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When most of us think about stone circles Stonehenge usually pops to mind in short order. Yet the UK and Western Europe are filled with these strange often unexplainable monuments. Stonehenge itself is far from the largest or the oldest. Today’s post is on Gors Fawr (Great Wasteland) in Wales, which is where the bluestone used in the construction of Stonehenge came from. Basically this stone circle could well be Stonehenge’s mother.
Sat in the middle of a plain surrounded by massive hills hundreds of miles away from Salisbury plain this little area is far from easy to get to. When we were driving to it I had to contend with extreme down pours, flooded lanes, and road closures. The weather was brutal. However after an hour and a half we finally made the turn off down a single lane road that takes you to the monument.
Once we had pulled up something dawned on me... it was pissing down rain and the plain area around the stones was starting to flood... I hadn’t brought the right water proofs for the conditions. Furthermore if I was going to take photos I had to be quick so my iPad didn’t get waterlogged. So out the car we jumped for some fast photo taking... within five minutes I was soaked through with winter rain.
The stone circle itself doesn’t posses the same amount of size and grandeur of places like Stonehenge, Stanton Drew, or Avebury. But as you wonder around the site you begin to get a picture of how big this site must have once been. Little stone by little stone going outward for hundreds of meters forming larger circles mostly sunken into the ground. Despite the weather conditions I still found myself wondering what this place must have looked like when it was newly built. It’s almost hard to believe that it’s as young as archaeologist have settled on it being. In fact many say it’s easily four times older. You can almost believe that standing on this massive plain staring out from the centre of the circle at the Presley mountains in the background.
After 30 minutes of trying to get the best photos I could for the blog while trying not to ruin my electronics we retreated back to the car. I was soaked through... my partner being sensible brought a change of clothes as she always packs for everything nowadays. In my great wisdom I chose not to follow her example. So she changed out where we were parked into nice dry clothes, and I had to strip down to my boxers and a T-shirt for the rest of the drive.... never before have I appreciated heated seats so much.
When I say this area is remote I mean it’s remote. Well for the UK anyway. As we drove out I couldn’t help but notice something incredibly odd... every farm building, wall, old cottage, all of them were built in part with large chunks of white quartz. It was odd as I’ve never before seen that in any of the areas I’ve traveled in Europe. Today it’s not a cheap building material, but even centuries ago I would have thought that the blue stone in the mountains nearby would have been more practical. It was an interesting curiosity.
This was just a quick post to cover my three hour detour to this rather special isolated place here in the UK. I really wish I had better equipment to get better pictures in tough conditions. Sadly I had to make due with what I’ve got. If ever you find yourself in this neck of the UK it’s advisable to bring wellies and water proofs... and a change of clothes. Unless awkward driving is your thing. But the drive in is beautiful. Even in rough conditions. It has a similar feel to areas I’ve hunted in Tennessee and Kentucky. Pleasantly isolated but non negotiably beautiful.
Well guys thanks for reading this quick little write up. I’d of loved to have gotten more to build on here but the conditions were to rough. There will be a next time though as I intend to return to this location. As always looking forward to your posts and projects. Keep on Steeming. :)
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