Martin

Thursday 1/12/05
Well- what an improvement to this lonely site. Looks like the council have finally spent some money and tidied this place up as well as a new ‘Wiches Stone’ plaque on the freshly painted railings and a small plaque at ground level explaining a bit about the stone. All the ivy and vegetation that had almost engulfed the stone has gone to be replaced by a sympathetic rockery round the back and some white quartz around the stone. Great improvement, but this spot still gives me the creeps!

Thursday 1/12/05
Wow- looks like the council have really got their act together with this site too (see the improvements to the nearby Witches Stone). What a difference- for once you can actually walk down to the well house instead of trying to balance above it on an old stone wall then jump into a mass of nettles and brambles. Gone are all the head-high plants and the whole entrance to the well-house has been landscaped and planted. There are also some new stone steps leading down to the well itself. All in all a vast improvement to what was a very neglected but important holy well.

Friday 27/8/04
Absolute genius. The vision to place these stones atop this hill as a monolithic mirror image representation of the Eildon Hills is phenomenal. I am blown away by this (almost literally- it’s a howling gale up here!). It’s not until I visit the Cow Stone, just 320 m ENE and slightly downhill from here do I appreciate that these stones feel also like a gateway. I don’t think that the Cow Stone should be seen as a completely separate monument as the three work so well together. I walk back up the hill from the Cow Stone to the Brothers Stones- and, in between these giants, the land to the West opens up and right in the middle- the Eildon Hills. I actually said ‘WOW!‘
The pair are aligned NNW/SSE. The northernmost stone is rectangular in section measuring 75 by 57 cm. The stone tapers to the top (2 m high) and the rectangular top is angled and slopes up from E to W in the direction of the Eildons- as does the southernmost stone. The S stone is triangular in section and measures 90 cm by 1 m by 1 m. It’s a beast at 2.5 m high. One side is aligned perfectly N/S.

Friday 27/8/04
Only about 320 m down a slight hill from the Brothers’ Stones is this massive irregular lump of a monolith. It’s 2 m high by around the same in it’s greatest width. One of the major axis is aligned NNE/SSW. There is a great notch at the top through which to view the Brothers’ Stones. Taken with these pair, this monolith forms a huge triangle on Brotherstone Hill and the walk from here, back up to those pair is like passing through a megalithic gateway.

Friday 27/8/04
This site is marked on the 1:25000 OS map as ‘standings stones’, but there is definitely only the one here (as confirmed by the RCAHMS notes). It stands next to a dry stane dyke at the entrance to a ploughed field. It’s aligned NW/SE and there is a very curious ‘seat’-like shape to the stone- whether natural or sculptured it’s difficult to say, but there’s a seat part and the bulk of the stone forms the back part! The stone is 1.47 m high by 1.2 m wide and around 36 cm thick. The E side has the ‘seat’- it’s 42 cm wide and 1 m long. Nice spot for a sit down!

Friday 27/8/04
A kilometre SW from Bruntaburn standing stone is another- but this one is not marked on the 1:25000 OS map- dunno why- it’s a big as Bruntaburn. Almost square in section the sides are aligned approximately NE/SW. It’s 1.8 m high and about 1 m square. The W side has two holes drilled as it looks like it was used as a fence post sometime in the past. There is no note in the RC notes though of a series of four vertical holes/hollows on the E side. Making my way back to the road I meet with two women on horseback who stay here. They tell me about the other stones in the vicinity and note that they feel this place to be magickal- ‘it’s as if someone is watching you all the time you are out here’. It’s true- this tiny lane and the country about it has a certain forgotten otherworldliness feel to it.

Friday 27/8/04
A great country road leads you to this stone- there are elaborate stone arches across the road in two places- one almost completely covered in ivy. As is this standing stone- especially the NE side. According to the notes from the RCAHMS I have with me this stone was not noted by RC surveyors in 1980. It may be partly ivy covered, but they couldn’t have looked very far as it’s about 2 m high and almost 1.5 m wide at base (and about 55 cm thick). It’s aligned NE/SW and there’s a natural cup mark on the top. The E face of the stone is almost flat, the W side is curved slightly.

