Midshiels Cairn

Trip No.29  Entry No.8  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Cairn Country: Scotland (Scottish Borders)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 3rd Jun 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Midshiels Cairn, Hawick: See visit report for Midshiels Standing Stone (the two are 90 metres apart), sites entered separately as Canmore lists them individually. Couldn't get really close to the cairn - would have loved to have walked up to it, but there was a really big bull and lots of over-friendly and very lively bullocks in the field. Must revisit at a different time of year!

There are plenty of other forts and settlements around here. The problem with another visit, is which sites to pick?

Burgh Hill Stone Circle

Trip No.29  Entry No.4  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: Scotland (Scottish Borders)
Visited: Yes on 3rd Jun 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Burgh Hill Stone Circle, Hawick: After visiting Lord's Tree and Ca Knowe Cairns, we headed off towards Teviothead and some wild, lonely countryside. There is a track leading up the hill towards the stone circle (and the hill fort beyond), at NT 47365 06725, with parking for 2-3 cars opposite.

Following the track up the (reasonably steep) hill, we took the left hand fork and followed the mowed grassy track towards the stone circle. The circle lies just past the first peak with rocks outcrops to your right, but not as far as the fort. We went past the stones at first, having climbed too high up the hill, but Andrew found a metal pole with a large aluminium star attached to it, presumably marking this as an archaeological site.

Looking at the site on UK Grid Reference Finder, the circle lies in between two small banks running in very shallow arcs. The stones of the circle seem to lie in a dip with a small bank around. It reminded me very much of a cairn circle rather than a stone circle, as none of the stones seemed to be worked in any way, and they were all comparatively small. I note the Canmore record for this site says it's been re-designated a Stone Setting rather than a stone circle.

Having stayed to enjoy the views, and also photograph the Dod settlement from above, we climbed up to the fort, where it was VERY windy (but thankfully the wind was warm).

Midshiels Standing Stone

Trip No.29  Entry No.7  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Scotland (Scottish Borders)
Visited: Yes on 3rd Jun 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Midshiels Standing Stone, Hawick: We'd arrived (unknowingly) in Hawick on their Riding of the Marches day. The shops were shut and the town was almost deserted. Having visited some other sites on the southern side of Hawick, we decided to stop off to see this standing stone and cairn on the way back home. Following the curious one-way system though Hawick, we ended up on the Borders Abbey Way heading north-east out of the town. At Bucklands, we found where the entire town was - at a community centre at the edge of the town. A marshall stopped us and told us we wouldn't be able to get any further up the road as the procession of horses was coming through. Doubling back through the industrial estate, we took the A698 out of town, turning left over the picturesque Hornshole Bridge, rejoining Borders Abbey Way a few hundred yards before the entrance to Midshiels Farm.

A couple of hundred yards further north-east along the road, there was a large passing place, so we hugged the car into the hedgerow and hopped out. About 50 metres further back, on the other side of the road, a gate let us into the field leading to the dismantled railway embankment to the west. Following the left hand hedge-line along, we came to another gate, just before a tall brick bridge leading under the railway line. This gate gave access to the field with the standing stone and cairn.

However, the field was full of gently grazing sheep and lots of lively, curious bullocks along with what looked like a very large bull. My hand went onto the gate and they were running towards us. I elected to use the zoom lens on the camera, and was really disappointed not to have seen this standing stone closer up. But there is lots to see in this area, so undoubtedly a return visit will be in the offing at some point in the not too distant future.

Ca Knowe (Hawick)

Trip No.29  Entry No.3  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Cairn Country: Scotland (Scottish Borders)
Visited: Yes on 3rd Jun 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Ca Knowe Cairn, Hawick (aka Hero's Grave): Simply marked as ‘cairn’ on Trigpointing UK's OS map, we could see this cairn from Lord’s Tree Cairn. There is a proper tarmacked footpath up to the modern standing stone with plaque on it. Closer to, it is much larger than it appears from the mark on the map, and has a proper tarmacked path up to it.

Unfortunately, both on our way to our next site, and our way back to Hawick, the monument was surrounded by a number of very large cows with their calves, so we decided not to risk upsetting them and drove on after having taken some photographs.

