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Such a nice Shap!
I can resist anything but temptation
I rang the dreaded Ginger John on Saturday afternoon to see if he fancied a quick jaunt up to Thornborough Henges. Felt I ought to as 'A Friend of…'
That afternoon was 'out' for John, but to cut a long story short for once, he came over for beer & planning on Saturday evening, stopping over for a trip on Sunday.
John pointed out that as we would have all day, maybe we should go further afield. I suggested an 'unfinished business' (for me) trip to Derbyshire, but I could tell John wasn't enthusiastic. Think he gave it away when he said 'Not Derbyshire'.
Possibly inspired by the mentions of Mayburgh Henge and Gunnerkeld Stone Circle in the first part of my Callanish & Perthshire weblog, John suggested a look at some of the Westmoreland or Cumbrian sites.
Having visited it and at least one other near the M6, he particularly wanted to revisit Gunnerkeld, which pleased me as I've not been before.
In fact, having done very little stomping up in that area around Shap and the M6, I was very keen generally – a day of all-new sites for me (other than Mayburgh)!! Hoorah, Moth ignores his principles and his good intentions in favour of SHINY NEW STONES!!!
So, drawing a veil over quantities and varieties imbibed during and after the planning meeting, we managed a 10am departure from Leeds.
I'm not small, you're tall….
We decided the A65 through the Dales would probably be a nightmare on a Sunday, so headed for the M62 west from Leeds M61 towards Preston and onto the M6.
First stop was Gamelands Stone Circle. John had not been here and I had only had one very cursory half-attempt to find it.
We parked by the side of the lane leading towards Knott Hill – a fine 'mother hill' if ever I saw one! (Shut up John, I know you don't like the mother hill stuff – I reckon he must have been savaged by a mammary at an early age….)
As we walked down the track I was scanning the surrounding fields for a clue with no luck. After about 200 yards, John said 'There it is then…' and I looked expectantly to the right (where I knew it should be. Nothing.
'Jump!' said John looking at me with a not altogether pleasant smirk spreading across his face. 'How hi…' I started to say (no, not really). 'Shortarse!' grinned the Ginger one.
So I jumped. And there, for a moment, was the elusive Gamelands circle.
The unpalatable truth was that when visiting on my own before, I'd missed it – not for the lack of looking, but for the stupid yet almost unavoidable reason that I couldn't see over the bloody wall!!!
Well, it was worth the wait. This must once have been one SERIOUS circle. Still is if you look.
I won't say much about it, but although many, many stones are missing and all (as far as I could see) that remain are fallen, it seems clear to me that the circle certainly has much in common with the beautiful Castlerigg and Sunkenkirk (or Swinside) circles.
It's dimensions, proportions and the (short) distances between many of the stones speak immediately of those 2 much better known and, admittedly, better preserved circles.
Even its setting reminded me of Castlerigg or Swinside (Sunkenkirk) though possibly less overtly dramatic than both of those places can be in more forbidding weather conditions!
Just before we left, to my surprise, John suggested this might be a site that would be interesting to see 'restored'. Unusually as far as my feelings about restoration are concerned, I thought for a moment he might just be right.
But then I though 'it's not gonna happen though is it!' and was quietly glad. If it was restored anyone could see it! I want to keep it for them what can reallysee!
What motorway?
OK. Next on the itinerary was a trip to Gunnerkeld stone circle. We decided to go via Shap town itself, to get (in my case) and renew (in John's case) our 'bearings' for the local sites.
We made our way to the public road past Gunnerwell farm, parking on a bit of gravel and verge. I guess you could drive down to the farm, but that always seems a bit intrusive to me, especially if you end up parking actually in the farmyard or whatever. I prefer to arrive on foot, it seems less presumptuous somehow.
Anyway, we were greeted cheerily ('Stone circle I assume…!') by a lass of around 16 or 17 (my guess) who had been mowing the lawn at the back of the farmhouse as we approached.
She told us to follow the path we were on, past the house and diagonally down through the trees. Get to 'an old red gate' and the circle was straight up the slope. And guess what? She was blummin' right. And what a groovy thang 'the circle' is!!
I'm ashamed (not a new feeling!) to say that I didn't notice the 'standing stone in front of the house' noted by broen, but I'm preeeety sure that nothing else on the short route described above is of any particular significance.