Tuesday 24/8/04
Another steep and tricky cliff face- another site! It’s a bit of a scramble up here over slippy grass, scree, through gorse and stinging nettle. I’m back up here with the digi cam to take some decent pics and also some measurements- especially of the ‘hunter’ figure. The deer was only rediscovered in 1996, but no mention was made of the human figure only 3 cm to the left of it. To be fair- the deer is very prominent compared to the human, but the latter is definitely pecked from the rock using the same technique as the deer. The deer is 145 mm long by 107 mm high. The horns are 47 and 45 mm long. The human ‘hunter’ figure (which is 21 mm to the left of the nose of the deer) is 17 mm wide by 68 mm high with legs 30 mm long. It appears to be holding a weapon of sorts on its left side- possibly a representation of a bow and arrow, this being 37 mm long.
Just about 1.1 m to the right of the carving there’s a crevice in the cliff face and a crack forming a natural chimney- indeed the rocks in the crevice are blackened with carbon and soot. At the base of the rock with the carving is a horizontal slab approximately 80 cm by 1 m to sit perched on the cliff. I guess it’s impossible to date such a carving, but this place has a very ancient feel to it- the deer and hunter carving, the fire shelter, the perch high up on a cliff…

18/7/02
On an extremely muggy and warm lunchtime I find myself on the stone perch next to the deer having lunch and admiring the fantastic view. I took the path round the base of the hill this time and straight up to here- very tricky as it’s mostly slidy scree. Only stopped on my way up here to sample the very good wild raspberries growing all over the place. I was having a re-check of the carving- it’s on an almost lozenge shaped rock about 75X32 cm forming part of a small cliff rising to about 2 m by about 1.5 m wide. The deer is pecked from the rock and in recognising this I notice something so obvious that I missed it on my last visit- just to the left there is what appears to be a humanoid figure- bloody hell! It’s not as deeply carved as the deer though. I have a good survey of all the rock faces around the cliff- but no more carvings.

7/7/02
Not the easiest to find- the GPS was about 6 m off, but I found the tiny creature on a slab of red rock looking SW across the Braid Hills. I was expecting something Pictish, but this looks far, far more primitive. There’s lichen growing in the actual carving so it’s definitely not recent (not that it looks in any way modern).

Friday 20/8/04
Just a short walk from the rather good Harestanes visitors centre and just off the St. Cuthbert’s Way path. A drive leads off from the country road up to Woodside house and the standing stone is apparently in the small wood on the left- we walk up the drive, but no sign, down again and I spot, just peaking out through the thick vegetation- the top of the monolith. It ain’t gonna be easy getting to it though- the plant life is thick and nasty looking, but I think I see a line through it. Well- between me and the stone there’s a small burn and the sides drop down into it- it’s down there that the stinging nettles are over 6 foot tall and the brambles are around waist height. They are also old which means the thorns are thick and real sharp- it’s slow going but I keep pressing on through it- my legs are ripped to shreds and stung to bits- mebbe a bad idea to attempt this in shorts! Eventually I am beside a thick and bulky stone. It’s almost 90 cm square and not much higher at about 1.3 m.
After all that- turns out that there’s an easier way to get here- through a gate off the drive and up through a field to the west of the stone- I return to the road this way…

Friday 6/8/04
I drive up a small forested road to Menzion. The pine trees line either side of the singletrack, but give way slightly as the road passes through three standing stones. I park up and walk back. Two of the three stones are on the N side of the road, one to the S. The most northerly stone is almost square in section, 1.1 m high by about 67 cm square with an almost flat top. The corners of the stone are aligned perfectly N/S pointing to the stone on the south side of the road. Approximately 17 m S to the next stone. This one is 1.3 m high and 1.5 m by 70 cm at the base. The whole stone tapers up to the sky and is aligned E/W pointing to the third stone. Approximately 15 m west to stone three. This stone is the smallest of the trio and leans slightly to the SE. It’s 90 cm tall and 60 by 69 cm on plan. I put the compass and tape measure away, take some pics and then just look at this site and walk around the stones. There are blue skies above us now and sweltering heat. There are no sounds except from nature- flies, songbirds, crows and buzzards echoing through the forest. This is a very atmospheric site. Very remote, quiet and peaceful.