Lord's Tree (Hawick)

Trip No.29  Entry No.2  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Cairn Country: Scotland (Scottish Borders)
Visited: Yes on 3rd Jun 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Lord's Tree Cairn, Hawick: We arrived in Hawick, intending to buy a map, but the majority of the shops (apart from the bookmakers, charity shops and 1 café, were closed (looking at the opening times, they largely shut at 2pm on a Saturday. The town seemed deserted apart from a few tourists. We later found out that most local people had gathered near the community centre for the Riding of the Marches.

Relying upon the Trigpointing UK maps (good job there was a phone signal!), we navigated our way through the town (stopping off to look at The Mote on the way), past the golf course and out into the glorious open countryside with the hills beyond.

This cairn appears as a slight bump at the top of a small rise of a hill; it's unmistakably a large, low cairn, and the lush green grass and wild flowers invited a walk through the meadow towards it.

Completely circular, there is a low bank surrounding the cairn. Shame the old Lord's Tree wasn't there. Lovely view down to Ca Knowe Cairn further south.

Carey Burn (Harthope Valley)

Trip No.36  Entry No.4  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 30th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Carey Burn Votadinian settlement, Harthope Valley: After the beautiful Maiden/Pin Well, I got stuck on a 'precipice' above the Coldgate Burn trying to get to the Romano-British settlements to the west of North Middleton and bottled out (my dreaded fear of falling - I've subsequently found the map showed a low level, apparently straightforward footpath from North Middleton, although it was about a mile either way). After this experience, I need to try and regain my composure.

On the map, just across the road from the footpath we’d tried, and just west of Carey Burn Bridge, a track ran up the hill at NT 97513 24937, just above a currently empty barn. A settlement was shown here. An NNPA footpath ran up the hill, so we opened the gate and followed the path up.

We did find the settlement, but it looked as if a fence had recently been installed along the north western bank, crossing over part of it to the eastern side.

A long, low earth and stone bank about 1 metre tall and 2 metres wide ran parallel to the fence from NT 97353 24907 to NT 97301 24938 then curves around to the Carey Burn at NT 97337 25012. This bank can be seen on UK Grid Reference Finder.

On getting home, I discovered from Pastscape that the settlement we looked at was classed as Votadinian. There is a second settlement, which isn’t marked on the map at NT 97132488, which is further up the hill.

Maiden Well (Kettle Hill)

Trip No.36  Entry No.3  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 30th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Maiden Well and The King's Chair, Wooler: After having walked round the outer perimeter of the promontory of The Kettles, we’d actually stood just above the site of the Maiden Well (Pin Well), but would have needed a rope and harness to descend the vertical cliff down to it. We walked back to the car, drove back into Wooler, then back out again on the road to the tiny (and ancient) hamlet of Earle.

Where the road splits at NT 99100 26973, we took the western fork (right hand if coming from Wooler) and take the track that runs from NT 98924 26750 to a small quarry. Note: the gate to this road is kept padlocked to prevent people taking vehicles up to the quarry, but there are gates for walkers. Husband Andrew hadn’t spotted the gate, so we ended up climbing the fence into the neighbouring field, then back out again!

Just before the main entrance to the quarry a small (overgrown) footpath leads to your left from NT 98808 26845. We followed this for some 300 metres, the nettles eventually giving way to open ground in a small valley/ravine. We first spotted the King's Chair protruding from the hill in front of you, although I was a bit dubious at first as the stone was hidden by lush, tall bracken growing round it from the rock face. Walking further forward the well is hidden under a hawthorn tree.

The well is in a lovely, enigmatic location. It looks as if someone has recently created this lovely circular ‘halo’ of stone around the clear water. A stone a metre of so to it’s north west has a hole at its base. Glimpsing down, I could see the water running into the well pool.

A small stream runs out of the well pool. The water course is marked by groups of stones leading back towards the entrance to the quarry, on either side of the small stream, which is also marked by lush grass and bracken growing on either side of it. I walked up a little way to look at various groups of stones, to find parts of the ground boggy and heavy with water.

With The Kettles rising up above you to the east, this is a really nice spot. I could have lingered longer, but 4-5 Romano-British settlements called. Time to move on.

The Kettles (Wooler)

Trip No.36  Entry No.2  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Hillfort Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 30th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: The Kettles Hillfort, Wooler: From Green Castle, we continued along the track leading first south west up the small hill, then turns south east along the top of the promontory. Our GPS told me there was just over 511 metres to walk from the small parking area to the grid reference given by Pastscape, but it seemed a lot less than this.

