'Visited' Saturday 3 October 2009
We had planned to see these stones as they are so close to Castel Rufel and close to the road. (See also Menhirs de Roch Toul.)
In the end, it looked as if they were in crop. The weather was also poor & we had a fairly long journey ahead, so we didn't check for possible access.
From 'Guide to the Menhirs and other Megaliths of Central Brittany' (Mezert Books) by Samuel Lewis there are three menhirs, one standing, two fallen. From photos, they look quite big.
|
Approximate co-ordinates only
'Visited' Saturday 3 October 2009
We had planned to see these stones as they are so close to Castel Rufel and next to the road. (See also Trimen.)
In the end, the weather was poor & we had a fairly long journey ahead, so as they don't look that spectacular in the photos we'd seen, we didn't try very hard. We thought we saw one of them as we drove past, but I'm not sure.
In 'Guide to the Menhirs and other Megaliths of Central Brittany' (Mezert Books) Samuel Lewis says:
"The stones are not hard to find as they actually stretch across the road, two on one side and one on the other. Close by, and also beside the road, is another menhir of the same height."
I think it was this 'extra' stone we saw.
|
Access: Easy 5 minute walk to the alignments from the end of the road across brushy/moorland-type grass. Not much space for parking.
Visited Sunday 27 September 2009
A beautiful setting. Difficult to know what's prehistoric & what's natural, as there are lots of stones lying about. Some bits are obvious - & I suspect these are the only bone fide bits!
There's also a strange little setting of rocks by a small ruined building on a smaller promontory down the hill towards the beach. I suspect these are associated with the building, but difficult to be sure.
|
Access: Amongst labyrinthine country roads. The stone lies near the centre of a field is all I can say - see below....
Visited Saturday 26 September 2009
First one of the holiday. In crop. Bugger.
Some proper pics here, under Plouguin in the horizontal dropdown menu of villages across the top of the page. (Couldn't find a way to link to the particular page.)
|
Approximate long/lat coordinates only
Access: See the Menhir de Cisternette and Menhir 1 de Coulet. Less than 300 metres east, on the north side of the road. Also less than 1km east of the Menhir de la Levade.
As with all the menhirs here, there is a fence at the side of the road, so I'm not sure how easy it is to get right up to the stone, but it's very close to the road.
'Visited' Wednesday 5 September
One web source I have seen since we got back suggests that there are two menhirs here, but gives no more information.
We could only see one from the road, though looking closely at one my photographs there is what I had previously taken as a dead tree beyond the stone. I now think it could well be another stone. The one we definitely saw is a fairly chunky, tapering monolith around 3 metres tall and 1.5 metres wide. As with Menhir 1 du Coulet, it is set on the high plain surrounded by low hills.
|
Approximate long/lat coordinates only
Access: See the Menhir de la Cisternette. This one is right opposite, on the north side of the road, but 'Cisternette' is probably easier to spot (it's unmissable!) Also only about 600 metres east of the Menhir de la Levade and less than 300 metres west of the Menhir 2 (?) du Coulet.
As with all the menhirs here, there is a fence at the side of the road, so I'm not sure how easy it is to get right up to the stone, but it's very close to the road.
'Visited' Wednesday 5 September
A nice-looking, slim monolith 3.25 metres tall and 1.35 metres wide, set on the high plain surrounded by low hills.
|
Approximate long/lat coordinates only
Access: See the Menhir de la Levade. The Menhir de Cisternette is easy to spot and the only one of the four menhirs we found that is to the right (south) of the road. Heading east on the D130, it is only about 600 metres past the Menhir de la Levade, which is on the left (north) of the road. (Less than 300 metres west of the Menhir 2 du Coulet).
The Menhir 1 du Coulet is to the north of the road at the same point, but is probably harder to spot while moving....
As with all the menhirs here, there is a fence at the side of the road, so I'm not sure how easy it is to get right up to the stone, but it's very close to the road.
'Visited' Wednesday 5 September
This one's a fairly beefy slab of a stone, 2.3 metres tall. It's set on the low slopes of the hillside surrounding the open high plain.