Friday 6/8/04
This cairn sits in the middle of this moor and scrubland with the tail end of the Pentland Hills to the east and Tinto to the southeast. A grassy mound rises from the moor to a height of approximately 1 m, but what makes this cairn particularly interesting is the short cist still in place in the middle of the mound. The cist is aligned NE/SW and is 1 m long by 33 cm wide by 58 cm deep. There are only four stones remaining- the cist is open at the SW end with no capstone either, but a large stone lies just to the east which may have been one of the uprights.

NT00644990
And only 200 metres from Wester Yardhouses cairn on a small hillock rising from the moor is this denuded cairn. A modern cairn has been built on top of the remains of the original cairn. Although this hillock is only 295 m high it still commands a great 360 degrees view from Tinto, Lanarkshire and the Pentlands. The cairn itself is about 20 m in diameter by around 1 m high (the modern cairn rises from this to a height of 1.2 m). On the S and E edge there are still some kerb stones in place- up to 75 cm to 1 m long by around 40 cm wide. Just 1 m N of the modern cairn there are two pits and also around the N edge many small stones protrude through the grass.

Friday 6/8/04
Approximately 130 m WSW of the Giants Stones there are two, now recumbent, stones lying behind a row of trees next to the road. The largest is lying NE/SW and is 2 m long by 1.1 m wide by about 40 cm thick. There is more moss and lichen growth on the NE end of this huge stones- was this originally the top? Just 10 cm away, but now completely covered in moss and grass (and I only found it after stubbing my boot on it!) is another large stones- this one is approximately 1.6 m square. Just 4 m to the S of this pair, another smaller stone lies- 95 cm by 87 cm by 20 cm. There is no mention of three stones in either the Royal Commission or OS reports from 1956 to 1972. Could there possibly have stood another trio of standing stones just S of the Giants Stones?

Friday 6/8/04
I almost couldn’t find this obvious stone- there was a car parked next to the cattle grid where this stands and as it’s only 86 cm high I just couldn’t see it til the last minute before I was just about to get back in the car! This stone is now a boundary marker and marks the boundary between Selkirkshire and Peebleshire. As is the case with many boundary stones this was probably a re-used monolith. It’s now aligned NE/SW and there is some carving on the W face-the only word I can make out is ‘Tweed’ (as in the river, not the cloth!).

Friday 6/8/04
I cross a field of sheep in the direction of a small forest built upon a hillock only 274 m high, but still offering a defensive position as much of the land around is flat and falls away to the W. I find a gate through the electric fence (thankfully!) and scrabble through dense undergrowth and many felled trees. Unfortunately the remains of this broch are just that- much destroyed. There are remains of a moss covered wall section at the NNE and four very large stones on the NW side, some as large as 1.5 m long. But this site is covered in long grass and has also been forested and then harvested without clearing, so it’s very difficult to get an overview of this site.

Friday 6/8/04
Driving way up a tiny country road (and I use the word ‘road’ in its loosest possible meaning- put it this way there’s grass growing up trhough the remains of the red tar in the middle of it!) I meet a friendly old man out for his walk in his wellies. I stop to ask him about the souterrain of Wester Yardhouses and if it is okay for me to visit and take some pictures, ‘aye, nae bother’! Turns out this guy is a font of local knowledge regarding antiquarian sites. He tells me about Scottish Water doing some work up on the hill next to one of the cairns and unearthing a massive stone but not really realising what they were doing! He also tells me of an old friend of his who stayed nearby, now long gone, who, every year, used to clean 13 old boundary stones that crossed the Pentlands. We make our separate ways and I head across to the corner of a lonely field of Lanarkshire. Under a dry stane syke, a hole. A muddy entrance 86 cm wide by 1 m high. However, this wouldn’t have been the original entrance as an unroofed section runs about 2.75 m EW before this. I put my hard hat and boiler suit on and crawl inside. The mud floor of the souterrain rises up for about 2.5 m and then falls away, but it has been deliberately blocked only about 4.5 metres from the present entrance. At the very end are a couple of piles of rabbit bones and skulls. There are still some massive lintels to be seen in the short passageway, one being about 1 m wide by 1.5 m long. I take some pictures, write these notes and head back to the car under a grey sky with nothing but the cry of buzzards overhead.

