postman

Just a quick nip out to my nearest hill fort on a sunny winter Sunday afternoon.
A lesser known Maiden Castle on the Sandstone trail, it was cold and windy and with both dogs pulling me all over the show it was not a mellow visit. But it’s always a worthwhile visit when the fort is named after you, or you after it or both from the same Bee keeping tradition. (so i’m told)
A short time ago an experiment was performed, on the line of the Clwydian hill forts fires were set, to test intervisibility, they said the fires may have been visible from here at Maiden castle, and I can well beleive it, the view west into Wales is extensive to say the least.
The view North to Beeston crag and its Iron age fortifications is blocked by more sandstone crags, the information board proclaiming Maiden castle as an historic monument is either overgrown or gone.
Plenty of people up here , even at sundown in the winter, S’goood.

After showing Alken ( Thesweatcheat) some of the wonders and delights of my hometown and county we sped our way to Snowdonia, which is somewhat more well endowed when it comes to wonders and delights.
Iv’e seen and felt the presence of Moel Siabod more than a few times, from afar and closer to, but today was the day we got up close and personal.
The weather reports had lied through their teeth at us forecasting mostly sunshine, it was cloudy. Not so much that you couldn’t see the mountains, just enough to hide their peaks, and whilst it didn’t rain it did hale at us once and on top of the top it was, it’s fair to say a bit nippy.

We started at the outdoor pursuits center at Plas y Brenin, with it’s rather nonsensical dry ski slope. Crossing a bridge over the edge of the eastern of llynnau Mymbyr, the water comes rushing out of the llyn as if anxious to get out, little knowing Swallow falls or anything.
Then it’s through some old moss covered woods and out on to the north east slopes of Moel Siabod proper. After the dark under the trees the mind craves a view, and the first to offer itself is Pen Llithrig y Wrach, its behind us all the time growing slowly further away but getting bigger all the same.

Then the big mountains come into view, Yr Wyddfa and its near neighbours, the Glyders and the Carneddau, the pointy bits are just higher than the cloud line, but it doesn’t really matter, like a good scary film it’s what you don’t see rather than what you do see that gets you.

Contrary to the majority of cairns round here is Dyffryn Mymbyr, nestling neatly next to a river the Nantgwryd at the bottom of the valley, but from half way up the mountain it more than strains the eyes to find it. The same can be said of the Cefn Glas cairns on the other side of the mountain to the west, an estimate box of two hundred yards is needed, its there somewhere, finger points downwards vaguely.
The Nant y Llys longcairn is similarly lost in distance and bad light to the west. So it would seem that the mountain should be seen from the cairns but the cairns melting into the background need not be seen from the mountain, mountain rules all.

Fifty meters north of the cobbled frozen trig point, is our destiny for the day, Moel Siabod’s bronze age cairn. It’s been reshaped by walkers unknown, surprised maybe by a cold wind ? But rather fortuitously and sadly there is a big flat stone inside the cairn resting, nay slumped uselessly against the cairn material, it’s presumed to be the large cist cover that lay above our ancient mountain lover, it’s broken, but only two small pieces have come off and it’s still able to bring me out of myself, to, for an instant lose myself in the moment. But it is pretty damn cold and my fingers are hurting, bringing me back to reality, wonderful Snowdonian reality, the icy wilderness above it all.

Seeing it all spread out before you , these mountains can become infectious, from the top, we could i’m sure feel the connections being formed in our minds, the list getting longer, as we looked around it was i’m going up that one, that one then that one.

Leaving Craig yr Aderyn behind I drive past Castle y Bere, then past Lady Jones’ chapel, and then past a farm called Gwastadfryn. The track leads one higher and higher, through two gates until we reach Hafotty Gwastadfryn. This really is as far as you can safely drive, it is an appreciable percentage of the climb and not wanting a full bore hike I settled for this half drive half walk affair.

Checking the compass, I set off in the easterly direction it indicated, naturally it is all up hill and it did’nt take long to start huffing and puffing. With plenty of breather stops to turn and take in the scenery, which is dramatic to say the least. Only the highest peak of Cader Idris was visible for an ocean of fast foamy clouds were spilling over the tops, looking like an otherworldly Niagara falls.

There are two grassy tracks leaving Hafotty Gwastadfryn one leads eventually to the cairns of Tyrrau Mawr , and the one I was treading leads to Moel Gallt.
I got fed up with the even easy track and struck off at an angle up the boggy and uneven slope to try and reach the cliff tops of Craig y llyn. After a great deal of huffing and an unhealthy dose of puffing, I arrived at the top, half way between the cairn of my desires and the peak(ish) of Craig y Llyn.
The view north, east and west were free of clouds and the view was as ever stunning, but the southern aspect was stubbornly remaining completely engulfed in cloud. The cloud bank periodically sent a few tendrils of wispy cloud my way but the wind which was’nt as bad as last time but still quite strong quickly did my bidding and kept the hill top cloud free.

At the eastern end of the mother hills just before the gradient goes steeply down is this cairn, it’s been badly scooped out and the wall next to it is probably to blame for its disheveled nature. But enough remains of it to deduce that it was once a big big cairn, it’s best view is down the Dyffryn Dysinni to the sea, but with a watchfull eye to the godly abode of Cader Idris over it’s shoulder.

The clouds came and went, sometimes thick and veiling but mostly thin and ghostly, the sun just seemed to highlight the shimmery beauty of nature. But to the south always cloud, and the cloud still poured over the mountain tops, I have spent too much time here now and it’s time for a short walk in Tyrrau mawr’s direction before I loose my mind completely to this heavenly scene.

Praise be to Rhiannon for finding this one, as a birthday treat to myself I took myself out to find this cup marked rock in some of the most exquisite countryside North Wales has to offer.

I’ve driven past here maybe half a dozen times on route to stone rows and cairns and such, had no idea it was there or i would have been here long ago. Follow the many many gated road that slithers along under the Cader Idris range, and stop before you enter the forestry commision type place that has Bedd y Brenin in it. Look over the gate and a small rocky outcrop is about a hundred yards away, the cupped boulder and the kerb cairn are below it.

The kerb cairn is a little cracker, totally unexpected.
Well I knew about the two cairns but you just don’t expect such a nice little monument, whilst photographing it I noticed that the cairn and cupped boulder lined up nicely with Pared Y Cefn Hir, as there are no coincidences, this can’t be one. The boulder is about five foot square and although there are supposed to be eight cups I could only see seven. I’m not sure if it’s my over active imagination or not but they were laid out it seemed in a phallic sort of way, two next to each other and four bending away towards the mountains.
The other cairn, which can be in no way said to be the other side of the cupped boulder looks down over Barmouth and the Mawddach estuary. Though much crapper than its near nieghbour it still has a fantastic view.

So glad that Rhiannon added this site, got any more anyone?

After a long wait and much pondering over the weather reports, the day finally came, it was November the 3rd, The Sweetcheat and me were on our way to Cader Idris.
As we approached the expensive pay and display carpark (2quid for 4hrs or 4quid for all day) we could see the Peaks of Cader Idris were covered in thick grey cloud, par for the course to me. We donned our weatherproofing and set off up the pony track.
At our first breather stop we could see the tumbled Hill fort of Craig y Castell, I wondered if we would have a moment to go up and have a quick look after we came down.