Some marks on its north face have apparently been interpreted as a possible cross and attempt at christianisation. I'm not convinced, myself.
|
Approximate long/lat coordinates only
Access: For directions, see the Petit Dolmen de Ferrussac. Heading east from the Petit dolmen, we spotted four menhirs from the road. In order, they were this one (on the left/north of the road), the Menhir de la Cisternette (on the right/south), Menhir 1 du Coulet (on the left/north) and one which I guess is Menhir 2 (?) du Coulet (on the left/north).
Starting from the Petit Dolmen, go east on the D130 past the Grand Dolmen de Ferrussac. After passing the Grand Dolmen, once the countryside 'opens up' on the left, keep your eyes open (on both sides) for menhirs.
I say look out on both sides because if you miss this one, the next one is the Menhir de la Cisternette on the right. As that's the only one we saw on the right, it is very helpful in working out where you are in relation to the others!
The Menhir de la Levade is around 3km east of the Grand Dolmen on the left (north) of the road. There is a fence at the side of the road, so I'm not sure how easy it is to get right up to the stone, but it's easy to see from the road once you spot it.
'Visited' Wednesday 5 September
Despite being 3 metres tall, we only just spotted this one in the scrub on the plain. But if you miss it, it would be easy to find by retracing your steps/wheeltracks from the Menhir de la Cisternette, which is very easy to spot on the right (south) of the road a little further along. We didn't stop, as we had traffic behind and weren't planning to stop at single stones....
I now regret this, as from the glimpse we got it looks like a fine menhir. Admittedly it seemed very much like the others on the D130, which we did get a chance to stop at and photograph.
|
Access: Just visible through trees from the D130. For this one and many others very near by, leave the A75 at junction 52 and take the D25 through St Etienne-de-Gourgas and St Pierre-de-la-Fage. From St Pierre, continue for around 1.5km, taking a right fork south, to La Vacquerie(-et-St-Martin-de-Castries) on the D9.
Pass through the village and carry on for a short distance to the D130 left (east). Take this for around 2km, probably a bit less, keeping you eye out for a glimpse of a dolmen in the trees to the left (north) of the road. You may also spot a ruined tumulus. (We didn't, but I forgot to look for it.)
Visited Wednesday 5 September
Wow, what a dinky dolmen! I'd assumed it was just called that to distinguish it from the Grand Dolmen!
Standing in the remnants of its mound, this is a more 'standard-looking' structure than the Grand Dolmen just up the road. It appeared to us to have traces of a passage.
Actually, we would probably have missed it if not for an elderly French couple we met when we overshot to the Grand Dolmen, who managed clarify Bruno Marc's directions in Dolmens et Menhirs en Languedoc et Roussillon, despite our pidgin French and them not speaking any English....
And inside the tiny dolmen was an even tinier 'model' dolmen. We saw loads of these in the south of France, near real ones. Must be a local megalith-spotter hobby. I've only ever seen a couple in this country (& a tiny model stone circle on the path to a stone circle in County Cork).
In the area there is also a huge necropolis (at La Roque aka Laroque) and there are a couple of other more ruined dolmens very near St Pierre-de-la-Fage. The St Pierre dolmens are covered in the Bruno Marc book mentioned above. The necropolis is covered in his snappily titled Statues-Menhirs et Dolmens des Sausses et du Haut Languedoc. We didn't have time for everything and chose to target what seemed the more striking places.
|
Access: See the Petit Dolmen de Ferrusac (which we would probably have missed if not for an elderly couple we met at the Grand Dolmen!) The Grand Dolmen is around 300 metres further along, also on the left. Reasonably easily visible through bushes and small trees from the D130.
Visited Wednesday 5 September
Like the similar Dolmen 1 de Coste-Claude, this one had been fascinating us ever since we saw a photo, as it looks like a double-decker dolmen! As with Coste-Claude, it's actually a passage grave where the chamber is considerably taller than the passage, creating a strange overall impression.
