Wholistic Arts

Castro de San Cibrán de Lás, Ourense At the same time that Raye and Dave were looking at hill-forts in Bakewell , the Spanglish section of the team were up in the hills near Ourense, checking out a fantastic hill-fort of our own. This castro is on the brow of a hill (as always), but with a circular wall around it of immense proportion. Further up the hill is a smaller circle of an inner compound, and between the two are hundreds of round houses, like a honeycomb. As we walked on the top, I helped Malusa jump down off a large rock, and I noticed that the floor beneath her made a hollow echo. I stomped around a bit, and Loreto agreed that it sounded like the whole hill was hollow. Castromao We also visited a second hill-fort, which looks like a more compact version of the one mentioned above, on a steeper incline, although this one is in a worse state of repair. It looks as though some archaelogical work on it has been abandoned (maybe they ran out of funds), because a lot of it is ba...

Bakewell and Pilsbury Castles We set off with the intention of going to two places. The first a motte and bailey in Bakewell. At the tourist information and the "local" said there was no castle in Bakewell! When I explained it was a bailey and motte and showed a picture there was still a sign of disbelief..."well if it is there its not visible?" Anyway, we proceeded and walked up, yes, Castle Hill! Behind a bungalow was a small field and a gate. We felt, as often happens on these expeditions, that we were trespassing. It has been left and is more like a copse with trees and bushes,but nevertheless is still there. What a find. It made sense that this would be a good position for a castle. It was difficult to capture in a photo because in order to get a clear view by stepping back the bushes then hid it. So, the two photos are taken one at a distance and the other close (but too close to get the feel of the 'bowl' effect inside. A bit of history: Edward the ...

Hemlock Stone, Nottinghamshire The Hemlock Stone stands near the summit of Stapleford Hill adjacent to Bramcote Hills and the park. The Hemlock Stone is felt by many to have been the site of past activity by the Druids, the priesthood of the Celts. It would form a natural focal point, a temple and altar for Celtic festivals such as Beltane, where the ancient practice of lighting fires on the stone during the night before May Day continued until the early 19th century. The combination of the stone with the surrounding oak woodland (the oak being a sacred tree for the Celts) and a nearby 'sacred spring' all add credence to the idea of Druidic use. On older maps the spring is shown as the 'Healing Well', just to the north-west of Stapleford Hill. This now lost natural spring was used by gypsies and miners alike as a place to wash and a local 'cure-all'. Local folklore even conjures up the idea of witches at the site using the poisonous hemlock plant in their poti...

Castle of Sobroso & Castro de Troña, Mondariz We took a drive up to the recently restored castle of Sobroso, way up on top of a very high hill. One of the most interesting facts about the place comes from relatively recent history - in the 1930's a journalist bought the place and began to restore it with the intention of living there, but once the fascist Franco regime took power, he was executed and his possessions passed to the government, who used it strategically during the civil war, but after left it to ruin. Also in the area is a church built right on top of a castro (Celtic village). We took a look around, and were surprised to find half of the church burnt out, even though the sign on the door shows that it is still a functioning church. It struck me, as dad went round with his divining rods, that the castro, the castle, and the church have all been built on this hill for the same reason - it contains a natural water source. If you're looking to set up a village a...

Castle-an-Dinas, Cornwall Castle-an-Dinas is one of the largest and most impressive hillforts in Cornwall, sited in an imposing position on the summit of Castle Downs with extensive and panoramic views across central Cornwall to both north and south coasts. It features in Cornish legend as one of the seats of the Duke of Cornwall and folklore has it that Cador, Duke of Cornwall, and Ygraine, King Arthur’s mother were killed here. That the site has attracted such mythic associations may be a reflection of its continued significance from its prehistoric beginnings into the Post-Roman and Early mediæval periods. This hill fort in the Parish of St.Columb Major is a scheduled monument of great importance. It is 700 ft above sea level and commands extensive views, it occupies a strategic position overlooking trade routes through Cornwall, this was a natural site for an Iron Age fortress. It covers an area of 20 acres and is one of the largest of its kind in Cornwall. The defences comprise t...

Pilsbury Castle, Derbyshire I can't believe it is Mabon (autumnal equinox) time again already. I ventured out just after Hartington in Derbyshire on a gated road to Pilsbury, after that I walked along a public footpath to the site of Pilsbury Castle. Pilsbury itself is a shrunken village which dates back at least to Anglo-Saxon times. At the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, it was part of the Manor of Pilsbury and Ludwell. The site of the monastic grange at Pilsbury is likely to have been here in the sheltered spot overlooking the river. The large present-day houses can be traced to the late 17th/early 18th century. I braved an onslaught of sheep, having strayed into a field off the public footpath. As I opened the gate a lot of sheep came from all over the field to 'attack' me! They weren't afraid either, so I legged it to the next field. Eventually I arrived at the site. I could sense how things would have been over a thousand years before, and probably even befor...

