this, as I’d seen no previous entry (although it has subsequently been added to TMA, incorrectly spelt as Bonanagh). It was in Jack Roberts’ book though, and merited a half page there, so I thought I’d try for it. See the site entry for details of my adventure at Bohonagh.
After all the excitement I needed a short break from the stones, so we headed into Clonakilty for a very nice lunch. Driving round the one-way system afterwards, I spotted a fountain shaped like three people (a family group), with the water emerging where their heads should be (if they had any). Most strange! Can I use any more exclamation marks today?
So it was more stonechasing, and Templebryan was next. I found the circle quite quickly, and noted that one of the stones appeared to almost solid quartz with just a thin veneer of stone. The same habit of leaving coins on the centre stone (also of quartz) was being followed here. There was nearly a fiver’s worth of small change, and I was sorely tempted (only joking) before heading back to the car once again. We decided to skip the tall Ogham stone at the old church this time round.
Next up was Ballyvackey, spotted easily from the road, but I had to traverse 5 lots of that damn wire before getting to them. A bit of a sad sight, it was almost impossible to see the stones through the nettles that had sprung up around them and not been cut back. And the tree growing just inside the circle is bizarre to say the least.
Mikki spotted that Ahaghilla was en route to our next stop, so I consulted the book of words that I’d compiled prior to the trip. Tom Fourwinds described this as a ruined circle so I wasn’t too worried whether we saw it or not. Again, it was easily spotted from the road, but I decided not to bother approaching for a closer look as we were on our way to Knocks.
The Knocks N circle proved impossible to locate. Mikki was saying ‘it should be in this field’, but all I could see were crops. So we decided to move on as there were some standing stones marked on the map ‘just around the corner’. Couldn’t spot these either despite being right on the spot, and even asking a local. I couldn’t understand a word of his accent, so just nodded, thanked him and returned to the car. We carried on down to Knocks S, a farm track handily leading straight to the circle. Although incomplete, this is quite delightful, but in a strange location at the base of a hill. Just as I arrived, the weather that had been threatening all day finally broke and I beat a hasty retreat to the car. Backtracking, I caught a tantalising glimpse of what may have been the Knocks stone row, right where I’d spoken to the local earlier. It wasn’t visible from where we’d had our conversation as the stone(s) are part of the field boundary and I’d been standing end on to them, lost in the hedges. From an angle though, they looked to be quite a size. Unfortunately I couldn’t get into the field for a closer look, and we returned back to base.
A long day, with some wonderful sites – I’d spoiled myself with Reanascreena so early, but would probably have given up if it had been after the cow incident – and I doubt we were more than 8 or 9 miles from the cottage at any point during the day.
I took Fourwinds’ advice (see his website for details) and ignored the sign about the bull (on the road to the northeast, which our landlady’s local handyman had confirmed was only there to scare off the tourists and avoid any litigation if they hurt themselves), and used the next gate down with an overgrown track. This led directly to a field boundary, through which I could see the circle. Unfortunately, there was no obvious way through the boundary so I made my way to the corner of the field, and shimmied over the wall. Looking around the field I now found myself in, I couldn’t see any break in the boundary at all! There must be one, as the cows had obviously visited recently.
Anyway, the stones were a wonderful introduction to the Irish style, and I could see the cottage from within the circle! Must remember to check when we get back ‘home’ later.  |
  |
‘Stone Circles of Cork and Kerry’ suggests parking at the road junction and approaching the hill from the West. I parked on the junction as suggested, opposite a gate to a field full of cows. That’s the one, I told myself, leapt the gate and set off. Crossing the field, I was aware the cows were watching me. As I’d passed them and was starting to climb the hill, I heard the thunder of hooves behind me. I turned to find two of the beasts charging me! I waved my stick while backing away, which confused them for all of 5 seconds before they started forward again. Luckily I was close to the electric wire fence, and ducked under it quickly. The power wasn’t on, but I hoped they didn’t know that. I’m sure they could have uprooted the fenceposts easily by just leaning against the wire. They came right up to the wire, and looked around the corner of the hill, where I’d started climbing. I looked back to find they’d doubled their numbers! I continued up, but drew a complete blank. I was on the wrong damned hill, trapped by a herd of manic cows! Maybe waving my stick hadn’t been such a good idea…
I looked around, and found another trackway up the adjoining hill, so decided to try my luck that way. On top of this hill, I found two very sad looking stones. Surely this can’t be it? Half a page in Roberts’ book for this? I looked around, almost in desperation now, and spotted, just on the brow of the next hill along, what might have been a glimpse of a stone. No turning back now I thought, and made my way across. Electric wire was everywhere along the field boundary, which also had a substantial hedge. Milling back and forth, I found only one spot that looked traversable, and what looked like a droveway on the other side.