A very impressive monument, noticably larger than Coste-Claude, slightly 'tattier' and marred somewhat by a concrete slab used to replace one of the side slabs of the upper part of the chamber.
There are several outcrops of rock immediately to the north of the dolmen, and even some suitable slabs of rock that could surely have been used instead, but I dare say there are reasons why concrete was used....
Perhaps those slabs may be the remnants of other monuments? In Dolmens et Menhirs en Languedoc et Rousillon, Bruno Marc certainly says that there is a menhir in the trees behind, 50 metres to the NW and another (fallen and broken in two) 80 metres to the NE. Not sure if he means 80 metres from the dolmen or from the from the '50 metre' menhir.... We didn't have time to go looking.
There are certainly several menhirs to the east - 4 that we found: Menhir de la Levade, Menhir de la Cisternette, Menhir 1 du Coulet and one which I guess is Menhir 2 (?) du Coulet.
With the Petit Dolmen just down the road, the area seems to have been a fair old complex of monuments.
|
Access Just 85 metres SE of Dolmen 1 de Coste-Claude. See Dolmen 1 de Coste-Claude for details of how to reach the dolmens.
Visited Wednesday 5 September
Quite ruined, but probably worth a look if you're visiting Dolmen 1. There is also another even more ruined dolmen nearby. Again, see Dolmen 1 de Coste-Claude.
|
Access: A walk of a few hundred metres along a decent dirt path (might be muddy in the wet). Take the A75 motorway to the Lodève area (see also Dolmen de Coste-Rouge and Dolmen de la Bruyère d'Usclas).
For this one and others very near by, leave the A75 at junction 52 and take the D25 through St Etienne-de-Gourgas and St Pierre-de-la-Fage. From St Pierre, continue for around 3km and take a left turn (north) on the small D152. The dirt path to the dolmen is reasonably easy to spot on the left (west) after around 1.5km.
As you set off on the path, you should be able to see what looks like a menhir a few metres away on your left. This is actually (allegedly!) a sculpture by Paul Dardé, representing prehistoric man. Hmmm. Ignore it (or have a quick look!) and continue on the path which goes through scrubby trees, bending round to the left. After around 150 metres, you should be at the passage grave, on your left I think.
Visited Wednesday 5 September
This one had been fascinating us ever since we saw a photo, as it looks like a double-decker dolmen! (The nearby Grand Dolmen de Ferussac is similar but has a nasty concrete sideslab.)
In both cases, what you actually have is simply a passage grave where the chamber is considerably taller than the passage. The remaining mound is just to the height of the passage, all of which creates an unusual appearance. They do look cool though!
The monument is smaller than I expected from photos, but I guess if the whole thing was covered, being so tall it would have been a pretty large structure incuding its full mound. Restored to its current gorgeous condition in 1978, without a nasty concrete replacement stone....
The ruined Dolmen 2 de Coste-Claude is around 85 metres to the SE, but I only just found it with a compass. According to Bruno Marc in Dolmens et Menhirs en Languedoc et Roussillon there is also a third, even more ruined tomb 265 metres to the SW but I didn't even try for that one. (I'm also not sure whether it's 265 metres from Dolmen 1 or Dolmen 2.)
|
Access: On the same road as Dolmen de Coste-Rouge, just a little further east. From the priory where Coste-Rouge is, travel less than 1km east. When the road forks, take the right onto a dirt road. There is another junction almost immediately - this time go left.
In just under 100 metres you should see a little sign on the left pointing into the trees along a reasonably well-worn path. The dolmen is less than 100 metres into the trees, right on the path.
Visited Wednesday 5 September
Another beauty. Nice dolmen of pretty large slabs in the low remnants of its rubble cairn. At first glance, it seems to have two capstones, one of which has slipped off the back. But once you think about it, it's obviously actually one huge stone broken in two.
The front part still covers the whole chamber - the back part has fallen when it was broken because it's basically a huge overhang. In Dolmens et Menhirs en Lanuedoc et Rousillon, Bruno Marc says that in one piece, it was the largest capstone in the area - just over 4 metres long! There is also a fairly large slab on edge right next to the dolmen on the mound. Monsieur Marc says this could be part of a kist - possibly.