Nearing the steeper part of the walk we noted how there was blue sky coming in off the Irish sea, most unusual, Alken said that by the time we get to the top it will have moved in above us. (he couldn’t have been more right, but we didn’t know it yet)
The path zigzags up to the top of Rhiw Gwredydd, past a large strangely cut block with a seam of quartz showing, from above here we could see where the cairns were, so we mozied on over as best we could in the ferocious winds that seemed to be somewhat single minded about pushing us over the edge.

We were both amazed, we’ve both seen many many cairns, but these were big. The biggest one , the southern one was so huge we couldn’t really tell if it was one big one or two that had slipped into each other. The other two were smaller but only when compared to the big one, but they did have the peachiest of positions, looking down into the valley of the Afon Mawddach, and beyond, Iv’e seen many beyonds too but this one will take some beating, from here I could zoom in on Craig y Castell and the cairn on a woodland saddle, off in the distance, below dark clouds was Snowdon and the Carneddau and the whole was lit by a patchwork of dappled autumn sunlight, goosebumped and hairprickled, we sat and watched a while before tearing ourselves away, away up to the top of the still cloudy peak of Cader Idris.

On, on and ever upwards, with the crap wham song with the words “take me to the edge of heaven” intermittently invading my inner sanctum, I carefully didn’t mention this for fear of being pushed over the edge. Wham and mountain walking sooo don’t go together. We were getting higher now and the summit came into view, it was now that Alken’s shrewd weather prediction came to fruition, he is not only a Sweetcheat but mixed with a postman becomes a bad weather repellent.

The view from the top is jaw dropping to say the least, we sat in silence for some time just drinking in the splendor, all around us the views went for miles, here and there low clouds dropped their watery cargo on inoffensive Welsh villages and beaches, but we stayed gloriously dry and content.
The sun was getting low and bathed Craig yr Aderyn and it’s whole valley in a golden autumnal light, it was with this view foremost that we tripped and staggered our way down, still dry.

A darn good day out!!!

Parking for plenty next to a pond called llynheilyn on the A481 near the junction with the A44. Follow the bridleway up into the hills, when the bridleway turns into a footpath branch right and make for the top of the hill. Monolith is at the southeast end of the summit.

It was really really windy up here today, just standing still enough to take pictures was a chore, but there was room for two to crouch out of the wind behind this big stone. This megalith would be about the same size as the nearby Cwm maerdy stone, but much much easier to visit. It has lost none of its appeal by lying down, indeed after a few thousand years on its feet we can grant it a brief reprieve, have a lie down my stoney friend, take a brake. The top of the stone must be the pointier of the two ends, it has faint runnels running half the way down from the pointy end, from its long time standing.
From this stone we can almost appreciate the large number of megalithic sites in the vicinity, Bryn y maen stone row, Fedw stone circle, the van barrows, Llanerch cupped stone, Llandegley rocks settlement, Cwm Maerdy standing stone, and Graig camp, are just a few.

After descending Bryn y maen hill from the fallen monolith, it was just a matter of crossing the road and driving up to the farm. At the farm there is a fork in the track, left had a sign saying free range children and animals, so not wanting to run over any animals, we went right and parked up at the farm house next to two other cars. I knocked on the door but to no avail, just then I heard a motor and turned to see the gap toothed farmer on his quad bike, I asked about the cup marked stone and could we have a quick look, he said leave your car there and follow me.

We followed him for maybe fifty yards when he looked at the ground and indicated the stone with his wellied foot, I thanked him very much and he returned to his farming labours.
The cup marks are on the whole faint and worn, as would be expected on this exposed hillside, only about a dozen were obvious, two of them looked to be micro cups barely a couple of centimeters across, The Shropshire Traveller on the other side says there maybe thirty two, but I can’t see them. I photographed the stone took a quick look about the countryside and we were done, on route back to the car we came across the farmer again, he asked if it was what we expected, did we have much experience with them and how did we know of his stone, I answered yes, yes, and the internet, thanked him one more time and then it was off to the Giants grave

Heading out of Hundred house east on the A481 take the second right, pass Rhiw farm, then going uphill pass Ty’n-y-coed on your right. The bridleway is navigable right up to the top and you can park just twenty meters from the Giants grave.

As we gained height we noticed a beautiful Red Kite on our left, then another and another and one more made four, they tailed us more or less to the top. It was really very windy today but the Kites used it superbly and they effortlessly glided about searching for scraps of food.

Reaching the summit of the bridleway I could see that the barrow was in one of those saddle between two hills locations, but strangely there was another smaller bump in the ground right next to it, without the aid of Coflein I cant vouch for its age, but seeing as the big barrow is called the Giants grave we opted for the little one being called the midgets grave (please don’t be offended it’s just a word)

The big barrow is just that, a big barrow, no cist or kerbing, but it is big, about 4 feet tall and many feet across. From the barrow the view best appreciated is the one to the WSW towards Builth Wells.

Driving north from Hundred House, past Franks Bridge towards Nant, the fort is very visible on its hill top. Parking was had by the side of the road near a small conifer plantation to the south. We opted for a quick and anonymous visit, so opened the gate, shut it and gently strolled to the hill top.
One fence jump later and we were there, two large eminences lie at its summit, and under a tree on the outer defences I left my wife whilst I went for a quick wander. Untill then I was resigned to it being a very naff and unimpressive fort, but as I got nearer the top the whole northwestern edge was much more built up and very impressive. The bank rose to a height of at least ten feet on one side of the very definite entrance. From there the bank was easily traced back round to the south west, as was the lesser bank and ditch below the upper bank.
From up here I should be able to see Cwm Maerdy standing stone, Fedw stone circle and the
barrows on top of “The Van”, but only the latter was obvious.

A good site if a little difficult to access .

This is one stone I will remember for the rest of my life, it goes down in my history of stone hunting as a most singular visit..........

From Nant north of Hundred House, go east towards GraigFawr farm passing underneath a good hill fort, I was hoping to pass by Graigfawr farm and drive as close to the stone as possible, it was late in the day and this would be the last site visited, but the farm track to Cwm Maerdy farm was Private Keep out. So I settled for parking at the farm of Graigfawr, I knocked on the doors but no one was in, not wanting to just dump the car in someones front yard (and wife was staying with the car) I drove back down the road and parked at the first safe place.

The map shows a footpath passing right through the farm from south to north and the stone is very close to said path, so no problem so far you might reckon.
There is no such footpath on the ground, or rather there is no signs admitting to the path no stiles over hedges and fences, no signs of it at all, later developments have convinced me that the occupiers of Graigfawr farm have done there best to deter travelers, by eradicating all vestiges of the public footpath. I’m no legal eagle but i’m sure there is some illegality to this.