So, the circle? Circle's' actually. 'Tis certainly an interesting site. Vaguely reminded me & John of Croft Moraig in Perthshire, in as much as it's a circle within a circle. I notice though that Burl seems to say that (unlike Croft Moraig) it was all built at the same time.
He also draws dimensional parallels to Castlerigg and 'stylistic' parallels to Oddendale (see below).
Go there. I for one found it more pleasing and more interesting than I expected from reading about it and looking at pictures.
Oh yeah, nearly forgot, it's got this liiiiiitle road by it calld the M6. It's quite weird but JUUUUST far enough away!
Moving in strange circles
Back to the car and south towards Oddendale. On the way stopped at Castlehowe Scar Stone Circle. Strange (to us) little circle this one.
There are about 9 or 10 fairly large low 'boulder' type stones that make up the 'circle'. It certainly is quite like Iron Hill and Little Meg (though I've personally yet to go to L'il M).
Given that, it's no surprise that it seemed to us more like a ruined cairn 'kerb' circle. Nice on a sunny day though! Shame the locked gate suggests people aren't very welcome. Didn't notice the alleged row though. Bugger, I'll have to go back now.
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Callanish via Perthshire with surprise guest stones – Part 2
PART 1 is here
The blokes from the pub poke about in and around KillinThis one's got rocks in
As you may know, I've decided to break the account of my trip into instalments to make it more 'readable'. Part 1 was more whys, wherefores and hows – it didn't really have rocks in. This one has.
At the house of the strangely-trousered man
Wednesday 30 April 2003 (continued)
Just before reaching the Falls of Dochart on the way into Killin from the West, I had gleefully pointed out the Acharn Standing Stone on the edge of the road on the right.
Repositioned and not the most spectacular monolith in the world, the important thing was that it's a STONE!! The sight of what was, after all, the first stone of the trip heightened our giddy state, but we were able to remain calm enough to check in at our B&B before doing anything else.
Here we were greeted by a pleasant, rather earnest chap dressed permanently (at least for the length of our stay) in those elasticated, baggy, boldly-patterned 'pants' much beloved of muscley-types and some hikers and climbers a few years ago. Don't know why I mention this, but I do. His weren't very baggy actually.
After a short scuffle over who had which bed*, John and I dumped our stuff in our small but comfortable twin room.
*That's not actually true, but I thought it added to the atmosphere of playful camaraderie. What really happened was I said 'Which bed do you want?' John said 'Not bothered.' I said 'I'll have this one then.' John said 'OK.' (If you need more information on 'Ginger' John, please see Part 1.)
As it was still only between 2 and 3pm, we took a moment to think about what to do before abandoning ourselves to the varied delights of the local 'rockeries' as my Dad uniformly refers to them. Ha-ha, Dad! Good one. (Now you can see where I get my 'sense of humour' from.)
As the designated 'specialist' (ahem, not all at once please!) for the area, I pointed out that 'just about everything we want to see is east. If we go east we'll have to retrace our steps tomorrow.'
I think it was looking at the map at this point that made us decide to stay in Killin on Thursday night too. Even without working it out clearly I could 'see' an apparently perfect route and the shape of an itinerary that would just about be perfect for a vigorous, but not rushed, FULL stone-spotter's day-out from Killin.
Back to the 'present'. I already knew John was mad keen to see Kinnell of Killin having looked for it but, as happens to us all once in a while, he'd missed it. On the Landranger map I spotted a chambered cairn a bit off the beaten track (as far as I knew) and NOT to the east! It was south, just past Lochearnhead, pretty close to the A84 and not too far to travel.
(It meant driving past some cup & ring marked rocks, but I must admit although I find those things interesting, I don't generally seek them out. Luckily John feels the same.)
So, unperturbed by the threat of rain, brisk walk to Kinnell (avoiding cluttering up the town with an unnecessary steel box). Have a look at stones. See how much time seems to be left before food and beer monsters are likely to wake. If time and weather allow, brisk walk back to B&B, jump in car, drive to lane near chambered cairn. Find chambered cairn. Have a look. Drive back to B&B. Go to pub. Perfect planning.
Just don't use the 'k'in' 'ell gag! Used it once but I think I got away with it….
It turned out that on his previous (by his own admission rather half-a**ed) visit, John had (unwisely and inexplicably) disregarded the driveway that leads directly to the Kinnell circle, and had gone up the next lane on the left after the 'Falls' Inn.
