I visited this site on 10th March 2007, on a morning when the wind was blasting rain out of the west, and the clouds down on the top, depriving me of the wonderful view.
The Bronze Age cairn has been messed with, and the rocks have been scattered a bit. It must have been a substantial cairn in its original form. Two low-walled shelters have been constructed from the hoary old stones, providing shelter for the intrepid traveller, who can huddle from the wind. It’s an exposed place, at just short of 1,500 feet above sea level.
This cairn will appeal to the lover of the more obscure evidence of prehistory.
The Eternal
Bones found at a prehistoric burial site indicate they belonged to victims of an ancient massacre, say scientists.
Remains of 14 people were discovered at Wayland’s Smithy, near Uffington White Horse, Oxfordshire, in the 1960s.
Latest techniques date the bones at between 3590 BC and 3560 BC, and have led experts to believe the people may have died in a Neolithic Age massacre.
English Heritage carried out the work with the help of Cardiff University and the University of Central Lancashire.
Michael Wysocki of the University of Central Lancashire says the findings suggest the Neolithic Age was more violent than previously thought.
This dating programme demands a revolution in our thinking about prehistory.
Alex Bayliss, English Heritage
The victims – three of them probably killed by arrows – could have died in a rush for land or livestock, he added.
He said: “We know one person was shot through the lower abdomen because we have found the tiny tip of a flint arrowhead embedded in their pelvic bone.
“We also know that the bodies of two people were scavenged and partially dismembered by dogs or wolves before their remains were buried in the monument.
“All this new evidence suggests that the period between 3625 BC and 3590 BC may have been one of increasing social tension and upheaval.”
The research also indicates that the use of Neolithic long barrows was short-lived – and did not take place over hundreds of years as previously thought.
English Heritage radiocarbon dating expert Alex Bayliss said: “With this research, we can now think about the Neolithic period in terms of individuals and communities and make useful and revealing comparisons between their choices and behaviour in the remote past.
“This dating programme demands a revolution in our thinking about prehistory and not just that of early Neolithic burial monuments in southern Britain.”
18/02/07 Carrock Fell hillfort, west wall, looking south-west up the River Caldew to Skiddaw.
Image credit: The Eternal
18/02/07 Carrock Fell hillfort, looking east along the north wall.
Image credit: The Eternal
18/02/07 Carrock Fell hillfort, south wall, looking south.
Image credit: The Eternal
Earthwork remains of an Iron Age hillfort containing levelled rock-cut hut platforms, according to ADS, but they’re hard to spot amongst the heather. It’s quite a small fort, sited on top of a rocky outcrop. There’s not a lot to see, but it’s obvious that the site would be easily defended.
You can see Castlerigg Stone Circle from the top, if you know where to look, and have binoculars.
It was a cold day of sub-zero temperatures, when me and my mate, Pie Eater, visited. The ice, under the light covering of powder snow, made for an interesting ascent. The Forestry Commission have spoilt the area somewhat, but the short detour to the top of nearby Raven Crag will reward the intrepid antiquarian with spectacular views of Thirlmere.
09/02/07 Looking north to Castle Crag, Shoulthwaite, Iron Age hillfort from Armboth Fell.
Image credit: The Eternal
09/02/07 Castle Crag, Shoulthwaite, Iron Age hillfort, with its useful information sign. It’s a small place.
Image credit: The Eternal
09/02/07 Castle Crag, Shoulthwaite, Iron Age Hillfort from the northern end of Shoulthwaite. Iron Crag is on the right.
Image credit: The Eternal
A Bronze Age logboat which had lain unseen in the River Tay for 3,000 years is being studied by archaeologists.
It is hoped the find will yield important new information about how human ancestors lived.
Although the boat, made from the trunk of a single oak, was found five years ago, it was only lifted out of the Tay during the summer.
Repairs carried out on the 30ft vessel have already given experts an insight into Bronze Age technology.
The boat, which would have been powered by up to 12 men, is being studied by archaeologists in Edinburgh who have claimed it to be one of the best examples of its kind in Scotland.
Experts have also been intrigued about the discovery of sulphur in the wood.
Noel Fojut, of heritage agency Historic Scotland, said: “There are very advanced techniques now for analysing the material, such as what was used to make a repair in the middle of the boat.
“We can now do a lot with very small samples, so the boat looks just as it did before.”
The logboat currently has to be kept wet to prevent drying out and cracking.
However, once the research has finished, it will be injected with chemicals and freeze dried to preserve it.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/6213857.stm
24/12/06. A temperature inversion. Looking NE to Great Mell Fell from Dove Crag. Christmas came a day early. The shadow of Mr. The Eternal belies his 5’ 8.5” stature. And, yes, I am claiming the half-inch.