The paths are well kept, as on the Breamish Valley trails, with low, mown grass which is soft underfoot and easy to walk. As we walked along the promontory, the northern section of ramparts came into view. As we got closer, it became obvious how large these were.

Paths lead up into round the exterior edges of the hillfort. There are bracken and scree covered valleys on either side. The first thing we came across were some strange concrete blocks and what looked like the tiled remains of an old toilet at approx. NT 98398 27352, but then there are the recorded remains of pillboxes in this area, so must have been used for military training during the last war.

As we walked along, we crossed three distinct banks which had been cut by the paths, which are the three ramparts (in places four) that cut the fort into two. Walking past the fourth rampart, it felt as it had on Little Hill in the Scottish Borders, as if I was on the prow of a ship looking down across the land below. Crossing to the eastern side of the fort, at this point, we were almost directly above Maiden Well and the King’s Chair. To reach these, we would have need climbing equipment to abseil down, so we walked back to the car and drove round to the path leading to The Pin Well.

Looking at the aerial images on UK Grid Reference Finder, the outline of the fort is clearly visible.

Green Castle Ringwork

Trip No.36  Entry No.1  Date Added: 31st Jul 2017
Site Type: Misc. Earthwork Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 30th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Green Castle Ringwork, Wooler: After having stopped off at the ‘usual café’ in Wooler for refreshments, we headed off towards Wooler Common, from the High Street taking Ramsey Lane which becomes Common Road.

At NT 98195 27735 there is a small parking area, where a footpath leads south westerly up and over the Common. From here, the Ringwork looks like part of a giant rubbish tip, with its south and western sides protruding up over the hedgerow like a giant green triangle. Given that to it’s south east there is a huge area for storing skips, it looks at first sight as if the mound is used for a rubbish dump, but it’s not.

There is no access into the field the ringwork sits in (gates are padlocked, and the only gate that opened (immediately opposite the parking area) led down to a wooded area and small ravine.

We actually got a good view of what looks like a ‘Refresher’ sweet by walking up the path towards The Kettles. From here, even the stones in the south western side, where the mound has been eroded, are visible, together with a short section of ditch.

I didn’t spot the telephone wire snaking across the photograph until I loaded it onto my computer.

Barntalloch (Langholm)

Trip No.35  Entry No.1  Date Added: 27th Jul 2017
Site Type: Misc. Earthwork Country: Scotland (Scottish Borders)
Visited: Yes on 24th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Barntalloch Motte, Staplegordon, Langholm: It was dull and very wet at our house, and fed up of the rain, we decided to head off to the Scottish Borders for some sunny, 25 deg C weather. Landing in Langholm by 2.30pm, we stopped off for coffee and cake before heading off into the wilds of Eskdale.

I spotted this site on the map, just west of Langholm, down a small road leading to a hamlet called Staplegordon. It caught my eye because it not only had the motte but the remains of a chapel. I like looking around the gravestones.

We parked in what looked like a parking area for fishermen to the right of the far side of the bridge. There is actually another car park by the farm nearer to the motte. There are posts indicating the routes of different Langholm Walks.

Just past the farm to the left of the bridge, the track splits at NY 35445 87796. The northern section leads down to the old graveyard and a bungalow (looks like the chapel was converted into a dwelling). A track led through another farmyard to our left which curls to the south west, around the side of the motte.

The lady farmer roared up on her quad bike and stopped to say hello. She didn’t seem to mind us tramping through her farmyard, but wasn’t very forthcoming. When I got home and did some research on Canmore, I found out that the old chapel was supposed to have an inscribed stone. We didn’t walk down there as we couldn’t see a way of reaching the churchyard except through the main gate of the cottage.

Little Hill (Craig)

Trip No.35  Entry No.2  Date Added: 26th Jul 2017
Site Type: Hillfort Country: Scotland (Scottish Borders)
Visited: Yes on 24th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Little Hill Hillfort, Craig, Scottish Borders: This might be a 'short walk on a footpath', but it was a steady climb! After visiting Barntalloch Castle, we could see no way of getting into the old churchyard nearby, as it looked as if the building had been converted into a house. Mistake not to try, as Canmore said there was an inscribed stone.

We drove onto Little Hill, stopping to take a photograph of Barntalloch from a layby on the B709. The River Esk looks glorious sparkling in the sunshine with its loops and cobble banks.