Any how, footpath or not, my instincts twinned with a lucky glance through a hedge found me the standing stone of Cwm Maerdy, a nearby conifer plantation has sprung up from the blank hillside my map informed me was there, but no matter, the stone was taller than it looked from Graham’s photos, and from each angle a different stone was revealed. The menhir sits on the edge of a small hill surrounded by bigger hills, one of which has a hill fort and pillow mounds on it and in t’other direction, the from here, pyramidal hill called “the van” with its visible from everywhere cairns. The darkness was falling earlier due to the cloudy nature of the day, it was beginning to rain and i’d left the wife alone for too long so it was time to go. From here I could see that the farm of Cwm Maerdy was not in fact the farm but two half ruined barns, I deduced that from there I could just walk along the track that at its end says Private Keep out. And so it was, it was quicker to get back to the car than it was to get to the stone, no jumping fences, streams or falling over weird earth tussocks. In no time at all I was back at the car and wife was fine, except for a passerby stopping and asking her if she was looking for them, she said she wasn’t but was waiting for her husbend, me.
The day was over so we started the long drive home.........

Then came the erm... interesting bit.
We got home, watched some telly, then went to bed. About 1am there was a knock on the door downstairs, “No way” I thought “who could that be”
It was the Police, I answered the door with my best"Do you know what time it is? “face, I let him in and he asked me if I’d been to mid Wales at all today? My eyes widened slightly and curious to see where this was going I said “Yeees?”
“What for ?” he asked
So I had to tell him about my hobby/ calling/ obsession I even showed him the photos taken that day, he informed me that my car had been seen acting suspiciously down a farm track, and with farm related thefts high in the area, the owner of Cwm Maerdy farm had called the cops after taking down my car registration number.
Anyway the Bobby felt I’d suitably explained myself he said sorry for the late hour and was gone.

And that is what will keep this stoney visit in my memory for ever, flippin’ farmers, custodians of the land my arse.

Long low wasn’t easy to find, in fact it would be fair to say we were going round in circles, unlike my first visit years ago when I had no problems locating it, but back then I was on my own and able to concentrate and tap into my site radar.

Eventually I was on the right road, even then its not much of a road, I could see it down the hill as I came over the crest, I was a tad naughty but I went all the way down and parked on farm property, right next to the southern barrow, but as the farm is out of site a quick hour was gotten away with.

From the other notes it seems we don’t really know what to make of Long low, It has two barrows some distance away from each other and linked together by a long linear earthwork. The whole thing is a bit battered and abused, the cistern tank on the southern barrow is most annoying. Perhaps the occupants of the barrows were considered of such close kin as to be permanently and physically linked together.
Probably all too simple and just plain wrong, but as its such a singular construction one is forced to come up with some reason for it.

After a long walk through Dovedale, with the Peak living up to it’s title of most visited National park in the world, it was extremely nice to run up the hill and spend a quality ten minutes on my own.
But even from up here I could hear the kids battling and getting on mums already tattered nerves down on the road, so it was quick as well as quality.

There is a footpath zigzagging up the hill from the road and parking for one car only. The barrow is still large and tall, though why they should build a tower on it when ten meters either side would have been as good. The tower has castle turret style steps inside, happily with a distinct lack of graffiti and beer cans, I could have stayed a while if not for the encroaching darkness and still screaming kids.
Great views across Buxton and surrounding hills less great views across the ubiquitous quarries. (Grrr)

From Betws y Coed, head west, after Swallow falls but before the Ugly house (how dare they) turn left.
Passing the Roman fort Caer Llugwy look out for small left turn for a farm called Bryn Gefeilia, I parked at the bottom of the farm lane with plenty of room.
As I was putting my boots on a man walked past looking at me with some interest, through the open window he said “good mornin, going canoeing are you?”
I looked around vainly looking for something that might have given him that idea, but finding nothing I replied ” no just going for a walk” .
This seemed to satisfy his curiosity he mumbled something about an empty campsite and he was off up the lane towards the farm.

After donning my entire waterproof collection, for it was one of those days that occur all too frequently in these parts, I followed the curious man up the lane. As I neared the farm he was coming back down the lane with his bag of farm produce and stopped to speak to me again, first he mentioned the weather, then asked me if I was going up Moel Siabod, I looked back slightly incredulously and answered ” in this weather?‘
Do you know your way around? was his next question, what is this twenty flippin quetions?
I lied and said yes not wanting to describe my uncanny sense of direction and near awsome map reading skills. He said good morning and off back down the lane he went.

Passing through the farm the footpath now takes over, through a somber crowd of wet calves and on to a three way crossroads, we turn right.
The wind is now directly thumping me in the face and little wet bullets sting it all over, I look sideways and see where i’m going out of the corner of my eye. Wales!!!
A small footpath turns left, ignore it and on to a gate and stile then another crosspaths, turn left again. It is off to the right of this track that the two hut circles are situated but I cant find them either, in this weather I’m not particularly bothered, I will be surprised if I can find the cairns.

Ten minutes on, the path impersonates a lagoon, its a muddy lagoon not in the slightest bit blue.
My internal alarm goes off and I start looking to the left just in time to make out a small bump rising out of the boggy hillside, even though there have been other bumps this one seems the one, as I get closer I can see stone and the spirit of Homer takes over as I let out a loud Woohoo!!!
If this cairn was anywhere else but high in the mountains it would have more visitors, it’s tall, it’s
stoney and a big cist proudly stares skywards, I do like a good cist, I could have kissed this cist I was that elated at finding it, Anneka Rice would have died trying to find this treasure. The spectacular view was curtailed to about 150 yards, there was no hint of the big mountain hidden so completely by the ground-clouds.

The other cairn was doing its best to stay hidden for a little while longer, as I waded through grassy bogs to the nearest likely looking bump, then to the next one and the next one, when finally I saw it, it was ahh there you are you cheeky little scampster, I do hope I’m not the only one who speaks to the stones when i’m alone.
Lower down a slight slope, and not as big as its near neighbour, this cairn is also full of charm. A small wall has been half heartedly built from its cairn material. But its main point of interest is its well preserved cist, still with its capstone but this is slowly being covered by the little wonder that is Sphagnum moss. Not fifty yards away two large rocks jut out of the squelchy ground, from the perspective of the cairn one of them looks like a standing stone.

It was about now that the batteries packed up, after only a dozen pictures, that’ll teach me to delete the old ones whilst on site, its time to go, to a shop with batteries then on to some other little known treasure of Snowdonia.

Parking is available on the A498 opposite the campsite, and a footpath almost goes up to it, it actually heads for a house called Perthi. A fallen No Access sign needs to be re-erected because I didn’t see it at all, after not seeing said sign a short slippery squelch arrives us at the hill fort.

As Gladmans Misc note reports there isn’t a lot to see in the way of ramparts and such, though it does state that no entrance could be found though they reckon its on the northwest side, if they can’t find it how do they know where it is ?
But I might have found it, there is a gap to the northwest, whether its an entrance or not I don’t know it doesn’t lead to a gentle slope as expected, but perhaps there’s been a land slip and the bit that makes it obvious as an entrance is now gone.