Image credit: The Eternal
24/12/06 A temperature inversion, looking ENE to High Raise from Dove Crag. The air was so warm on the mountain tops, trapping the freezing air in the valleys. An indescribably beautiful day. Call it a Christmas pesent a day early.
Image credit: The Eternal
04/11/06 High Raise Bronze Age cairn, looking SE. Harter Fell in the background. What a peaceful place, as I always find it. So different from Helvellyn across the valley.
Image credit: The Eternal
04/11/06 High Raise Bronze Age cairn, looking south on a windy day. High Street lies behind, and the R*man road skirts the summit of High Raise a few yards to the west. Lonely, and lovely.
Image credit: The Eternal
The Unesco World Heritage site, Stonehenge, is “a destination in trouble”, a new survey has found.
The National Geographic Traveler magazine marked the site 56 out of 100 against criteria including historic preservation and tourism management.
Survey panellists said Stonehenge was a “mess”, “over-loved” and “crowded”.
English Nature, which looks after the site said it was “actively seeking to revamp its visitor facilities” and improve the near-by A303 road.
More than 400 tourism experts rated 94 World Heritage sites in the third survey of its kind for National Geographic.
The lowest ranking destination was given to the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, which scored only 39 out of 100.
In a statement, English Nature said: “It is true that the site has lost some its magic, but the fact is that it is the only UK World Heritage Site to have been nominated as one the New Seven Wonders of the World.”
It is competing against other iconic buildings and structures, ranging from the Statue of Liberty to the Great Wall of China, in a global hunt for the New Seven Wonders of the World.
The poll is being organised by the Swiss-based group New7Wonders and the winners will be announced in July 2007.
Last year, planning permission was refused for a new visitor centre at Stonehenge but English Nature plans to appeal against the decision in December.
It also said that the much-needed improvements to the A303 – which have been endorsed at a public inquiry were now subject to a government review as a result of cost increases.
An airship has flown over Stonehenge to celebrate the 5,000-year-old landmark’s inclusion on a shortlist to decide the seven wonders of the modern world.
Fifty robed druids performed a ceremony inside the circle to mark the event.
Stonehenge, the only British entry, is up against iconic buildings and structures ranging from the Statue of Liberty to the Great Wall of China.
The global poll is being organised by the Swiss-based group New7Wonders. The winners will be announced in July 2007.
The New7Wonders winner will be chosen by the public.
Bernard Webber, New7Wonders founder, said: “I think it (Stonehenge) has great potential because of its simplicity. It’s like a mirror for humanity.”
“Stonehenge’s beauty is also its environment which, if the roads were not here, would be even better. I think it has a good chance.”
Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, is one of 21 finalists.
Some 20m votes have already been received, including many from India for the Taj Mahal, China for the Great Wall and Peru for Machu Picchu.
But European voters have been slower off the mark, said Tia Viering, a spokeswoman for New7Wonders.
The news of Stonehenge’s entry has been greeted with enthusiasm.
“It should win simply because it’s prehistoric. It’s 5,000 years old and was built before written language, before metal tools and before the invention of the wheel,” said Dave Batchelor, of Stonehenge.
An enforcement notice has been served on the National Trust by a local council because of ongoing problems with travellers and pagans.
Kennet District Council issued the planning enforcement notice on the trust after overnight problems at Avebury Stone circle in Wiltshire.
A spokesman said complaints had been received about bad behaviour caused by the influx of New Age visitors.
The trust has until 6 November to lodge an appeal.
A council spokesman said: “The council has warned the National Trust that it should not allow overnight camping and caravanning in its car parks because it is a breach of planning control.
“The trust has responded by saying that it is trying to find an alternative site.”
Regional director Brendan McCarthy said the trust had been working hard to find a solution that balanced a large number of factors and interest groups.
He said: “We are all aware of the unsuitability of the current car park for the larger pagan celebrations and the trust is committed to finding an alternative which will be acceptable to all parties.”
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/6044972.stm
22/09/06 Stockdale Moor from the summit of Lank Rigg, looking SE.
Image credit: The Eternal
22/09/06 Kinniside (Blakeley Raise) stone circle, in its landscape. Viewed looking W from Grike. Cleator Moor is the town behind.
Image credit: The Eternal
22/09/06 Kinniside stone circle (Blakeley Raise) from above Blakeley Moss. I reckon this is the origin of the stones. The photo doesn’t show the extent of the stones, but suffice to say there’s nowhere else near with any stones. Looking W, with the town of Cleator Moor behind.