Monday 2/8/04
Three circular enclosures; A at NT17515363, B at NT17675365 and C at NT17745382. A measures 17 metres in diameter (and also has an internal circular stony mound), B 5.5 metres in diameter and C 8.5 metres in diameter. The site classed as B is 140 metres ENE of A and C is 180 metres NNE of B- all would have easily been intervisible with each other before the forest plantation.

Quiet and remote forest on Auchecorth Moss. Three rings of moss and grass rise from the earth, three sites of cremation and final rest. An early evening August sun beams down into the clearings and the forest rings with birdsong. The distant call of cattle. Butterflies, dragonflies and a myriad of insects fill the air. The sickly sweet smell of the heather moorland. Crows peck at the field behind me and distant hills just seen through the summer heat haze.

Monday 2/8/04
In a clearing in Deepsyke Forest just off the road stand an old 20th Century tower, the purpose of which I don’t know- there are also four strange looking pillars on the way along this road marking the fringes of the moorland. Just SW of the tower is the remains of this long cairn. It’s now reduced to a grassy mound only about 50 cm or so high, but still running to a length of approximately 55 metres and is wedge shaped- the eastern end of the cairn measuring about 16 metres wide. Through the long grass many stones still remain at this end, some of which are up to 70 cm long, but most hidden under the moss and grass.

Monday 2/8/04
I drive down to Auchencorth Farm to ask permission to visit this stone and am greeted by a friendly old farmer on his quad bike with his sheep dog on the back ‘aye, you can jist aboot see it fae here’. I drive back up to the main road and wander across the empty moorland in the direction of the ridge of the Pentland Hills dodging the flying ants. The stone stands about 1.8 metres high and is rectangular at the base though tapers up to a point towards the SSE. It’s aligned SSE/NNW. There are three massive grooves on the east side about 1 metre long and up to 10 cm deep. Above the grooves a panel has been chiselled off and apparently there is the fragmentary remains of well-cut Roman capitals on it, but I can only just about make out one or two letters.

Saturday 24/7/04
I’d already biked about 25 to 30 K across some very desolate and remote country before arriving at the summit of Birkscairn Hill. As I near the summit the hills to the west open out into a giant bowl all dark and brooding. The wind up here is so strong I am struggling to remain upright and it doesn’t help that there is horizontal rain. The cairn itself has been much remodelled over the years and a modern summit cairn has been built from some of the stones- it offers a welcome shelter from the unrelenting onslaught of the wind and rain. The cairn still covers an area of around 10 metres in diameter with some large kerb stones amongst the remains.

Friday 23/7/04
On the right hand side of the road leading out of Peebles to Innerleithen there is a recess built into the wall to accommodate this massive quartz stone. The sign next to its says that it was an erratic deposited in the ice age and the first written record of the stone was in 1462 when it was used a s a boundary marker for the town. Such an unusual and large quartz stone (about 1m by 70 cm by about 2.5m) would not have gone unnoticed in megalithic times and it’s continuing use as a boundary marker in later times reaffirms this.

Friday 23/7/04
The forest opens out to a clearing to the east of the firetrack (again there are Forestry Commission ‘S’ posts around the site where they have cleared the trees from it). I climb up from the drainage channel at the side of the fire road and can see one of the ramparts due to the presence of many outer facing stones still in place. This settlement sits in a hollow with the hillside it is built on actually higher that it- so not a defensive position. The interior is irregular and there are no discernable features to be seen.

Friday 23/7/04
A very mutilated site caused by stone robbing, cultivation, planting and felling. There are many pits and tussocks in the interior, but nothing to interpret. Sections of ramparts still exist, but only to a height of less than a metre, the best of which (an it ain’t that great) is found on the NW side before the forestry plantation begins again.

Friday 23/7/04
A sort and steep climb up from Peebles Hydro Hotel and into Glentress Forest brings you here. The fort covers and area of around 250 by 195 feet and was once forested, but was cleared of trees in 87/88 to offer a grand view over Peebles and the Tweed Valley. The inner site has many ditches and bumps, but none discernable as hut circles.

Friday 23/7/04
Not a lot left of this settlement and even more difficult in summer due to chest high grasses, ferns and assorted vegetation. This site (along with the nearby fort) was cleared of trees in 87/88 and not much remains in the interior. The only real visible remains of the ramparts are to be found on the north and east of the site where the external ramparts still stand to a height of about 2.5 metres and the internal to about 1 metre.

