Blackbury Camp

I'm going back a few months here. The remains of hurricane Bertha is making herself felt, sudden downpours, intermittent howling gales and the odd clap of thunder made a walk seem very unappealing. Not to mention the half finished decorating which has turned the house upside down.

So a Sunday at home it was. Having amused myself with some housework and supervising the decorator (!) I was also sorting out a website for a friend (Underworld Apothecary if you want to take a look) so not that relaxing.

Looking back through my files I found some pictures of Blackbury Camp. These were taken in late April when the bluebells were out.

 This is the remains of an iron age hill fort, It was excavated in the 1950s. According to English Heritage they believe that it was the defended stronghold of a wealthy family - a lot of sling stones were found here. The domestic angle is supported by the remains of local pottery and cooking pits and an oven as well as a hut.

Now the site is covered with woodland which makes it hard to imagine what it would have been like. Oh and bluebells. Lots and lots and lots of them...

I can safely say that  I have never seen so many bluebells. There must have been millions of them carpeting the area.

It was early evening when I took this and the light was starting to fail.

This is not the biggest of hill forts, more compact but it is still in reasonably good condition given that it has been reclaimed by the trees. It is possible to walk round the whole ramparts in 10 or 15 minutes but the temptation is to linger..

And yet more bluebells! Fortunately there were tracks clear of them as it would have been a real shame to have to walk over them ( although sadly plenty of the visitors and their dogs were). For early evening and starting to get cold it was still remarkably busy.

Well worth a visit in April/May if you like bluebells!

Lydney - Temple to Nodens

Temporarily grounded this weekend due to the bathroom redecoration project. I keep telling myself it WILL be worth it!

Fortunately due to the 3 month break I do have some trips that I haven't yet blogged on so this week it is the Lydney Park Estate and the Roman temple there. The park has very restricted opening so for much of the year the temple is not accessible to the general public and it won't be open again until Easter 2015.

The Estate is worth visiting for the spring gardens alone. I love the way the bulbs have been naturalised into the grass here at the entrance to the car park.

As usual of course the only way is up. The temple is sited at the top of the hill probably to give a clear view of the Severn Bore when it goes up the river twice a day. It is also within the confines of an iron age hill fort which may also have had something to do with the choice of site.

Did stop a few times to admire the view across the estate. It was a fairly steep climb in places!

Well worth it though. It is a classically styled Roman temple dedicated to the Celtic God Nodens. He is linked with healing, the sea, dogs and hunting. The mosaics survive but are covered by earth and turf and we had to content ourselves with the pictures in the small museum inside the house itself.

He may also have been in the curse business as a lead curse tablet was found  "For the god Nodens. Silvianus has lost a ring and has donated one-half [its worth] to Nodens. Among those named Senicianus permit no good-health until it is returned to the temple of Nodens)"

As well as the Temple, there is a surviving Bath house which would have been part of the temple complex.

Descending back towards the gardens themselves we came across a couple of statues guarding the entrance to the gardens. Whilst the temple probably dates from 364CE and was in use to maybe around 500CE, the date of these are uncertain.  They were originally thought to be Roman but are possibly 16th or 17th century.  Likewise the identities are also unknown  - this is possibly Pan  according to the English Heritage Protection listing

The same source lists this as the Empress Faustina.  They are now sited quite a way from the temple complex but were formerly more closely associated. Her hairstyle reminds me very strongly of a statue at the Temple of Sulis in Bath

Chanctonbury Ring

Sorry for the break  - but it was needed. Hopefully it will now be back to the usual weekly postings!

So this weekend was a trip to see some friends in Chichester.  I've posted from there in the past and I was sure this trip would provide no new material but I  had completely failed to realise how close it is to Chanctonbury Ring.

So a detour on the way home. Fortunately the heat of yesterday had moderated as it's a long climb up. The gradient isn't too bad but there is the ever present hazard of the trail cyclists to contend with - one almost flattened some fellow walkers pet spaniel.

The view from the bottom. Thanks to the magic of a zoom lens it doesn't look that far...

I was glad to see the final approach though! The beech trees were originally planted in 1760 but many were blown down in 1987. They have been replanted and are now of a reasonable size. As well as beech there were ash and oak there today. I was eyeing up the oak apples but they were still green and I left them for the moths.

Whilst the South Downs path which runs alongside the hill fort was busy with walkers and cyclists, most were giving the ring a wide berth and for the most part we had it to ourselves. Whether this was due to its rather sinister reputation or familiarity/disinterest I have no idea but I wasn't complaining.

There is a Romano/Celtic temple on the site but it is now covered by undergrowth - mostly nettles and I wasn't brave enough to venture off the paths that criss cross the small fort. Legends abound here especially the tale of the devil offering a bowl of soup/porridge in exchange for your soul should you circumnavigate the fort x number of times. An old folk memory of ancient rites? Who knows.

