thesweetcheat

thesweetcheat, 10 months ago to folklore

Off to the Isles of Scilly for today's #StandingStoneSunday offering. This double holed standing stone is in the Abbey Gardens on Tresco. (Portrait, needs a click)

Its folklore is that it was a prehistoric handfasting or marriage stone.

Visited June 2010.

#IslesOfScilly #Tresco #StandingStone #BronzeAge #Folklore #Lichen

[Edited for apostrophe crime]

Vibracobra23, 28 days ago to random

Carfury Menhir in Madron, West Penwith, Cornwall. Photographed from the north-north-west on 5 July 2003. #CarfuryMenhir #Cornwall #Kernow #Megaliths #StandingStoneSunday

thesweetcheat, 6 months ago to random

Long shadows for today's #StandingStoneSunday the fabulous Boswens menhir on the West Penwith moors.

The stone is very asymmetrical and looks different from every angle. If you walk along the Tinner's Way below it, the stone appears as a tall figure on the skyline, which turns to watch you as you pass.

It's intervisible with the marvellous Chûn Quoit Neolithic tomb.

This visit on a beautiful autumn day, November 2010.

#BronzeAge #StandingStone #WestPenwith #Cornwall #TheModernAntiquarian

thesweetcheat, 4 months ago to random

The final #StandingStoneSunday of 2023, so I'd like to thank all the contributors to the hashtag over the last 12 months. I love seeing your pictures (especially the high percentage with alt-text). It was something the migrants brought with us from the other place and the fact it landed so positively has helped my move here greatly.

Here's to lots more standing stones, stone circles, rows and megalithic sites in 2024. I hope you all have a great evening, whether you 'do' New Year or not.

x

thesweetcheat, 11 months ago to folklore

A long trek to a wonderful site in the inner spaces of Dartmoor for today's #StandingStoneSunday

This is The Dancers or Kiss-in-the-Ring stone circle on Stall Moor, the terminus of the longest stone row on Dartmoor (and possibly in Britain), over 2 miles long.

The names reflect the common folklore tale of revellers turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath.

Visited June 2010 on a long, megalith-packed walk from Ivybridge.

#Dartmoor #BronzeAge #Folklore #StoneCircle

thesweetcheat, 9 months ago to random

@Vibracobra23 delighted to see your photos on TMA 👍

@Spaceways

thesweetcheat, 6 months ago to Halloween

1st anniversary of joining Mastodon today, celebrated with a trip to the very lovely Bodnant Gardens, in the Conwy Valley.

The acers were looking particularly fine, all aflame for autumn.

#Conwy #Bodnant #Autumn

fkamiah17, 25 days ago to UKpolitics

Well that was predictable.

The Civil Service Union applies for judicial review of Rwanda policy.

#UKPolitics #Rwanda #RefugeesWelcome

thesweetcheat, 6 months ago to random

An is it or isn't it standing stone for today's #StandingStoneSunday

Built into a Cornish hedge* in the lane leading to Ding Dong mine and Nine Maidens stone circle, this lovely tapering monolith is not recorded as prehistoric, but given the plethora of Bronze Age sites close by, it looks a good bet to me.

This visit after sunset, November 2010.

*formed of two parallel dry stone walls with an earth infill between them, out of which vegetation grows.

#WestPenwith #Cornwall #BronzeAge

thesweetcheat, 1 month ago to random

An enjoyable long read about solitary walking and thinking, with side nods to children's literature, Kate Bush, Can, Dickens and Hardy. Much here that I can relate to as an often solo walker.

(It's also effectively a promo piece for the writer's new book, but don't let that put you off.)

#Walking #LongDistancePaths

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/apr/13/david-nicholls-one-day-peculiar-pleasure-of-long-soggy-solo-walks

thesweetcheat, 23 days ago to random

Oh, tragedy, the Tories have been made extinct on my local council.

