Carn Llechart Collapsed Chambered Tomb & Ring Cairn

 

Carn Llechart

 

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 .

Stanton Drew

 

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 .

Walkabout .

stanton drew

Castell Nos Reservoir Walk .

'Not a Soul in sight '. 

 Following the Afon Rhondda Fach flowing through Castell Nos Reservoir .

Six Cairns on Mynydd Caerau

 

 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 ? .

Imbolc 2023

 

First day of spring . 

Subtle energy beneath my feet ..

Happy New Year !