August 97
Kat and I stopped off at this famous clootie (or rag) well on the Black Isle on our way to the fantastic Groam House Pictish Museum. It’s, er, quite a sight! The well is now a trough beside the road into which a natural spring flows. Then around about this in all the trees are thousands of cloots. From the usual hankies to old socks and even the odd tartan insole. The whole site is kinda disgusting, though it’s heartening to see the ancient ways and traditions still very much in use.

NT6765865982
28/11/02
After a days of hillwalking and visiting some megalithic sites at Whiteadder I make my way back down a track next to Bothwell Water. My attention is caught by a group of recumbent stones looking not unlike a ruined stone circle. I have a closer look and am surprised to find that one of them is cupmarked. There are five cup marks and although two of the larger cups look natural, the other three look classically megalithic to me. The stone is approximately 75 cm long, 35 cm wide and about 50 cm high. On the north face of it are two cup marks in a vertical line, 8 cm diameter and about 5 cm deep. On the west side, one large cup mark 13 cm in diameter and about 3.5 cm deep. There are three large earthfast stones next to this and many smaller ones around. This site isn’t mentioned in the RCAHMS CANMORE database.

Friday 23/8/02
Atop Spartleton, the highest hill around the Whiteadder archaeological landscape, a cairn 17 m in diameter. Despite a triangulation pillar just to the north and a modern summit cairn built on top, the original cairn still stand to about 1.2 m. The view from the summit is amazing. I sit here for ages soaking in the scenery, contemplating the ancient land around, then plug into my CD player and let Godpseed You Black Emperors ‘Lift Yr Skinny Fists’ wash over me- a phenomenal soundtrack to an equally phenomenal land.

Friday 21/9/01
The last time I tried to visit this site was in the middle of summer- a bad idea. The whole well house was covered in vegetation, most of it consisting of brambles and nettles. The only thing which was visible was the finial on the roof known as the cardinals hat. I didn’t get very far before being scratched to bits! So a return visit in the autumn on the way back to Edinburgh after a visit to Traprain Law. This time you can actually see most of the well house which sits in a ditch below road-level. Most of the offending plant life has been cut back too so I can actually get round the outer wall. I shuffle round it on me arse and jump down to the well house. The well house is relatively modern and there’s a metal plaque above the door with a thistle motif which reads ‘16th century historic building’. For such a small well-house the walls are still 25 cm thick, and the building (excluding the roof) is 1.25 m high. An old iron gate, which seems to be permanently open, is attached on the left. Inside the well is almost filled in, though there is still water in the base.

Friday 21/9/01
In the hedgerow next to a quiet and lonely road stands this small megalith only about 50 cm high and almost hidden in the hedge and undergrowth were it not for the iron railings which surround it. Why on earth surround this small stone with tall spiked iron railings? Was it to protect the stone? From what? It’s a little used country road. Or was it to try and stop folk performing rituals and lighting candles here as could be seen from all the wax on top. A lonely and unsettling place.

Wednesday 21/7/04
I collect the keys from St. Margaret’s House in Lochend and drive up here. Restalrig has changed a lot since I were a lad! This part of the city has been beautifully renovated with lovely steel benches and some great masonry work. I make my way in to the churchyard and round to the wellhouse. From a wooden door steps descend down to an old wood and iron door. As I turn the key in the lock it echoes round the wellhouse behind it. The door opens and the air is damp and musty. A vaulted ceiling greets me and I descend the stone steps to the wellhouse floor which is slippy and slimy! The central pillar holds the five sections of the vaulted ceiling and high above on the left hand side there is a statue of St. Truduana. This wellhouse is actually below both ground level and the water table and therefore floods regularly. On the right hand side there is a large (and very heavy) stone slab which can be lifted to reveal the well/water table where one can bathe ones eyes.

