After the wedding I set off to Cumbria, with a mad itinery (nothing new there) and actually managed to get to most of the list.
My first stop was The Druid's Circle of Ulverston (SD 293 739), a pretty little circle set in bracken covered heath land high above the sea with spectacular views (see fig. 10). I think this site is actually two concentric stone circles, but the thick, high bracken coverage around the stones makes it hard to see everthing.
While I was there a family came to the circle and commented upon how pretty it is. I agreed, but commented that it would be much better if some idiot hadn't lit a fire in the centre. The father said that he thought it was a good place for a fire and joked about finding fire wood. I told him to throw himself on the pyre if he did and left.
Some of you could well have realised that I am more of a tomb-man than a circle-man. I still haven't decided why this is, but it's probably because everyone else seems to be into stone circles and the tombs seem to be left as an after-thought. This is why I next headed for Skelmore Heads (SD 263 745) an peculiar little monument that is quite hard to describe. It seems to have been made by placing a large boulder on top of a split boulder, with the narrow gap thus created being used as a chamber (see fig. 11). The the local landscape in the immediate vicinity to this site is quite interesting: it seems to be a small flat-topped, fisured outcrop of limestone. There are several other piles of stones nearby that could represent the remains of other sepulchres.
I might not be a circle-man, but I do run out of superlatives at places like Swinside stone circle (SD 172 882), also known as Swinside. Not only is this a quiet, remote spot where you can get time to yourself quite easily, but it is also in the shadow of a Mother Hill (see fig. 12) and I tend to be drawn to those. At Swinside the incredible Knot Hill rises up and looms over the site in a pregnant-belly-stylee! You cannot help but be inspired by its presence.
There is an amazing likeness between Swinside and Ballynoe (County Down) and they are almost on the same lines of latitude too. You have to wonder if the same group of Ancients built the two sites.
Over on the west coast, with a view across the sea to the Isle of Man, stand two stones at Black Comb (SD 136 812). Once again there is more than a hint of Mother Hill reverence here (see fig. 13), but in the Lake District this is rather unavoidable! Nethertheless, these 4m tall stones are positioned in the perfect location to make the mountain beyond take on the characteristics of a sleeping giant.
High above Black Comb is a megalithic complex consisting of several stone circles and stone rows at Lacra (SD 149 813). Unfortunately much of this has been disturbed so badly that it hard hard to identify (see fig. 14).
Don't let this, or the hard climb to reach the sites put you off visiting though. Just the act of trying to locate the different parts is fun, but the views out to sea and to the Isle of Man are superb.
