megadread

Visited this afternoon and was kindly given permission to go up the tor.

There’s no public access to the tor but if you ask politely at the house they may let you up.

Be aware there are several large dogs roaming the grounds, if you don’t seek permission you may get bit, you have been warned. !

This stone rocks. !

Seems you spoke too soon Stu, during a visit this summer i found the site looking like a tip, remains of fires on the edge of the henge and rubbish dumped everywhere, seems by all the dog shit i encountered some of the locals are using the site as a dog toilet.
Normal service has resumed. : (

Not convinced at all this stone is of any significance, there are many naturally standing stones in the area and most are much more convincing than this one.

The nearby cairn is a walkers cairn built by a local student from the stone of the collapsed wall.

There’s no danger of being shot at this site despite what you may read, been up there loads of times and the only unnerving thing is the low flying military aircraft that sometimes buzz the site, don’t worry they won’t bomb you.

Visited today following Stu’s directions and it seems the layout of the fields may have been changed unless i’m misunderstanding the directions.
As you enter the field from the road you need to head to the top left corner of the field your in, the stile is there and the clearance stones just over it, there is a drainage ditch halfway across the field but no other boundaries. !

Won’t add my pics as the light was crap and they’re not a patch on the ones already posted by Stu.

Poor old Margery hill Cairn, battered and eroded it’s present state belies it’s once obviously important status.
Sitting atop Howden edge and a bugger to get to if you don’t like walking far this site is in need of some urgent tlc.
Now fenced off and recently awarded ancient monument status the cairn commands fantastic views down the Derwent valley and this has probably added to it’s present state offering a great viewing platform for walkers.

There’s a couple of straightforward routes to the cairn, neither easy though, my route from Langsett via the cut gate path, about 4 miles was a hard fought one due to appalling weather, the paths were running like streams, the visibility was down to less than 25 metres at times, not being the greatest of conditions for photography i decided to camp the night on the moor close by and wait it out which proved to be a god decision as the weather didn’t relent once till the early hours.

The other route is via Fairholmes visitor centre through Nether Hey, about 3 miles or so, this was my route back, take this route if you prefer half decent paths though you’ll still need your boots in all but the best of weather, if there’s any chance of bad weather be sure to take appropriate kit, the site is very exposed and the weather can make navigation very difficult.

What a bugger to find, well worth the effort though and once there you can totally understand why it is where it is.
There are no paths leading to it, the only route is to trudge through the heather.
Excellent site.

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Though i pass this site at least once a week have never Been before my visit today, i was shown the site by commonera.
The whole area is littered with stones of varying sizes with wonderful views, can be likened to the mothers jam. A wonderful place for a family visit and picnic. Ample parking at the Surprise view pay and display car park across the road. A short way from the site is an amazing view across the Hope valley.
Though Barnatt considers the site just a fortuitous arrangement of stones, i would say if so its very fortuitous. !