There is a footpath/track leading up to Little Hill hillfort from just before the bend at Craig at NY 33656 88271, where there was room to tuck the car in at its junction with the road. There has been lots of activity with telegraph poles in this area, with lots of spare ones lying around; in fact climbing up the hill they got in the way of the view over to the west until we got above them. Craig Hill to the south of Little Hill looms large and dominates the scenery; there is also a settlement on its lower slopes south of Little Hill, although we didn’t spot this on the climb up.

We left the stony track up the hill and followed what seemed to be a hollow way up to the fort, approaching this from its north western side where I spotted the well at NY 33858 88237, next to a cattle feeder.

This is a lovely spot with its flower meadows and virtually 360 degree views. There don’t seem to be any features in the interior, or at least we didn’t see them as the grass was so lush. Andrew thought he saw a couple of roundhouses, due to the change in vegetation, but I thought it was a bit of a stretch, but there were two circular areas that were slightly scooped and had less wild flowers within them.

I walked down to the south western (stem end of the pear) end of the fort, which is slightly separated from the rest of the fort by a dip, effectively splitting the fort in two.

On the way back down we stopped to photograph the entrance at the northern end of the fort. From here we could see the racing tracks of the race horse training stables in the valley below. There was also a line of stones running from approx.. NY 33920 88223 to NY 33978 88200 near the road also seems to follow the line of a water course. If you plot the points of the well and these stones, they seem to follow a straight line. Some of the taller stones also hide springs.

A lovely walk and well worth stopping. The views on a sunny, warm day like today were lovely. As I keep repeating, our ancestors chose some very nice places to live.

Newhall Hill (Paddockhole)

Trip No.35  Entry No.3  Date Added: 26th Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: Scotland (Scottish Borders)
Visited: Yes on 24th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Newhall Hill Settlements, near Paddockhill, Scottish Borders: From Little Hill, we thought we’d stop off at Balliehill Hillfort again, but driving up to it, it was covered in enormous cattle grazing contentedly within it. Taking one look, we decided to press onto Newhall Farm. Following the minor road that runs alongside the western bank of the Water of Milk, we enjoyed the views down the valley. Reaching Paddockhill, we turned right, then immediately right again, over Paddockhill Bridge and followed the road through Newhall Farm to a small bridge hidden between the trees. We couldn’t see the burn as it was being used as a dump for old industrial pipes and equipment, fencing and telegraph poles, but just before the bridge was a small area which had been hard-cored, so we parked there. The gate to the two tracks leading up Newhall Hill was just behind us. Taking the right hand track, we plodded up this steeper-than-it-looked hill. Would it never end??

Eventually the track ran out and we set off across the pasture to find the settlements. I heard the noise of a quad bike and the farmer appeared, with this two dogs, over the top of a hill, screeching to a halt in front of me. I thought he was going to hit me, so took a large backwards step, but he stopped in time. “Nearer to heaven here’ he said and pointed to all the wind farms surrounded the hill. “Don’t think they do any harm, do they?” he added. I put my hand out to stroke one of the dogs and the farmer barked at me: “Don’t! He’ll have your hand off.” He told us the settlements were just over the next small brow on the hill, said he lived at the small farm yonder rather than the big one down in the valley below that we could see, then hared off at great speed with both dogs balancing on the back of the quad bike.

Two hundred yards further on, a deep ditch and large bank of Settlement B came into view, complete with eyesore of a very large quarry beyond.

I walked all round the outer bank of the lower settlement, then went into the inside. Apart from a very boggy part, which looked like it might have been a well at some point, we couldn’t make out any features internally.

I would have liked to have walked up the hill to Settlement A but the heads and bodies of some very lively bullocks kept watching us. I didn’t fancy being surrounded by them, so we decided to walk back down to the car.

We would have ended up at the Severn Brethren stone circle, but as we neared it, realised we’d been here before, and it was very unremarkable.

