Lost stones
13th September 2014
I have recently spent, high up in the Duddon Valley, what initially appeared to be a fruitless five hours searching for an ancient stone ring.
According to a number of sources there are the remains of a Stone Age artefact on these high and rocky Fells that indicate the previous presence of ancient Britons. However, it seems I was not going to find it.
Though my searching was not proving to be succesful, I found great pleasure in just roaming around this wild hollow in the hills. Up here is the broad expanse of Seathwaite Tarn that reflects the surrounding steep Fells and vertiginous, rocky crags that fall down to the waters edge. The distant views are across the Duddon valley towards the pyramidal summit of Harter Fell and to the high summits of the Scafells.
All is tranquil in this very old and wild landscape. Only the sound and movement of the wind stirs the quiet stillness. It's as if time has stopped. In fact the longer I spent searching behind boulders, climbing up to rocky ledges and looking over grassy knolls, the more it felt like time was slipping back.
My focus was to find the ancient stone ring, but I was also becoming absorbed by a landscape little changed from the days the ring was made. I was becoming distracted from my original ambition as this upland landscape held a primitive and compelling beauty. The imagined time shift was becoming real.
In an attempt to stay focused I used the rough coordinate I had discovered to guide me. However, in this steep, rock strewn landscape it was like looking for the needle in a haystack. In the process of my searching I had risen slowly higher up the north slope of Dow Crag, reaching a wide grassy level above a steep buttress. Here I found a what appeared to be a wide ring of stones piled up in a manner that could not have been formed by natural actions. Added to this construction was, at the most northern point and pointing towards Harter and Scafell, was a large diamond shaped boulder. This marked out the cardinal points of north and south, so establishing a meridian that could be used as seasonal clock.
Further research uncovered that I had come upon a stone ring, though not the one I was looking for. That said, I am pleased with my find and even better to have stayed so long in this wild setting. I still do not know Duddon in a deep 'knowing' sense and I can only imagine how the ancient Britons who made this circle could survive in these remote and harsh lands. However, I believe I gained a sense of the power of this landscape and therefore a possible motivation why the ancient residents of the valley built this object.
According to a number of sources there are the remains of a Stone Age artefact on these high and rocky Fells that indicate the previous presence of ancient Britons. However, it seems I was not going to find it.
Though my searching was not proving to be succesful, I found great pleasure in just roaming around this wild hollow in the hills. Up here is the broad expanse of Seathwaite Tarn that reflects the surrounding steep Fells and vertiginous, rocky crags that fall down to the waters edge. The distant views are across the Duddon valley towards the pyramidal summit of Harter Fell and to the high summits of the Scafells.
All is tranquil in this very old and wild landscape. Only the sound and movement of the wind stirs the quiet stillness. It's as if time has stopped. In fact the longer I spent searching behind boulders, climbing up to rocky ledges and looking over grassy knolls, the more it felt like time was slipping back.
My focus was to find the ancient stone ring, but I was also becoming absorbed by a landscape little changed from the days the ring was made. I was becoming distracted from my original ambition as this upland landscape held a primitive and compelling beauty. The imagined time shift was becoming real.
In an attempt to stay focused I used the rough coordinate I had discovered to guide me. However, in this steep, rock strewn landscape it was like looking for the needle in a haystack. In the process of my searching I had risen slowly higher up the north slope of Dow Crag, reaching a wide grassy level above a steep buttress. Here I found a what appeared to be a wide ring of stones piled up in a manner that could not have been formed by natural actions. Added to this construction was, at the most northern point and pointing towards Harter and Scafell, was a large diamond shaped boulder. This marked out the cardinal points of north and south, so establishing a meridian that could be used as seasonal clock.
Further research uncovered that I had come upon a stone ring, though not the one I was looking for. That said, I am pleased with my find and even better to have stayed so long in this wild setting. I still do not know Duddon in a deep 'knowing' sense and I can only imagine how the ancient Britons who made this circle could survive in these remote and harsh lands. However, I believe I gained a sense of the power of this landscape and therefore a possible motivation why the ancient residents of the valley built this object.