Image credit: The Eternal
22/09/06 Blakeley Raise stone circle, looking NE.
Image credit: The Eternal
22/09/06 Blakeley Raise stone circle, looking NW.
Image credit: The Eternal
22/09/06 Blakeley Raise stone circle, inside looking SW.
Image credit: The Eternal
22/09/06 Blakeley Raise stone circle, looking SW. The Cold Fell road behind.
Image credit: The Eternal
Supposedly, this is a reconstructed site. Perfectly manicured lawns, courtesy of the local Herdwick sheep, and manure to keep the grass growing.
This is the land that could well be described as the “arsehole of nowhere”, not that I wouldn’t like to live there. The west Cumbrian coast is the hardest part of England to get to. Even from the central Lakes it’s at least an hour plus to get to Kinniside, sorry Blakeley Raise. The new name has come from the small fell behind. It’ known locally as Kinniside.
If you get there at the right time of day, i.e. when the minority of dickheads who work at Sellafield aren’t going to, or coming from work at high speed on a narrow road, often on the wrong side, then it’s bliss, otherwise don’t bother, as the chances of a crash are high. As are the chances of a crash on the southern approaches from the M6, to-whit, the A590 (740 casualties in the last 5 years).
Enough doom. The circle is set high above Cleator Moor, which can be seen down to the west. Sellafield’s (it’s safe, honest) chimneys and cooling towers spoil the view of the Irish Sea. To the N and NW lovely fells rise up, as the do immediately behind. You can walk these heights all day without seeing a soul.
As for the circle, well the story of the reconstruction (see my notes in the miscellaneous) sort of destroys the illusion of the perfect setting. How can we really be sure they’re the right stones in the right holes? It changes the atmosphere and feeling of the site for me.
11-03-06 Troutbeck Park cairn sites from the W side of Garburn Pass, looking N. Threshthwaite Mouth is the pass in the hills in the centre.
Image credit: The Eternal
25-02-06 High Raise from Helvellyn, looking E. High Raise is part of the long R*man road of High Street. High street summit is the high point to the right of High Raise.
It’s a gratuitous photo, but what the Hell. What a day it was. Red Tarn is the inky pool on the lower left, with the arete of Striding Edge on the right. On the day I witnessed a near-death, as a walker slid down the icy slopes towards Thirlmere. The snow was iron-hard. Thankfully he got away with his life. Always take an ice-axe and crampons on the fells when snow is about – they were essential on this day, especially on the edges. The mountains can be unforgiving.
Image credit: The Eternal
30-06-06 Floutern Cop from Grasmoor, looking W. Mellbreak is the fell with the pink scree, her beautiful feet washed by the pure Crummock Water. Life is sometimes too much, but places like this help you cope. The wind, the rain, the sun, the smell of the sweet mountain grasses, and the liquid call of the raven, cartwheeling across a troubled sky – all these things mean so much more than the monetary trappings of “life”...........and let’s not forget the prehistoric sites we love so much.
Image credit: The Eternal
08-04-06 Crummock rock art site, viewed from Burnbank Fell, looking E. Loweswater is on the left, Crummock Water centre, and Mellbreak is the cloud-capped shoulder of fell on the right.
Image credit: The Eternal
02-06-06 Castlerigg stone circle in its landscape setting. Viewed from High Rigg, looking N. The perfect prelude to Keswick Beer Festival, and a few jars with old friends.
Image credit: The Eternal
01-04-06 Glaramara, looking N from Allen Crags. Derwentwater lies beyond.
Image credit: The Eternal
01-04-06 Glaramara norhtern stone axe factory from the N, on Combe Head.
Image credit: The Eternal
01-04-06 Glaramara northern stone axe factory, approaching from the NE. Note the interesting rock striations on the lower right, so typical of the Borrowdale volcanic rock series. Similar formations can be found near the Pike of Stickle stone axe factory.
Image credit: The Eternal
01-04-06 Glaramara northern stone axe factory, looking SSW from Rosthwaite Fell.
Image credit: The Eternal
This is a hard to find site, small, but the evidence is there if you stumble upon it, with worked stone to be seen.
If you can’t find it amongst the many areas of scree and rock then so what, ‘cos it’s worth going to the top of Glaramara for its own sake. Glorious, with the length of Borrowdale stretching northwards to Skiddaw, and the highest land in England to the south.
If you walk south along the ridge to Allen Crags, just after the lowest point, look on the left for the most perfect of mountain tarns, just off the track, and ringed by grey rock. The setting is unforgetable, the waters gently lapping the shore, the wind soughing through the mountain grasses, whilst the north face of Great End looms over all, dark and gaunt, the mists rising like smoke through her gullies.
