Just to the SW of the ring cairn sits a traditional cairn with a mound in the middle. The long granite stone that lies on the north side has been suggested as a possible menhir that along with other similar stones once surounded the cairn.
Mr Hamhead
This large cairn sits atop of the low hill at the western end of the East Moor stone row. It is about 60 ft in diameter and lovely and flat in the middle with a surounding low ring of stones covered in grass for much of the time.
This is the first cairn of its type I have come across, were they used for burials or just for ritual? answers on a postcard please.
I agree with Pure Joy...finding the stone row from Fox Tor would be nigh on impossible. From this end find what the experts call the blocking stone (see photos) and then head down hill slightly to the right of a line towards Fox Tor summit. After a while you will find the first upright stone...and then another...
By walking in roughly a straight line you will find several more stones, some flat on the ground, some leaning at severe angles, very ocasionally an upright. As you climb the hill towards Fox Tor they become harder to find, you lose sight of the ones behind and eventually end up amongst the clitter of the tor itself.
I wonder...does the row line up with Brown Gelly and the northern end of Dartmoor. I was too busy trying to find the next stone to take much notice...also by the time you get to one end you have lost sight of the other.
For Fox Tor stone row see East Moor stone row....
Fox Tor itself is a jumble of rocks and the chances of finding anything amongst them has to be left to the experts. I thought I had found one of the hut circles but then changed my mind....
A modern cairn has been constructed on the top of the tor along side the old trig point. Nice painted stone inset in it.
Good views to the south towards Trewartha Tor, Hawks Tor and Kilmar Tor.
I can not find any reference to this stone, and it is definately not the Tregune Menhir which stands in the middle of a field nearby. This one stands beside the road leading from Tregrenna to Tregune. It is about 5 ft high and has three sides. There are no signs of it being shaped by man and no holes where it may have been used as a gate post. The fact that it stands beside a track that leads onto open moor and important sites like the East Moor stone row makes me think it is not just another rubbing post.
I feel I should have planted a flag.....the first entry for this site!
The Stipple Stones and henge lie on the southern shoulder of Hawks Tor, just north of the A30 heading towards Bolventor from Bodmin. Infact the constant drone of traffic makes you realise how close you are.
I am not sure how you are legally supposed to access them but I aproached via the Trippet Stones, down into the valley to the left of Hawks Tor farm, through a gate and up an old trackway. This brings you out below HawksTor, climb to the summit then descend towards the south heading for a gate. Once through the gate the henge is ahead slightly to the left.
It consists of four upright stones, plus others that have fallen, inside a shallow ditch. THe central menhir lies fallen and has at some time been cut for moor stone. A wall eats into the eastern side of the henge and over it nothing remains of the ditch.
On a sunny day in June this is a magical site (if you can ignore the traffic noise) but i do wonder what brought man to this site all those years ago, what makes this such a special place?
This solitary barrow can no longer be seen on the ground. In fact I know of no one who remembers it being here...but everybody in the area refers to the graveyard and Chapel nearby as Mabel Barrow!
I felt I had to include it as I can see the site when I look up from the computer screen.
The largest of what is becomming an ever growing number of settlements in Pelynt parish. Permission to visit them should be asked at Hall Barton Farm in Pelynt village.
All that remains of this fort is the oval shaped hedge and bank that surrounds a field. It position in the West Looe valley would have made it difficult to attack being on a steep sided promontry. Originally a small round fort at the north end, another circle was added to fill the current space. Eventually the Giants Hedge was built on the east side and this became the main defensive wall.
During the dark ages it was the site of a hermitage and Chapel for St Nunna, the mother of St David. An unspoilt well that bears her name is just to the north.
I had seen this site on the map but until now had never seen or heard anyone talk of it. Last night I was shown an arial photo and within the next couple of weeks I will go and have a look at what has been described as a low bank.
I am amazed at the amount of settlements that we have in this small corner of South East Cornwall. Is it a coincidence that many of them are on the high land above the Giants Hedge?
I have just been shown an ariel photo of the field marked as Barcelona on the OS map. There is a large circle showing slap bang in the middle. According to the local historian (who lives not far from the site) a dig was done a few years ago and a ditch was discovered on the outside of the circle.
Looking at the field today nothing can be seen from the ground. Four fields away to the NW another settlement is marked on the map. Both are inside the area encircled by the Giants Hedge.
This barrow (CAU named it), sits just north of the South West Coast Path between Downderry and Portwrinkle. I have passed it but not had a close look. Can also be accessed from the B3247, park near the 141 contour mark.
