Carn Pen-y-Clogau

 

Carn Pen-y-Clogau (grid ref SN71701859 ) One of seven Bronze age Cairns situated on the top of  Black Mountains near Upper Brynamman in Carmarthenshire . We left it too late in the day to explore the area fully .

I will return ..

The Sun Goes Down

 

Sun disappears for the last time in 2025 ...See you on the other side .. 

Happy New Year...

Leonard McComb and Bronze Age Artefacts at Oriel Mon , Llangenfi

One the final day on Angelsey we visited Oriel Môn museum and arts centre in Llangefni  . To check out an art  exhibition by Scottish artist Leonard McComb who spent a lot of time on the island .Interesting stuff a great way to spend a few hours 

 The Golden  Man 

 Rock and Sea Anglesey 1983  on back wall  30 m x 10 

Seeing what else the muesuem had to offer . I enter a room with a sublime collection Ancient stuff . Never seen Bronze and Iron Age artefacts up close before .

Iron Age God Head aka Hendy Head ...

.. discovered in the 1950s  while  ploughing a field at Hendy farm near Llanfairpwllgwyngyll ., it was carved from quartz-rich red sandstone , stands at half a metre high . The top of the head is flat , a hole has been  drilled through the mouth . The purpose is unknown .May have been where offerings were placed  .

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 Hendy Head & Bronze Age & Entombed  Female skeletal remains  .

Urns and Tools 

Winter Solstice Round Barrow's on Mynydd y Garth

 

(grid ref ST104835)

 I made plans to visit Roman Amphitheatre near Newport to mark this years winter solstice. Unfortunately a week of heavy rain put paid to my plans . The ground in and around the amphitheatre is waterlogged . It wasn't too hard to find an alternative ancient site . I have gone past Garth Hill hundred of times on the train getting there is easy .. It was raining when I boarded  and it was raining when I alighted . After a few heavy showers  .The rain stopped  I was on the road . The sun made an appearance  crossing over the river Taff .The other side of the bridge is where the mountain starts . I went through a short narrow tunnel  before zig zagging up a steep bank onto a road that led to a steep mountain road ,an uphill slog for a mile .... "it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and 'roll' ..     And .. wasn't that long before I was hiking up a dirt track  from the base of the mountain leading to a plateau . From there I could see a large barrow a few hundred metres west . One of five that run along the 

summit of Mynydd y Garth .

Ruined barrow ..

Views in all directions are stunning 

The largest mound has a trig point on the top . Eyesore 

Plas Newydd Burial Chamber , Anglesey .

 

Impressive Chambered Tomb split into in two parts located on the grounds of an estate which once belonged to the Marquess of Anglesey . These days Plas Newydd , Country Park is looked after by the National Trust . The Burial Chamber sits on the brow of a hill 300 metres from the Menai Strait in a pituresque and well maintained setting . The day I was there the groundsman was mowing the grass around the Tomb .The mound of earth that covered the Burial Chamber has gone into the ether over the millennia . There isn't a trace of evidence in the Tomb in any form  . 

The smaller structure may have formed part of a passageway into the larger Chamber . 

Who knows ? 

A very cool place to spend an afternoon  ..!!

Roll Away The Stone . 

A large limestone rock a hundred metres from the chamber ..

Din Lligwy , Anglesey Lligwy Burial Chamber Lligwy trilogy Post 1

 

 5,000 years old Neolithic burial chamber with a huge 25 tonne capstone , one of the largest in the UK . The capstone was cut from larger limestone rock . Visible tapered grooves on two sides are the result of  wooden wedges being hammered  into man made holes , the wedge was then drenched in water to expand holes deep and wide enough to snap off chosen section .  The Capstone is supported by flat and short megaliths which would have made getting a massive rock into position easier . 

 Capstone is 18ft/5.5m long by 15ft/4.6m wide . 

 Burial Chamber was originally buried  beneath a mound of earth . 

 The tomb was excavated in 1908, human and animal bones , flint tools and pottery were among the finds .

Din Lligwy , Anglesey . Iron Age/Roman Settlement Llugwy trilogy Post 2 :

 

Din Llugwy (grid ref SH4970286134 ) is an Iron Age village which was later on occupied by Romans . The site covers an area over 1,100 square metres ,consiting of a communal area four rectangular buildings and two round huts surrounded by 1.5 (5') metre thick 1.2 m (4') high wall  .  Din Llugwy is close to Capel Lligwy (Post 3 ) 300 metre walk approx to the west side of field . Where there is a path through a small wood with wild garlic growing on both sides  .The original inhabitants settled here around 200BCE . The thick walls encircling the settlement are probably a weather shield rather than forifcation , the hilltop veiw would have been useful asset .These days the view down to  Lligwy Bay is obsured by a thicket of trees . Artefacts found here coins ,pottery and glass date from the late Roman period in the 3rd and 4th centuries .

Notched part of door frame , may be where timber placed across door on the inside was fitted .