No real views of surrounding terrain, not least because of the forestry that covers the hillsides here. The trees on the steep hillside to the north(ish) looked very pretty in the sun and gave dramatic backdrop though....
|
Access: Signposted from the nearest village - Le Pouget. As long as you don't mind driving carefully on a dirt road that gets a little rough at times, the walk is less than 100 metres across the corner of a field and along a good path. Otherwise a walk of around 1km, probably a little more, from Le Pouget.
We went here on the way to the Dolmen de Coste-Rouge. It's easily accessible from junction 57 on the A75 motorway, or (as we did) from the N109 from Montpellier. From the N109, take the D32 at Gignac - south towards Canet. It's just under 7km, after passing a village called Pouzols you need to keep an eye out for a small left (east) to Le Pouget.
If you miss it, you'll come to a smallish roundabout, which you can go to Le Pouget from, but it'll take you all round the town (we know - we did it!) If you're coming from the A75 motorway, go through Canet, and when you reach the little roundabout head for Gignac for a very short distance and find the turning east (right).
So, from the little turning to Le Pouget, head east just into the village, but as soon as you reach it, keep an eye out for dolmen signs and a tiny very narrow and tight right turn uphill squeezed between buildings. Go up this road which climbs and passes out of the village. As you reach the last few buildings look out for a (I think) handmade sign for the dolmen down a dirt road on your right.
Take the dirt road. There are a few spots where you'll need to drive very carefully, but we managed in a family car. Wouldn't fancy it in a low-slung sporty-job though!!! Go right to the end of the road and park.
At the end of the road you'll find a large stone on each side (the left one is very menhirlike and has 'dolmen' written on it). In front of you is a field with a tree under which is a little stone bench. To the right of this is a path out of the field, and the dolmen in its mound is only about 25 metres along this and you can't miss it....
Visited Wednesday 5 September
Nice passage! We arrived at the site to find, to our surprise, a group of four French pensioners having a coffeebreak from a hike. They kindly moved off the monument so that we could have a good poke about and take pictures.
The passage grave sits in a largeish mound and has been nicely restored. The passage and chamber are around 12 metres long, dry-stone walled, except for the chamber's entrance stone, back slab and the capstones. The entrance stone to the chamber has a beautiful 'kennel-hole' (or catflap as we tend to call them...) and the exposed passage is elegantly long and narrow.
Interestingly, the dry-stone walling of the chamber is kind of corbelled, narrowing at the top. It was fascinating to see later in the trip, that this seems to be an echo of the hypogées in the Arles-Fontvieille Group, such as the Grotte de la Source - especially as the Arles-Fontvieille Group is thought to be so compact because the builders 'moved on' rather than spreading.
According to the guide at the Dolmen de Coste-Rouge, the entrance hole was "created by the archaeologists". I'm not sure how she knows this though, as she admitted that most of her info on 'her' dolmen comes from Bruno Marc's Dolmens et Menhirs en Languedoc et Roussilion. He says de Gallard is restored, but is not so specific - I suspect she was just trying to 'big-up' Coste-Rouge as the only 'genuine' kennel-hole.... (We were later to discover another, even more catflapish one in the Oise valley, way oop north!)
Great views of the surrounding area, particularly over the area to the north, but we didn't get a chance to see how visible the tomb is from below. A lovely spot where we stayed for long enough for Jane to sketch. The "sweet biddies" were still there when we left - so they obviously liked it!
|
Access: In grounds of St Michel de Grandmont Priory (Prieurié de St Michel-de-Grandmont). Smallish entrance charge for priory and dolmen together and only visitable with guide on a ten minute walk on undulating gravelly paths.
Afterwards we realised that the guided tour allegedly also takes in a menhir (with interesting-sounding ruts and creases in the rock nearby) and 2 other (more battered) dolmens - the dolmens de Belvédère - but we weren't offered the option....