Elvaplain

Date Added: 23rd Jul 2017
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 29th May 2016. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Elvaplain Stone Circle, Setmurthy, Cumbria: After having seen the tumulus and settlements at Aughertree Fell we set off for Elva Hill. With a stunning image on the Visit Cumbria website, which told us this although this stone circle was on private land, it could be approached by a footpath, we found Elva Plain farm and the footpath up to Elva Hill easily enough. With well kept sheep and their large lambs, we enjoyed the sunshine as we walked up the hill. But, and there was a big BUT - the farmer had tied the gates up so strongly with thick twine it was like trying to untie the Gordian knot. With four gates to get through, and some of them wired shut, we could only see this stone circle from afar. Frustrating. If the farmer had been around, I would have asked (nicely) for access to the field. Whilst the stones are largely flat and just visible above ground (between the sheep!), this stone circle is in a stunning location, looking out over Bassenthwaite Lake in the valley to the south west and the fells beyond. Elva Hill (now quarried) lies to the north.

Druids Temple (Cumbria)

Date Added: 23rd Jul 2017
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Druid's Temple Stone Circle, Cumbria: OK, so we got sidetracked by the splended Furness Abbey, but we then retraced our steps to Great Urswick, skirting round the north side of Urswick Tarn, up and out onto Birkrigg Common. Following the yellow ‘dotted’ road over the common, past Sunbrick Farm, we suddenly came upon the most tremendous views over Morecambe Bay. What a place!

Being a beautiful sunny evening, there were many people about. It felt strange to be in such an ancient spot with a van nearby blasting out music from its radio, runners coming through almost the centre of the circle, and dog walkers continually passing.

Again, the stone circle sits within a landscape of limestone pavement, which confused my attempts to find out if the circle originally had an outer ring. We counted 12 stones in the inner ring, two only just poking out above the grass, with 10 visible upright stones, although I get the impression some of these might have been re-erected for effect. The circle itself certainly looked as if it had a shallow bank around it and a possible ditch between this and what might have been a very broken outer ring.

There is plenty of parking on the hard verges nearby, and stunning walks on grassy paths cut through the longer grass to make it easier for walkers and runners. A little disappointing there were so many others around, but worth the trip.

Beanley Moor Enclosure

Trip No.34  Entry No.4  Date Added: 22nd Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Beanley Moor Iron Age Defended Settlement, Northumberland: We had an abortive attempt to find the Fawdon Cross Base at NU 0281 1591 (nowhere anywhere nearby to park) and Beanley Plantation Hillfort. The tracks to the latter were either waterlogged (husband said we needed diving equipment – a slight exaggeration, I think!), although we could have tried from the paths through the forest from the south (but didn’t). We then made our way to the Beanley Moor settlement/enclosure just to its north. This is a short hop up the field. There is a path leading up the slope (it’s all access land here) which brings you to the southern edge of the enclosure, although having spotted a slight bank popping up out of the grass, we made a more direct bee-line up the slope.

Curious how the landscape has changed in just a few miles. The area is completely sandy – like a beach, which it must have been at one point in the dim and distant path, although higher up the slope it becomes more of a loam.

Very, very little remains of this possible Iron Age settlement, although there was enough left of two parallel shallow ditches for us to follow their line round in a circle. Thought we spotted a possible entrance in the south west of the enclosure, a possible roundhouse partly built into the bank (although heavily disguised by tussocks and bracken in parts) and a hollow way leading north-west/south-east along the north eastern edge of the settlement, leading up to the Beanley Plantation Hillfort.

Brilliant views down to the River Breamish Valley, but that’s as much as can be said for this site. Glad we stopped off, though.

Haystack Hill (Ingram)

Trip No.34  Entry No.3  Date Added: 21st Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Haystack Hill Settlement Complex, Ingram, Northumberland: Having stopped off at North Haystack Hill, it was getting hot by this point, although there was a pleasant breeze. The path was levelling out now and there was an electric fence to our left hand side. Where this had dropped down to the grass at one point, we made our way across to the gate at the north western part of the field. The ground here was very boggy, descending into deep puddles at various points, so we picked our way around. A sign on the gate said ‘end of access land’ although there is a permissive footpath around the edge of the field leading into the south western corner of this complex settlement.

This site is huge. I wish I’d printed off an aerial photograph to take with me, so I could have understood it better – a good excuse for a return visit.

We first explored the rectangular enclosure with its row of hut circles in, then made our way between the B2 (the southern most of the two B enclosures) and C.

Wow. Although deep in bracken, it was still possible to make out tall banks and circular features I felt very priviledged to have come here, as I did at Burdhope last week. A brilliant, brilliant site. With the other hillforts all around, it was very atmospheric.