Lago de Castiñeiras, Pontevedra By the "Lake of Chestnuts" is a fantastic dolmen, called Chan de Castiñeiras, built in the centre of a large mound, presumably part of the original structure. A short walk away lies another, although that one has the top missing and is barely visible from a distance. A quick check with the compass showed us that these two were alligned perfectly from North to South. A little further south of the ruined one, we saw another group of stones - we went to check them out, but they looked too natural to be a constructed site; they also fit the North-South allignment. Maybe the two man-made ones were built along the line of the naturally occuring mound? After a picnic, our newly enlarged party (Dave & Raye, Vic and Loreto now with baby Malusa) went to the Chan de Arquiña - the last site that Vic and Loreto visited while the latter was still pregnant with Malusa. It was nice to sit on the dolmen with the baby and remember being there in the fog wit...

Beauchief Abbey, near Sheffield A nice day to start with but later turned a bit wet. We had read a book 'Atlas of Magical Britain', in it was Beauchief Abbey, near Sheffield, that had two leylines intersecting by it. The murder of St. Thomas a Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on 29th December 1170 AD brought about the founding of the Abbey. Robert Fitzranulph, Lord of Alfreton, was said to have felt remorse at Thomas a Becket’s murder and gave land, sealing a charter granting the establishment of an Abbey at Beauchief. We found three leylines! Two of them both headed Northwards at each side of the Abbey (the West Tower is the only remaining part of the original) and we managed to find the third after intense investigation. This was the one that went North-eastward to Norton. Where we later investigated the church, which was founded in 1170 and what looked like a Saxon cross used as a war memorial. The first leyline we found was 23 paces, as usual, heading North-South and can be ...

Chan de Arquiña, Pontevedra We headed out in the afternoon - it had been raining heavily all morning, but by afternoon it was cheering up a bit. We couldn't find any useful directions on how to get there, and it doesn't appear on google maps either, so we headed for the rough area and crossed our fingers. As we got futher inland, and higher up, the fog got thicker and thicker. Eventually, we found a picnic area that looked hopeful, and asked a man there if we were in the right place - he told us were to go (about a mile further down the road), and added that with this much fog, we might not find it! We found the other picnic area, and started walking around, with an ever increasing sense of hopelessness - running over to every big rock visible through the dense fog, only to be disappointed. We decided to try the other side of the parking area, and eventually, we saw it on top of a hill (or sticking out from the top). It's quite low, but that's probably because it hasn...

Cornwall Searching the map before we left for Cornwall we found a possible leyline starting at St Austell Bay near Higher Porthpean. When we arrived we started to look for the 2nd point, a quarry. Castle Gotha Iron Age hillfort was 1st but we had tried to find it previously unsuccessfully. Because there was not much left of the quarry onto the next port of call. We found 'Beacon Cross', a Saxon Cross, hidden in a hedge but checking with divining rods found the leyline nearby, 23 paces across. The line also passed through the Lost Gardens of Heligan nearby. We then searched for Veryan Castle which was hard to find. Eventually found it clearly from a certain viewpoint. The picture shows the hillfort with Carne Beacon tumulus in the background. We had just before climbed on it and the views were spectacular. Then we ventured down to Pendower Beach and sure enough found the leyline going off into the sea, exactly 23 paces across! Onto St Anthony Head where we were able to view the ...

Pontevedra No trips this time - Raye and Dave came over to Spain to visit, but I had a bad bout of sciatica so we couldn't go anywhere. From a mystical perspective, our previous trip to Lapa de Gargantáns was the last one we did before finding out that Loreto was pregnant - so maybe there's something in the fertility myths connected with these places! Following this train of thought, the solstice did have some significance, as it was at this time that we found out the sex of the baby (it's a she!), so we were able to send Raye and Dave home with the knowledge that the next addition to their family will be a granddaughter. Vic

Lapa de Gargantáns, Moraña We went out into the countryside between Santiago and Pontevedra in search of the menhir "Lapa de Gargantans" (meaning either Limpet of 'Gargantans' or possibly the Big-throated Limpet!). We got lost (as usual!) and decided to head to the nearest small town and see if we could find our way from there. We were amazed to see dozens of enormous signposts all over the place! "Wow!" - we said to each other, because signs are normally few and far between for these things. When we got to a shabby carpark, we saw a farmer and asked him were it was - "just over that ridge". We walked a couple of hundred metres and there it was - about half the size we'd been expecting! It was still a nice one - and a beautiful shape - but no more than 2m in height, where it had once been over 3 and a half. The photos we'd seen made it seem much bigger, and with it being so well signposted too, we left feeling a little disappointed. But it ...