If you didn’t know it was a hill fort you would never guess it was, the hill top is as bare as could be, but its saving grace would be the spectacular views in all directions, though the Welsh weather God saw fit to hide even that from me. From the bottom it looked quite clear but at the top it was white out, then back at the bottom again it all cleared up, I couldn’t help getting the feeling that something somewhere was laughing at me.

This is one for people who....
Have too much time on their hands,
Want to see all that Snowdonia has to offer,
or are a tad barmy.

Two out of three ain’t bad

Four years ago I went up Caer Caradoc not far to the west of here, and as I passed “The ditches” I thought, seeing as this one isnt very far from home add the site now and go see it soon.
Four years later we found a day with an opening, bunged the dogs in the car and headed for the other side of Shrewsbury. Inbetween the better known Wrekin and Caer Caradoc hillforts, is The ditches, a more unceromonious name admittedly, and hidden from everywhere amongst the mixed non and deciduous forest known as Mogg Forest.
But probably better preserved and better equipped than the other two

There is a footpath to it from the east in Brockton, but the easiest approach was up a farm track to the southeast, but we were approached by farmerboy in his tractor who felt we should know the footpath was the other side of the field, but he didnt mind us going to see the hillfort so on we pressed and down he reversed. The footpath actually passes straight through the middle of the fort, but there is no plaque, no information board, nothing to let the walker know they are passing through two thousand year old homes.

The main entrance is at the southeast corner and passes through two ditches, three banks, there are at least two more entry points, at the northwest and to the east (i’m probably wrong though) but theyre not as good as the main southeastern entrance, from which without trees we could see the nearby Wrekin.I couldnt tell if Caer Caradoc was in view from the other corner, because that is the route Mogg Forest follows.

The interior is far too overgrown to be able to discern any round houses or anything only the path through the fort is easily navigable.
Why this wonderful hillfort should be so completly buried in forest, lost and forgotten when it should be high on Ye Shropshire hillfort list is not known to this TMAer.

The devils ring and finger are less than a 30 minute drive from my house, but to my shame ive only been here once, and that was so long ago i didnt have a digital camera, it was winter i think.

But this is this years indian summer and after a Shropshire hillfort I felt a quick reintroduction could be easily accomplished.
With no OS map I was forced to check out google earth and street map the day before and then trust to the road map and memory. Both worked a treat, no problem at all.
After only a ten minute walk from the car I find myself at the stones, bigger than I remember, and now totally hidden from prying eyes by this years crops, corn.
They are very perplexing are they not, this dynamic duo, where did they come from ?, what were they part of ? part of a stone circle ? like at Men an tol, I dont buy that.
Or part of a burial chamber, with a portholed entrance, might we think of the Bridestones near Congleton, but that chamber has a broken portholed entance, difficult to tell. But thats what I prefer, an exact duplicate to the Bridestones.
Its a secluded spot, corn on one side and the copse on the other, just the stones, me and a big tree, judging from the old picture supplied by Rhiannon, the tree was big a hundred years ago.
Both stones are deeply weathered, long deep runnels striate the standing stone, but the holed stone is less weathered, because it spent so long hidden from the elements under a capstone presumably.
I will endeaver to get more familiar with the immediate surroundings,perhaps a wintry visit with no crops would suit me sir.

There is no where good and nearby to park, I all but dumped it in the driveway to the hideous quarry to the northeast on the A5012.
I havent been here since before my digital changeover, but because I cant be bothered scanning old pictures I havent posted to a lot of places I have been to.
An equinox was all I needed to get me back here, there is no special alignments to any significant sunrise, closest is the winter solstice but even thats way off, perhaps its aligned on a pointy hilltop, but I wouldnt swear to it.
My lower extremities were soaked by the time I got to the chamber, flippin slug infested dewy grass, but a good postie shrugs off such things.
I even wandered to the top of the hill to check out the small barrow, it wasnt impressive, but it did have a direct line to Minning low, as do so many places in the southern Peak.
The sunrise only just peaked through a smidgen, a tiny gap at the bottom of a huge bank of cloud was all there was to let me know it was occuring right now, though predictably the rest of the sky was ok.
The D shaped mound faces just east of south, the passage is almost the same as the chamber, so much so that it looks to have no passage just a fore and aft chamber. The chamber has a big flat stone as one of its side stones, but I wondered whether it was actually a capstone or part of one, to get a better look I poked the camera through a hole and photographed the underneath to see if there was other stones that it rested on or if it is
just the big one, I came to no conclusions, if anyone else can say let us know.

I parked on the small lane near a gate, and a bridleway and a path into the woods. There are some interesting looking architectural features near the road but they dont look too old. I headed through the woods past these features untill I came to the earthworks of old, jumped the wall and scared the bejesus out of two young pheasants, which in turn made me jump too.
Ball cross is quite possibly the least impressive hill fort ive ever been to, only part of the ramparts survive to any impressive level. The interior of the fort is full of bumps and dips, as if some serious digging has been undertaken.
If the trees werent there some terrific views would be had across Bakewell to the neighbouring hills.
Probably not worth a look unless your passing very close by, or if you combine it with a visit to Bakewell castle, though its just a motte and bailey.

From the three men cairn cross over the wall in the only place you can and follow the faint path through the heather and birch trees, this will eventually take you to the rock art.
Though we can call it rock art, its not strictly true, fibreglass art is more accurate but less attractive.
I meant to bring some bottled water to better show off the art, but as ever forgetfulness waded into me once again and it got left behind. So what to do, I sat round for a bit, appreciated the natural beauty for a bit, but then what ?
Not wanting to depart just yet, I tried to put all the nearby heather to some good use, I stripped all the tiny flowers off and started to fill in the cupmarks, once that was done I thought it looked quite pretty, but it wasnt enough.
I then filled in the spiral and rings, now that is pretty, 42 year old men arent usually concerned with pretty, but I couldnt help myself, once I’d started I couldnt stop. From out of one cupmark came a perfectly camouflaged catepiller, I macro’d the camera and caught the bliter making for the outer ring.
I got quite a lot of sites out of just one day, stone circles and burial chambers but this is the one i’ll remember most,(despite its plasicity) a most satisfying visit.

Standing over six feet tall, it is nevertheless still not easy to spot amongst the birch trees. But whether you approach from the sheer drops on the edge or from the rock art replica, a small amount of perseverence rewards with a most interesting stone.
When I first saw this stone some years ago I found it hard to accept it as an honest to goodness standing stone. It has the look of an oddly pointy outcrop, the top of the stone is very eroded into a gnarled shape, perhaps aiding in some directional way, or as Stubob news titbit suggests as a seasonal marker.
In any case its in good surroundings, it is very photogenic, and with all the other stuff hereabouts, I’d say essentiual viewing in the Peak district.

