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Sites wildtalents has logged. View this log as a table or view the most recent logs from everyone
The Sanctuary.
Date Added: 14th May 2024
Site Type: Stone Circle
Country: England (Wiltshire)
Visited: Yes on 5th Aug 2001. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 5
The Sanctuary. submitted by Humbucker on 31st Oct 2020. Western section of The Sanctuary. Not the easiest of sites to photograph, hopefully shadows from the late afternoon sunshine help the markers stand out a bit.
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Log Text: I feel a little fraudulent rating The Sanctuary 4 for Ambience: it's essentially a complex of stone markers with no real vestige of what may have stood at this site. (Excarnation complex, for example?) But for all it's forlorn air, and the constant roar-hiss of the cars speeding close by, when seen and respected as part of the whole sacred Avebury landscape it still has a distinct atmosphere all it's own.
If you know where to look you can see elements of the rest of the landscape, Avenue stones for example.
Stukeley's sketch of the site - which was already being ruined at that very time (I seem to remember he names the guilty farmer) - captures something of what was once here. But not necessarily what was always here. I think it has probably been through many iterations and sad though the current one is I would still recommend a visit to any serious megalithomane. It's a way of making a connection to the distant generations who revered this place.
Devil's Arrows
Date Added: 8th May 2024
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Apr 2023. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4
Devil's Arrows submitted by Humbucker on 27th Apr 2019. All three Devils Arrows looking from the north. The light improved for a brief few minutes & the sun made a brief appearance while I was there before turning into a flat, grey evening.
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Log Text: On a day when it never stopped raining it was still worth trudging (trespassing) through the farmer's knee-high crops of I don't know what, rather than gazing at the two smaller arrows from afar. The biggest arrow is across the road and mighty impressive.
Easy parking at the roadside: the site is now perched on the edge of a modern "little boxes" housing estate.
Brimham Rocks
Date Added: 11th May 2024
Site Type: Rock Outcrop
Country: England (Yorkshire (North))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Apr 2023. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 3
Brimham Rocks submitted by wildtalents on 10th May 2024. On a soggy day a few miles from Harrogate, 22 April 2023
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Log Text: Rather a grey damp day, hence the site was a bit slippy. Genuinely fun though, and I enjoyed the coy sign near the top of the site which points out all the landmarks you can see on the horizon BUT NOT the bloody awful RAF Menwith Hill NSA complex which we must all apparently pretend does not exist.
I enjoyed the local crows too, very accustomed to begging scraps from tourists but in a gentlemanly sort of a way.They park theyselves nearby, sneak a look at you every now and then, then politely look away in a "I'm just chillin' mate" kinda way. The second you chcuk them a bit of sausage roll though all decorum is abandoned and the victor speeds off to the nearest outcrop to munch smugly. Will definitely go back.
Ness of Brodgar
Date Added: 10th May 2024
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: Scotland (Orkney)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
Ness of Brodgar submitted by wildtalents on 10th May 2024. Structures uncovered at the Ness Of Brodgar, photographed in July 2015
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Log Text: I visited while the annual dig season was in full swing. Difficult to interpret what you're seeing (and much more excavation has been made in the years since, 2024 being the final year of excavation). This isthmus of land is packed with so much history but don't overlook the Ness if you are nearby.
Stenness
Date Added: 8th May 2024
Site Type: Stone Circle
Country: Scotland (Orkney)
Visited: Yes on 13th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4
Stenness submitted by Runemage on 15th Jul 2005. Ethereal and numinous.
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Log Text: In the summer of 2015 I drove from Kent to Orkney in two or three long hops, staying several nights at the Standing Stone Hotel which is (was?) about a mile from the Stones of Stenness. I'd wanted to visit here for soooo long, in particular these stones, ever since seeing them on that Julian Cope album. I can't remember the name right now. Impressive stones, even though the site is probably a shadow of what it once was.
Barnhouse Settlement
Date Added: 17th May 2024
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: Scotland (Orkney)
Visited: Yes on 14th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4
Barnhouse Settlement submitted by wildtalents on 10th May 2024. One of the Barnhouse houses. The settlement is a stone's throw from the Stones of the Stenness and has a direct view of Maes Howe
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Log Text: A short ramble from the Stones of Stenness, there are several recognisable structures at ground level, with hearths and other characteristic features. Can't hold a candle to Skara Brae, but then what sites can?
Ring of Brodgar
Date Added: 12th May 2024
Site Type: Stone Circle
Country: Scotland (Orkney)
Visited: Yes on 13th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4
Ring of Brodgar submitted by wildtalents on 10th May 2024. There were at least two other photographers doing sunset shots at Brodgar on this evening. I was happy enough with how this one turned out.
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Log Text: As I was staying nearby I took the opportunity to visit this magnificent monument several times, at different times of day. The first visit was the best: the sun was beginning to set (but it stays low on the horizon a long time at this time of year on Orkney) and the stones cast the most almighty shadows. How the henge ditch was dug in this very solid rocky landscape I can only imagine. The people who built the monuments at Stenness definitely made no half measures.
