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<< News >> Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor

Submitted by davyiskra on Thursday, 28 February 2002  Page Views: 10336

Neolithic and Bronze AgeCountry: Scotland County: West Dunbartonshire
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On bardowie moor ,just north of glasgow you can find the auld wives lifts, an ancient and as yet unexplained megalith.

It consists of two rocks supporting a much larger one on top.the latter has several carved faces on it, which are believed to be ancient. There are also many other marks :- couples pledging their troth have carved their initials etc. It is believed that unless a woman crawls through the space below the main stone on her first visit then she will die childless. Other theories are that it was an ancient site of justice and punishment, or to do with the celtic god Cernunos. All in all a brilliant magical place - but take your wellies!

Note: Have you visited? Does anyone know the grid reference?

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"Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor" | Login/Create an Account | 21 News and Comments
  
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Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by custer on Sunday, 30 September 2012
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I believe you refer to the Auld wives lift Craigmaddie muir, I visited this site yesterday 29th Sept 2012. Grid reference NS582765. I walked from Loch Ardinning then past the plantation keep near the woods as it is very boggy in the open. Great views from the ridge.
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Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by howar on Friday, 22 July 2011
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Craigmaddie Muir, Auld Wives' Lifts NS57NE 25 at NS5818576458 carved natural and in situ rocks including possible Celtic heads :
http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/44423/details/craigmaddie+muir+auld+wives+lifts/
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The Auld Wives Lifts. by Anonymous on Tuesday, 02 March 2010
I have been on several visits to this magical site, i can understand why some people struggle to find these stones as it sits in quite a hollow, easier to find when aproached from the high ground to the North East.
No one has so gone into much detail of the carvings, or better described as 'graffitti from times past' I have found interesting inscriptions like 'George 111' which can be found through the centre of the formation... was the king really here then, maybe on a hunting trip!
There are some amazing faces carved on the corners or points of some of the stones, it takes a while to find them but you actually get the feeling that you are looking at a ghostly face. There is so much detail in these, one of which has ling hair and a beard and looks to have the style of a 16th centuary nobleman.
Now i want to go back again, i find more interesting features on every visit!
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Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by chrish on Sunday, 18 May 2008
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I went to this site again yesterday, this time remembering to take my camera! Using the ordnance survey explorer map 348 "campsie fells" the grid reference is 582765 and marked as "auld wives lifts".
Nearby there are several cairns between North Blochairn and Low Blochairn (to the south of the lifts) as well as stone carvings on the escarpments around the auld wives lifts.
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Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Friday, 22 February 2008
N.G.REF 582764.
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Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Tuesday, 28 June 2005
This is a great site to visit, I have been thre many times. Great for kids to drive their imagination. I once found an oval stone in a puddle underneath the stones. On one side was a devils head, and the other a ying yang sign. I was going to take it home, but felt it best to leave it incase I was cursed forever
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Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Wednesday, 22 September 2004
auld wifes lifts the story goes the witchs wanted to see how was the strongest the first witch throw her stone the second witch matched hers landing beside it the third witch picked up a stone 3 times the size of the first two and landed it on top .... there is carved steps up the stones to reach the top the view of glasgow is great .this is not the chambered cairn on the os map it is not far besides a pile of tyres ask the farmer when cutting through the farm the land is a grit stone they quarried corn stones . some can be seen in the garden of farm house . i think the land round the stones were quarried out leaving this monument . wear wellies as the ground holds water all the time .
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Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Sunday, 20 June 2004
The grid reference is 582764 albeit I have never actually visited the site although I have lived in the Milngavie and Bearsden all my life.