In every effort to show support and friendship, I patted him amicably on the shoulder while looking skywards and muttering 'dozy pillock' just loud enough to make sure he heard….
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Wednesday 30 April 2003
The weather had declined from ‘fine’ to ‘OK’ up until around the time we were halfway up the driveway to Kinnell, where it started to drizzle. But it remained reasonably bright and the fine spray was actually quite refreshing after around 6 hours in the car!
We walked round to the yard at the back of the farm to ask permission. As anyone who has been there will know, the drive passes very close to the circle (I had to drag John away) and you can have a good stare in the process of going to ask.
Incidentally, is it just me who finds this amusing? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind at all. In fact I quite like it. As other people have remarked on this website, specific permission guarantees a relaxed visit – not that I’m very timid anyway. It just tickles me.
Anyway, we were, as usual, kindly granted permission. By a person of the male persuasion for a change!
I really like Kinnell of Killin. I liked Julian’s pic and description of it in the big ‘papery’ TMA. And ever since it came into sight as I ran up the drive on my first visit, I’ve really liked it. (It was time to head home really that day and I didn’t want to ‘push’ my partner at the time too far!)
Every time I’ve been there the weather has been ‘changeable’ at best, but I always find it pleasant place. Although it’s a small circle surrounded by big hills, it’s in a wide graduated valley and, for me this reinstates a feeling of space. If you imagine it without the imposing farm buildings and the field wall that passes too close for comfort, I find that the little site really ‘opens-up’.
I wonder if at some stage someone will add some notes about this circle and not mention rain?
After around 15 minutes of relatively static contemplation and discussion on the circle, John and I agreed easily that we should 'go for' the chambered cairn.
Fallen rainbows and cairnage
My (laughable) research since our return, confirms that the chambered cairn is known (and scheduled as) Edinchip Chambered Cairn.
We made an abortive approach via the lane off the A84 south of Lochearnhead to Edinchip itself, on the right when travelling south. Very unfriendly notices at an apparent dead-end with very little turning space. So we turned (carefully!) and continued down the A84.
In no time we were pulling up at a little access road on the right of the A84 (still heading south) at the foot of Auchtubhmore Hill.
Wednesday 30 April 2003
We made an abortive approach via the lane off the A84 south of Lochearnhead to Edinchip itself, on the right when travelling south. Very unfriendly notices at an apparent dead-end with very little turning space. So we turned (carefully!) and continued down the A84.
In no time we were pulling up at a little access road on the right of the A84 (still heading south) at the foot of Auchtubhmore Hill.
There are a couple of very pleasant looking little cottages at the main road end of it, and access stops at a gate after around only 20 yards (guess!) or so. Map ref approx NN578212. It had stopped raining and the sun was coming out!
We parked by the cottages, walked a few yards up the lane and turned right up a track that the OS map shows clearly as a path following a disused railway embankment. (Sorry, can’t remember if there’s a gate or style at the bottom of the path or what….)
After a very short distance we reached the embankment and our hearts sank at the sight of an apparently very new, certainly very high, gate and fence, barring the track. It continued up the embankment and down the other side. (I don’t remember any signs by the way.)
As we stood dejectedly contemplating our next move, John looked north east along the valley and pointed out that the moisture from the earlier showers was still hanging in the valley, lit by the sun.
It was very pretty and lifted our spirits enough for us to become ‘philosophical’ about it. Confident statements such as ‘We’d never have found it’ and ‘It’s probably crap anyway’ were exchanged.
Before turning on our heels however I nipped up the embankment ‘outside’ the fence, for a better look at the view of the misty valley.
I had taken no more than a glance at the view when I realised that the construction of the accursed fence I was standing next to had been misconceived as it reached the top of the embankment. It was considerably lower than elsewhere. And fairly easily get-overable, even for a non-beanpole like me! (‘One’ hesitates to use the word ‘climbable’ of course)
With a whoop of delight I summoned John. Confident that I knew exactly where we were on the map, I spent a few moments reassuring John on the ‘right-to-roam’ in Scotland and the legal ‘no-damage = no crime’ principle of which I have an in-depth knowledge (ie I read something once…).
This was itself followed by a few moments reassuring the Moth underparts that they were safe from sharp, pointy, tearing, rending bits of metal. And (DEEP breath Moth) over we went. John of course just stepped over. Gangly freak.
