Kammer

Visited 28th March 2004: We asked at the farm about access to the tomb and were directed to the house with the orange garage door, a little way up the lane. Here I eventually found the landowner who was happy for us to go and take a look.

In the field where the tomb stands were two very inquisitive ponies who immediately came up to us, then escorted us to the stones. The boys were fascinated by them, but also a bit scared (especially Alfie). The tomb is charmingly dilapidated, with a very off-kilter capstone. There are orthostats still in place, and a number of stones that aren’t so easy to place (one almost buried to the north of the chamber). Gaer Llwyd is relatively substantial though. I’d assumed that the stones would be small, but this is a fair sized cromlech.

The stones, the ponies and the sunset made for a very pleasant visit. Also, the farmer and the landowner were very friendly. I was left wondering why Gaer Llwyd hasn’t had more visitors. This is well worth seeing if you’re in the area. Incidentally you can see the tomb from the lane, but not so clearly from the main road because the hedge is in the way.

Visited 28th March 2004: On the down side this stone is slap bang next to a busy road, but on up side access to the stone is extremely good. In fact you could view the stone from your car if you wanted. I opted to get out, leaving the others to watch from a distance. There’s a slender hard shoulder so parking isn’t too dangerous.

The forestry immediately to the north of the Long Stone has recently been felled, opening up views of the stone that haven’t been accessible for a long time. Having said that, there are some large tree stumps very close to the stone, and photos of it before the clear felling make me think it must have looked rather nice shaded by trees.

Visited 28th March 2004: After spending some time at Raglan Castle we headed east to the village of Trellech to see Harold’s Stones. We parked to the south west where a track leads west off the B4293, and walked up the roadside to the stones (spotting a mole on the way).

The stones themselves are excellent great things (certainly reminiscent of something rude Jane). Very photogenic, but most of the photos I took are the same as those already posted. Not as atmospheric as I’d anticipated though.

I’d have thought that the name ‘Trellech’ would mean ‘three stones’ rather than ‘Settlement of the Stones’. The word tre means three and llech means stones (it’s that simple).

Visited 23rd March 2004: Having failed to find Creggandevesky Court Tomb, I decided to go and see Beaghmore before it was too late. It was a relief to find the place without too much trouble, and thankfully the rain was holding back. The sun even came out!

There’s so much here, it’s impossible to describe concisely (so I won’t try). In summary, it’s a tightly packed collection of Bronze Age stone circles, stone rows and cairns. None of the stones are especially large, but coming from Ceredigion I’m not put off my small stones. It was a beautiful scene, with the rain hardly gone and bright oblique sunshine. I inflicted some badly played harmonica on the stones before heading off for one last try at finding Creggandevesky.

Incidentally, access to the stones at Beaghmore is good. A wheelchair user could get at 95% of the site, perhaps with a little assistance in some places. There’s a good path running down the length of the site, and parking is easy.

Visited 23rd March 2004: This was one of those mad visits when you ask yourself, “why am I doing this?“. I’d already tried to find Creggandevesky earlier in the day, and decided that I’d better quit and see Beaghmore before I ran out of time. Having seen Beaghmore a second attempt was foolish, given that our flight out of Belfast wasn’t far off. But it bugged me that I’d not found it earlier in the day, so I had one last crack at it.

With some help from the GPS (forgotten earlier in the day) I found the footpath leading to the tomb. Then the heavens opened up, and I had second thoughts. It bucketed it down, and I knew I hadn’t got the time to sit it out, so I got out the car and started walking. Within metres I was drenched, and I couldn’t see through my glasses. The GPs was just about readable, and I could see the lake, so I staggered on through significant amounts of mud.

The rain stopped as I reached the tomb, and it took a while to figure out what it looked like (had to clean my glasses). It was weird landing up at a site having had no sensible visual clues as to what you were about to see. The tomb is impressive (not that I have many court tombs to compare it to) but fenced too closely. It’s solid, but graceful; the photos show it better than I could describe. Lough Mallon makes for a beautiful setting, and when the sun started shining and a rainbow came out I felt a lot happier. It was a short visit though.

I ran back to the hire car. On the way I passed a broken wooden sign hidden behind a wall directing visitors to the tomb. After a morning of driving in circles, more evidence that some people don’t want visitors to Creggandevesky. I had to change into dry clothes in the car, then after a hair-raising drive back to Belfast to collect Lou, we did make our flight.

Visited 22nd March 2004: Ballin Tagart is a reconstructed court tomb, now situated behind Ulster Museum. Apparently it was rescued from destruction by quarrying in County Tyrone (thankfully this sort of thing isn’t a problem any more – ahem).

I understand that you can arrange to be shown the tomb my museum staff, or view it from the museum cafe. Time didn’t allow either of these options, so I went for the alternative and walked round the back of the museum where you can see the tomb from the Botanical Gardens. The magic is slightly spoiled by a six foot wire mesh fence, and people walking by give you very strange looks as you peer through the gaps. Still, well worth a visit if you’re in Belfast.