Long Meg, Cumbria We went to see Long Meg and her daughters. This is the 3rd largest stone circle in England after Avebury and Stanton Drew. There is a large ring and several large outlying stones. The largest of these outliers is Long Meg, the "mother stone". Long Meg is about 12 ft high and looks very impressive. Close inspection showed spiral carvings on her face. The circle itself is composed of 59 large stones and a trackway runs through them, similar to Avebury. When I used my dowsing rods there were two specific areas of activity. These were two circles about 6ft diameter within the 'circle'. I realised that the circle was more like an ellipse and that the two "vortex's" were the ellipses centres. Amazing. Dave

Castlerigg Stone Circle, Cumbria The day before we viewed the Mabon Stone we decided to visit "Arthurs Round Table" an impressive earthwork less than half a mile from Mayburgh Henge which has one large stone in the centre remaining. We then went to Castlerigg Stone Circle in Cumbria, a site we had always wanted to go. The setting was unbelievable, all around there were mountains with the circle set in the centre, spectacular. I dowsed with rods and they crossed inside the inner ring. Using the rods I sensed a leyline passing through the top of the circle about 15ft wide. Viewing East and West it appeared as though the line went from one summit to another. Dave

Mabon Stone, Gretna, Scotland The Autumn Equinox or Harvest Home is also called Mabon, pronounced 'MAY-bon', after the Welsh god Mabon ap Modron, which means literally 'son of mother'. So we set off to Scotland to view the "Mabon Stone": The Mabon stone was named for Mabon, the Celtic God of fertility, corn harvest, equilibrium and equinox. The day of autumnal equinox we experience equal hours of light & darkness. The Northern hemisphere transcends into Autumn and Winter and the Southern hemisphere into Spring and Summer. It is where the Celtic culture celebrated and empathised with nature. After walking around for hours under bad weather conditions we found what we thought must be the stone but it was not what we expected. Later, climbing out of a farm enclosure into the farm drive, the owner explained that she had not seen the stone even though it was in the next farm, she had heard that it had 'fell over', checking it out again I am sure it is t...

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne or Holy Island is a beautiful place, it has a Priory which is now in ruins and a castle on a hill. The castle was used by the military but I would imagine this was probably an iron age hill fort earlier. St Cuthbert was buried at Lindisfarne, and his remains later transferred to Durham Cathedral, having been there last year this was our homage to him to see where he spent most of his life and wrote the famous Gospels. Coincidentally, we saw this on TV soon after we arrived home. The Gospels had come 4th in the most treasured 'secrets' of the UK (The Domesday book being no.1). A magical island which can only be reached via the causeway at low tide. We tried to leave early in order to visit Bamburgh Castle but the tide beat us! Dave

Vigo and Tui Casa dos Mouros, Candeán, Vigo A dolmen on a small piece of land in the middle of a housing estate. It took us ages to find, and the path is quite overgrown with bracken, but it was well worth the trip. We didn't stay long, as it was a scorching hot day, and we wanted to get to the next place before it got too hot... Alto dos Cubos, Monte Aloia, Tui A castro at the top of a mountain forest. It was at least a couple of kilometres walk through the forest, but the tall pines kept us shaded from the heat. The castro was wonderful, with a view down the mountain to the town of Tui and the river that seperates Galicia from Portugal. As with all the castros, we noticed that it had a great strategic location, as you'd see the Romans coming for days before they actually reached you. Vic

Guimaraes, Portugal We headed towards Porto to try to find the remains of a celtic town (Castro in Spanish, Citania in Portuguese). We got a bit lost on the way, and ended up finding the beautiful historic city of Guimaraes. We found this Templar guarding the entrance to the castle there! (He's supposed to be the first King of Portugal). After lunch, we headed to a different 'citania' than originally planned - Citania de Briteiros. This is a the remains of a vast city on a mountainside - apparently a very cosmopolitan place at the time of the Romans. The whole city has a gutter that would have had water running down from the natural spa at the top. At the bottom of the hill is a pool for bathing in the spa waters (unfortunately empty, but with renovation work going on at the moment). Vic

Druid's Circle, Penmaenmawr, Wales We had a little glimpse of 'summer' on Wednesday. James and Dave (dad) went to sea-side for a drive (James drove 276miles! Still learning!). We went to Prestatyn, Rhyl etc. on to Conwy, then Penmaenmawr. There, up in the Welsh mountain is a treasure called 'Druids Circle' , it is a fantastic ring of around 30 stones and it stands on the headland of Penmaenmawr above Conwy in Wales. It is close to a prehistoric trackway and three other stone circles. It has a portalled entrance consisting of 4 stones and may have been raised as early as 3000BC. We parked and walked for miles, then came down as the sun was setting, watched it go down over sea while eating curry and chips, really good. Dave