#LocalElection2024

thesweetcheat, 28 days ago to random

One of Dartmoor's finest stone rows for today's #StandingStoneSunday - Cosdon Hill triple row, with terminal cairn and stone circle.

Visited on a scorching hot St George's Day, April 2011.

#Dartmoor #BronzeAge #StoneRow

thesweetcheat, 1 month ago to random

"Through the door of the birds where the breeze breaks..."

Following in the footsteps of Will Stanton and Bran Davies, high up above the Dysynni valley on Craig yr Aderyn (Birds' Rock), looking towards Cader Idris and the mountain fastnesses of Y Brenin Llwyd. A place that I have known since I was at primary school, but have never been to before except in my imagination.

#SusanCooper #TheGreyKing #TheDarkIsRising #CaderIdris

thesweetcheat, 1 month ago to random

After 5 months of no walks, finally got back up a (small) mountain in glorious weather today. Foel Goch in the Arenig range is a very modest 2,004 feet, but stands isolated from other ranges giving it an amazing panorama from Yr Wyddfa, Glyderau, Carneddau, Clwydian Hills, Y Berwyn, the Hirnant Hills, Aranau, Cader Idris and Arenig Fawr and Fach.

Quite emotional to be back in the hills, it's such a boost to my mental health. Bonus Bronze Age standing stone and cairn too.

#Hiraeth #Nuttalls

View from the summit of Foel Goch. A small modern marker cairn in the foreground marks the summit. The view looks down over green foothills towards distant mountain ranges; Aranau, Cader Idris and Arenig Fawr, rising to soaring peaks. It is sunny but very windy.
Bronze Age summit cairn Garnedd Fawr. The top of the mound is damaged and is now the meeting point of three post and wire fences. Some stones are piled on top of the cairn, probably moved from with the original configuration. The sky is blue with white clouds.
View of a blue river from a bridge (Pont y Bala). The river runs between green grassy banks. A man is fishing from the riverbank. It's very sunny and quite warm in the Spring sunshine.

thesweetcheat, 1 month ago to folklore

One of my favourite stone circles for today's #StandingStoneSunday

Mitchell's Fold in Shropshire. Standing on a upland plateau at the foot of Corndon Hill, on a clear day there are tremendous views of Cader Idris, Aran Fawddwy and Y Berwyn.

The circle has plentiful #folklore, especially the legend of a magic white cow that gave a pailful of milk to all who wanted one, until a witch milked it into a sieve. The cow left in disgust (there are variations of the ending)

#Shropshire #BronzeAge

thesweetcheat, 15 hours ago to random

A little bit of Avebury for today's #StandingStoneSunday. This visit in May 2011 at the end of a walk from Wroughton airfield that took in Barbary Castle hillfort, Fyfield Down (The Polisher) and Devil's Den. I like Avebury best as the end point of a walk over the Downs, with time to appreciate the landscape.

Three stones of the southern inner circle on the left, two massive stones of the great circle on the right.

Blog here: https://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/127242/ridgeway_to_heaven_barbury_castle_to_avebury_21_may_2011.html

#Neolithic #Avebury #Wiltshire

thesweetcheat, 1 month ago to random

A visit to Shropshire's 'other' stone circle for today's #StandingStoneSunday

Close to Mitchell's Fold, near the Welsh border, this is Hoarstones. It sits in an often boggy area, off the higher ground of Stapeley Hill and the Stiperstones ridge. The circle is little-frequented and many of the stones are fallen. It has a fine view towards Corndon Hill, a prominent summit with many Bronze Age cairns.

This visit on a glorious sunny day in April 2011.

#StoneCircle #Shropshire #BronzeAge

A single standing stone of gritstone, with a curved, tapering top which comes to a point. It's no more than a metre tall above ground. The top is covered in bright yellow lichen. Reedy grass grows all around the base of the stone, almost hiding it. The sky is an intense, bright blue.

thesweetcheat, 7 days ago to random

Off to Wiltshire and a Neolithic chambered tomb for today's #StandingStoneSunday

Devil's Den below Fyfield Down is a reconstructed chamber, originally it would have been covered by an earthen mound. It's a lovely walk here from Avebury or The Ridgeway, taking in the stone river of the Mother's Jam.