It is reputed to be a haunted and "creepy" place where no birds sing and no animals live. There are plenty of tales of people attempting to stay the night and being frightened off and of dogs and horses refusing to pass.

I loved it.

Yat's the way to do it!

Sorry - couldn't resist ( and of course showing my age!).

Symonds Yat today. It's not an area we have ever visited before and now I'm wondering why! The weather was perfect, the sun was out and as usual the crowds tend to stay close to the beaten track so it's easy to find some lovely quiet  unspoiled areas.

So I lovely day to day starting with King Arthur's cave. This was our objective and I was reminding myself that we needed to take a torch. It was halfway over the Severn Bridge that I remembered it was still on the hall table. Whoops. Fortunately the mobile phone has a helpful "assistive light" so that would have to do!

 King Arthur's cave shows evidence of long occupation by man. Certainly since the upper Palaeolithic time. Discoveries inside the cave show hyena bones, woolly mammoth and lots of flint tools.





The cave of course has plenty of local Arthur superstition around it. Vortigern is said to have made his last stand nearby


The cave clearly  goes far back. Lacking a torch of course it was hard to see but the camera flash gives some tantalising glimpses into the recesses. This was the first  of many caves we saw today. The limestone cliffs are riddled with them, some are fenced off presumably as too dangerous to enter and the hillside is pockmarked with sink holes ( depressions left where underlying cavern roofs have collapsed.


So after the cave comes the hill fort. This was a steep climb up the hillside to the Little Doward Hill fort but well worth it for the views. I wasn't quite so keen on having to pass through a small herd of  cattle - they looked like Charolais but they had some mighty big horns...

The views from the top are spectacular. Is this the  'Castle of Gwrtheyrnion'? It seems a good candidate

Archaeologically speaking, recent excavations have shown that the inhabitants lived in round houses within the enclosure. Many of the ditches and ramparts are still visible and it was well worth the effort of the climb.

Time now to go down to the River Wye itself. passing some spectacular rock cliffs. The cliffs bear the scars of blasting as this was a centre for the production of lime.



 
 The resultant cliffs though are a wonderful habitat for rare plants and a lesson in how when left to itself, nature can erase the damage caused by man.



 Where there is limestone and plenty of wood there are likely to be lime kilns, This is the remains of the 17CE one just above the river.

 Time now to go down to the river itself - in fact to cross it by the footpath over the suspension bridge. Great fun - but now the crowds begin. Lots of families out enjoying the sun and hordes of cyclists. Yes time to head to the pub for some lunch.

After a quick run up Symonds Yat rock to admire the view it was time to cross back over the river - this time by the Hand Ferry. Bargain at £1.20 pp. This is an ancient crossing point but I think the rope wouldn't originally have been a steel cable.

Hard work for our ferryman though.

White Horses and Woolly Bears - an unusual combination!

Or to be more precise Cherhill Down, between Calne and Malborough. Although on paper niot far from home this time, it is an awkward trip and reminds me of the old quip that "you wouldn't want to start from here!"

Oldbury Castle is an Iron Age hillfort. It's huge, covering about 25 acres and is remarkably well preserved.

 The banks and ditches are very well preserved and it is quite a steep climb up to the fort itself. After last week though this was a breeze!

And another shot. It's a popular place with dog walkers and families. Note the sun and lovely blue sky the weather forecasters promised us. No I can't see it either...

Perched on the top of the fort is the crumbling Lansdowne Monument. Bits are starting to fall from the sides and access to the stepped plinth is currently fenced off for safety reasons. It's on the National Trust's list to be repaired but they have no budget for it.

This Victorian monstrosity is 125ft high and was erected  in 1845 by the Third Marquis of Lansdowne to commemorate Sir William Petty ( Economist, Scientist and Philosopher just in case you don't recall him).

Now on to the horse which was carved into the side of the hillfort  in 1780 by the "mad doctor" -Dr Christopher Alsop.   

 Coming down in search of some lunch we spotted this chap making his way up the pathway. Despite our best efforts he was determined to contine his route up the trackway.





 I just hope he didn't get eaten. He was very conspicuous against the chalk

For lunch we thought we'd head back to the Barge at Honey Street. Last time we were here the white horse was all but invisible against the snow on the hills. Today though he stands out brilliantly.




Not such good news on the food front, the Barge decided it was too busy to want our custom so we decamped to the new tearoom just across the other side of the main road and had cake and sandwiches there instead. Time then to head home and tackle some Sunday afternoon gardening.

Hobnobbing with the Goblins

Having visited the Waterstone a few weeks ago we resolved to go back and wander down the evocatively named Goblin Combe valley. This is a popular nature reserve but it was bitterly cold and not many had ventured out.

Despite the name I have been unable to find much about it other than the following folk tale...