Take the A75 motorway to Lodève. We left it at junction 53 travelling north, then skirted the town on the D25, following signs to the priory onto the little D135 to the east. This is steep and winding to begin with as it climbs into the hills. Once onto the top of the hills, the priory is only a few km and still signposted. After our visit, we discovered that it's possible to spot the dolmen from one of the bends before you reach the priory.
Visited Wednesday 5 September
A stunner! We arrived at the priory at around 1pm and were told that the next planned tour to the dolmen was at 3pm, but that as it was quiet, the guide would take us and another couple in about 10 minutes.
This was lucky as we didn't want to hang about, but possibly the reason we weren't shown the other dolmens and the menhir. I was too excited to remember they were even there, so we didn't think to ask about them. Gah.
The dolmen was as thrilling as it looks. An impressive monument with a pretty unusual and well-preserved 'kennel-hole' entrance, a huge cuplike/ballaunlike depression on one side and a small carved 'christianising' cross on the other. The dolmen stands in low remnants of its rubble mound, on a ridge running out from the hillside. Beautiful views of surrounding hills and valleys, partially obscured by trees.
The capstone is around 3.15 x 3 metres and rubbing against it was apparently a bizarre cure for skin diseases in the middle ages (according to Bruno Marc in Dolmens et Menhirs en Languedoc et Roussilion - if my French translation is good enough!)
Wonderful!
|
Access: Easy to reach from the Dolmen de Crucuno, as it is right beside the road from Crucuno to the D105. The monument is up a high verge, which is short but quite steep.
Take the D781 between Erdeven and Plouharnel, turning NE to the village of Crucuno. You can't miss the Dolmen of Crucuno as it is against the wall of a farmhouse-type building on the village green.
To reach Mané Groh, continue through the village for around 500 metres, just past a forestry road into the woods on the left. Park on the right (east) of the road, the dolmen is on the left. Or park at the little carpark a little way up the forestry road and walk back.
Coët-er-Bei is only a few hundred metres away along the forestry road, bearing right and is signposted from there.
Alternatively, include as part of a walk between the woods and Erdeven, taking in the Alignements de Kerzerho, the Menhirs de Kerjean, Mané Braz and Coët-er-Bei (including La Chaise de César).
Visited Sunday 17 April 2005
A beauty! I failed to find this when I was in Brittany in the late 90s, mainly because I had really lousy maps, no time, a partner who wasn't very interested, and I thought it was in the woods....
Nothing really to add to Jane and Mark's descriptions, so I'll shut up!
|
Access: A fair walk, I reached the monument(s) from Erdeven (Les Alignements de Kerzerho via the Menhirs de Kerjean.
From Erdeven, the walk to Mané Braz was probably around 30-40 minutes, though it has to be said that the rain lent me speed!
Could also be reached in the opposite direction through the woods from Mané Groh, via Coët-er-Bei (and La Chaise de César).
The walk through the woods is all on good but circuitous tracks (not too muddy even in the filthy weather I had!). Mostly pretty flat with only a few pretty gentle gradients.
All along, I was very grateful that the paths were signposted, as it was so wet that I don't think the rain would have done a map or a book any good at all. And truth be told, the only maps I had would probably have proved sadly inadequate.
Just before I reached Mané Braz, the path started to climb a bit, and the land began to rise above me on my left. Probably at around this point, Julian seems to describe the dolmens as being visible from the path, but I wasn't in the mood for stopping and studying the lie of the land any more than necessary, trusting completely to the signs.
(I think there's probably also a shortcut at some point here but I didn't think it was worth trying, especially with limited time and the sopping undergrowth.)
Visited Sunday 17 April 2005
Really beautiful on a thinly tree-grown, glade-like mound, there are 4 monuments in one here, all originally having apparently been covered by a single oval mound or tumulus.
The first 2 that I approached (from the SE) were a classic Brittany passage grave with transepts, and a 'simpler' passage grave. There is also a heavily denuded semi-subterranean one and, finally, the stripped remnants of another (that can hardly even be termed megalithic in its current state!)
If only the sun had been out, what a place for a relaxing picnic, a chill and a chat!!! And the walk would be lovely in the sun! I've since learnt that there seems to be another very ruined dolmen to the SW of the mound, and a fallen menhir to the south.