Starting from the Robin Hood carpark and pub, the well trodden footpath goes up the hill, first passing a small but identifiable ring cairn, winter being the best time to see it as it’s still got its summer coat of bracken on, making it hard to find and harder to distinguish.
Then passing what I presume to be about half a dozen small cairns possibly of the clearence variety, we come to a long outcrop of rock, huge boulders stacked atop each other, nothing like Sacsayhuaman in Peru, but it still makes me think of that faraway wonder.
Passing between two standing stones guiding us to the edge, next up is the three men cairn, an odd thing without a doubt, but the mound beneath the three peaks is undoubtedly a barrow of some sort.
Then the path strolls meanderingly about the giant rocks that litter the Edge that is Gardom’s, sometimes a vertigo inducing drop is just a few feet from the path, it is truly spectacular, well maybe not, that kind of statement should be reserved for places like Patagonia or the Himalayas. But it is beautiful, the colours, the clear air, darting little brown lizards, it all conjours up words close to spectacular.
Then we leave the edge and go through the hole in the wall.
This is the abode of Megs walls,pit alignments, the standing stone and two pieces of rock art one of which is covered by a replica, the other stubbornly refuses to let me find it.
From the replica, cairns can be got to between the two edges, Gardom’s and Birchen edge with its little monument to Nelson on top, then its back down to the pub carpark.

Ive been to Barbrook 1 three times so I was only coming really to see number 2, but you cant just walk past a stone circle, ignore it completely ?, it just cant be done, not by me anyway.
The sun was shining when I arrived, for the first time ever i’m sure, it was early afternoon on the autumn equinox, I wasnt alone on the moor by any stretch, the other people helped to turn it from a sometimes dull and sad place into a sunny and happy and vibrant place, the stones looking as good as ever. There are still pennies in the tops of stones, going towards the cairn through the circle, the stone to the right of the tallest stone has maybe three cupmarks on its upper surface.
The cairn fifty yards up the hill is almost but not quite too perfectly restored, from here a path passes two or three other restored cairns, on route to Barbrook 2.

Last but by no means least of the day, the wonderful Barbrook two, not some misidentified terrorists, but a lovingly restored stone circle/ring cairn kind of monument.
From the almost too perfect cairn near Barbrook 1, I counted three small kerb cairns, one which may still have its cist cover, even though the cist is long gone.
The entrance to the ring cairn points approxiamately to the summer solstice, ie north east.
Ten little stones make up the stone circle, some of them are barely high enough to poke free of the cairn, they all face the inside of the circle.
The autumn colours are beginning to show off a bit, and I never had the nervous, black feeling I got the first time I came to Barbrook .
It is beautifully reconsructed, as are the nearby cairns, all is well on the moor today, theres even a kite flyer and his overly enthusiastic dad.

Ive been to the nearby Robin Hoods stride and stone circle so many times I dont know how many, yet ive not been here till now, and by the looks of it hardly anyone does, why?
We drove slowly and carefully down the driveway, and parked by the farm just as the lady of the house was coming out. We asked if it would be ok if went and saw the earthworks, she replied that the cows had just gone out, I looked both sheepishly and pleadingly and asked if that was a no, she paused and asked how many are you, just me and the boy . Ok then but be careful.
Maybe I was beginning to see why no one comes here.
We walked round the corner towards the cow shed and a few were still hanging around, one of them mooed at us, Eric mooed back.
The earth work is surmounted by a wall all the way round, and rubble lies on and in the ground all the way round. Cows mooed
The farm makes it difficult to properly appreciate the enclosure, it has destroyed the south eastern arc, but what remains is quite impressive and as youd expect the views are tremendous.
Cows were still mooeing
On our way back to the car, the farm dog alerted the farm lady we were back I looked at her kindly and said a big thankyou, she then thanked me for asking, and I thanked her for thanking me.
Couldnt hear the cows from this side of the farm.
Dont know why more people dont come here.

Its only a five minute walk from the Andle stone, and its a tiny price to pay for such a nice little circle in such a beautiful place.
Eric spent most of the time trying to climb the trees with pagan stuff hanging from them, then he took to throwing sticks in the air, a mad kind of Russian roulette, of all my pictures taken today the most blurry ones were taken here, it’s a strange place this one.
But ever so......... long word beginning with B

And its not just a stone circle, it looks like it has the strange quality of being a cairn with a stone circle built into it, the information board is helpful, whilst not telling very much at all.
It really is very nice here, on this my third visit I didnt see anyone else again, but there is always evidence that other people do come here.
Did I say how beautiful it is here ?

Easily visible from the minor road that you would use for the Nine ladies stone circle on Stanton moor, and plenty of room for parking closeby too.
You cant go to a burial chamber without going in, and you cant go to Stonehenge without wanting to jump the velvet ropes to hug a stone, and you cant go to the Andle stone without climbing on top of it.
It is one of the best things in the world, sitting up here with my son Eric, it’s a beautiful day, nice and warm.
The Red Arrows were at Chatsworth house on the way here, and for a small while we had the best seats in the house, but we obviously had got there a tad too late as they all shot off as we sat down, we both agreed they are totally awesome.
Eric went up first after a bit of a bunk, but he got to the top and bottled it, so I climbed up after him to help and guide him up which got him to the top if a 9yr old can do it anyone can, almost.
Usually graffiti would tick me off a bit, but right now, today I liked it. The “Michelle I love you, Feb 14 2002, really seemed to jump out at me not only because it took up the most room but, it must have taken all day, he must really have loved her, I wonder if she was there when he did it, did she ever see it, what did she think. Sometimes life isnt about natural beauty, incredible as it is, but about people living alongside other people, these ancient sites are after all not about nature but about us, the stone might always be there, but we wont.

Do not come here without going to Doll tor stone circle just a five minute walk away, it is a crime punishable by.... well what alse , stoning.

For at least twenty five years ive driven past this place at least five times a year, not knowing at all about the rock art, but being vaguely interested in the big motte looking mound, I was always on my way to or from somewhere else and there isnt any where good to park, so it was shelved as visit pending.
But it is maybe the closest rock art to where I live, or maybe its some place in the Peak district, either way, as soon as I knew of the rock art it went from visit pending to, I gotta get out there as quick as possible.
Bank holidays dont often coincide with having some money, so out I went with this place at the top of the list.
Driving past is different to it being your final destination, there is actually somewhere to park right next to the mount, with stiles, permissive footpaths and all. Watch out crossing over the road it gets very busy on August bank holiday monday, but theyre all going somewhere so you should have the place to yourself.
Owain Glyndwr has famous places all over North Wales from where he was married to where he lived. This is where he lived.
He couldnt have picked a prettier place, if we take out the railway track and make the road into a medieval trackway, it is a beautiful place. Standing on the flat topped mount, looking over a bend in the river Dee to the llantysilio mountains it would be easy to sit all afternoon watching the cars go past, or the occasional steam train from Llangolen.

From on top of the mount walk east about 120 yards parallel to the road, our view north to the river and mountains is now blocked by trees. but keep going till you reach a small copse of wool trees (sheeps wool that is) sitting in a moated area the cupmarked stone is on the other side.
It is not the only stone here, infact its the smallest stone in a row or arc of bigger stones making it look like its part of a bigger monument, it isnt, I read somewhere that they had all been moved here.
The cupmarked stone is maybe two feet long and one and a half foot wide, it has I think fourteen cupmarks on it.
Rock art being quite rare in Wales, it feels really out of place and as the stone is sufficently small enough to be carried, one cant help wondering whence it came. Also with it being on Royal grounds as it were is it part of some royal something or other, I hesitate in saying king making rituals. Damn I said it anyway.
Plus its always good to find some roack art where Tiompan hasnt been. Yaaay me!!!