Castro Baroña A castro is the remains of a celtic village, and this one is on a small island in the sea connected by a tiny strip of land. We visited this site during Raye and Dave's trip to Spain for New Year, so Solstice-wise we were a few days late, but close enough! I think the thing we love most about these types of places is, while they may not be as 'mystical' as standing stones, they give the imagination a real boost as you try to ponder what life was like in one of those tiny circular houses, built together like a honeycomb. Vic

Brittany The full team plus one for this visit - we brought Claudia (Loreto's neice) with us too. Brittany is a beautiful place, and the only problem is the sheer quantity of sites to visit. You could easily spend a month there and still find out on your last day that there's something amazing you've missed! The first pictures shows the Dolmen de Crucuno - the centrepiece of a quiet little village which also has a very nice stone circle in easy walking distance. The second picture shows the most famous stones, at Carnac. There are literally thousands of stones spread out over several kilometres - far too many to see all at once, so you probably only get a true idea of the scale if you view it from the air (maybe next time!). The final picture shows by far the most impressive site for me (even if it was raining heavily while we were there!) - La Roche aux Fees. The name means "Fairy's Rock", and it certainly feels enchanted. You round the trees after leaving th...

Costa da Morte We spent the weekend travelling around the 'Coast of Death' - where we visited a magnificent dolmen (pictured). The most exciting thing about this dolmen is the conservation project - It's currently preserved within a big tent - but will soon be the centrepiece of an enormous permanent structrure to protect it from the elements. Not too much of the modern interfering with the ancient, the dome will respect the appropriate allignments as well as protect the site from the harsh Galician winter. Later, we visited Cabo Fisterra (Cape at the End of the Earth) - so called because it was the furthest point west that the Romans managed to venture. Scorching hot day too. No sunrise viewing this trip, but we did get sunburn! We also did the St John's Day celebration a couple of days later - same as usual, although the fireworks where much more impressive this year. Loreto and I jumped the fire together this year - no photo's tho. Vic

Blog Construction We went to Madrid the week before, so work constraints prevented us from making an equinox trip, but I made up for it by creating this blog instead. And because I started work on this blog on the night of the 22nd, I feel that I still marked the occassion in a suitable fashion, even if I didn't physically go anywhere! Vic

Bartlow Hills, Cambridge Back in the UK again, this time we'd arrived at Stansted, so we stopped off at the picturesque village of Saffron Walden (and got lost - reviving old traditions!!) and later managed to find the twin burial mounds in the tiny village of Bartlow Hills. It was getting dark when we arrived - we were too late to see the sunset, but we managed to find the mounds, one of which has stairs up to the top. They look quite small from the ground, and in twilight, but once you've got to the top, you realise that they're enormous. There were more here at one time, but now there's just the two, and we tried to use Dad's pocket compass to figure out if they were alligned, but everywhere we stood on the top gave us a different reading! Very charged electromagnetically, we decided. Vic

Petroglyphs, Pontevedra (Not my photo!) Another trip up into the mountains, this time a lot further away from home, to see some of the larger neolithic carvings - carved into large flat rocks at the top of a mountain. This was in the middle of a forest at the top of a mountain, but was quite a sad sight to behold, as the forest had been stripped bare by the enormous forest fires of the previous year, and only black trunks surrounded us, with bright green ivy growing up them. I wondered how many forest fires these ancient carvings must have witnessed over the last 10,000 years. Vic

St John's Day Festival, Pontevedra A return trip to the local festival - this will probably be the case every year, after all, our home town is called San Xoan (St. John)! Vic

Mountains of Pontevedra Returning to the idea of watching the sunrise, we went up into the mountains near home and found the perfect spot to look across the country, with the sea behind us. There are many neolithic markings on rocks in these mountains, but they're surrounded by trees, so we found a clearing with no particular mystical significance to welcome up the sun. A spectacular view of the sunrise from up there, and on the way home we saw a wild horse wandering along the edge of the road! Vic

The Bridestones, Cheshire (Not our picture!) We arrived back in the UK at Liverpool airport, and on the drive back, stopped off near Congleton to revisit a site we'd stopped off at one time on the way to Angelsey, The Bridestones. These two colossal stones are the entrance to what was once an enormous burial chamber - although many of the other stones have been removed. This site is particularly interesting as we used to drive past it every weekend on the way to see my grandparents, but you can't quite see it from the road, so we'd never known it was there! Vic