Stopped off here on the way home from Brum. Absolutely stunned to have the place to myself on a Saturday afternoon! Panos will follow if I can stitch them correctly...
Apparently today is the day when the police decide whether to charge the person arrested for damaging the stones. As for correcting the damage, the decision has been taken to follow the 'dental pick' route. Tenders have been issued for conducting this work.
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Trotted along to take a look at Long Tom today. A pleasant enough walk from Avebury, up to the Ridgeway, down across Fyfield Down along the old London-Bath road and up the other side.
Just before the reservoir, there's a notice on the right denoting a private racehorse training field. Nicely cut grass, and about 100 yards into the field can be seen Long Tom, with a much smaller partner on the other side of the 'racetrack'. Very much a 'finishing post'.
As to the stone iteself, it's very angular and clean cut. Very little evidence of the lichen that covers all other stones in the area. All in all, it looks too 'new' to be that ancient, even if it's thought to be Iron Age rather than neolithic. It looks very similar in condition to a small modern rubbing post I spotted in an adjacent field.
Overall, I'm not convinced.
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Popped up to Oxfordshire on a whim at the weekend, my first visit for a while, and the first since the damage.
The photos I'd seen really don't put across the sheer mindlessness of the damage. It looks as though some progress may be made, as tests were being undertaken for removing the paint - see the picture of the info sheet, and test area.
A tourist coach arrived while I was there. They'd spent about 5 minutes at the King Stone, and were being rapidly shown around the stones. I don't spend a great deal of time at sites (so many sites, so little time), but even I'm not that quick, and I've not paid for the privilege of a guide!
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It's possible (and easy) to gain access via Brane Farm. I was lucky in that someone was around to ask, I had no problem in getting permission, and the cows were safely locked away.
There is a path from the cowshed (obviously used by our bovine friends) down to the gate in the adjoining field, and again to the third field where the chamber lies.
From this direction, the first view is of the rear of the chamber (see photo), which consists of some large stones.
The actual chamber was quite overgrown with weeds and small shrubs on my visit, and I suspect some root damage may occur, as several smaller stones which had obviously come from the chamber were spread about near the entrance.This post appears as part of the blog post " Solstice in the South West" |
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Managed to get up here this week for a look-see.
A couple of holes in the ground, with stones laying beside them waiting to be raised. Not sure how many they'll be working on in total.
Information notices have been graffittied by the locals who are against the restoration. Had a quick chat with Cherryl Straffon in St Justs about the restoration. Her comment? It'll be good to see the big stones up again...
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Walked up here last week, having parked by the Bowl Rock (SW522367). A pleasant enough stroll up the hill, squeezing past a cottage on the way, then over a stile, look to the right, and there it is, on the edge of a sloping field which returns down the hill.
I managed to get some photos with what I think was Hayle and St Ives bay in the background, despite the farmer's dog in the next field warning me away (or so I thought).
The dog was warning me, but only of the bull that was in the field, which I didn't see until I was almost back to the stile! There had been no sign of it on my approach to the stone (thanks to the sloping hill, no doubt), but suddenly it was just there! So be warned...
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Unlike just about everyone else on TMA, I declined to park on the A4 verge due to the madness of various daredevil drivers. Instead, we headed for the car park at SU159699, and I took a longer, leisurely walk along the bridleway at the opposite corner to the entrance to the car park.
The bridleway is bounded on the left by a white topped, electrified fence. I didn't test to see if it was on, but after about 500 yards or so, the Den appeared on the near horizon. It seemed a long way away, and following the fence, I wasn't sure if I'd actually be able to get access, but the fence and bridleway headed left eventually, and down into the dale. A gate at the bottom of the hill led to the overgrown footpath, about 500 yards away from the barbed wire 'stile' near the stones. This last stretch was muddy, and I'd imagine could be quite overgrown in high season, unlike the lush grass track I'd taken thus far. The round trip took me an hour, and I'm not as fit as Moth, so it's probably a comparable distance, with no difficulty parking.
The location itself is stunning, but I kept asking myself, 'why here?' Surrounded by hills on all sides, there is no obvious view or alignment for the 'barrow'. The stones lie on a distintive mound, but I suspect most of this is field clearance, as the restoration is is quite obvious, and the concrete was, for me, quite off-putting. I'll be back though, if only for the views from the approach.This post appears as part of the blog post " Old and New Friends in Wiltshire" |
Easily found, following the map, and the NW outlier at the junction tells you you've arrived. We pulled into the No Through Road on the left, and parked on the verge (the pull-in that Moth mentioned was gated, and very muddy).
A real mystery, this one. I scaled the ladder stile and entered the field, to find 5 stones in a parabola, suggesting an ovoid 'circle'. And unusually, a central stone. Plus of course, the two outliers. None still standing, and the possibility that this wasn't the original location of the stones anyway. Lots of questions and very few answers. I could get no real feeling of what was what, so had to leave somewhat unsatisfied.This post appears as part of the blog post " Old and New Friends in Wiltshire" |
 
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I was amazed I'd not seen this before given how close it actually is to the road. On return to the car, I found that the remaining stone of the circle can actually be seen from the road. I'd expected it to be much further up the hill toward the Ridgeway for some reason.
I'd parked at the end of West Kennet Avenue and just followed the new signpost to "Falkner's Circle 1/4 mile".
On the way I saw the hedgerow stone pictured by stubob, but devoid of the vegetation in his photo (see my picture). Oh, and there was a crop circle just to the south, but it looked a bit 'amateurish' to my eye, kind of incomplete...This post appears as part of the blog post " Old and New Friends in Wiltshire" |
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Brooding.
The weather was wet. Raining and misty all at the same time. We parked outside the church, and like a div, I still hadn't spotted the barrow.
When I did spot it, looming large next to the church, covered in trees, it was like , Wow!
It's big, and the immediate impression I got was of darkness, as if it resented the church being there. Maybe that's why the children mentioned in Rhiannon's Folklore entry avoided the place?This post appears as part of the blog post " Old and New Friends in Wiltshire" |
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Sexual Britain?
Cathy Tuck went on a 30,000-mile trek around Britain finding hundreds of sexually symbolic landmarks, buildings and gardens for her book Landscapes and Desire.
From phallic ancient standing stones to womb-like burial chambers, her odyssey of the sexual takes in sites dating back more than 5,000 years and explodes the myth that Britain is a sexually repressed nation.
See the third story down on this page for more...
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