From Cefn y Gader stride confidently across the heather covered moor, in a south south east direction, hopfully following the border between Denbighshire and Wrexhamshire . Just make for the top of the gentle hill and once at the top you’ll spot the cairn on the other side.
This is the cairn that can be seen from Google earth, even the scooped out interior is visible from way up there. This is also the only decent cairn on the hillsides, all the others are grassy heather covered mounds but this one is still stoney and large. No sign of a cist, but in places around the cairn are slight hints of kerbing. Why they didnt build it on top of the hill I dont know, much wider views would be had if they had, instead its kind of hidden away looking into the hills. The nearby Cefn y Cist can be seen on the skyline to the south south east.

Park on the road through the moutains, next to the boudary stone near Cefn-y-Gader.
There is no path so youll have to wander at will, following your intuition. Mine led me straight to the cairn that cannot be named (Coflein wont help me)
From there Cefn y Cist is visible on the horizon between two slightly higher hilltops, a ten minute walk through old lead mines and the jobs a goodun.
Heather has done its utmost to hide this barrow from the searcher and the thinker, but its height gives it away when looked at on the sky line.
It is as tall as they say and there is a big hollow inside, but to an inquisitve booted toe no sign of a cist could be detected.
Pink or purple, this heather is everywhere, in winter one can go snow blind but today i’m heather blind, black grouse abound (theyre not as vocal as red grouse), and it speaks of the mountains less than wild nature.

Despite its large size I could not find this cairn, nor its two near nieghbours, another cairn and an enclosure of some sort.
It didnt help when the river that the map says its next to was all dried up making me wonder if I was in the right place at all.
My only defence is the heather and bracken that covers everything, and hides it from even the most ardent of cairn hunters.

Not a big cairn, and its covered in pretty pink heather, so its hard to see, but its in a fairly dramatic site with good views to the west and north.
And not too far from the road, it’s not really one to rush out to see, but if your going to try and find all the cairns on the Esclusham mountains youll have to come here.

Only a tadd difficult to find as the immediate route to it is on two OS maps, just follow the dead end side lane to Hethpool, keeping to the main branch when you cross a cattle grid parking is immediately left, in the big car park.
From here it was difficult to see the stones, theyre less than a metre high (bar one) and really well camoflagued amongst the fearless sheep, and I mean fearless they wouldnt budge a bit.
Fortunately there is a black and white map at the carpark showing just where the stones are, about 150 metres up the single track.
These stone circles have been badly wrecked and now are only just recognisable as such, well one of them is, the other is so wrecked that we must take it on trust that this is two circles.
The first and best of the two has now only five stones, unless a couple are much smaller than the others and were expertly hid by strangely unafraid sheep, it reminded me of a small Twelve Apostles near Dumfries.
At the time I was there I was ignorant of there being two circles, and I presumed that the tallest stone here was an outlier, and the two low stones nearby just an oddity, but both Hob and Burl state quite clearly that there were two circles.
I scrambled up the next to them hillside for a better look around and over the site, and discovered that this is a nice place and if the two circles were still complete, it would be a grand place. The close and audible river, the hills dissappearing into the distance (and the mist) and Yeavering Bell too. That hillfort and Old Bewick convinced me to come back as soon as possible,
I wont hold my breath its been maybe seven years since I last said that.

We parked by the farm to the southwest, asked for permission to leave the car there and started the long walk up hill. Phil elected to stay in the car again so Eric was my only company, which i’m always grateful for.
It wasn’t too steep or too far, so there wasnt any “are we nearly there yet” we both spotted the “cairn” at the same time, Bob was my uncle.

This place is a bit of an enigma, ever since I saw it on here Ive wanted to come, tramping the Welsh wildernesses have given me an appreciation for the simple cairn, but this is by no means a simple cairn.
Imagine.... a stone circle of contiguous stones, with a cairn immediately inside the stones, but not filling the interior, then put 4,5, or 6 cists in the cairn, then a small cairn inside it all and another one outside to the north.
Plus in the near distance a fine hillfort, with lots of mind bending rock art, good weather with a setting sun that my crappy camera doesnt seem to acknowledge, plus all the hills and what have you got..... A happy Postman

The first time we visited this circle we approached from the north down the map marked footpath, but it was too rough and overgrown, so wife and two yr old son turned back, I carried my daughter on my shoulders, we were surprised by a Roe doe that suddenly jumped up and bounded high and long away from us, we stood staring agape, it was but five yards from us.

But this visit was different. The threat of wind turbines have gone (?) and an all new path and information board have appeared, nice.
We left the car by where it says to park on the verge, after fifty yards Phil turned back to the car ( she is soooo lazy) but Eric and me soldiered on.
The stones are highly visible on the way, on top of their mound, but the path doesn’t go straight to the stones, it winds all around the fields edge. A few fellow travelers were approaching from a different direction, but they must have turned back because they didn’t come up to the circle. Did Eric and me put them off, or was it the long walk, who cares besides a couple of tractors (and farmers too presumably) we had the place to ourselves.

On the way to the stones the sun was big and wonderful and I hoped we were in for a treat of a sunset, but no sooner had we arrived the devil threw up a big cloud bank and the sun settled in behind it, the mist closed in and the universe got a lot smaller.
Even that was ok, the surroundings are indeed lovely but agriculture though it feeds me and mine doesn’t half get my gander up, so I was glad that the only visible things were us and the stones.
What remarkable stones they are.
Returning to the car the stones were unavailable to view because of the enclosing mist, but dressed in no more than T shirts it wast cold, we had a good laugh on the way back, not at much, just two blokes being blokeish.

Ps, didn’t see any deer but did see quite a lot of Hares, so much so the day was named after them... Hare day.

From Doddington go north on the B6525, then take your second right turn, along this small one lane road park near a gate with a sign alerting us to the rock art in the copse of trees beyond the closer copse.
It wasnt far but we were getting wet, after finding the two panels in open grassland between the two woods, the kids elected to stay there whilst I went for an exploratory roam in the trees, I managed to find half a dozen cups next to a cup and ring, they were half covered in lichen but still traceable. There must be more in there, I feel sure, but most of the outcrop is now under turf and moss, it needs a good Tiompanning.
Still, I did find it and I feel a bit elated to have found some rock art that isnt on here yet.

This place has been near the top of my list for a long time, I was in the area for a day, about eight years ago, and chose Duddo stone circle over Roughting linn, at the time it seemed a good choice, but it has taken a long time to get back up here. But then that is to be expected tucked away in the top most corner of this island England, it is as hard to get to as Lands End, and is far away from everywhere. Except Scotland, and the rest of Northumberland and North Yorks, well you get my gist.
After the long drive and many “are we nearly there yets” we arrived at about 8pm, not knowing what it was like here before I can only say parking was easy and the most special rock in Northern England is only a childs throw from the road, very easy to find, if your an OS map carrier.
I would love the chance to really get into rock art, to work on my rockart radar, but it’s just so far from home. The mystery surrounding such places as this are complete, they are dumbfounding and inexplicable, to me at least. But they are beautiful, mysterious and a food for the soul.
The art itself is I feel quite eroded, but the artist/artists wer not part timers, the cups, rings and assorted wavy lines etc are deeply etched, and still remain clear and obvious.
We stayed well after the sun had gone down, the kids as ever were more interested in the swooping bats that were all around us coming close enough to touch at times.
I hope Fitzcoraldo was joking about the Hex because Ive got the most uncontrolable children ever, and they might have just once or twice stood on some rock art, for which I apologize profusely, they will be out of their ankle bonds next week.