I clambered through and let myself down, only to find myself being sucked under into very soft earth. I lost my balance whilst trying to reach firm ground on the bank, slipped and put my hand down into a bed of nettles! “This can’t get any worse”, I thought. “There’s nothing left to happen. I’ve been chased and trapped by cows, sucked at by the ground, and my hand bloody stings all over! Get some dock, quick.”
Back on firm ground, I started toward the crest of the hill, when I spied more cows looking at me. For once, luck was with me when I saw at least two lengths of cattle wire separating us. And there were the stones! I boldly marched up to take my pictures. Sadly, the ground was too overgrown to actually enter the circle and I didn’t want to antagonise the cows any more than I had already done by approaching the boulder tomb a little way off, so I turned to try to find my way back to the car.
The droveway seemed the best idea, despite the soft ground, so I followed it for a short way, only to find it petered out after 50 yards or so. The farm was obviously in the other direction! Undeterred, I continued on through the nettles. Hey, my hand and leg were stinging like nothing I’ve ever felt before. There was nothing left to go wrong, was there? I came to a field boundary, like a small thicket, but one that the cows had been through before. The ground was soft here again, and there were other more obvious signs. Must be a way through then, right? Well almost. I battled my way through, then came to the ubiquitous electric wire fence again. A nervous glance around, no cows, and over we go. I’m now in a field, that appears to border a road, and there’s a gate! I rush across to it, scale the gate and find myself less than 50 yards away from the car. Sweet mercy! Back in the car and relating the adventure to Mikki, bugger me if the original bolshie cows don’t come right up to the gate where I started and look straight at us, as if to say “if this gate weren’t here, pal, we’d have you!” So take Jack Roberts’ advice and park where he suggests, but walk up the road a short way before looking to head across the fields.   |
  |
 |
Not much left of this, unfortunately. Just a pile of stones, looking like field clearance, on the ridge. A couple of uprights on the edges provide the clues. This circle is incomplete, but sits in a wonderful setting near the banks of the Ardrigeen River.
Unusually, it seems to be situated at the foot of a rise rather than on the high point.
|
Ireland Excursion - Pt 1
The Journey Begins – 27th June
A week in Ireland, prefixed with a day in Wales, so I'll split this weblog into a few parts...
4am. Approximately 23 hours before our ferry sails from Fishguard. Are we mad? Probably, yes.
Anyway, an early start from London meant that we missed the Friday morning rush hour traffic. So much so that we found ourselves just outside Cardiff by 6:45 unable to get breakfast because the motorway services hadn’t yet opened. At all. The attendant arrived to open up the building as we were sitting perplexed in the car park. Obviously we weren’t about to get a decent meal here, so we carried on for a couple of junctions and the next service station, where we managed to down a hearty meal of cholesterol.
What is it about Wales that it hates the English so much? What had started as a glorious day with the sun rising behind us, turned to torrential rain as we crossed the Severn Bridge. The rain wasn’t to stop until we reached Carmarthen. Anyway, checking our progress on the map, I noticed that we were very near to St. Lythans
so we took a quick detour off the motorway. We initially missed the turn off for St Lythans and ended up driving around Cardiff for a short while, but with the help of the GPS soon got back on track. St Lythans is a wonderful site, and provided good shelter from the rain, which had eased off briefly. As Tinkinswood was just up the road, that was our next stop.
I was seriously impressed with the size of this thing. The area for the barrow is massive, much wider than I’d expect it needed to be. I spent a while here in the rain before returning to the car.
Llangynog burial chamber was next on my list of off-route possibles, but I couldn’t locate it. There’s an information board at the edge of the village that mentions it, but no way to get to where the map suggests it might be; behind a row of houses. There was no path anywhere to be seen, and I asked a local postman but he wasn’t aware of it.
We continued on, and a little way past Carmarthen, just north of Whitland I’d spotted a couple of sites close together on the OS map which merited further investigation: St Canna’s Chair (SN177187) and Henllan inscribed stone (SN177198). We found the St Canna’s Church, but the only sight of a stone was a low, small stone in an adjoining field. Could this be it? As for Henllan, high hedgerows and nowhere to stop meant we could investigate no further. There was an upside though. We spotted a sign to Pemberton’s Chocolate Farm, which sounded intruiging (chocolate trees?), and stopped off to fill up with essential supplies. We would have stayed for the demonstration, but a coachload of schoolkids arrived, so we beat a hasty retreat. Looks interesting for a future visit however, and well worth dropping in if you’re in the area and feel a deep need for some hand made chocolates!
