Imbolc 26

 

Imbolc marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox  , celebrating the beginning of Spring and the Goddess Brigid .

                                  The Queen of the Rushes / Paddy Fahy's Jig - Planxty 

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

On the final day on Angelsey we visited Oriel Môn Museum and arts centre in Llangefni  To check out an art exhibition by Leonard McComb  . 

Leonard Macomb Collection

 The Golden  Man 

 Rock and Sea Anglesey 1983 , large canvas on back wall .

Seeing what else the muesuem had to offer . We enter a room which has an impressive collection of  Bronze Age and Iron Age tools and artefacts  .

Iron Age God Head aka Hendy Head , was discovered in the 1950s  at Hendy farm near Llanfairpwllgwyngyll . The bust is made of  quartz-rich red sandstone and stands at half a metre high . The top of the head is flat . A hole has been drilled through the mouth .Could  be where offerings or insence were placed .

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 Video - Hendy Head & Bronze Age & skeletal remains  .

Urns and Tools 

Winter Solstice Round Barrow's on Mynydd y Garth

 

(grid ref ST104835)

 I made plans to visit a 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 was waterlogged . 

It wasn't too hard to find an alternative ancient site .

 I have gone past Garth Hill hundred of times on the train so getting there is easy . I took the train  .. It was raining when I boarded and raining when I alighted .  It wasn't too long before  sun made an appearance as I was 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 my way up a steep bank onto a road . Which led  to a a mile long steep narrow mountain road , .. "it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and 'roll' ..  

  I then hiked  up a dirt track that led 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 

Largest mound has a trig point attatched .Not nice ..

 

Plas Newydd Burial Chamber , Anglesey .

 

An impressive Chambered Tomb located on the grounds of an estate that 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 earth mound  that covered the Burial Chamber is long  gone  . 

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

 

  A 25 tonne limestone  capstone covers a 5,000 year old tomb . Tapered grooves visible on two sides are result of a method used to split off capstone . Wooden wedges were hammered  into deep man made holes drenched in water expanded and worked until chosen section snapped off . Genius !!! .  

The Capstone is supported by flat and short megaliths . This made the task of  getting a massive rock into position easier . 

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

 Burial Chamber was buried beneath an earth  mound . 

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