We walked for a very short time and looked again along the valley running off to our right. We both came to an immediate halt.
As if a rainbow itself had drifted down to nestle in the bottom of the valley, the moisture still suspended in the air at the foot of the surrounding hills had now taken on rainbow hues! It was breathtaking!
I quickly fired off a few photographs with rapid variations in exposure, depth of field and zoom. But as is so often the nature of hastily grabbed pictures of a natural lighting phenomenon, although worthwhile, they only partly capture the feeling. I’ll post one or 2 here when I have the facilities!
Onwards. The (gated and locked) track that I mentioned follows along the bottom of the embankment on the left, and very soon the path along the top of the embankment (which was still clearly trodden, by the way) made its way down to the track.
After following the track for around 5 or 10 minutes we were beginning to think our ‘we’d not have found it’ comments were going to come true. Some thin-ish woodland had started to develop to the left of our track and the ground there was rising to meet us as we progressed.
Just as we approached some 5-6 ft high metal framey-sheltery-type structures on the left, we spotted what seemed to be one or more ‘extra-distinct’ (you know what I mean!) mounds behind them….
John spotted a big stone and we went to look. Oh yes!!! Good spot Mr Eagle-eye John!!!!!
It’s a mess! But for us at least, WHAT a mess!!!! There is a special delight in a site that you’ve visited ‘on spec’ that exceeds (even low) expectations.
Many of the retaining kerbstones are visible through the groundcover (or perhaps uncover?). And much of the mound is treacherous to walk on when damp because the ‘fill and cover’ stones of the mound are so near (or through) the surface. Mind your ankles!
There are lots of pretty big lumps of (disturbed) partially buried stone. And yes, several bits that are unmistakably parts of a chambered cairn, most obviously a capstone still raised on one side by one of it’s supporting stones.
It’s strange, I guess that to anyone who knows even a bit about burial chambers and cairns, the site was almost like a rather muddled ‘exploded’ or ‘cut-away’ diagram! The relatively tiny bit of knowledge I have left me fascinated but confident of what this site once consisted of.
We liked. CANMORE calls it a ‘Clyde-type long chambered cairn’ and puts its overall dimensions as 56 metres long and 16 wide. Sounds about right. Full description is well written, very detailed and of course accurate, but possibly makes it sound a bit less impressive? Or perhaps not.
Anyway, it’s at http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/canmore/details_gis?inumlink=24120
An aside…
While writing this, at around 2am just before giving up for the day, I searched ‘Auchtubhmore Hill’ on the web, looking for info on Edinchip. The search returned various documents on the HMSO site, relating to restriction of movement, slaughter etc of possible ‘radioactive sheep’ as a result of the Chernobyl disaster.
Honestly – I was afraid I’d fallen asleep and was dreaming of the person currently known on TMA as Atomic Mutton…!
OK, we walked back to the car and by then the food and beer monsters were just starting to yawn and rub their little eyes….
He's the Firestarter, 'Ginger' Firestarter…
Back in Killin we nipped back to the B&B to change (posh or WHAT!) into less muddy boots (oh!) and nipped into the friendly bar at the Coach House Inn recommended by 'our man in wacky pants'. It was also 'recommended' by being the first one we came to.
After a couple of pints, we carried on through the town for food, rather predictably ending up at 'The Falls' Inn. Once John saw the enormous (and much too hot as far as I was concerned) blazing log fire we were not going anywhere else! Fiery by hair, fiery by preferred heatsource it would seem….
While at the bar, I glanced across to see John with his hoof up on the high stone hearth armed with a poker, digging happily and vigorously away at an unfeasibly large blazing chunk of wood. Bless (?) 'im.
We ate a pleasant but slightly overpriced meal (each, obviously) from a menu not TOO impressive for non-flesheaters like me, but not TOO bad either.
Couple more pints of serviceable ale. Wander back through the returned drizzle. One for the road in the Coach House (I think!). Back to our room for a couple of single malts and a brief planning session for the next day's adventures.
Part 3 will follow (soon as I can manage). That's a very real threat. And it will have LOADS of stones in!!!! That's a promise!
PART 3 NOW AVAILABLE
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Callanish via Perthshire with special surprise stones – Part 1
A journey beginsSo where’re the stones Moth?