North Haystack Hill

Trip No.34  Entry No.2  Date Added: 21st Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: North Haystack Hill, Ingram, Northumberland: After Ingram Hill Enclosure, we took the permissive footpath to its east, walking up between Turf Knowe to our east and Wether Hill to the west. From this point on, for the next quarter of a mile, we seemed to be constantly moving out of the way of a tractor and a small four-wheel drive van and trailer mowing bracken (they seemed to target us with every turn!), up until the division of footpaths just before this earthwork, which appeared as a low stone and earth mound, about 1 metre wide and 80cm high, running to the left of the footpath. It ran for several hundred metres with the occasional bank peeping out of the bracken to the east. By this time, we were 800 metres from Ingram Hill Settlement, and a couple of hundred yards from the main Haystack Hill complex. We stepped over the low electric wire that was keeping the sheep in a particular area and went to investigate.

What a view to have from your front door, down the Middledean Burn valley to the west and the Breamish Valley and Ingram below.

Getting back home and opening up Pastcape, I was surprised to find this is a recorded Iron Age/Roman enclosed settlement. Although the long bank is medieval, the settlement is described as ‘much mutilated’ with a number of scooped hut circles. It can be seen on UK Grid Reference Finder aerial images, with ridge and furrow ploughing cutting over the top.

Making our way back to the path, which by now was levelling off, we continued up the slope towards the larger Haystack Hill settlement.

Ingram Hill

Trip No.34  Entry No.1  Date Added: 21st Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Ingram Hill Settlement, Breamish Valley: Making the most of a warm, sunny day we set off to the Ingram in the Beamish Valley, not to walk the Hillfort Trail this time, but to look at some settlements marked on the OS map. Taking supposedly ‘the shortest route’ the roads were so twisty and windy that it took forever, and I ended up feeling travel sick for most of the afternoon.

I had forgotten how beautiful and calm this little valley is. There were a dozen or so cars parked on the grass by the river, with people picnicking. Passing the car park just outside Ingram, there was only one car – in Northumberland I expect to see more sheep than people on a day out. Setting off west out of Ingram, we parked just outside the village on a wide grass verge that people had obviously used before us. Walking the 100 metres or so to where the stony footpath climbed gently up to Turf Knowe, we had the old field boundary and modern wire fence to our left. Where the footpath meets the access land at the south western corner of the field, another permission footpath/stone covered track branched off to the south east towards Wether Hill. Typically, we didn’t use the path but tramped through the knee high grass and bracken, surprising the sheep who’d sought shade.

The circular banks of this settlement rose gently out of the turf. Some of the sheep were grazing on top. I walked all the way round the bank, which is 160 feet in diameter. There is a clear two roomed rectangular house on the interior northern bank, looking down to the River Breamish below.

Another circular feature, which I thought was a small roundhouse, was to be found towards the middle of the settlement. Pastscape says this is the remains of some shielings.

After taking a short break to make the most of the sunshine, we took the permissive path and headed up towards Haystack Hill.

Cow and Calf Rocks

Date Added: 16th Jul 2017
Site Type: Rock Outcrop Country: England (Yorkshire (West))
Visited: Yes on 30th Jun 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Cow & Calf Rocks, Ilkley: We visited here on a very blustery day after having seen Maiden Castle hill fort. By now rain was threatening and the moorland bleak. Parking at the café down below, we walked up the footpath. The view from the Cow and Calf over to Ilkley was great, although there were lots of people around. Walking into the horseshoe shaped quarry next to these crags there were groups of climbers roped up to the rock face.

Yatesfield (Otterburn)

Trip No.33  Entry No.6  Date Added: 11th Jul 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 8th Jul 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: Yatesfield Settlement, Otterburn Ranges: By this time, it was 6pm, and rather than face another long walk over rough ground to the Roman Tombs at Lamb Crag, we decided to save our feet and drive to this site up on the Otterburn Ranges. We spotted the two ‘archaeological area’ signs at the south and north ends of the site. It has obviously been split by the military tarmacked road. Standing at the western edge of the site, looking down over the gentle south east slope, it took a few minutes to ‘get my eye in’ and start to see the possible hut circles and lumps and bumps of various structures. In the end, I walked to the northern end and walked across the site, photographing as I went.

Parts of the ground were very boggy and I disturbed a hare sunning itself against the back wall, partly sunk into the bank (part earth, part stone) of one of the round houses nearest the road.