Waterstone

No not the bookshop!


After the adventure of finding the Wimblestone last week it seemed a good idea to go in search of the Waterstone as  the Wimblestone is said to visit the Waterstone for a drink. As the Wimblestone itself  is close to a water course itself it does seem an awful long way to go for a drink so I guess we could conclude that it makes the journey for social purposes!

Anyway this is an ancient burial chamber right by Bristol airport and not given to wandering about so it should be easy to find.

The Waterstone is on the edge of Goblin Combe which is nicely sign posted from the A38. So far so good. The road though is in pretty poor condition and I winced more than once as we hit the car's undercarriage.

We were supposed to park here.

Yes I didn't think it a very good idea either. After some careful testing of the water depth we elected to go on and ended up parking right up by the end of the airport fence along with all the plane spotters.


 Still it made a reasonable walk out of what would have been only half a mile or so.

Walking back was all downhill and we spotted this magnificent stag in the tree.








After last week's fun and games, this stone was refreshingly easy to find ( apart from the odd barbed wire fence in the way). I guess the proxmity of the airport may have been part of the reason for the subatantial barrier. However where there's a will there's a way and a convenient track took us to the right field.

And here it is - the remains of a Portal Dolman. The mound is almost completely gone and the stones have moved.

Folklore has it that offerings of primroses were made here - too early in the year unfortunately for us to continue the tradition.

This is the capstone with the hollow for the water. It is said never to dry up. With all the rain though we've had recently it was inevitably full.

 A close up of the hollow.  The water may look  a little strange - that is due to the layer of ice over the top  Although too low for the snow last night it was bitingly gold.

Cydweli and Llangstaffen - castles, wells and dolmens!

Kidwelly - famous for its castle, its Welsh Boudica, Gwenllian  and of course:

 Hen fenyw fach Cydweli Yn gwerthu losin du, Yn rhifo deg am ddimai Ond unarddeg i mi. O dyna'r newydd gorau ddaeth i mi, i mi Yn rhifo deg am ddimai Ond unarddeg i mi

(The dear old lady of Kidwelly. A seller of sweets is she, Counts out ten for a halfpenny. But always eleven for me. That was very good news for me, for me. Counts out ten for a halfpenny. But always eleven for me.)

 The castle is very well preserved - fortunate really as the sky was an ominous grey and it looked like we'd be in need of shelter. Being the local centre of justice the castle has a prison - and even a high security wing! This consisted of a hole in the floor into which the unfortunate prisoner was despatched. Shaped like a bottle there was no way out other than attempting to scale the smooth stone walls and even then the top would have been barred. Not a pleasant fate.

Being so well preserved there are an abundance of towers to climb and rooms to explore as well as an aerial walkway with views down over the town.







However one castle was not ebough and it was on to Llansteffan for lunch and a second castle.

This one is much smaller than Cydweli and not in such good condition but strangely I like it far better. Perhaps the views over the beach made the difference? 

Having seen the castle we walked around the back in search of the holy well of St Anthony. Hidden behind a wooden doorway in the wall it is a calm and peaceful place. Named for the hermit  Antwn it is said to have been a place of healing since 6CE.










Time to head back  but it seemed a shame to head straight back to the main road. The other places visited today were easy to find so we wanted a challenge! Spotting a burial tomb nearby we set off to find it.


Twlc y Filiast is quite well hidden. Although it is visible from the path, the path itself is not signposted as one and we did a complete circuit  of the nearby village before working out just where t must be, parking the car and setting off.

Definitely worth it though. A capstone and a couple of uprights, the setting is just perfect in a patch of woodland next to a stream

In the footsteps of the builders of Stonehenge Pt 2

A little later than planned. Work demands rather took over last week .....

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny so we started with a quick run up  Foel Cwmcerwyn, the highest point in the Presilli Hills ( and indeed in Pembrokeshire). OK quick run was a bit of an exaggeration but we were down in time to return to the Tafarn Sinc for a drink at lunchtime. Starting again from Rosebush this is a long but not too steep climb up. There were some fabulous views over the countryside but it was too hazy to photograph well.

Time then for part 2 of the plan - standing stones and stone circles. The area is dotted with them and we packed in as many as we could given that we had to head back home in the late afternoon.

First on the agenda was Maenclochog. The stone was in the centre of a freshly sown field so we couldn't get too close. Amazing how good a picture you can get though whilst balancing on a bank above a ditch and peering through a barbed wire fence!

Next, just a mile or two away was the stone at Temple Druid. Easy enough to see when you know where to look but hard to see from the car. We had to get out and wander about a bit to find it








This one was more of a challenge. Again some clambering up banks was required and we couldn't get any closer. It isn't actually visible from the road so quite a bit of bank clambering had to be done until we finally spotted it....

This pair were out on the moorland and required a bit of a hike to reach. They are distantly visible from the road but we wanted to get closer. Unfortunately this also meant  negotiating some unforeseen hazardous such as streams, bogs and gorse! Worth it though.

Next stop was a stone circle   - Gors Fawr. 16 bluestones ( like Stonehenge) in an oval ring. This was probably the best time to visit it before the gorse grows up for the summer.

Close by are two outrigger stones  which would seem to be part of the whole complex.

Next on the list was marked as  "a burial chamber".

 Carn Besi is close to the main road but that is as far as easy accessibility goes. Another clamber up a steep bank with plenty of brambles to avoid. More barbed wire at the top  so we settled for another creative distance shot.  Some lovely views of the Presilli Hills behind it though so definitely worth a stop.

We were getting rather tired now and thought we'd head into Newport for something to eat  - unfortunately the season hasn't started yet so we were spectacularly unsuccessful.

However we did come across Carreg Coetan Arthur so it wasn't a complete waste of time. This is a Cadw site and the remains of a chambered tomb ( dolmen style) probably dating from 3000BCE.



Now we really had had enough and decided to head for Camarthen for some food before heading back along the M4.  Despite all these good intentions though we passed the sign for Pentre Ifan - should we stop? It was late and we were tired and hungry and had already decided that we would be returning to the area for a longer stay so we thought we'd give it a miss. Then changed our minds!