Drizzlecombe cist 22

Trip No.134  Entry No.17  Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Cist Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Drizzlecombe Cist 22: This was an ‘added on extra’ as it was only an additional 100m, and if we took a short detour to cross the leat, was on our way anyway. Located in the valley, north of the river, this would have been a pleasant, peaceful spot, within sight of the stone rows.

Yellowmead

Trip No.134  Entry No.18  Date Added: 17th Jul 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Yellowmead Fourfold Stone Circle: This stone circle has long been on my wish-list, but I thought I’d never be able to see it, because access was described as being difficult.

Fortunately, Dave Parks and Sandy G had been here before and knew the pitfalls, selecting the right route for us. We were also extremely fortunate in coming here after a prolonged dry spell, so we encountered no boggy areas, apart from one by the stream on the way back to the car park.

By this time of the afternoon, I was hot and tired, and my feet ached really badly, but I was determined to see this stone circle. I should have swapped my walking boots for my wellies to make the walking a little softer on the soles of my feet, but stubbornly didn’t. Mistake. However, the walk to see this circle was well worth it, although I need to apologise to the rest of the group for being very grumpy on the way back. Also, by this time the sun had come out and everyone was getting sunburned, despite the continuous application of sun-screen.

It was really good to have the experts here to describe the monuments to us. Gordon and Dave Parks wandered off to see if they could find other stones in the stone row further to the WSW of the row, but the grass was knee high in this part of the meadow.

Andrew, on the way back to the pub after our epic trip, was saying that he didn’t think the stone circle was entirely genuine; his thinking was the Victorians had ‘beautified’ it for tourists, so I spent some time in the car pulling up the different websites. The stone circle is described as having been ‘faithfully restored’, but Andrew still has his doubts.

We all met up in the Prince of Wales in Princetown for a couple of ice cold pints, before dispersing for the evening. I confess to not recognising Sandy G in the bar, as he didn’t have his hat on – I’ve never seen him without it!

Yellowmead row

Trip No.134  Entry No.19  Date Added: 19th Jul 2019
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Yellomead Stone Row: Without Sandy G and Dave P I would not have known this stone row was here at all. Dave and Gordon F disappeared into the long grass towards the south/south west of the circle to see if they could find any more stones. I focussed on trying to understand what I was seeing nearer to the circle. Having Sandy's diagram, along with the information from Butler and other websites, has helped to clarify my understanding. To think that stone rows may have radiated from this fourfold stone circle. Absolutely fascinating!

Yellowmead cairn

Trip No.134  Entry No.20  Date Added: 19th Jul 2019
Site Type: Cairn Country: England (Devon)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Yellowmead Cairn: Whilst we started walking back to the car park, trying a different path mown through the grass, first running uphill then eastwards then south, we passed this cairn and stopped to take a closer look.

Whilst we were doing this, someone mentioned that the photo of the stone row on the Portal wasn’t the row we’d just looked at, but looked more like a line of stones running above, and parallel to the leat to the south west of the circle, and which we’d crossed to reach it. Some of the group split off to look at this more closely, and decided that the stones in the photo were of tin workings and an old track.

There was not much left of this cairn at all, although the slight mound did stand out nicely at the top of the slope.