Scott Bissland
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    Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Tuesday, 12 May 2009
    Hi Scott
    Are you the Scott Bissland I went to school with many years ago?
    If you are, I would love to hear from you. A 50 year reunion for school leavers of 1959 being arranged has prompted my search for old schoolmates. I now live in Gloucestershire. My telephone number is 01451 830700.
    Donald MacKechnie
    40 South Mains Rd (well 55 years ago it was!!!)
    If you are not HE, please ignore this strange message!
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Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Wednesday, 26 May 2004
It really is magical up there. the stones are huge, and make a perfect picnic spot. The carved faces are rather sinister and definitely invite further investigation. On the 'amphitheatre' surrounding the stones there are a few cup and ring marks.
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Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Monday, 22 March 2004
ACTUALLY, WHILST IT IS A LOVELY WALK, THE STONES ARE ON PROVATE PROPERTY. THE FARMER IS MOST AMIABLE WHEN ASKED TO GRANT PERMISSION TO ACCESS THE STONES, HOWEVER THEY LIE ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. ALWAYS ASK FIRST, I AM SURE YOU WOULDNT LIKE SOMEBODY WALKING THROUGH YOUR GARDEN WITHOUT ASKING!
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    Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Thursday, 28 February 2008
    There is a right to roam!
    Privately owned land is not the same as going into someones garden or patio.
    However respect the countryside and do not abuse this right.
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    Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Tuesday, 06 March 2012
    The farmer must accept that people have a right to roam in this country. People park their cars and walk around on paths and roadways adjacent to my house and most others all around the country all the time - this does not give me the right to be rude to them. We are living in 21st century - it would be nice if landowners could bear this in mind. (This comment is based on an experience of having to deal with owner of big new house at access point to path up onto moor when he was having a 'bad hair day'. Any potential impact walkers might have on this area would be insignificant compared to the jarring visual impact of the ostentatious new house at the access point and the mobile phone mast at the east of the moor. Custodian of the countryside/our heritage? Not so sure.... My taxes pay for the subsidy that is taken for these 'empty acres'. P.S. Texts written solely in 'Caps' are generally regarded as overbearing, threatening and anti-social.)
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Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Friday, 28 March 2003
Try typing "auld wives lifts" into Google and you will find several references to this site.

The Milngavie (nearest town) site gives them as being at Nat Grid Ref. NS 582764. They are marked on tghe Ordnance Survey map of the area.

They are usually surrounded by very swampy ground except in a dry summer.

Easiest access is by the track past the gate of the nearby farmhouse. It is polite to ask the farmer. They can also be reached by going through the fields on the road to the South.

There are several other archaeological items very nearby.

The local story I heard appears, I think, in the 18th century.Statistical Account for Scotland - if a woman crawls through the hole ine the stones she will become pregnant. This is supposed to have taken place even up to the late nineteenth century.

Last time I was there in 2002 there were some English and American New Age loonies wandering round with divining rods, drivelling on about ley lines being focussed there and that...

Read the rest of this post...
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Re: Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Tuesday, 16 July 2002
www.milngavieonline.com/auldwives.htm
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yes, I've been there and it is something special by Anonymous on Monday, 20 May 2002
Yes, I've been there. It a rarely visited site now due to its position- there is no path to it as such just a climb over various fences and a trudge through bull-infested fields but its a magical sight. A natural amphitheatre of rock in a horseshoe surrounds three big stones all of which are covered in graffiti carved in the 1890s when it was obviously a popular spot. Its not hard to see why it was a mystical place in ancient times as it really is striking.
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Re: Auld Wives Lifts - Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Sunday, 03 March 2002
re location of above , it`s actually on Craigmaddie Moor north of Bardowie grid ref N S 584764 on sheet 64 O.S.map submitted by davyiskra
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    Re: Auld Wives Lifts - Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Enki on Friday, 15 March 2002
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    Davy;

    I've just been up there today to have a look at it, but I'm not sure I found it.
    Is it the 'chambered cairn' marked on the OS 1:50,000 map? All that remains there are three semi-upright megaliths, some fallen ones and some rubble.
    I found three single standing stones just south of the cairn that may be posing as gateposts, but nothing resembling the dolmen-like structure you describe.
    There are some overhangs in the rock escarpment just south-east of the little wood on the map, which have some carvings, but none look terribly old.

    Could we have slightly more specific directions if possible, please? Maybe I need to get the 1:25,000 map?

    ~Enki
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      Re: Auld Wives Lifts - Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Enki on Friday, 15 March 2002
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      I should add that the orientation of the chambered cairn seems to be E-W. Hard to tell what way the entrance was facing as there's not much left, but I would say it faced the equinox sunset.
      Of the three other standing stones I saw nearby, two were aligned E-W, and two not quite exactly N-S.

      ~Enki
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    Re: Auld Wives Lifts - Three big stanes oan Bardowie Moor by Anonymous on Friday, 22 February 2008
    hi.there pretty sure grid number is 582764.
    [ Reply to This ]

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