Maes Howe
Date Added: 12th May 2024
Site Type: Chambered Cairn
Country: Scotland (Orkney)
Visited: Yes on 16th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4
Maes Howe submitted by wildtalents on 10th May 2024. Approaching the passage into Maes Howe. Our tour guide was blind but I would not have realised if she had not told us so. Fascinating talk about this most wonderful site.
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Log Text: Make sure to book early as the limited numbers allowed in the Howe at one time might mean it's several days before you can find a slot. Our guide was blind, but clearly knew every inch of the site and it was only when she told us this that it became apparent she was using muscle memory and perhaps a very hazy tunnel vision to navigate. The twenty-ish minutes passed in an instant.
The craftsmanship of Maes Howe is breathtaking.
Skara Brae
Date Added: 12th May 2024
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: Scotland (Orkney)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4
Skara Brae submitted by wildtalents on 10th May 2024. This view of a hearth and dresser at one of the best-preserved Skara Brae houses is somewhat of a cliché
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Log Text: Absolutely stunningly preserved settlement, down to the stone dressers, hearths, sleeping quarters . . . a shame one of the houses is sealed off but there's enough to keep you occupied for an hour. It can get very busy though.
Cuween Hill
Date Added: 17th May 2024
Site Type: Chambered Cairn
Country: Scotland (Orkney)
Visited: Yes on 16th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 2
Cuween Hill submitted by wildtalents on 10th May 2024. Inside, looking down the entrance way of Cuween Hill chambered cairn
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Log Text: A gem of a site, this is like a miniature Maes Howe. Not much room inside and very dark. There's a torch you can borrow but no guarantee the batteries will be any good so you might want to take your own. There are lots of details you will miss in the dark.
Isbister: Tomb Of The Eagles
Date Added: 17th May 2024
Site Type: Chambered Cairn
Country: Scotland (Orkney)
Visited: Yes on 14th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 2
Isbister: Tomb Of The Eagles submitted by wildtalents on 10th May 2024. There's a protective concrete cap over the chambers of the Tomb Of The Eagles. It doesn't detract from this very worthwhile site... and what a spectacular walk to get there!
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Log Text: A bit of a trek from the visitor centre/museum... but a spectacular one, looking out over impressive cliffs with open sea as far as the eye can see. Guillemots and every other bird with a squawk to offer contribute to the soundtrack. There's a monument to the archaeologist who curated this site a few metres from the tomb.
The tomb is wonderful, even with the crude concrete cap etc, and the craftmanship with which the stones were interlocked is fabulous.
Isbister: Bronze Age House
Date Added: 17th May 2024
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Country: Scotland (Orkney)
Visited: Yes on 14th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 2
Isbister: Bronze Age House submitted by wildtalents on 14th May 2024. If memory serves the mound behind the 'house' is a midden made up of stones burnt there. A hearth-like structure (not shown) could be filled with water and then heated by dropping in red hot stones, later discarded a few yards away. I recall some speculation that maybe it was a tannery and was a little removed from other residences because, well, if you've ever lived near a tannery you'll click to why straight away.
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Log Text: Not far from the Tomb Of The Eagles, this was probably an industrial building of a sort, maybe a tannery? Whatever it was, there was much use made of a pool for heating water using red-hot stones. Some of the discarded stones are strewn nearby but most form a midden to one side, now mostly overgrown.
Tomb of the Eagles Museum
Date Added: 8th May 2024
Site Type: Museum
Country: Scotland (Orkney)
Visited: Yes on 14th Jul 2015. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5
Log Text: Marvellous museum displaying relics from the Tomb Of the Eagles and one of those rare places that encourages you to handle some of the exhibits. Various stone implements, an eagle's talon, and so on. The inevitable gift shop is not half bad.
Bryn Celli Ddu
Date Added: 15th May 2024
Site Type: Passage Grave
Country: Wales (Anglesey)
Visited: Yes on 3rd Apr 2013. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4
Bryn Celli Ddu submitted by wildtalents on 14th May 2024. I've plenty of better shots (somewhere) but the wonderful ziggyzag pattern on the stone in front of the portal is captured fairly well here.
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Log Text: A few miles away the Snowdonia peaks were still covered in snow and the lake at the foot of Snowdon was still frozen... but the first signs of a belated spring were all over Anglesey. Which made it a perfect day to visit and appreciate Bryn Celli Ddu, an absolutely perfect chambered tomb that you have to see.
Four Stones (Powys)
Date Added: 9th May 2024
Site Type: Stone Circle
Country: Wales (Powys)
Visited: Yes on 1st Jun 2000. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5
Four Stones (Powys) submitted by vicky on 13th Sep 2002. The Four Stones Stone Circle in Powys. Photo taken by Cassian Hall.
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Log Text: Compact and intense, the four stones stand at the edge of a field, the tallest is just high enough to peep over the wall at the edge of the lane. Judging by photos of my then wife next to the stones three of the four are above five feet, the tallest nearer six. The fourth stone is somewhat stumpier but still a boulder of some stature. They appear to be arranged in more a square than a circle.