Ash Cabin Flats
T
the wicken
I have been interested in this area recently. The circle is rather odd, the position seems strange by most local examples, it is rather pushed away low down by steep ground that falls away into the nearby beck. What could be rather more interesting is the earthworks close by. It seem to encompass the circle. The question is are the two related? There are other examples in the Peak District of monuments being in proximity to earthworks. This seems to be an open area for investigation. Is this another area like Gardoms Edge?
This is rather a plesant area to investigate, it is a lot more open than further north. I was reliably informed by one of the locals that the three stones identified on the map for a kind of right angle. Any investigation shows that this is a rather more complex story. The stones have survived rather well plenty of backing stones are visible on the ground around the large stones. One thing that must be remembered is that there were once many more people living in this area than presently, the stones survived that.
Further to the south is yet another stone, this one had at least a companion, a smaller stone stands close by,
On harris just across the sound of taransay is this stone clach mbic leoid, it seems to have at least some connection with clach an teampaill, incidentally the nearby beached are rather wonderful, at least on a good day.
I had some time to wander around taransay, i wandered up onto the high ground to the east of the standinf stone and found this. It is hard to be sure that it is a standing stone but i am pretty sure that it was once bigger. The position is so good it would be hard to not convinced that this is a companion to clach an teamaill
I was very fortunate last year in the heat of the foot and mouth crisis to take a sailing trip to st kilda, on the way back we had some time to kill and ended up on taransay. I found this rather wonderful stone on my brief stay. Despite what tv has done for the island it is still rather a quite beautiful place.
This is probably my favorite circle in Derbyshire. It is not grand or big but its location is super. Along with many circles on the east side of the Peak District it shares a view onto Win Hill.
Taken at just about sunset on the winter solstice. The sun sets over Win Hill. Can this be a coincidence?
I found this stone sort of in passing, it is by a public footpath and quite easy to find, the stone is unremarkable apart from its size and preservation. Four hundred meters to the east is a collection of cairns, they look well dug out but there are a large quantity of white quartz stones amongst the more ordinary stones.
Well preserved large stone
This area is difficult to understand, there are lots of sites spread out over a large area, it is not very clear where public access is allowed and not allowed. A little investigation and talking to the locals soon establishes what is possible though. I found that travel by bike is suitable as the moor is quite passable and the bike makes the spread out area shrink. It also has the advantage of being almost flat and the few steep bits quite walkable. The large amount of horses, sheep and cows have kept the grass quite short. In adition to the circles there are many ditches and dykes over the moor an area worthy of further investigation. An additional useful bit of information is that the Blisland Inn is worthy of a vist.
this is the standing stone near to the site of the rock art
another picture of the real stone as it was
this was taken when the stone was real, david who is in the photo is now six feet tall