From last summer when the valley was green and lush . I made tracks up the mountain behind the house to Tarren Maerdy a place I have visited dozens of times and in all that time I have not seen a single person .
To celebrate this years winter Solstice I went to see a ring cairn on Mynydd Baran in the Swansea Valley near Pontardawe . Knowing the area fairly well was a bonus I didn't spend too much time getting lost . We parked the car fairly close to the site .The seasonal squall made an apperance as I set off accross a muddy field like a man on a mission not bothered by muck and rain .
This ancient site is on the west side on the mountain summit . The Ring Cairn ((SN69730627 ) has a large burial cyst ringed by 25 remaining stones . Persumably there would have been structure or earth mound covering the burial cyst .
The large cyst is thought to be the largest in Wales . It definitley the largest I have seen on my travels so far .
The Capstone has been removed , smashed to bits possibly .
Collapsed Chambered Tomb is 50 metres NW below the ring cairn .
Last November I visited the second largest Stone Circle (ST 605633) in the UK near the village of Stanton Drew . The video's I made vanished from my files. I found them this morning . Better late than never .
Very exciting seeing massive monolithts from the road .
Lots of fallen stones ..
The Great Circle has 26 upright stones , measuring 113 metres across. It is the second largest in the UK after Avebury .
Six Bronze age cairns in various states of dissrepair close to the summit of Mynydd Caerau at the head of the Garw Valley .
It's a beautiful day on the last day of January. I cycle up the Bwlch Mountain from Treorchy . The area I am heading to is off road and is accessable through Llynfi Afan Wind Farm. .
Being ulta focused locating the Cairns on my last visit in 2018 . I did not appreciate the awesomeness of the scenery . I would go as far to say that the views - the sacred peaks of Corn Du & Pen y Fan - West . The vast expanse of the Bristol Channel -South . Exmoor on the other side .The outline of the coast around the Gower - South West - are the best I have seen on my travels along the hills in the upper Rhondda .
Three aligned cairns are situated thirty metres from the summit SSS890942.
Three more cairns are near the top of the mountain SS88960 ,. One has has been skewered with a trig point making it easy to locatate .Two cairns are ten metres below the trig S/W in close proximity . A shallow bank are all that remain of large burial mounds .
Is there a reason why ruined cairns can't be reinstated ? .
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