I spent 15-20 minutes at the dolmens and it wasn't nearly long enough. It didn't help that a fair bit of it was spent crouching in the chamber of the largest dolmen, juggling batteries, as I'd forgotten to recharge our SLR and those in our 'point & shoot' were now also practically dead.
|
Access: From the Alignements de Kerzerho and Les Géants on the same good paths and forestry lanes. Could also be reached in the opposite direction through the woods from Mane Groh, via Coet-er-Bei (and La Chaise de César).
Following the signs through the woods towards Mane Braz dolmens it was only 5 or 10 minutes before I could see the Kerjean Menhirs peeking through the trees to the right of the path.
Visited Sunday 17 April 2005
These might be more difficult to spot with growth on the trees in the summer, but shouldn't be too much of a problem.
There are a fair number of stones left here, mostly smaller than the remaining Kerzerho alignments and far smaller than Les Géants. But still well worth seeing in their disarray, and helping to get a feel of what this area must've been like when the alignments stretched for kilometres through the now wooded area.
Just around one of the next corners, there are a few stones visible to the left of the path in the woods (probably quite a few if you're up to having a thrash about in the undergrowth). For all the paths through these woods it's well worth scanning the woods on both sides, as there are many small 'patches' of remnants from the originally wide-ranging alignments hereabouts.
|
Access: Car park next to the stones at Erdeven. Good even grassy paths between the stones. Travel to Erdeven on the D781. Just to the SE of the village, there is a carpark on the NE side of the road.
Visited Sunday 17 April 2005
I first saw these stones in about 1998 on the way to Carnac and was wiped out!
I guess they're less impressive than the various other Carnac alignments in terms of numbers and extent, but they're accessible at all times, beautiful and still damned impressive.
Les Géants de Kerzerho: Les Géants are a walk of a few hundred metres at most on flat, pretty even ground. The path is grassed through the main Kerzerho stones and then a pretty good grass/dirt path (not too muddy when we were there).
The (signposted) path to Les Géants de Kerzerho sets off from very near the car park, on the left as you walk along the main rows.
Visited Sunday 17 April 2005
After a false start missing the path, a short distance down the path, there they were. And very wonderful they are too.
As they're now quite isolated a short distance from the remaining main part of the Kerzerho alignments, it's kind of difficult to get a 'handle' on just why these extra large stones are bunched together like this. Possibly if the intervening stones were still there or if there wasn't vegetation inbetween, it'd make more sense.
Unfortunately, I forgot about the holed stone Julian mentions, as I was unwilling to get TME out of my rucksack in the heavy rain.
The alignments here must have been absolutely magnificent once, as they're still fantastically impressive in their ruin. What it must've been to see them and the other small patches of alignments still evident right across the woods when they were all continuous!
|
Approximate long/lat coordinates, as I couldn't see the site on the (inline) aerial photomap.
Access: The easiest way to reach this site is in the opposite direction to the one I took, by setting off from Mané Groh.
I reached the monument(s) from Erdeven (Les Alignements de Kerzerho via the Menhirs de Kerjean and Mané Braz. The walk was a fair one - probably around an hour, not counting looking time at the monuments on the way! (Luckily I got picked up by Jane in the car at the other end....)
From Mané Braz, I rejoined the main path and continued on away from Erdeven, following signs to Mané Groh. As it happened, we'd been there earlier but I'd forgotten its name!
After around 15 minutes I suddenly saw a sign to my left for a 'new' monument. I'd completely forgotten about La Chaise de César and Coët er Bei (not daring to get The Megalithic European (TME) out in the constant downpour) but here they were! And even better, I could just see the stones through the trees.
I walked quickly along the path to reach the nearest stones, and quickly realised I'd been here before. On a previous trip in the late 90s, on leaving the Dolmen de Crucuno I'd rushed trying to find another dolmen (which I now discovered was Mané Groh). On that occasion I'd missed the dolmen but I had happened across some stones. Until now I'd never known what they were....