Best hillfort in the Peak district.

After the much further than intended walk here, past Lows Cow and Lady, the banks and ditches really took my fancy, they’re still big and impressive, full of summer flowers and soft grasses.
No early morning dew this time just hot afternoon sun and a Buzzard shrieks high above us along the cliffs.
The map makes it look like the view would be down over Doveholes but its on the other side of the hill looking over on Combs reservoir and Combs edge. I was also taken with the distant Combs edge, it looked chocolatey in the afternoon sun, and seemed to be undulating and melodious and pleasing to the eye.
A really good place to sit for a long time, but preferably without a little boy that needs another number two.

After finding myself, literally, we waded through the cows at the top of the hill, untill one stood resolutely still before us, Eric said “that is one big cow, look at the ring through its nose”.
“Erm.....I dont think that ones a cow mate, lets go this way”
After climbing nimbly over the fence, presumably at the spot we are supposed to, as there is no barbed wire and steps (but not a stile), the first thing that one notices is the view, it’s not the best one the Peak has to offer but its not the worst. The second is the rocky outcrop, and then the barrow, Lady low.
I was pleasantly surprised to find it still quite tall, nearly two metres, but it has the summit scooped as so many have. What can one say about a robbed barrow called lady, lets go with..... He’s all take and no give.
A good view down to the Bullring henge from here, but it would have been better from Cow low, curse my muddy mind, and its still a fair old walk to Castle Naze. I dare not tell Eric how far Ive already given him one piggy back ride which quickly drooped into a crawl, giddy up dad.

We only found this barrow by mistake, as part of a long afternoon of getting lost, miscalculating, and generally going the wrong way. I was looking for Castle Naze with maybe a distant view of Lady low, but it wasn’t untill i stood atop the hill and said hang on this isnt a hillfort that looks like a knackered barrow, that I realised my error. I’d turned right instead of left, I zigged when I should have zagged, leaving us further than we realised to walk, and if theres one thing Eric doesnt like doing it’s walking.
Oh well, my mistake had ensured that both the barrows would be seen this afternoon, but put in jeopardy our final assault on the hill to reach the object of the trip Castle Naze.

Not knowing where I was had dulled my wits momentarily, it took a minute to realise that I was standing on the outer bank of this thorougly robbed and disheviled barrow. But once I took it all in, the barrow had showed me where on earth I was, and it had helped me to reorient myself. Good barrow, Cow low, but theres not much left except a big skyward pucker.

Ive yet to have the pleasure of a full scale visit up Birds rock, but after looking at the aerial views taken by Coflein and provided by the sweetcheat, there arent many things I’d rather do. Instead of a few mild earthworks there are tumbled stone walls, much more interesting..... in a sad kind of way.
The rock dominates the entire valley much more so than the Norman castle to the northest, and acts as an appetiser for the bigger mountains, that seem to crowd in close to look down on the valley, but the true king of the area is the otherwordly Cadair Idris.

Poor stone, poor poor stone. Look what they’ve done to this poor old stone, moved, drilled, a gate hung on it and the hedge isnt a friendly hedge neither.
An essential part of a complete circumnavigation of Cadair Idris. If you like castles, then sooner or later youll get round to visiting Castle y Bere, which is about half a mile away, come see the stone, lament it, caress it, feel sorry for it and while your there why not leave a whole bunch of tat, sorry I mean offerings, farmer gitty Mcdontgiveatoss can clean up for us it seems.

About half a mile southwest of Llanegryn, easy to find and visible from the road, only one gate seperates the stone from the car. We thoughtfully blocked a gate , crossed the road and the gate and ran as fast as someone who doesnt want to run all the way to the stone.
The stone is atleast six foot tall and is sheep rubbed black and smooth on its lower half, but its the view towards the mountains that takes over here, Craig yr Aderyn/Birds rock starts the ball rolling and it doesnt stop till it gets to the misty peak of Cadair Idris, one of Wales most fantastic mountains. It has the most megalithic sites strewn around it’s feet than any ive heard of with maybe Tal y Fan being a close contender. If you like mountain scenery and our ancient heritage take a day or two to have a look round this truly amazing mountain, it wont be a short drive or an easy one but by golly you will love it.

The tiny seaside town of Llwyngwril, is best known for being in between Barmouth and Tywyn, nothing more, though it has a railway station and a liberal spread of caravans, theres not much point in lingering long here unless like us you love all things ancient.
Less than a mile northeast is the two stone row of Gwastadgoed, and a half mile south is this nice little hillfort.
Leaving the village of llwyngwril through the cemetry, it’s not as sacriligous as it sounds thats just the way the road goes.
I parked next to a farm shed, and left Eric in the car, as the fort is so close to the road, (indeed it probably goes over a part of it) I felt no need to make him come with me, he was visible at all times(just).
As with all parts of the North Walean coast as you head inland the hills appear and the road goes up, but just before the hills get too high or too far from the sea, a small hillock protruding from a more substantial hill (is there another word for hill?)with commanding views up and down the coast was chosen for this fortified settlement, they chose well. The ditch is most evident on the southern side, within the ditch is a large earth fast angled boulder, i’m beginning to think they might have a purpose as this is about the fifth time Ive come across one, or it could just be that hills sometimes have stones that cant easily be moved on them,
The entrance isnt well preserved but if Im looking at it all right its on the northern side facing Barmouth, the eastern edge had stone built walls but now only a long stone spread with the obligatory wind shelter inserted to keep the Jessies cozy.
Its no Maiden Castle, it doesnt have mighty works left for us to ponder over, but it is what it is and its in a lovely place, so if your passing and need a break come up here for an hour stretch your legs and blow out the cobwebs.

We parked at the junction near Cefnfeusydd farm and walked what we thought was the path that goes right by the stones, but was actually slightly higher than the stone row. But that was ok because we went through a field the map says has got two cairns in it. It hasnt, or it has but they now have dozens of neighbours, there are cairns all over the hillside we climbed the biggest two directly east of the stone row, they were twenty feet high and fifty feet across. Not your average field clearance cairn but clearly not the cairns we were looking for......These aren’t the cairns your looking for......
We suddenly remembered the stones and held hands running down the hillside, shouting like bungee jumpers as we went, needless to say the sheep gave us the field.
The two standing stones are north-south of each other the southern one a good mans height, the other as tall as a five year old, there are good views down to the obscure Welsh seaside village of llwyngwril, and long views over to the more famous lleyn peninsula.
Good stones, in good surroundings.