OK, hands up who’s parked in the car park and walked to The Hurlers and missed this?
Easily done, don’t look much like a barrow I agree. But this my friends is how Minions got its name. On an 1845 map of the area the only thing marked (apart from mines) are the Hurlers and the Minions Barrow.
Nowadays it sits entombed behind a 4ft high granite wall and I can find no record of any dig ever being done on it . Possibly because it had been “explored” by local miners same as the Rillaton Barrow.
Just west of the mound is another tumuli which has definatly been dug into. This is the one that seems to be marked as the Minions Mound on the OS map, belive me it ain’t!
Stowe’s Pound is a large sprawling site. Often ignored by those that visit the Cheesewring, it stretches away to the north encirculing the top of the hill.
The pound is divided in to two circular enclosures. The smaller one is the one that surrounds the summit rock formations including the famous Cheeswring. Part of it has been destroyed by the 19th Century quarry.
The northern enclosure lies on a slightly lower level and features within itself many cleared circles which the CAU believe were for setting up tents in during the summer months. In the far north east of the site a 3 tiered barrow can be found.
The south-east tip of Cornwall has few ancient sites, there is mention of a quoit at Treninnow, (SX418509) which is said to have been big enough to walk under but nothing remains today.
This Barrow can be found within the confines of the Mount Edgcumbe Country Park beside the cricket pitch. (The structure to the right of the barrow in the photo is the pavillion).
I can find no record to say it has been excavated or if it has ever been dated.
The story behind the photo.....
It is early October 1990. I have driven all the way from Cornwall to Fife in a 1000cc Suzuki 4x4 with a dodgy radiator. After a few days in the Kingdom to recuperate and take on liquid (me, not the car) me and Brian head north to bag a hill or two.
We reach a pub in the middle of nowhere as the “sun” sets over the hills. Here we eat before carrying on up the road to the foot of Ben Hope. It is dark by the time we reach the broch....and it is also blowing a gale. The car has only got a canvas top but with the spirit of adventure flowing through our veins we settle down for the night.
Settling down means several spliffs, a packet of chocolate hob-nobs and John Peel on the radio. My lasting memory of that night is the cold, the rain and a Vietnamese version of “A hard rains gonna fall”.
Daylight arrives at last and the full glory of Sutherland is upon us. It is a land of rock and water and very little else. The broch stands proud beside us, the only thing that could have withstood last nights storm. If I remember rightly it has inner walls and a passage way all the way round inside. We breakfast within its shell before setting out up Ben Hope.
That’s another story...what a beast of a mountain. It was so cold we got to the top and turned right round and came straight back down.
As for Sutherland, it is a wonderful wild place. I am not sure how many TMA sites there are to visit but the landscape is just stunning. Sandwood Bay at the far North West tip is possibly one of the finest beaches in the UK.
One day I might get back there.
Visited this place about 6 years ago on a hitch-hiking tour of Cork and Kerry. Having been dropped off in the town of Cahersiveen during a funeral we booked into the local hostel and then walked over the bridge to the north of the town. Heading west we came across this fort, at the time I was not what you would call well up on things ancient but remember being overwhelmed by the size of the place. The walls towered above us and all seemed so clean, no greenery growing out of the gaps etc. Kathy, my partner, climbed up the inner steps to the top of the wall and then had a “moment” when she realised she had to then go down!
Looking back at the OS map I realise how much we missed in the area, must make a note to go back....with our own transport.
Nearby to the fort is a wonderful old medieval castle, half of it has fallen down giving it the look of one of those cross section drawings you see in books.
5.3.04
First time at Carn Uny for a few years, work has been done since I was last here. The fougou is dry!, last time I came I could have done with wellies. Also the chamber has been enclosed more with now only a small hole in the roof.
Better still, I have the place to myself. I sit in the chamber and listen to the water dripping off the walls. Sunlight breaks through every so often catching the moss.
After a while it is time to go, duty calls up county. I will be back again, but I bet it won’t be so peaceful.
5.3.04
Perhaps it’s me, but...
I have read so much about this circle on the TMA that I just had to visit it. I walked in along the farmtrack (wasn’t too sure about driving in) and took the footpath towards the circle. Early March, only a few days since West Cornwall had a unusual amount of Snow, the path was fairly muddy.
Because of its reputation on the site I was expecting a hidden magical place.....imagine my dissapointment when I opened the gate and there in front of me was a farm with modern barns etc. I admit, the circle is lovely, although on this grey day it is not at its best. I walked around it, hugged the quartz stone (the farm out of site) and tried to get some of that feeling that many of you quote.