.........and at work I wonder why my mind isn’t on the job.
01-04-06. Associations: Pike of Stickle from near the Glaramara stone axe factory.
Image credit: The Eternal
Plans for a £67m visitor centre at Stonehenge, complete with its own rail link, are to go to a public inquiry.
Salisbury District Council approved the plans last week but the plans were “called in” by the government.
The plans were already turned down once by the district council over environmental fears, but approved after an appeal and consultation.
The government said the scheme was called in because “the proposals raise issues of more than local importance”.
Government planners also wanted to consider the centre’s indirect involvement with plans to upgrade the A303 and Stonehenge to World Heritage Site status.
Council planners in Salisbury had previously approved the scheme under the condition the road was upgraded to include a tunnel.
The planning inspector will now carry out another inquiry and will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Local Government, Ruth Kelly, who will have a final say on the matter.
A Salisbury District Council spokesman said there had already been two consultations on the centre at a cost of £10,000 each plus staff costs.
Councillor Richard Britton, leader of Salisbury District Council, said: “It is unfortunate that this issue is to be the subject of yet another public enquiry.
“We had hoped that, by making our approval subject to a number of conditions, the issue would have been resolved.
“We are extremely concerned with the further financial burden this inquiry will place on the council. The expense involved with such a process could be very significant indeed.”
The Prime Minister is being urged to step in to decide on the future of traffic around Stonehenge.
The RAC has written to Tony Blair, asking him to get personally involved after a series of u-turns and delay.
The motoring foundation favours putting the A303 through a 1.3-mile tunnel, bored into the Wiltshire countryside.
The scheme was recommended after a public inquiry, but was put on hold by the Department for Transport when its costs rose to £510m.
In his letter to Mr Blair, RAC Foundation chairman David Holmes said: “Only you have the authority to cut through departmental inertia and get some action.”
A long-awaited visitor centre and rail link for the ancient site cannot go ahead until the government has sanctioned the road improvements.
Mr Holmes added: “Because the cost estimate for the scheme rose to £510m, the Department for Transport insisted on re-examining some of the options which the public inquiry ruled out.
“This is a backwards step, as any of these alternatives would have to be the subject of further consultation and full public inquiries. None could start for a decade or more.”
The actions of a domestic cat have thrown up a new theory about ancient stone burial cairns in Caithness.
Archaeologists built a mock-up of the structures as part of an experiment.
Emma Sanderson, of Caithness Archaeology Trust, said it was found that a dead rabbit had been left in the replica by a cat.
She said it could mean that animal bones found in real cairns were not the remains of ceremonial offerings, as thought, but left by other creatures.
Archaeologists built reconstructions of burial cairns and ancient towers called brochs as part of a series of research projects and excavations carried out in Caithness over the summer.
Prince Charles, who is on holiday at Castle of Mey, visited the ruins of a broch near Keiss this week.
A team from Nottingham University also dived to a number of wrecks off the Caithness coast, including one thought to be a World War I German warship.
The archaeologists are now analysing their field work, including new insights into cairns.
“One day a couple of weeks ago a dead rabbit was laid out in the cairn. It had been placed there by a cat,” said Ms Sanderson.
She said it was previously thought that animal remains found in actual cairns were left as ceremonial offerings.
However, the cat’s dead rabbit has provided a new theory that they had been killed by other animals years after the cairn had fallen into disrepair.
Another theory about cairns may also have been exploded after archaeologists knocked down their mock-up.
It was noted that the stones collapsed in a pattern previously thought to be evidence of ceremonial closing of the cairn.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/5245956.stm
Evidence of a prehistoric causeway has been uncovered during flood defence work on the marshes of Suffolk.
Contractors working on the Environment Agency’s excavation of a new dyke on Beccles town marshes found timber remains which had been hand-sculpted.
Archaeologists said the wooden causeway was used from the Bronze Age in about 1000BC, through the Iron Age to Roman times and the 4th century AD.
The site will now be analysed and dated with the results published this year.
Archaeologists from the University of Birmingham and Suffolk County Council Archaeological Field Services Team were called in to investigate the find.
Results suggest the more than 2,624ft (800m) long wooden causeway may have run from dry land on the edge of Beccles, across a swamp to a spot on the River Waveney.
A 98ft-long (30m) section of the causeway has been recorded with more than 40 in-situ timber posts uncovered.
The 16ft-wide (5m) causeway would have carried carts and was the Bronze Age equivalent of a motorway.
The wet conditions of the site mean that organic material such as wood has been well preserved.
