Showing 1-20 of 127 fieldnotes. Most recent first | Next 20 
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24/05/2013 - We got the morning ferry from Sconser over to Raasay to have a walk to Dun Caan. I'd forgotten this broch was here until we walked past the old free church and there it was on top of a hill in front of us. A track leads past the church straight uphill to the broch. It's a nice one and I like Canmore's description - 'a semi-broch or oval dun exhibiting broch characteristics', seems to fit it better. The trees have been cleared round it so the view over to the big hills on Skye are quite special. Worth a visit with many good walks to be had in the area.
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22/05/2013 - Easy access from the little road to the north. Just a short walk uphill past the house to Carn Ban. Marked as a cairn on the map but after reading Gladman's post below it makes more sense to me now as a dun or possible broch. Fantastic setting.
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04/05/2013 - Lovely hillfort just off the A9, north of Avielochan. Parking is not easy here so we stopped at the Laggantygown Cemetery carpark next to Loch Vaa. A track just south of here leads back to the A9 and the start of the path to the hillfort. Quite steep sided hill with a nice wall at the entrance. Wooded now and lovely in the sunshine.
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22/03/2013 - Classed as an unfinished hillfort but there is still a bit to see. Ramparts are quite easy to follow and the view is very good. Easiest access is from the minor road at Upper Marchbank through a couple of fields.
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22/03/2013 - Visited this cairn on the way to Knock Hill hillfort. We left the Annandale Way just west of the cairn and a quick cross of the Dog Burn brought us to the field with the cairn situated pretty much in the middle of it. I had looked at Google Earth before we went and it looked quite impressive. There certainly are a lot of stones but according to Canmore most of them are field clearance. The original cairn seems to be the turf-covered mound but I quite like the look of some of the exposed stones as well.
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22/03/2013 - As cairns go this is not the most exciting to visit. Just down the road from Beattock Hill hillfort, the heavily robbed cairn sits on a small knoll with little still showing. Probably of more interest is its name. Witch's Wate is the spot just north of the Crooked Road where travellers would arm themselves with a rowan tree “rung” and two pieces of red thread as protection against witches lying in wait there.
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22/03/2013 - Nice hillfort just off the Southern Upland Way, west of Beattock. Good location with nice view south east. Bit cold today.
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21/03/2013 - Iron Age bank and ditch beside the Tail Burn, marked on the OS map as the Giant's Grave. According to the noticeboard and Canmore there seems to be various theories as to the use of this site. Believed to be for defence but some now think it could have been a site for pagan pilgrimage, due to its view of the impressive Grey Mare's Tail waterfall. This is a must visit just for the scenery alone. From the top of the bank the view down the glacial shaped valley of the Moffat Water is quite beautiful. The Grey Mare's Tail is one of the nicest waterfalls I've seen. It's quite easy to imagine this place as one of pilgrimage.
Grey Mare's Tail and the Giant's Grave gets a mention in Walter Scott's poem, Marmion (published in 1808)
"Where deep deep down, and far within
Toils with the rocks the roaring linn;
Then issuing forth one foamy wave,
And wheeling round the giant's grave
White as the snowy charger's tail
Drives down the pass of Moffatdale."
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20/03/2013 - Starting from the RSPB car park (NY 5886 5847) just past Clesketts, we headed south to climb Cold Fell. A bonus before we got to the hill were the fantastic cup marked stones at Tortie. After that I knew this was going to be a good day. There is a track for most of the way but the last Km is a bit tough. The snow line was about 320m so it was hard going today but the wind wasn't too bad and it was quite sunny. The cairn on the summit has a big footprint but has been severely altered in more recent times. It was quite beautiful up there and I will not forget my visit to this place. I would love to go up in the summer to see what it's like someday.
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19/03/2013 - Starting from the church car park at Tundergarth Mains (NY 1754 8080) we headed south down the track to Burnswark Hill. If you have the time this is a lovely approach to the hill. What can I say about this hill apart from it has it all. A hillfort, an ancient cairn, a Roman fort and a Fairy Craig. There's probably much more. It's an amazing place. I had been looking forward to my visit here and it truly didn't disappoint. My favourite was the Fairy Craig. A must visit.
