Chasing the Solstice Sun

On an overcast Solstice day, I go looking for one of Frank Elgees prehistoric settlement sites in the Commondale Beck valley

Limekilns are few and far between on the northern moors

Tall solitary pines are also a rarity.

Sunlight briefly breaks through, a moment of joy

The sound of the train fills the valley

The settlement site sits on a terrace overlooking the Commondale Beck. Elgee found other sites on located on the same terrace on both sides of the river.

An old hollow way leads to one of the many rocky outcrops on the valley side, a quarry for field walls and butts.

Clouds are moving rapidly westwards across the moors, I catch a glimpse of the sun.

An alignment of grouse butts runs across the moor, tops covered with fresh turfs.

The moor is sodden, there is a possible alignment of standing stones on the moor top

I return to the road, blue skies can be seen through a break in the clouds above the Kildale Gap, I head west.

On the edge of the escarpment I encounter the sun, I drink tea and bask in its warmth.