I’ve decided to break the account of my trip into instalments to make it more ‘readable’. And I’ve felt the need to include this first part to try to reflect the importance of the trip to me, and the circumstances at the time that made it all the more special.
If you’re not interested in that sort of stuff, wait for Part 2 which will include plenty of real stones! For anyone else, I hope it adds to the atmosphere of my account!
Hoots mon, weers me heed?
Bonkers. I must be absolutely bloody bonkers. If there’s one place in the world I have ever really wanted to go, it’s Callanish.
So when, after about 7 years of deliberation and ‘waiting for the right moment’, do I decide to go? At the time that my life has been plunged into probably the most turmoil it’s ever been in of course – about 3 weeks after my long-term partner and mother of our son Callan (named after the stones) have decided to split up.
Crazy, crazy man.
I was already convinced that the split was the right decision, but I was still hurting pretty badly and was very ‘down’.
The idea of a trip to Callanish was suggested by my good friend (‘Ginger’) John. (Wonder where that nickname comes from…?) Given how I was feeling and how special the thought of visiting Callanish had become to me, the idea seemed like madness.
But it very quickly started to feel completely right. Now, I’m not generally a particularly ‘spiritual’ person, more your ‘bloke from down the pub who happens to think that big rocks* look dead ace’. Yet the idea of a special trip to mark the end of one chapter in my life and the start of a new one was beginning to appeal.
* ‘Artistic’ licence. For me, they don’t have to be big to look ‘dead ace’.
The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me that circumstances were conspiring to make it happen.
(‘Ginger’) John step-by-step – a user’s guide
1. I’ve known John for about 15 years.
2. John has (surprise, surprise) long ginger hair.
3. John is pretty knowledgeable about stones.
4. John likes beer.
5. John likes Islay whisky.
6. John likes bourbon.
7. John hates bullshit and pretence other than when talking bollocks in the pub.
8. When he’s had a few, John’ll say black is white if he thinks it’ll be fun, and there is no ‘grey’ in John’s world even when sober.
9. John is a lovely bloke.
10. John and I have been threatening to ‘do a stones trip’ for a few years, but ‘something’ always ‘comes up’. Money
John had recently been made redundant and fancied a trip paid for out of his redundancy money. After nearly a year of dispute with my employer’s personnel department, I had been given a lump sum to compensate me for not being paid the amount I was promised when I took the job. Money sorted.
Transport
I’d just had the car serviced and although it’s not old or decrepit, this seemed like a good omen. Small problem with the handbrake fixed for £100. Transport sorted.
Domestic commitments
Andrea (Callan’s mum) and Callan were offered a lift to go and stay with Andrea’s parents back home in Montrose. Commitments sorted.
The only concern that remained was Callan’s health. While quite happy in himself, a recurring ear infection had re-erupted. This was necessitating frequent hospital appointments and application of eardrops. Luckily his appointments were far enough apart that we could place the trip between them. Andrea positively encouraged me to go, as she would have the help and support of his grandparents while I was away. EVERYTHING sorted!
So what’s the plan Juan?
When John and I first seriously discussed the trip, we thought that mid May would be the best time for both of us. This gave us about a month to get things together.
But then various things happened to affect the timing – not least hospital appointments over Callan’s lugs. All of a sudden we were going Wednesday to Tuesday over ‘Mayday’ (hah!) bank holiday weekend, with less than a week to go!
John and I held an urgent council of war over some nice Shiraz. He had got ferry timetables and I’d checked out the prices on he web. I’d also checked out this site and other megarak sites (can’t remember which ones) and was all fired up for one of those island-hopping tickets so that we could ‘do’ the Uists too.
We discussed this idea for a while, but as John had been to Lewis a few times (he used to have a friend in Stornoway) I bowed to his assertion that we could be trying to take on too much. The last thing I wanted was to have to rush any of the trip. John proved to be a wise man.
It also means we can have a separate trip to the Uists…. Maybe next year.
So we reached a happy agreement that we’d break the journey by spending a night or 2 ‘somewhere around Loch Tay, ideally, Killin’. This way we could trade knowledge, as I’d previously visited quite a few sites in that area, whereas John had prior knowledge of the main sites on Lewis.
As money wasn’t a problem we decided to push the boat out and B&B it. John was charged with the task of finding and booking these, as he wasn’t working while I had work (and caring for Callan) to contend with!
