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Machrie Moor Stone Circle- Arran Wildlife Festival
Join archaeologist and wildlife enthusiast Lucy Wallace for a walk back to the Bronze Age and discover Machrie Moor's ancient megalithic landscape - an excellent place to see birds of prey! Due to limited parking participants are advised to meet the special bus at Brodick for transport to the stones.
The stone circles of Machrie Moor form part of an ancient ritual landscape in the Shiskine Valley that has its origins in the late Neolithic. Early farming communities ploughed and grew crops, and built the first henges, circles made of wood. Later, during the Bronze Age, around 1800 BC, permanent circles of stone were constructed out of granite and sandstone. Not far from the main circle site, there are also the remains of other monuments such as kerbed cairns and solitary standing stones, as well as evidence of hut circles where people would have lived.
Since the Bronze age, the climate of Scotland has become wetter and cooler, and peat has grown over the valley, forming the special wildlife habitat of Machrie Moor. Machrie Moor is a labyrinth of manmade drainage ditches, scrub birch forest, and heather moorland. It is a haven for wildlife and home to a number of ground nesting birds, such as curlew, skylark and meadow pippit. It is also a good place to watch for predators including kestrel, buzzard, hen harrier, short eared owl and adders.
The route to the moor is a fairly gentle walk across farm land although the moor is very boggy and wet underfoot if you leave the path. The Machrie Moor is a wonderfully atmospheric place, steeped in history, and a place where patience is often rewarded with extraordinary views of wildlife.
Wed 20th May 09.30 - 12.45
£5.50 per person including bus fare from Brodick.
Max 12 people
Meet Brodick Pier for Festival Bus
Tel: 07501 337532
http://www.arranwildwalks.co.uk
http://www.arranwildlife.co.uk/machrie_moor.html
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