As we approached Fishguard around lunchtime, we took a detour up to Ffynnion Druidion and saw both the ’JCB’ spotted by Kammer and the real Ffynion Druidion stone. Continuing slightly further north an parking near SM 921371, I also spotted a possible ‘JCB2’ – quite a smooth stone, which may just have been a scratching post. I didn’t enter the field to look closer.
We then moved on to our hotel for the night, the plan being to get to sleep as early as possible as we had to be up by 1:30 to catch the ferry. We lunched in our room, Mikki having prepared a picnic in anticipation of better weather. The hotel was the pits. Expensive for 2 stars, given that we would only be using the room for a few hours at most, so we felt no guilt in taking our own food in rather than use the restaurant.
Suitably refreshed, we popped out for a couple of hours stonechasing in the afternoon.
Sites visited briefly included Ty Meini behind the ‘school railings’, Parc Cerrig Hirion, although only seen from afar. At least I think that was what I saw. There’s a bridle path up past public loos next to a school, The path turns to the left at a signpost. 50 yds down this path, I spotted the stone through the hedge to the south. Except that the bridle path isn’t shown on the Landranger map…
Cerrig y Gof – having scaled the gate to get to the stones, they looked different from every angle! A truly incredible site. I’d parked about 100yds east and walked back to the stones.
Carreg Coetan Arthur – so pretty in the sunlight! I drove the car up to the gate so Mikki could see. Her excited comment was “Imagine living with that next door!”
I then finished off a long, busy day of driving and stones at Pentre Ifan. A fitting end, and I even had some time there alone, which I understand is uncommon as its usually so busy.
The hotel was truly dire. In bed by 6pm, and felt I slept fitfully with all the noise of the hotel bar, restaurant and take-away chippie(!) going on, but Mikki said I was dead to the world for the duration. Fully awake at 1am for the next day’s adventure.
I should have read the previous fieldnotes! I scrabbled around trying to see anything, until I stumbled upon the bridle path. I managed to spot the stone through the hedgerow, and grabbed this shot. Went there. Loved it.
Mikki wants the house next door, just so we can say "look what we live next to!" The views from here are wonderful.
The capstone sits, looking like some futuristic airship briefly docked on the uprights. My imagination was playing overtime just standing staring at it...
|
Thornborough and the Devil's Jumpstone
We've not been too active for the past couple of weeks, being too busy planning the trip to Ireland which starts very soon now!
We took a gentle drive out to Buckingham today, via Watford and Aylesbury, to take a look at the Thornborough Mounds, which I'd missed on a previous trip out this way.
{{1}}
Driving out through Wendover (where we stopped for a bite of lunch) to Aylesbury and up to Winslow brought back memories, as I worked in Aylesbury for a few years and got to know the surrounding villages (and their pubs!) reasonably well. We took a slight diversion from the main route so I could show Mikki the Stepford that is Watermead...
I was disappointed to read on the Thornborough information board (see photo) that the burial mounds have been dated to only 200AD and are R*m*n in origin - surely much too recent to merit inclusion here? Never mind, they were quite impressive as they stand now.
We decided that we had time to take the long way home, so I took another stab at finding the Devil's Jump Stone in Marston Mortaine over toward Bedford.
This time, I headed toward the church, but still had no luck in locating the stone. I did ask an elderly couple if they knew of the stone. They had heard of it, but had never seen it themselves. I think it will need a winter visit when the foliage has died back in order to finally nail this one.
The heat and humidity finally got to us - it was very humid today - so we headed south on the M1 for home. The day was not to be over though, as traffic conspired against us all the way, to make a very tiring journey home in the heat.
|
|
An ex-Londoner based in West Cornwall, any sites on the wrong side of the Tamar are now effectively out of reach as time marches on for me.
I was usually accompanied on trips by my partner and soulmate Mikki, who is disabled and unable to walk far. I'm indebted to her for her patience and understanding.
Favourite place? Cornwall without a doubt. West Penwith in particular, Trencrom Hill as a prime example. The peninsular is so rich in sites and has an amazing atmosphere. Every trip there is like going home... Avebury currently comes a close second, but is starting to go the way of Stonehenge (see below) and Glastonbury for me - over-used and over-rated.
Most overrated? Stonehenge - I can't understand the excitement that this totally spoiled site induces in people. I first went there in the 1960's with school and have been back several times since. Each was an anti-climax.
|
Log in |
Register
Previous 5 | Showing 16-20 of 35 posts. Most recent first | Next 5 
Top of page