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Posted by GLADMAN
15th March 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
15th March 2010ce
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Follow Baza's directions. I found the private road as directed by Baza easy enough. TIP - when walking up the private road keep to the right of the road. The burial chambers are NOT visable from the road. About 30/40 yards up the private road (from athe main road) hop over the fence on your right (be careful - fence is barbed and the side of hill is steep). Carefully move about 5 yards down side of hill and you should spot the chambers to your left - sunk into the side of the hill. Only the front part of stones showing. Hope this helps?
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Posted by CARL
15th March 2010ce
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Park in the pay-and-display car park (not cheap!) and stroll up to the 'log cabin' where you can buy a nice cuppa and then take in the view from Symond Yat rock. Between the car park and said 'log cabin' you walk through the hillfort - defences either side of path. Couldn't be easier.
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Posted by CARL
15th March 2010ce
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Park by the entrance to Biblins camp and walk back along the road you have just driven up. After about 20/30 yards you will see a path on your left. Follow this path and after about 10 minutes you will reach the rock face with the caves. The first cave you come to is NOT King Arthur's cave. Keep walking and it is just a bit further along the same path.
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Posted by CARL
15th March 2010ce
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Visited 13.3.10.
In Hay on Wye head west on the B4350, look out for a turning on the left signposted: Capel Y Ffin. Take this turning. Follow this road along. After about 4 km when the road forks, take the right fork. The barrow is a couple of hundred yards on your left - right next to the road.
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Posted by CARL
15th March 2010ce
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Visited 14.3.10.
Just to clarify the directions given by Elderford:-
After taking the turning to Capel Y Ffin follow the road straight along, there is NOT a fork in the road at this point - the road to the right is a turning. Also, after crossing the cattle grid, you need to take the left fork in the road NOT the right one. This takes you straight to the car park next to the stones. I counted four fallen stones next to the standing one, although I have read of only three. Perhaps I counted two stones when it is only one stone partly covered by grass? Lovely views down the valley.
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Posted by CARL
15th March 2010ce
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The magnificent court tomb of Shalwy lies just a couple of hundred yards up the valley from its companion site Croaghbeg, dense vegetation ensuring it remains hidden from all but the most inquisitive - not to mention well informed - passer-by....
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/5377/croaghbeg.html
It is arguably an even more impressive example of the type, being sited upon a small knoll and possessing an additional 'triangular' lintel stone and better defined court. The vibe and sense of place are just as exquisite, the build quality just as good as its near neighbour. These tombs were made to last, you could say. They've certainly stood the test of time.
Note, however, that an approach from Croaghbeg, although short, involves negotiating several barbed-wire fences and very rough, soggy ground. In fact, in retrospect, I would suggest that returning to the road from Croaghbeg and then approaching Shalwy direct would be a less arduous undertaking.
Despite initial appearances from the road above, these two court tombs do not grant personal audiences lightly. Hey, but isn't that always the way with classy ladies?
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Posted by GLADMAN
14th March 2010ce
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It's hard to credit that such ancient structures as Croaghbeg - and its near neighbour Shalwy - can remain in such a state of glorious abandonment in this, the 21st Century! If ever there were a pair of hidden megalithic gems, 'tis these two beauties.
Even armed with one of the recently introduced Irish 1:50K maps, finding the courts tombs is much easier said than done, until two locals on the coastal road confirm the steep northern turn-off does indeed lead towards Gortnagalliagh. Sure enough, after parking near a junction with a rough farm track, I notice two apparent heaps of stone in the deep valley below to my right. Further afield, W.B. Yeats' Benbulben rises beyond the tiny island of Inishduff within Donegal Bay. It is a sensational vista, it really is, and I believe I can make out Knocknarea.
Actually visiting the tombs is also no easy matter, progress down the steep valley side hindered not only by barbed-wire fences (the locals weren't at all perturbed by our visit, it has to be said) and the rough ground underfoot, but by 6ft plus fern rendered soaking wet by a sudden heavy shower. Good job the 'Gladmum' and I elected to wear full waterproofs, then. Seeing the tomb up close and personal for the first time after emerging from the fern cover is something special, almost as if it's actually located within a clearing in the primeval forest or something. Seemingly only missing its capstones, the structure is very well preserved, being solidly constructed of large stones. Having said that, the court itself appears a little poorly defined, although an apparent capstone-less dolmen structure within the court area is a nice additional touch.