Monday 3/5/04
I drive past this site (well, on the road waaaaaay above it) almost every day and finally get round to a visit. It’s a long walk down from the road which climbs up the ridge of the Moorfoot Hills down to the peat moor. The views from here are stunning though- along the Moorfoot ridge, the complete skyline of the Pentland Hills, Berwick and Traprain Laws, Arthurs Seat and across the Firth of Forth to Fife- wow- what a final resting place. I follow the side of a new forest and trust my GPS to find the cemetery. At the end of the trees I start to notice circular patches of light green grass rising ever so slightly from the peat and short heather- just as well I visited at this time of the year otherwise the whole site would have been hidden in vegetation. There are apparently around 50 small cairns here, but I can only count about 30 or so- some of which I have to use my imagination! They only rise about 20 cm from the ground, but the largest is around 4 m in diameter. I guess most have sunk into the peat below. The whole site covers an area of 160 m NS by 70 m EW. Still- an impressive site with great views of some of the major archaeological and megalithic sites of the Lothians.

Monday 3/5/04
Driving up a dusty and hot track I can see the orange pipeline marker sticking out of the hedge- apparently where the remains of this possible stone circle were first discovered in 1994. There’s a large tree next to the hedge and sure enough, there are three large sandstone slabs and many large stones at the base. I climb up the gate that overlooks the field and check around the pipeline marker, but all clear of stones, so I guess these must be them! The field next to the fence has been meticulously cleared of any stone remains. The large slabs are loose in the ground and lying horizontally, as are the large stones. I check all of them, but no marks apart from possible plough scrapes.

Friday 16/4/04
In front of me hangs a menacing bible-black sky, to the left, the Edinburgh City Bypass and to the right a landfill site. I follow the line of the pylons until it opens to a golf course. Heading up a small hill I am soon hidden by trees and following the arrow on my trusty GPS. The hill soon becomes a tangle of trees and bushes and it’s a bit of a scramble through it all. Somewhere in here are the remains of 111 cists, at least one of which was built with a cup and ring marked stone and many contained Neolithic and Iron Age remains. The GPS tells me I’m on the site, but there is nothing on the ground I am standing on. I explore further as the site once stretched along the ridge of the hill. Unfortunately, a quarry has destroyed the SE section. It looks like the remainder has disappeared under the tree growth. I do, however, find rectangular indentations running approximately NE/SW- one of the few remaining graves? A mostly destroyed site unfortunately. Most remains have gone, no cup and ring marks and very little ground evidence.

Saturday 20/12/03
These two stones stand in a field at the southern ends of the hills of White and Black Meldon which are both topped with forts, and all around are settlements, hut circles and cairns. The stones are aligned N/S and are 2.1 metres apart. The northenmost stone is approximately 1.1 metres high and is very angular with almost small steps up its southern side. The southern stone contrasts this by being very rounded and smooth, leaning back to the south. This stone is slightly large- about 1.3 metres high. Between the stones are some large boulders- one of which has a cracking cupmark on it- but is possibly natural. There are stories of other smaller stones being associated with these. I am busy with my notes when I suddenly feel like I’m being watched- I look up and meet the stares of around 200 faces- a line of sheep all watching with intent as to what I’m up to in their field!

Saturday 20/12/03
Over hills past ancient cultivation terraces, over old bridges and past hill forts ringing the tops of all the summits around, the road I travel leads me to this huge stone. I park on a muddy verge and walk over to meet this beast. From the SE face of the stone next to the road, the full extent of this monolith is not apparent. Only about 1.2 metres rises out of the dry stane dyke. The wall into which this stone is now built runs NE/SW from its sides. The SE face has approximately 11 natural cupmarks on it. This is no accident on the part of the ancients, though we have now lost the significance of these marks. Jumping over the dyke and the electric fence the full majesty of this stone is revealed. I am dwarfed by its presence- almost 1.9 metres high. There are two possible natural looking cupmarks on this side, though quite small.

Sunday 7/12/03
Just over one hour of climbing up the Red Bull XC you reach the summit of Minch Moor at 567 metres. The beautiful climb up on singletrack gives way to an eye watering swooping bermy descent down to the Southern Upland Way, where, just over the other side of the Minch, the Cheese Well gurgles away. The sun has yet to reach this part of the hill and it’s still frosty and very nippy. This is a fairly lonely and isolated spot, but the stunning scenery all around and the atmosphere here gives this place a, well, just one of those feelings- it’s very hard to describe. There are two natural springs here- the flowing and gurgling one and a small pool which trickles. A small path from the SUW leads to the springs and two stones- one shaped like an old grave stone which is inscribed with “Cheese Well”. The other is kite shaped with a fab thistle carved into it with “Cheese Well"and “1965”. The sound of the water is mesmerising. I have no cheese for the wee folk, so I leave them a fizzy cola bottle instead hoping for a safe passage across their moor!