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18/03/2013 - Not many places to park round here. There's just room for a car at the junction north of Hightown farm (NY 0304 8418). We took the track over Hightown Hill to the hillfort on White Hill. Not much to see but it's a lovely area with nice views. Saw our first lambs of the year on the way back down. Cold and windy day.
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18/03/2013 - I like this one a lot. Easy access along signposted track from road to the south. Good ramparts and brilliant location with fantastic views across the Nith estuary. There's even a bench to sit on and lose a few hours. A quiet place. Caerlaverock Castle nearby is also a must see.
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16/03/2013 - Parked car at start of forest track on the east side of The Mount (NT 1001 4143). Short climb on pretty snowy tracks lead to the cairn on top. Not much to see cairn wise, small modern cairn on top of it, but the walk was nice with good views over to Broughton Heights.
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03/03/2013 - We parked just off the road where the Gordon Way crosses the B992 heading west to Knock Saul. There's space for 2-3 cars (NJ 6108 2170). Walking south we passed the track to Towmill and took the Gordon Way heading NE. This took us to about 300m south of the circle. We left the path where it turns east to head up Bennachie (NJ 6170 2187). Climbing over the fence and crossing the Broclach Burn, we followed the field edges to the circle behind the deserted Druidstone Croft. This is quite a good way to the circle as you can see if the field is in crop. Field edges take you to within 30m. What a great circle this is. Stone wise, it's pretty ruined but it doesn't detract from the setting and feel of the place. Prone flankers still there and the big outlier is nice. Well worth a visit. It's a nice place just to sit and watch the world go by.
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23/02/2013 - There's a few starting points for this one. Car park to the east, on the track to New Kinord is closest. To the west, the car park at Burn o'Vat is good if you want to visit the Vat as well. Today we took the sightly longer walk option and parked in Dinnet. Following the waymarked path, we walked a lovely circuit of about 7 miles round Loch Kinord with its crannog and the hut circles at Old and New Kinord. The weather was a bit cold but the sun came out now and again. The impressive Old Kinord settlement is just off the path that runs between Loch Davan and Loch Kinord. Pretty easy to find but not a great place to visit in the summer due to bracken. The settlement is quite large with well defined hut circles and nearby souterrain. If you like hut circles, this place is well worth a visit. A really nice walk in a birch wood. Canmore link below for more details.
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20/11/2011 - We left the car at Knockhill racing track car park (non race day). Made our way over Knock Hill to the hillfort on Saline Hill. There is not much to see of the fort but the weather was pretty terrible to be honest, low cloud and raining, so we probably missed the better bits (if there are any?). Cloud lifted and it stopped raining as we got down off the hill as it always seems to do with us.
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28/07/2011 - Kerrera is a lovely island just off the coast near Oban. A short ferry trip dropped us off at the start of a really nice waymarked circular walk (7 miles) around the southern half of the island. A shortish climb off the track and the high point of the island is reached with its ancient cairn. The cairn is not much to write home about but the memory of the view from it will stay with me for a long time. There is a nice tearoom (shut Tuesdays if I remember right) on the island plus the parrot sanctuary is a must visit.
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09/02/2013 - This is a good one. We parked at the farm and and asked if it was OK to visit the circle. No problems and friendly folk. The RSC is in a lovely little copse and with quite a few stones still standing. I liked the feel of the place, hidden away behind the last shed. The recumbent and flankers are great. Quite sunny today which lit the circle well through the bare trees. Nice farm shop as well. Bought some cakes which went down well with a cup of coffee at our next stop - the bench next to Strichen stone circle.
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03/02/2013 - Like a lot of folk, I found this too restored and pristine for my taste last time I was here. Today I left with a bit more love for it than before. Winter is good at making places more rough and ready and today it was working its magic on Cullerie for me. It's an odd little site and reminds me a little of Forvie kerb cairns. I don't know if it's the same dog as the one in Chris' photo from 11 years back, but if it is, it still loves playing fetch. Nice end to a good day out.
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03/02/2013 - I don't know what it is about stone circles in woods but I love them. I guess that most were not originally in amongst trees but I think a nice clearing in a wood sure adds an enchanted feeling. Glassel stone circle is a special place. Five, small, upright stones, looking for all the world like they are deep in conversation and after a few thousand years they still haven't run out of things to say.
There's a nice photo on Canmore of the circle with the fallen stone re-erected from 1903, link below
http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/details/681377/#tb-form
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