We approached down the many gated lane that goes past llyn Cregennen, it has the most gates ive ever seen, really infuriating in the rain, got soaked before we even got there.
Parking was had opposite the gateway through which the stones are just twenty metres beyond.
It was raining, misty and windy when we got out of the car but just five minutes on the weather improved slightly, enough to be able to see the sea and down into Barmouth bay and the peak of Pen y Garn (459m).
The fifth stone that wasnt located on Kammers visit is the fallen northern end stone, obscured by welsh stone hiding grass, not to be confused with lesser other stone hiding grasses.
This would be a good place for a winter solstice sunset, as the row points more or less in the right direction, it may not be exact but with the setting sun and a good stone row in one eyefull, who can resist, one day maybe.

Kammer found the going difficult from the road to the north west but ttTom found it easy enough coming from the east down off the mountain, can you guess which route I took.

There was room for one or two cars next to the footpaths on the road to the northwest of the cairn, but make sure your on the right path, not the big left one but the small steep single file path. I had read Kammers notes about this path but decided that it was summer now so hopefully it would be a bit drier, it wasn’t, in fact parts of the path are so worn by continuous water flow that its 5o% path and 50% stream, even though both my kids are old enough to take it, they still couldnt be bothered, so I left them fairy story style in the forest and carried on on my own. I’m not as bad as Hansel and Gretels dad though the cairn was only seventy yards away up the occasional path, I could hear them just fine messing about below me, if the trees were not there i would have been able to see them. Anyway there both children of nature so we were all ok.

The cairn is a big one, in a big clearing in a conifer plantation, the cairn isnt just the visible cairn material,( too many cairns?) its much bigger than that. The summer sun was streaming down upon me and I was just dripping in sweat, the midges were having a field day, and because of the slight chance that there may be a house made of sweets in the forest I walked around it once, inspected the exposed cist, noting the cast aside capstone which is still in one piece, then I proceeded to have a good tut about the shelter dug into its northern edge and the whacking great wall built across the cairn.
Then I made my way back down to the kids and off we went.
I told them we were just going up the road to turn round when wow would you look at that two standing stones “’ll just have a quick look”
awwwww daaaad ???

It’s been said before but I think it can bear it one more time...... Gawd this is a pretty place.

Not many mountains in North Wales attract as much megalithic attention as Cadair Idris, this stone is the best sited, the best looking and possibly the biggest in the area. It’s as tall as I am, that is a bit shy of six feet, as we approached from the east it had a pronounced thumb shape to it, the lower half has been sheep rubbed smoothly black.
From here we can see the field across the valley where Cerrig arthur stone circle is sited.

On route to this cairn we noticed there was loads of birds all around the road, it was all I could do to not hit any of them, when suddenly from behind the low wall a big brown buzzard took flight accompanied by crows and mappies, I know it’s only a buzzard but theyre really big and very impressive in full flap just metres away, then it dropped it’s prey, a wriggling snake, probably a grass snake after watching springwatch the other week.
As we approached down the road we spied the cairn over the wall, we audaciously parked in the fishermen only parking space (not on my watch aquatic abuse monkey) and walked back down to it, it was very boggy, but at least no trespassing this time.
It really does look like a ring cairn , even looking down from google earth, and Gladmans sensational gods eye view pictures though he hasnt pointed out the cairn but two seeminly unmapped cairns closer to the mountian.
It looks like a ring cairn because the interior has been completely excavated, half a dozen large stones seem to line the inside arc of the ring.
Just to the north east is Hafotty fach menhir, and a hundred metres north is Careeg y big next to a small hill perfect for surveying the area and looking down a bit on the cairn and stones.
And the area really needs a good survey because it’s totally gorgeous, I almost forgot the other sites nearby and stayed for ages on this little hill.

It was the Coflein discription alone that inspired this summer solstice outing, there was ample parking, there was no else but me, no stone climbing hooligans and no sunshine, by 5am i was waterproofed and wellied up, the sun which had technically already risen would not appear over the mountains for another forty minutes maybe.
I started the long walk in high spirits, but wading through bracken, ferns and every species of Welsh upland fauna soon took the wind out of my sails, it was with much rejoicing that I finally came across a path, it wasnt on my map.
By now it was clear that this was all going to take much longer than I had anticipated, my wellies are good for walking over a few fields but mile after mile of this and my toes were getting sore and I was only one fifth of the way to my first target.
I left the path and headed for the corner of the foerst that leads down to the Nant Crechwyl, on my way down I came across a sheep lying down I made a noise so as not to startle it, but it didnt move so I clapped loudly, then it heard me, and then a really distressing thing happened it couldnt get up and it was lying in its own excrement
the poor sheep was obviously suffering greatly, but there was only me around and there was nothing I could do, so i left hastily trying not to distress the creature trying to get away from me.
At the bottom of the hill I crossed the small river and slowly made my way up the other side, at the top of that hill it was down and another river to cross back up to the hill that is Esgeiriau and from there we can see our destination, it had taken so long and knackered me so completely that I wondered if some hapless walker would come across my still quivering body, or worse.
Sheep and death apart, after crossing the Nant y Waun it was sunshine on a rainy day, big stones litter the hillside all around here, and the cairn is badly abused but still a great place to hang out.
Approaching it from the westish area all that is evident is the walls of an old sheepfold,I thought I’d got it wrong but upon looking over a wall there was the rest of the cairn and its hidden jewel of a still covered cist.
After a good sit down and watching three little birds (sorry i’m no ornithologist, perhaps you can tell me what it is in the picture), I walked around it clockwise of course getting a feel for it, the feeling I felt was this is great.
It would have been a big cairn if not for the walling, which i’m sure could be easily restored, and in its centre is that cist, its even got an opening to peer into or on a wet day repeatedly inserting the camera will do. The capstone is a big flatish lumpen stone, the kind weve seen on so many dolmens,just a touch smaller.
From here Pennant cairn is highly visible across the small river and up the hill but not at its top.
On a sunnyier day in appropriate footwear this would be a dreamy dreamland.

Pennant cairn is highly visible (in the right circumstances)from Nant Esgeiriau cairn and its only a fifteen minute walk from one to the other but a small river (Nant Esgeiriau) has to be crossed.
Even a quick look down from google earth will show that the interior hasnt just been annoyingly tampered with but entirely removed.
But standing within the cairns centre with grass underfoot, one can still feel cairn material underfoot. This isnt the work of hapless/brainless hill walkers, it was farmer git systematically remodelling it to keep sheep in.
To the north is the huge bulk of Carnedd y Ci , east is the misty peaks of the Berwyns, south is Nant Esgeiriau cairn and hill, and west is the forested slopes of Cwm Pennant.
Directly behind the cairn is a strange squarish arrangement of stones, if i’m reading cofleins notes right it could be a gunpowder store for the exploding quarry monkeys, it looks more like a cist or something to me, but then I do have ancient goggles on at all times.

From Pennant cairn the footpath to Cefn Penagored was clear, but I used the more direct sheep inspired route, thus missing out on Cwm Tywell ring cairn, now I know I’ll have to come back, Gggrrr I make myself so mad sometimes.