Saturday 29/11/03
After being in the car again for far too short a time to dry off at all, it’s back out into the downpour and head up to a house called Warrior’s Rest- at the corner of which is a standing stone. I head up the farm drive and about to go through the garden gate when the front door of the cottage is opened by a friendly face- I ask if its okay to have a look at the stone and take some pics- ‘aye no problem- have you seen the other two stones just up the road- they’re worth a  look’- cool. This stone is right at the corner of the house. It’s just over 1.5 metres high and leans slightly to the south. It has a very phallic air to it. The top is pointed and the east facing of the stone is smoothed to a ridge up and down the length of the stone. I have a good look over the stone and two small cupmarks catch my eye- these are just to the right of the ridge of the east face, approximately 2 cm in diameter and form and angle of approximately 45 degrees. I have a look through the CANMORE notes, but am surprised to find no mention of these- hmmmmmm. From this stone, the Yarrow Stone and the Glebe Stone are visible to the west- I head towards the latter….

Saturday 29/11/03
Between the stone at Warrior’s Rest and the Yarrow Stone stands this monolith in a field of sheep. By now I’m soaked through, my CANMORE notes are rapidly turning to paper mache, my OS map is wringing and my camera is in danger of shorting due to the condensation and rain! This is a massive stone- biggest of the three in this area. It’s about 1.3 metres high, almost the same wide and about 40 cm thick. Around the base of the stone are many small stones and boulders which look like field clearance. Towards the bottom of the eastern side are two cup-like marks- one of which is natural, one of which is classically man-made looking. To the ENE I can see a monlolith through the rain, to the WSW another….

Saturday 29/11/03
It’s absolutely tipping it down. Not just heavy rain, but a really soaking down pour and it’s been at it for most of the morning. I park at the end of a farm drive that takes you from the A708 up the farm of Whitefeild. Donning goretex layers, stuffing notebooks and maps well out of the rain and sealing my camera in a zip-lock bag I venture out of the warm dry confines of my car. In my infinite wisdom I have forgotten waterproof troos so after about two minutes my combats are uncomfortably soaking. I was planning to head up to the farm building to ask permission to have a look at this stone, but it’s on the way up the track, next to the road and has a rather well tended wooden fence around it so I guess it’s okay to look (plus I’m wet enough as it is!). The stone is around 1.5 metres high by about 40 cm thick whinstone block. Legend has it that this stone was erected to mark the grave of two British Christian Chieftains. There was, at one time, a Latin inscription on the eastern face, however, most traces of that have been washed away over time- you can just about make out some lines if you squint hard enough. I get the feeling that this is a Christianised standing stone, due to the fact that it was under the ground until the 19th Century, that there was meant to be around twenty large cairns on the same moor and that there are two other significant standing stones 500 metres and 750 metres to the ENE of here.

Friday 28/11/03
Another site which I have visited, passed by and played around as a kid on countless occasions, but never got round to writing fieldnotes or taking piccies until now. Plus, many times I’ve passed by with my camera in the summer the front of the well has been sealed off (to prevent folk drinking the water which gets full of algae in the heat of the summer). Well, the summer has definitely long gone and the iron shutters are off allowing you to see into the mini-vaulted roof of this well through the black grill. The water flows from a spout built into the main supporting pillar of the roof. The whole structure has a certain flowing feel to it due to the black railing which curve round both sides of the well house.

Sunday 16/11/03
This is one of those sites which I have been meaning to visit for ages, but somehow, I’ve never got round to it. The position of the stone is (was) great (now the view west is marred by the blot-on-the-landscape that is the Cardrona Hotel, plus it stands at the entrance to the new Cardrona village- a disgusting housing scheme for those with more money than taste). To the south is Cardrona forest, the north is the forest of Glentress and to the east the hills of Lee Burn and Lee Pen. The stone itself is around 1.3 metres high and approximately 1.8 metres in girth. It’s now leaning to the north. CANMORE notes that it sits on the crest of a scarp representing the ancient course of the River Tweed, so it would have originally been right next to the water, but now is around 100 metres away.