Jane Sidell, from English Heritage, said: “This is the first such structure to have been discovered within Suffolk, and is one of only a few in Britain, and as such is a nationally important find.
“It gives us an excellent opportunity to examine ancient, possibly ritual, use of the marshland, and how the marshes have developed over time.”
Dr Henry Chapman, from the University of Birmingham, said: “You have got a causeway which has been used for a tremendous amount of time, which is unique – we haven’t got something like that.
“It has been added to over time to preserve it, which shows its importance to early Beccles.”
Rain grounded an airborne celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the first aerial photographs of Stonehenge.
A balloon carrying photographers was due to fly over the ancient Wiltshire landmark to recapture images taken in 1906 by Lieutenant Philip Henry Sharpe.
But the poor weather on Salisbury Plain on Tuesday forced the balloon to remain grounded.
English Heritage later provided aerial pictures taken from a balloon over Stonehenge earlier this year.
Archaeological benefits
Lt Sharpe was a member of the Royal Engineers’ Balloon Section – precursor to the Royal Flying Corps and later the RAF – when he took the first aerial shots.
The images helped with the discovery of other earthworks around the stones.
Stonehenge’s chief archaeologist Dave Batchelor said: “Aerial photography is most useful in helping us understand the human use and development of the landscape around Stonehenge.”
Aerial views of Stonehenge taken 100 years ago are on display at Stonehenge until 7 August.
Plans to build a new visitor centre, with its own rail link, at Stonehenge have been approved by councillors.
English Heritage’s original application was refused by Salisbury District Council amid fears a rail link would damage the environment.
But after an appeal, planners on Monday approved the scheme with conditions.
The development cannot start until the government has sanctioned improvements to the nearby A303, including a tunnel through the Wiltshire countryside.
World heritage site
Councillor Mike Hewitt said the plans had met with some opposition.
“None of us like the application 100%, but it is the best we have got at the moment,” he said.
“The current visitor centre is not a good advertisement for the UK. It is cramped and there is nowhere to shelter from the rain.
“After all, it is a world heritage site, one of those things you are supposed to see before you die and if you went down there you’d wonder what we were expecting people to pay for.”
English Heritage plans for a new Stonehenge visitor centre are being recommended for approval.
Salisbury District Council had refused the original plans amid fears a train to ferry visitors to the site would damage the environment.
There were also concerns about whether the nearby A303 would be upgraded.
The plans have been resubmitted following an appeal and a final decision on the centre will be made by the council on 10 July.
Planning officials have advised the council they can make approval of the visitor centre conditional on improvements to the A303 going ahead.
1,000 comments
A consultation period is now complete and the plans will go before a special meeting of the council for comment on 4 July before another meeting is held for a final decision six days later.
At both meetings – to be held at 1630 BST at Amesbury Sports Centre – time will be set aside for the public to have their say.
When it received the original planning application in September 2004, more than 1,000 comments were received from members of the public.
Since the application was resubmitted in April a further 77 comments have been received.
All comments received since 2004, along with the views of statutory consultees, will feature in a report going to both committees.
When the planning and regulatory committee has made its decision, the government can choose to refer the decision to a public inquiry.
27/05/06 You tend to stumble across these cairns, rather than look for them. From The Cockpit you head SSE, then see a suspicious upright stone, which turns out to be an old estate boundary stone, not an ancient outlier of the stone circle, discovered for archaeological posterity by your good self.
They are mostly overgrown, which is understandable, considering their lonely nature. Who, apart from a few lone, romantic souls, with a faraway look in their eyes, bother to seek them out for their worth? Most concentrate on the likes of Castlerigg, thus depriving those sites of their mystique, for who can fully feel the spirit of place when it’s shared with so many.
Give me the solitude of the lonely Cockpit cairns any day, with only the larks for company, and the sound of the wind soughing through the long grass.
27/05/06 Overgrown cairn SSE of The Cockpit, looking W.
Image credit: The Eternal
27/05/06 Fairly overgrown cairn SSE of The Cockpit. Looking NW, with Carrock Fell in the distance.
Image credit: The Eternal
27/05/06 The Cockpit, from the SW, lost in the landscape, with Heughscar Hill behind. The monument from the landscape is lost, yet the landscape from the monument is huge.
Image credit: The Eternal
27/05/06 From the boundary stone to the S, looking to The Cockpit stone circle. Heathens within, still debating water quality.
Image credit: The Eternal
27/05/06 The Cockpit from the SW, Heathens within, debating on the dubious quality of the fresh water from the beck. As if tap water compares, dead sheep or no dead sheep.
Image credit: The Eternal