Nothing....I took some photo’s and trudged back to the car and drove to Carn Uny, where I had the fougou all to myself........
7.3.04
After spending most of the day hunting down 19th C archaeology on the western edge of the moor there was just time to take a walk over to this wonderful circle.
Easy to reach from the A30 but still gives a feeling of being away from the modern world (if you turn your back on the telegraph pole).
The sun came out for me to take a few photo’s (won’t bother submiting, same as others on already), but then the rain came down and I had to run for the car. Such is March on Bodmin Moor!
Has anyone found out what the M and C carved on the centre stone denote? I would think it has been used as a boundry marker, any idea’s?
The tor is best known for the small church perched on its peak, but on closer inspection the remains of a large hillfort or settlement can be found on the northern side of the tor. The guide book in the church says they date from the Iron Age and at present I can find no other info to say if this is wrong or right.
The tor is easy to find (it can be seen for miles around) by heading north out of Tavistock towards the village of North Brentor. There is a good carpark beside the road and the walk up to the church takes you through the remains of the settlement.
Whatever your views on Christianity, a visit to the Church is worth it, if only for the views.
Just to the south-west of the tor there is marked on the OS map a row of tumuli running down from a point called the beacon.
With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.
Tuesday 27th Jan 2004
Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}
Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.
You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.
The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.
Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?
Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.
Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.
Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.
Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.
I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.
I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}
I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.
THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.
The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.
28th January 2004
Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.
Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.
From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).
Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.
Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.
The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.
After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}
Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.
With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.
Tuesday 27th Jan 2004
Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}
Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.
You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.
The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.
Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?
Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.
Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.
Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.
Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.
I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.
I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}
I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.
THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.
The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.
28th January 2004
Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.
Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.
From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).
Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.
Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.
The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.
After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}
Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.
With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.
Tuesday 27th Jan 2004
Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}
Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.
You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.
The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.
Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?
Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.
Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.
Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.
Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.
I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.
I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}
I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.
THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.
The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.
28th January 2004
Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.
Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.
From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).
Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.
Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.
The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.
After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}
Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.
With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.
Tuesday 27th Jan 2004
Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}
Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.
You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.
The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.
Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?
Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.
Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.
Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.
Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.
I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.
I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}
I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.
THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.
The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.
28th January 2004
Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.
Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.
From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).
Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.
Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.
The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.
After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}
Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.
With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.
Tuesday 27th Jan 2004
Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}
Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.
You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.
The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.
Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?
Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.
Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.
Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.
Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.
I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.
I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}
I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.
THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.
The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.
28th January 2004
Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.
Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.
From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).
Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.
Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.
The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.
After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}
Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.
With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.
Tuesday 27th Jan 2004
Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}
Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.
You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.
The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
{{3,4,5}}
Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.
Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?
Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.
Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
{{6,7}}
Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.
Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.
Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
{{10,9}}
I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.
I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.
I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
{{11}}
I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.
THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.
The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.
28th January 2004
Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.
Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
{{12,13}}
I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
{{14}}
Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.
From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).
Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.
Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
{{15,16}}
The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.
The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.
After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}
Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
{{21}}
.
With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.
Tuesday 27th Jan 2004
Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
{{1,2,22}}
Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.
You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.
The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
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Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.
Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?
Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.
Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
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Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.
Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.
Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
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I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.
I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.
I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
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I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.
THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.
The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.
28th January 2004
Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.
Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
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I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
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Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.
From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).
Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.
Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
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The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.
The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.
After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}
Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
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I didn’t read the notes for here beforehand so I was only expecting the “cheesewring”. Missed the embanked avenue on the way up. Could have had something to do with the local hunt and the supporters riding past on bikes and quads.
Somewhat spoilt things.
Didn’t quite get down to the circle this time. Heavy downpours and the arrival of the local hunt kept me high on Rough Tor. Saying that there can not be many places in the British Isles where you can look down on a circle like this. There it sits, a ring of dots on a golden brown carpet. next time...
There is some discussion over wheather or not this is a quoit or just a well balanced group of stones.
It lies on the northern slope of Carburrow Tor and can be easily found by following the remains of an ancient wall from the eastern cairn.
I have also been told that there is some talk of it being a pointer stone....but you will have to ask Cornwall Archeology Unit about that.
Stands dwarfed by modern traffic signs beside a crossroads on the old Bodmin/ St Neot road. Is it a menhir or just a large upright stone that was once itself a road sign?
There is a lump of metal imbeded in the top of it that may have sometime had a sign in.
‘The Roman Camp’: Iron Age hillfort to the west of St Neot. It has been ploughed over but is still visible as a large square? shaped mound in the centre of a field.