This visit May 2011.

#Wiltshire #Neolithic #Avebury

thesweetcheat, 14 days ago to random

Last stone standing in Pen-y-Beacon (Hay Bluff) stone circle for today's #StandingStoneSunday.

Rather forlorn next to a parking area now (although it does sometimes have its own ice-cream van), the circle stands at the foot of Pen-y-Beacon/Hay Bluff in the Black Mountains. It has great views all the way to Y Mynydd Ddu on a clear day.

This visit April 2010 on a walk from Talgarth to Hay-on-Wye along the northern summit of the Black Mountains.

#BronzeAge #StoneCircle #BlackMountains

thesweetcheat, 1 day ago to random

A 10 mile, 6000 year bimble along the Cotswolds escarpment between Stroud and Dursley today. Three Neolithic long barrows, including the wondrous Hetty Pegler's Tump, a Bronze Age cairn and an Iron Age hillfort, with 4 hills (Tumps) thrown in for added exertion and heat.

#HotHillfortSummer #Neolithic #BronzeAge #IronAge #Cotswolds #Gloucestershire

A grassy mound in the foreground; in the centre of it are the exposed and roofless chambers of a Neolithic longbarrow, formed of upright limestone orthostats with drystone walling between. Trees in late spring leaf form the backdrop. The sky is blue with white fluffy clouds.
Inside a stone built burial chamber, looking towards the light coming from a small entrance porthole. The chamber is formed of limestone orthostats with drystone walling between, supporting a roof made of large limestone slabs. The chamber is tall enough to crouch upright inside, but the entrance is very low and requires a crawl on hands and knees to get inside.
Sinuous banks and ditches of an Iron Age hillfort follow the contour of a steep escarpment. The slopes are green with grass and dotted with scrubby bushes. The valley drops away to the left, with further wooded hills rising distant far left. Further away on the skyline are hills clothed in blue-green forestry. The hillfort is Uley Bury.

thesweetcheat, 1 month ago to random

Borderland for today's #StandingStoneSunday

This is Carreg y Big close to the Welsh border in Shropshire. The Bronze Age stone stands just across a field from the (much later) Offa's Dyke earthwork. Although the stone is in England, just, the Welsh name appears to mean 'peaked stone' or 'pointed stone'. Very happy to be corrected on that!

Visited April 2011 while walking Offa's Dyke Path. Portrait, needs a click.

#Shropshire #Marches #OffasDykePath

thesweetcheat, 21 days ago to folklore

A terrific stone circle in Dartmoor's inner space for today's #StandingStoneSunday - White Moor (sometimes called Little Hound Tor) stone circle, a spacious ring with a 6 foot outlier.

In #folklore the stones are a huntsman and his hounds, turned to stone for hunting on the Sabbath (makes a change from the usual 'dancing on the Sabbath' tales).

Visited on a scorching hot and thankfully dry underfoot St George's Day, April 2011.

#Dartmoor #BronzeAge ##StoneCircle

thesweetcheat, 15 days ago to random

Hot Hillfort Summer starts here.

13 bluebell and wild garlic-filled miles along the Cotswolds escarpment this morning, taking in Painswick Beacon hillfort, Cooper's Hill cross dyke and Crickley Hill hillfort, with views of Leckhampton hillfort for a finale.

#HotHillfortSummer #IronAgeInfluencers

#Hillfort #IronAge

Bluebells and wild garlic in a sunlit glade in beech woods.
Cowslips in flower on the grassy earthworks of Crickley Hill. Looking along the escarpment towards a wooded promontory. Green fields below.
Looking from a grassy hillside to another hill topped with a hillfort that has been damaged by quarrying.