Visited Sunday 17 April 2005
There were a lot more stones here than I'd seen (in a hurry) on that occasion. Approaching from the path, La Chaise de César itself doesn't stand out quite as one might expect, as there are a few other stones around the same size here. It's impressive though, and unmistakeable - it is indeed, very chairlike!
Interestingly, in TME Julian calls the La Chaise a "gorsedd". This seems strange to me, as a gorsedd in the sense he usually uses it is a natural rock formation (or so I always thought) whereas this is clearly an artificially erected stone.
The stones are very scattered but impressive, and many are difficult to 'see' as rows. It's indisputable, but very difficult to imagine that they were once part of same alignments as Kerzerho, Kerjean and the various other groups I'd walked past. Especially as I'd walked, so knew just how far they once stretched!
To reach Mané Groh from here, simply return to the main forestry road a few hundred yards until you reach the tarmaced 'real' road (from Crucuno). Turn left and Mané Groh is a very short distance on the verge to the left.
|
|
www.heritageaction.org - ordinary people caring for extraordinary places
MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER WANT TO KNOW ABOUT MOTH
How?
Though I'd been interested in both for a long while, I finally got into stones & Cope relatively late in life and at around the same time (mid 90s). I guess my girlfriend at the time has to take the blame. She bought me 'Peggy Suicide' and she used to get those nice megalithic postcards from Mr Julian.
Why?
At first, looking at stones seemed just like a good excuse for stomping around in beautiful countryside. Little did I know how much more it would become. And that they're not always in beautiful countryside....
Where?
At the time I was living in Tufnell Park in London so started off with a lot of southern stones 'n' bumps, particularly on holidays to Devon, the Lands End peninsula and the west country in general. Since then, holidays became increasingly megalithacentric, and are now mainly wildlifecentric (tho often with some stones thrown in)!
A couple of years later I moved back to Leeds where I lived for much of my adult life (I'm originally from Kent) prompting numerous visits to stones 'n' bumps in places like Derbyshire, Cumbria, N Wales and of course Yorkshire. I now live near Oxford (see 'Life?').
I've seen stones all over the UK & further afield, including (but not limited to) bits of France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Menorca, Sardinia & even Jordan.
Strangely enough however, my most visited and probably favourite 'stony areas' are Aberdeenshire and Perthshire, though I've been to quite a few all over Scotland. This is again thanks to a (different) ex-girlfriend who comes from Montrose and is the mother of my glorious son Callan, who at the time of updating is now 21....
As you may have guessed, Callan is named after Callanish - at the time of his birth this was a long intended but unmade pilgrimage for me. Happily I've now been twice & hope to go again for the next 're-gleam'.
Life?
Currently living just to the north-west of Oxford with the gorgeous Jane (we got married in October 2004). Seafer (Jane's dangerous 'n' stripey cat) is no more and for the last 8 years we've been in the custody of Officer Dibble and Skipper (also cats). Jane's also responsible for increasing my love of travel & the expansion of my love of wildlife!
I'm an editor really, but now have a nice easy admin job 4-days a week working for a tiny IT training company who do expensive niche training for IT professionals.
Fun?
In a varying order
Travel
Wildlife & bird photography and watching
Stones, walking, and the countryside, obviously
Various music, especially heavy rock and funk
Real ale & real ale pubs (though as Jane can't drink for medical reasons we don't often go to pubs)
Single malts
Bourbon (of the whisky persuasion - not the biccies)
Red wine
Cheese
Roast tatties and chips (not usually together)
Chocolate
A lot of other food that never had a face
F1
Talking bollocks
Sarcasm
Laughing
Having a good moan, especially about the Tories
Vital statistics?
Height 5'8"
Chest N/K (medium t-shirt size)
Waist 32-34" depending how fat I happen to be at the time
Inside leg 32"
Aged 60 but we don't talk about that
Hair Long mostly grey (used to be brown)
love
Moth
updated 2 September 2022
|
Log in |
Register
Previous 20 | Showing 61-80 of 280 fieldnotes. Most recent first | Next 20 
Top of page