Kammer

Visited 16th March 2003: William and I went on a megalithic mission into the mountains, and on the way we stopped to look for Nant-y-Fedwen. All I found that looked vaguely likely were these scattered boulders and a slight lump. Looking at the photos I’m still not convinced that I’ve identified the site correctly. Perhaps a second visit is in order to make sure I’m not missing something.

Visited 6th April 2003: Although it’s an impressive place, this isn’t the kind of site I would usually go out of my way to visit. Luckily it’s sat betwixt Maengwyngweddw and Maen Serth, which makes for a lovely ridgeway walk.

There are two cairns that I could identify. One is really quite large, and is either a ring cairn or an excavated cairn (I’d go with the latter). It has some sizeable kerb stones on its western side, but nothing much elsewhere. Just to the south of the big cairn is a tiny one.

Visited 6th April 2003: Maen Serth was our goal on the walk along the ridge. Since our visit I’ve learned that it’s antiquity is in doubt, which I suspected at the time given that it stands right on top of the hill. As we approached from the west the stone looked at first like an elongated trig point. The track runs to the south of the stone, so a minor deviation takes you right up to it.

Maen Serth is a beautiful slender thing. Unfortunately it’s set in concrete, and surrounded by lines of erosion caused by my good friends the motorcyclists. The setting more than makes up for this, with beautiful views in all directions. Fortunately we weren’t met by any other walkers or of-road types while we were at the stone. In fact all was tranquil, and (despite the fact we live on a secluded rural hillside) I enjoyed sitting on a secluded rural hillside next to a standing stone listening to the Skylark. It’s a shame if this baby is Medieval rather than Bronze Age. I’ll post more up about the stone when I’ve done some more research.

Visited 6th April 2003: Maengwyngweddw is only a short walk from the road, following a rutted ridgeway track that’s used by off-roaders and bikers. There’s a lot of erosion caused by these vehicles, and it’s getting worse because the bikes are making new ruts on either side of the track (presumably as they diverge from the route to avoid the puddles). I’m not a big fan of the 4x4 lot, but I really hate off-road bikers ‘cos they bring erosion and noise pollution! I’ll stop ranting now.

Maengwyngweddw is a small lump of quartz, partially shielded by reeds. Approaching from the west it’s easy to see. For some reason that isn’t entirely clear to me, there are a number of old broken bricks scattered around the area. They’re not modern packing stones, but there are a few around the hollow immediately next to the stone. The hollow is presumably caused by livestock, so perhaps the bricks were intended to stop this erosion. I recently saw a similar thing at Tafarn y Bwlch but done with stones. Maengwyngweddw is a Ceredigion style standing stone – small and squat. It’s worth visiting for the views, but not if you like your prehistoric sites on the big side.

Visited 6th April 2003: On our way to Maengwyngweddw I insisted on stopping at Maen Hir to get some decent photographs. This time the weather was much better, with the view to the west relatively clear. The position of this stone at the head of the valley may relate to Afon Ystwyth, which eventually emerges next to Aberystwyth (the town’s name meaning mouth of the Ystwyth).

Visited 17th April 2003: More like a drive-by than a proper visit. The light was fading, and I was under the distinct impression that I was pushing my luck with prehistoric site visiting.

We were heading towards Pembroke on the B4320 and I spotted two large round barrows in the field to the south of the road. They looked quite broad, with shallow sloping sides, suggesting that they were originally large barrows that have been considerably ploughed down.

Visited 11th May 2003: Having visited the Hoar Stone, I drove down the road to Taston to see the Thor Stone. The village is tiny, and parking near the stone without blocking the road is tricky. You can’t miss it though. It’s so obvious that I wondered at first whether this was what I was looking for (should have done some research before setting out).

Visited 11th May 2003: On my way from a delightful weekend in Oxford, inevitably I popped into a few sites along the way. The Hoar stone was my first port of call.

I’ve visited the site before, but eight years on I had no recollection of where it was, and only some rubbish directions to go by. After driving up and down the road between Enstone and Taston, I realised that the site wasn’t where I’d thought it was (the dot on the map I was looking at was a mile stone!). The memories eventually came flooding back, and I recalled doing exactly the same thing back in 1995.

Just for the record, you need to take the B4022 from Enstone towards Taston, then take the first left hand turn and park immediately on your left. Now turn your head 90 degrees to the right and you’re looking at it. Sounds easier than it is, because the chamber is shielded from the road by trees.

Visited 24th May 2003: We made our way up to this site from the Waun Mawn Stone, but over-shot, and ended up approaching from the north west. The views from up there were incredible, even though the weather was changing from erratic to rainy.

Of the three stones that we could identify, only one remains standing in a circular puddle (yes, another deep muddy puddle for William to play near). Both the recumbent stones were clearly standing at some time, with identifiable holes where they once stood. Two of the stones (the ones to the east) are close together and the third stands a way off to the west. There was quite a good feeling to the place, and I reckon it would be extremely pleasant to sit up here on a nice day and enjoy some solitude.

Visited 10th May 2003: This was the penultimate site of the day, and the folks I were travelling with were getting slightly megalith weary. I hopped out of the car for a quick gander, and tried to look like I wouldn’t take long. What an amazingly enigmatic site this is. I think I need to do it justice with a longer visit when I have time to contemplate (perhaps in another lifetime!).