Saturday 15/11/03
The firetrack next to the settlement is a section of the climb up to some excellent DH biking in this forest. I’ve passed the clearing on many occasions, known about the settlement from the OS map, but never connected the two. On climbing down from the track I notice a wooden post at a corner where the trees stop with the letter ‘S’ on it. Having a look around I can just see in the trees one of these at each corner of the clearing. Looks like FC marked this area out when they planted the forest. From the track you can see the outline of the external wall, but most of this has collapsed down the steep sides of the hill and into the forest. I could only find one stone on the southern flanks (although CANMORE mention three). There are also meant to be eight house platforms within the wall, but these are very difficult to distinguish due to the overgrown vegetation. The occupants of this place must have had an excellent view up and down the Leithen Water and across to Lee Pen, though the position is not a defensive one, unlike the two forts (the Pirn and Caerlee) only a couple of kilometres or so down the glen.

Sunday 2/11/03
This site is usually described as a ‘runic cross’. There are no runes on it and neither is it a cross. It’s a cup and joined-ring marked stone almost 1 metre high and oblong in section. It sits on a modern engraved sandstone plinth dwarfed by the church immediately behind it (one of my friends has the original plinth as a feature in his extensive gardens!). The cup and ring markings are executed in the classic style- by a pecking technique which makes me think that this stone is somewhat much older than the proposed 8th century- the design certainly is. All four sides of the stone are decorated with the same pattern. I can’t find any evidence to suggest that this stone actually formed part of a cross- I guess it was assumed so as it was found in the foundations of an old church which used to stand on this site. However- how many churches have been built on top of Neolithic or Bronze Age monuments?

Sunday 2/11/03
A more grand and glorious well house would be hard to imagine- resplendent in the St. Ronan’s colours of sky-blue and white with a huge royal coat of arms and flagpole. Unfortunately the well house closes for the season on the 19th October, however, on the veranda you can still partake of the mineral waters from a cast iron cistern built into the wall. There are also a couple of interpretive panels highlighting the connections with Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott. The spa house was built in 1827, but the curative mineral water of the wells must have been a magnet for thousands of years.

Sunday 2/11/03
The usual way across the Leithen Water is blocked- the 18th Century Cuddy Brig is finally being restored before the whole thing collapses into the water. I wander up to Jenny Bapties Well and cross the water by the old stepping-stones. A short climb takes you to the summit of this hill, though on the way very little remains of the fortifications can be seen which used to guard this place. There’s a great view across the town of Innerleithen and up and down the Tweed Valley and across to Caerlee Hill Fort on the other side of this glen. The twenty or so house platforms are difficult to see due to the thick ungrazed grass which covers the fort. There’s a fantastic modern addition though in the shape of six carved stone plaques depicting life in Innerleithen from early times to the present day (including a beautifully executed salmon).

Sunday 2/11/03
Through St. Ronan’s Wood I follow the sight of the communications mast that now sits on the side of this fort. The fort is now split in two N/S by a dry stane dyke. On the eastern side of the wall the summit of the hill has been fairly extensively quarried and much of the ramparts and house platforms have been destroyed. However, climbing over the fence, the original features of this fortified settlement are more apparent- you can still see about four of the hut circles and most of the ramparts. From the summit there is a commanding view of the Tweed Valley and across the other side of the Leithen Water glen to the Pirn Hill Fort.

Wednesday 28/8/02
Today I need to leave the city, just for lunchtime, but I need to escape. This place draws me like a magnet. Every time I lift my head from my PC or paperwork in my office, this ridge is there. It’s funny, I’ve always stayed in Edinburgh and I’ve always been interested in the surroundings hills, woods and country. I’ve often wondered ‘where is that line of trees on the horizon?’ It’s here. Where these rocks are. This is the place that holds the key. This is the site of the *interpreter*. I sit by the main cup and ring marked stone, place my hands lightly on it and close my eyes. I let the sounds rush in. My head is too full of fuzz though. I still leave this place calmed.

‘See for yourself the summer fields, before the tractor comes…walk along on your own’.