“There was a parcel of children and they was a-picking primroses, see, and one poor little dear her wandered away on her lone self right down into Goblin Combe. She were only a little trot, see, and didn't know no better. Well, when she do find she's a lost she cries, and the tears do run down her dear little face, and dap on her pinafore like summer rain, and she do throw her self against a rock. Then the rock opens and there's the fairies all come to comfort her tears. They do give her a gold ball and they lead the dear little soul safe home – on account she was carrying primroses, see. Well, twas the wonder of the village and the conjuror he gets the notion he'd aget his fists on more than one gold ball when next the fairies opened the hill. So he do pick a bunch of primroses and he go on up Goblin Combe, and he was glad enough to get in to the rock after all he see and hear on the way up. Well, twasn't the right day, nor the right number of primroses, and he wasn't no dear little soul – so they took him!“

Goblin Valley  is the home of Cleve Toot, and Iron Age hill fort

It's overgrown and hard to make out but the information board says this is it so who am I to argue?




The hill fort is overshadowed by a rocky out crop - there must be a way up?

Ah this looks promising!















Yes indeed. This was a mighty scramble up. There may have been some nice steps at the bottom but the path quickly became steep and slippery and a bit of rock climbing was called for.

Still the view was spectacular and well worth the effort. Great spot for plane spotters as well with Bristol Airport very close by.

Coming down was far worse than climbing up.

As this is a "family friendly" walk there are plenty of information boards. This one was beautifully carved with some of the local inhabitants.







As for goblins - did we see any? Sadly not . Well apart from this one that is.

Two hill forts - yes really there are!

On the hunt for Iron Age remains you quickly learn that there are those that are popular and those that just  - aren't. What is the difference between those that are preserved and cared for and those that are allowed to just moulder away? 

The weekend was spent on the Welsh heritage coast  - more specifically at the small town of Llantwit Major which was hosting the 2012 National Eisteddfod.

The cliffs are broken at Llantwit and it is possible to walk along them in both directions. Today we chose to go east - towards Aberthaw and passing two iron age hill forts.

The coast is eroding here quite rapidly, the layers of limestone interspersed with shale are very unstable and falls are common. The path is continually having to be moved back and at more than one point I was wondering if there was anything solid underneath us at all.

The views though are magnificent. The cave visible in the middle of the shot is at Tresillian and you can just see the lighthouse at Nash Point above the trees in the far distance.

Looking down gives super views of the limestone pavement that this stretch of coastline is justifiably famous for.

So on to Castle Ditches. This is very hard to see from the ground. The remains of the fort are buried in dense vegetation and part has been lost to the sea. 






It is obvious whether you are crossing the embankments and ditches but because of the undergrowth just about impossible to see the extent.


However our objective was the hill fort at Summerhouse Point. This turned out to be further away than anticipated ....

...and there it is  - yes also buried under dense vegetation! This is a semi aerial view taken from the Seawatch centre. This is a converted Coastguard station and we were very lucky to find it open  - it often isn't.  We were greeted with enthusiasm by the volunteer on duty and treated to a tour of the navigation and meteorological instruments housed there as well as shown some of the fossils and other marine detritus collected from that stretch of the coastline.

The hill fort itself is also being lost to the sea and has never been excavated. It is ( so I'm told!) semi circular and dated from around 700BCE to 100CE. It is mooted that it was just a look out point rather than having been inhabited but without an excavation it cannot be proven one was or the other.

The fort  gets  its name form the octagonal tower which was built by the Seys family in around 1730. The views must have been spectacular but today it survives as an ivy clad ruin.

You may need to take my word for it that there is indeed a building under there!








S

One fort is never enough.

Not exactly raining today but looking as if it might do so. Nothing daunted, pack the waterproofs and venture into Dorset and to Hod Hill near Blandford Forum.

Make no mistake this is a STEEP climb up and I'm gasping long before we reach the top - also keeping a wary eye on the young bullocks in the field - they have some fearsome looking horns but mercifully take no interest at all in me.

This is a large fort - Roman at one end and Iron Age at the other. The Roman's captured the fort from the local tribe and unusually reused it themselves. Seeing the extent of the fortifications who can blame them. The amount of labour that must have gone into digging the ditches is incredible ( the cows to the left give a degree of scale)

This is the Iron Age end  - there are the remains of over 2500 round houses so it would have been a sizeable settlement for the Durotriges. The site dates from around 500BCE before it was taken by the Romans in 44CE.


Getting close to lunch time now so a trip to nearby   Child Okeford and the Bakers Arms for a snack lunch in the pub garden. I'm told the beer was excellent but unfortunately we were driving....

So close so it seemed a shame not to visit Hambledon Hill fort which is very close by.

Another steep climb up and more young bullocks - these were older and had even more fearsome looking horns!


The fort comes into view long before you get there so it does provide some incentive for the climb. 

This fort is originally neolithic - radiocarbon dating places it at around 2850BCE in places although it must have been added too over the centuries. There are a couple of long barrows on the top.

Neither site has been ploughed or farmed in the interim and both are covered with an array of chalk lovng plants. As SSRIs they are protected and maintained by light grazing  - plenty of evidence that cows graze there!