Mynydd-Y-Glog

Making the most of the Indian summer , Is summer gonna last til Xmas ? I visited Mynydd-y-Glog near deryn , yesterday (SN97100908) .This Cairn is constructed from large limestone rock and has a seven metre diameter making it the largest cairn I have seen in the Rhondda . it's original purpose may have been sepulchral . Epic trip !!!

Waun Leuci

                                                                        Waun Leuci (SN854215)

Bronze age stone is a half mile north from Maen Mawr  ,  half mile drive north towards Trecastle . Stone is visible from the car park across the road  500 metres up the slopes . No one is quite sure of what the purpose of this 2.5 metre stone was . One theory is the stone is aligned with Maen Mawr , one would need to carry a step ladder to prove this ..

Waun Leuci

Stony mound on Waun Leuci has all the characteristics of a Cairn to my untrained eye. (SN854215)

Bronze Age Site at Cerrig Doun

A few weeks ago we drove over to the Black Mountains  high up in the Tawe Valley on the western edge of Brecon , to visit a Bronze Age Complex at Cerrig Duon (sn85132066) 7 miles south of the town of  Trecastle .  Weather was grey overcast with  not even a hint of breeze . First thing I had to do was to get across the stream  which was easy enough , up a shallow band  . The standing stone (sn85132066) and  circle are  situated on a plateau at the foot of the Black Mountains . The place has a mystical vibe  a pall of fog/mist hung over the mountains for the duration magnified the buzz .  .Also here is a ceremonial avenue west of the stone circle (sn85142064) with fallen stones . Two small stones are in alignment with Maen Mawr (sn85132066) ..Mid Winter sun dial ? . ...Well worth the trip ...

 

Waen Lleuci

Cwm Cadlan Ring Cairns

Well preserved Bronze Age *ring cairn  on moorland at  Cwm Cadlan near Penderyn  .This  large monument is just over 15 metres in diameter from east to west  . The outer bank of stones is 2-3 metres wide   .

 Two more ring cairns are 200 metres south from here.  

 *'Ring cairns may have had a function that lay somewhere between that of the much older henges and the contemporary stone circles. The fact that in southeast Wales there are so few stone circles could be related to the fact that ring cairns were built there instead '.(wikipedia)

 Cwm Cadlan Ring Cairn 2 (grid ref SN98551095 ) 

 Ring cairn number 2 ,+ feathered friend    

Cwm Cadlan Ring Cairn 1 (grid ref SN98641101 )

Cadair Fawr Round Cairn

Cadair Fawr Round Cairn (grid ref SN97581260 )

Bronze Age Cairn in a spectacular setting on top of Cadair Fawr near Penderyn surrounded by carboniferous* limestone done up like a lunar landscape . The twin peaks of Corn Du and Pen y Fan are southwest in the not so far off distance . The iron age settlement to top of  Mynydd Cefn - y - Gyngon across the other side of the valley above Tower Colliery

  *Rocks formed in warm, shallow tropical seas teeming with life. The rock is made up of the shells and hard parts of millions of sea creatures between 363 and 325 million years ago.

Getting there I cycle over the Rhigos to Penderyn . Then along a country lane towards Cwm Cadlan .

It's a beautiful day . Sun is out  summer breeze whistles through branches shedding leaves . Then from nowhere something smacks into my chest .I look down . Below my left shoulder a large green and yellow dragonfly* with  huge compound eyes . It's mandibles gripping onto my shortsleeve . Seconds later it was gone..

Golden ringed Dragonfly . 

Largest species in the UK ..