A visit to Croaghbeg is a somewhat surreal experience, as if the traveller is granted several hours upon some Lost World plateau where time has stood still. There are no turnstiles, signposts, kissing gates or information boards here, and certainly no tourists to break the spell. Hell, there's nothing at all to interrupt a perfect experience. Except the draw of Croaghbeg's companion tomb, Shalwy, a little up the valley. http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/3033/shalwy.html
So why not indeed?
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Posted by GLADMAN
14th March 2010ce
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Of all prehistoric structures it is perhaps the portal tomb which is consistently the most aesthetically pleasing to the modern eye. Whether originally covered by a mound or not(?), the haunting, bare profile of a dolmen/cromlech is guaranteed to set the thought processes a' flowing.... there are squat, powerful ones (e.g. Lligwy), the overwhelmingly massive (e.g. Browne's Hill), the elegant and impossibly fragile (e.g. Pentre Ifan), the downright bonkers (Trethevy Quoit), the cute little ones (Chun Quoit, Maen-y-Bardd) and the classic 'Flintstones' form (Devil's Den). Quite where the Kilclooney More portal fits in to these categories, I don't know. To be honest I think it's in a category of its own. Really, it is that good.
Sure, I'd seen the pictures and this dolmen was the primary reason for the trip to Donegal - although the many court tombs had a little to do with it, I suppose. But little can prepare the visitor for the elegant form, the streamlined contours... and the sheer, well, sensuous femininity of this wonderful structure.
The visit starts in a less than inspiring manner as I park at the 'Dolmen Centre' (oh dear) beside an impossibly yellow church (double-plus oh dear). Hmm. Trying a bit too hard, me-thinks? Anyway, crossing a bridge beside the latter monstrosity, accompanied by a very annoying hound which wants me to play ball, a path leads onto open moorland, the dolmen eventually appearing upon the horizon. Tourists, with their trademark inane assertions, abound, doing little to dispel my distinctly 'underwhelmed' state of mind. 'This had better be good'... Needless to say it is. Very.
The capstone soars upon well proportioned orthostats as if seemingly made of balsa and liable to float away into space any second, the whole sculpture so incredibly well balanced it takes the breath away. Surely this capstone was always meant to be seen? Further inspection reveals a near 360 degree sweep of mountains upon the horizon and a smaller chamber - seemingly the real thing and not a folly - behind the main event. Hmm, were both after all covered by a single cairn? More questions than answers, a particularly knowledgeable American tourist then going on to torpedo another of my cherished stereotypes. Are you listening to me, boy?
I leave this wonderful site for the nearby ruined court tomb.....
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/5332/kilclooney_more.html
.....thinking that, quite possibly, this is the finest dolmen in these Isles.
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Posted by GLADMAN
14th March 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
14th March 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
14th March 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
14th March 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
14th March 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
14th March 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
14th March 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
14th March 2010ce
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Posted by GLADMAN
14th March 2010ce
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It's not ideal and not for most people but sleeping in the car makes for a good day out, this time we parked a couple of miles east of Abercastle, a few hours later and the alarm goes off at first light, then its funny how comfortable a Ford Mondeo can be.
Last time we came there was a campsite here, its gone now and the farm isnt a busy place anymore, nor is it a happy place.
We parked the car in site of Carreg Samson in the farm yard and walked the last hundred metres down to the dolmen, the cows began to stand up as we approached but they kindly vacated the field for us and gave us no bother.
You can stand up under the capstone like at Pentre Ifan but unlike that waif like streamlined structure, this is rough, chubby, and oaf like, but i'm being unkind the stones are bigger to hold up the continent of capstone above.
Of the six orthostats holding up the thick wedge of a capstone only three touch stone and they are of two kinds of rock, three of a smooth sandstoney and three conglomerates, reminded me vaguely of East Aquhorthies where they too intentionally used different kinds of stone.
What does it mean, does it mean anything, could it be part of the builders folklore, traditions or religion.
The stones are far more permanent than the ugly farm, hopefully it wont put up too much of a struggle and do the decent thing and dissappear, leaving the cromlech alone with its view and its visitors.
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Posted by postman
14th March 2010ce
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Posted by gjrk
14th March 2010ce |
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