yani

Several days of dry and sunny weather on Mull made our walk to the circle far easier than those described previously on these pages.
On entering the Druid’s Field this little circle took my breath away, tucked neatly into the left hand corner surrounded by blooming rhododendrun bushes, with the two large outlying stones observing our approach and the massive peak forming as impressive a backdrop as you could wish for.
Two rabbits hung around the circle long enough to check us out as we set down our gear before they casually moved off into the bushes.. This is a truly magical place. An hour passed without us even noticing before we packed up and moved on.
This appears to me to be the only complete circle left on Mull.
As has been mentioned already this is THE must see site on the island.

After ignoring the dead-end signs mentioned elsewhere in these fieldnotes we found ourselves at the gate of Tynreich Nursery on a typically overcast Scottish summer’s day. We walked in through the deserted driveway and caught a glimpse of the stones off to our right, but found no sign of life other than one of the house’s doors lying slightly ajar. Walking ahead, I found the hanging bell at the top of the driveway and gave it a clang as directed.. still no sign of life.

We made our way to the stones and spent about ten minutes in the circle, trying hard to visualise the area minus the trees, buildings & fences, before getting back in the car and heading for Loch Tay.

No-one ever did appear but we were fortunate enough to meet Megan on our way out so I thanked her with some behind-the-ear scratching and bid her farewell.

A lovely site, one of the most peculiar we’ve had the good fortune to visit.

On a short visit to Barrow, I decided to hunt down the Druid’s Circle on a free morning. As I’d no details to hand, I asked several people in the area for info with no success. No one seemed to know of it’s existence, not even the owner of the farmhouse where we were staying, and it turned out to be only a 5 minute drive from his property. Luckily, the Tourist Information Office in Barrow provided me with a printed off page from ‘visit cumbria’ that pictured the circle with the spire of Bardsea in the background. Once over the brow of the hill on the common road, the very same spire came into view. A short walk from the road took us to the centre of the circle. Success!

Unfortunately one of the larger stones has been spattered with what looks like red paint, but this does nothing to detract from the beauty of this little inner-circle. Much of the fern I’d read about has been cleared away, making the circle very visible from a distance, but fresh new shoots have emerged from the ground all around it. I guess it’ll be shrouded again before too long.
On my way home yesterday I detoured through Keswick for my first ever look at the Big One. From one extreme to the other.