Like King Arthur’s Hall this earthwork is a bit of a mystery. It stands on high ground to the west of the village of St Neot on the road to Bodmin. Allthough much of the centre of it has been disturbed by shallow mining it’s outer walls remain. The whole thing measures 160ft by 120ft in a rough rectangle.
Carburrow is one of those areas on Bodmin Moor that contain so much history in such a small area. Extensive Bronze Age huts litter the southern slopes with the remains of a long house up against the wall at the bottom (very near Tor farmhouse). There are two cairns atop of the tor, the one on the eastern side was hollowed out in the 2nd World War so the home guard could use it as a lookout post.
According to the local history book for Lanteglos parish a stone lined cist was discovered here by the local farmer whilst he was ploughing in the early 1970’s.
The Essa stones puzzle me although I have to admit Essa 1 does look like it could be “proper” as we say down here.
You do wonder how long this one will stay upright what with all the erosion around its base caused by cattle and water.
The Devil’s Stone is in danger of being completely obscured by ivy and other green things!
It stands beside the minor road from Polruan to Lanteglos Church and got its name from the fact that coffins would be rested on it! (so says Robin Payne in the book “Romance of the Stones”) He goes on to say that it is believed to be part of a group of stones that may have made up a barrow in the area mentioned on the 1803 OS map.
There are two or three other large stones built into the wall just inside the field and also on the othere side of the road to the left of the gateway.
The stones are not in keeping with most of the soft cornish slate that is generaly found in this area so must have been brought to this spot but I am still not convinced.
If you walk around the fields here you will see many large lumps built into walls as well as the three Essa stones.
If they were building a barrow wouldnt they have used smaller stones easier to transport?
The tithe map does mention a barrow field at Triggabrowne, further east from the church but why would they then transport stones half a mile or so along the ridge just to leave them in a pile beside the track?
The Barrow Field, as it is known locally, can be viewed by walking south from the Spar shop in Pelynt village. A nice lane heads from the car park down to Wilton Mill where the path vears to the left around the property. Follow the track beside a pond to the road, turn left up the hill. The barrow field in on your left and can soon be viewed through a gate way. I have not been able to make out anything of any signifigance in here, the field being ploughed on regular occasions (what poor eyesite I had...on my most recent trip I walked into the field and identified perhaps 7 barrows, although they have all been “landscaped” by the plough over the years)
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Continue up the lane turning left after the next field to take a green lane back to the village.
For more information on the discoveries in this field seek out Geofrey Grigson’s book “Freedom of the Parish”.
It is not easy to make anything out in the field where Bake Rings once were. There are many undulations in the field (and on the other side of the road) but to say what shape or form they once took is very difficult.
Not a site worth going out of your way to view.
4th Jan 2004
I can’t believe I have never visited this place before. I have driven past it so many times and I see it everyday on the horizon....but never ventured up to it.
To reach somewhere to park it is possible to take the narrow lane off the B3359 just to the north of the hillfort. This leads up to the radio mast (a landmark for many miles around). WARNING! in order to turn round you will have to go off road on what is a very muddy track in the winter. I managed to park by a gateway once I had turned round. The other problem is getting back onto the main road, nasty junction!
It might be advisable to park in the laybye on the B3359 just further on, from there a footpath cuts cross the field towards the hillfort.
The walk from the road is a short sharp climb until you suddenly come across this large earth bank. I had never realised how large it was, standing in the ditch I would put the bank at up to 9ft high in places. Once inside there is a wonderful flat space gently sloping to the west. I walked straight across and measured 100 paces. The entrance to the fort is on the west side and here the ditch has been filled in to allow access.
The view even on a dull winters day is superb. Looking south you can see the sea from Looe bay to the Dodman, the clay “hills” disapear as you turn to the right and Helman Tor and then Rough Tor and Brown Willy come into view. Further round Kilmar Tor, Stowes Hill and Caradon Hill can be seen before the hill behind the fort obscures further vistas.
Walking around the ditch I noticed how much quartz had been used in the construction of the bank. The stone is common in the area (see Duloe Stone Circle) but it made me wonder what the fort would have looked like in those early days before grass had taken hold, especially on moonlit nights.
Just a last note....on the west side of the bank there sits in the ditch a large lump of rock, it is very similar to the lumps at Essa, nr Polruan. Is this just a lump of rock or was it once a menhir?
28 Nov 2003
Five months since my last trip I am on top of the world again. Little bit colder today but still a good view. It is actually busier today then it was at midsummer. The five telescopic stick waving regatterd up hikers passed by with a quick glance up at the trig point but a big Cornish well done to the three student types (including the one with the wild mohecan) who had traipsed up there from Codda through bog and stream. The fact that we had to tell them where they were isn’t important, they did it (I am also going to forgive them for calling us professional ramblers just because my mate had a GPS)
I just wonder if they ever found their way back?