So the itinerary we decided on was:
Wednesday – early start, travelling to Loch Tay
Wednesday night – Loch Tay (probably Killin)
Thursday – stones!
Thursday night – as Wednesday or somewhere further north
Friday – travel to Ullapool, possibly seeing some stones (!) on the way
Friday Night – Ullapool
Saturday – ferry to Stornoway arriving early afternoon and THE stones!!!!
Saturday night – Stornoway
Sunday – STONES!
Sunday night – Stornoway
Monday – stones (?) and ferry to Ullapool early afternoon
Monday night – Ullapool
Tuesday – travel to Leeds.
So the next morning, John went off with a promise that he’d find us B&Bs even if it killed him. (Not least because he’d rather die than share a tent with me I think. Sensible man.)
As the (few) days passed, I fought the (constant) urge to ring or email John saying ‘Have you got us anywhere to sleep yet you big daft bugger?’ as best I could.
And sure enough, 2 days (6 emails and 5 phone calls to nag him) later, it was confirmed that we had accommodation booked for all nights except ‘Flexible Fursday’ – which was a provisional booking for a 2nd night in Killin. I put the tent in the boot, just to be on the safe side….
Beware of the Trossachs ('Cos I'm Sure They’re Gonna Get You Yeh!)
With apologies to any Scottish Megaraks viewing.
John came over the on Tuesday evening before departure to give us an early enough start to drop Callan and Andrea a Bradford Royal Infirmary for a 9am appointment for his ears.
Unavoidably of course his presence resulted in a fairly late night (I rarely hit the sack before about 2am anyway). And even more unavoidably, a few more celebratory drams than was strictly sensible.
So it was a slightly ‘tired and emotional’ (borderline hung-over in my case) Moth and John who headed north from Bradford the next day. Not long after, I became grateful for Callan’s 9am appointment when John revealed that he usually sets off at 3 or 4am when driving to Lewis. Mad git. There’s no such time in THIS Moth’s day, especially considering the time I can finally sleep!
As we travelled along the A65 towards the M6 and the far north, I couldn’t resist my habitual scanning of the fields and hillsides for anything vaguely ‘prehistoric’ looking.
Don’t know why I do it. I know there’s nothing there or someone cleverer and more observant than me would have spotted it long since. But I guess that given the relative obscurity of most Yorkshire sites, I can live in hope!
On the M6 I invited John to play the now traditional ‘Mayburgh Game’. I’m afraid it isn’t a patch on the ‘Silbury Game’ though, and simply involves trying to spot Mayburgh Henge from a car doing 95… I mean 70 miles an hour. Better than singing ‘The Wheels on the bus’ or playing ‘I bleeding spy’ though.
Despite cheating (I’ve been to the henge and John hasn’t) I still didn’t spot the bugger. Again. (Still, it’s probably a good thing as I’m always driving – suggests I might even be watching the road occasionally.)
John also PATHETICALLY tried to counter the brilliance of my game by reckoning one of the circles near Shap (that HE’s been to and I haven’t) should be visible from the M6. Probably Gunnerkeld, which is one that I think I HAVE spotted a couple of times but is on the bit where the 2 carriageways split and you’d only be able to see it travelling south…. Or I could be wrong.
The rest of the journey as far as Stirling was, as usual, a bit of a blur. It’s the same route as I’ve taken so many times on the way to Montrose to visit Andrea’s parents. It was only at Stirling that I came off autopilot to look for the turn off in the direction of Crianlarrich and our destination, Killin.
It was also around Stirling that we started to see the ‘Trossachs’ signs. As car-fatigue had started to set in, we were becoming a bit travel-weary and giddy. Fits of giggling then ensued when John asked ‘Are Trossachs those furry beasties they use to make sporrans?’ This of course resulted in many more (probably very unoriginal) ‘Trossachs as creatures’ gags, and more giggling.
I’ve named this section in honour of our Sassenach gibbering. It was a bonding moment (when we realised we both had really bad senses of humour). I blame the drugs. Lack of.
This was the final leg of the first part of our odyssey and it wasn’t long until we arrived tired, but full of enthusiasm, at Killin.
Part 2 ‘The blokes from the pub poke about in and around Killin’ will actually involve seeing some stones, and will follow as soon as possible, depending on other commitments. (And unless I receive an attaché case or brown paper bag containing a large sum of money in unmarked notes!)
PART 2 NOW AVAILABLE
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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
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