28 Nov 2003
The sun was setting as we climbed up the hill towards the cairn. King Arthurs Hall had shown itself to me from a different angle...walking to it from Casehill it looks as if it sits in a bowl, but from the north it is sat on the ridge. Anyway, we had visited it earlier in the day and as the sun was leaving us and we had just walked 8 miles there was no point in detouring again.
After the dissapointment of the two cairns supposedly near Loudon Circle it was nice to find something that could be identified. In what is a manmade view, ie wall built on one side of it and the clay tips of Hensbarrow in the distance, it is not easy to visualise the position this cairn had in the prehistoric landscape. All I know is, on this fine winters day as the sun set in the west there was a fine view from this spot.
The amount of large stone lying in the area here does suggest that there may have been “something else”. If so and if it was situated where it now lays then by looking east you would view the three cairns as models of Showery Tor, Roughtor and Brown Willy. Any thoughts?
The three cairns are worth looking at, they have stone work that seems to be laid in circles rather than the massed piles that I am more familiar with on the moor. There is a fair amout of quartz but then it is prevelent on that side of the moor in many old walls so I think it was just the stone availiable.
In the field to the south of the cairns is another “standing stone” with a recumbent stone beside it, or is it a rubbing stone?
After walking around Michealstow I decided to head up to the Beacon. I local farmer had told me that although it is on private land there was a stile over the wall that everyone uses. This was not the easiest thing to find but once over the walk to the hill fort was simple.
The gorse covered banks surround the site of a medieval chapel and some stone work remains amongst the undergrowth incl part of an arch. Some of the forts original banks have suffered from sheep erosion and in places the area has been quarried for the local greenstone.
It is still a wonderful place in which to sit and take in the views.
Kerris Inscribed Stone
Whilst in Penzance for Golowan (who needs Glastonbury?) I had to visit some friends out at Kerris. First time I had been to the house so imagine my surprise when they told me they had a “stone” in their fireplace.
The house has been renovated over the last few years from a very ruinous state. Whilst making the old fireplace safe they discovered letters on a granite upright. Calling in Craig Weatherhill, who then called others they found out they had a 6th century inscribed stone. It is in a form of Latin and spells out something to do with Kerris. I promise to find out more....
Although not inscribed, the stones in the fireplace at the other end of the cottage are huge! If as they have been told there was possibly a circle in the area before Borlase came then perhaps this is what happened to the stones. The biggest one that makes the right hand side wall of the fireplace is approx 4 ft deep by 6 ft high! whilst the lintel is a good 7 ft long.
Again, pointed out to me by Iain, this embankment is in line with the stone circle and Brown Gelly. It may also line up with the Hurlers and Caradon Hill but neither are visible(except for the TV mast). The trackway passes between small barrows for approx 25 yardsup the hill. There are also two barrows on the hill above and to the right, covered in vegitation.
The row lies accross the bottom of a natural bowl below the Craddock Stone Circle. Iain, our guide on Saturday morning, found it easy after we had visited the settlement below Golddiggins Quarry. This is a new area of the moor to me and there is lots to discover! Much discussion was had as to what various mounds, stones, dips might have been. Hopefully I will have some photos to post soon.
I have reached the top of Cornwall, this is my second time up here, the first being in thick mist about 16 yrs ago. What a difference 16 years makes! The views are fantastic, Morwenstow to the north, Rame Head to the south, Dartmoor to the east and looking in to the wind most of Cornwall to the west. I wonder how many TMA sites can be seen from here?
There are two barrows up here though I would guess the one on the summit is modern in its construction (though many of the stones possibly belong to an older structure) The southern one though looks to be original with a shallow depression in the centre.
My plan to walk back via Loudon Hill has been cancelled as the track from Fernacre looks barren and windswept, I shall return via Butter Tor.
But before that I have a birthday lunch to eat.....with the best view one could ask for.....the wine list please waiter....waiter?
The footpath from King Arthurs Hall takes you beside this settlement. Lots of huts that are each devided in two by a grass covered ridge. Did not explore far up hillside, only into two or three huts.
Standing on Butter Tor looking back you can make out early field patterns on the hill side to the right of Garrow farm House.
Maybe it was the sun beating down on my bald patch but I thought I counted 9 stones with 2 still standing proud. Did not realise till I got home that there was another circle to the south east, another reason to go again.