Cumbria

Doom Tuba – Fellfoot Sounds

When I saw the flyer for the Fellfoot Sounds event I jumped at it, I knew my friend Martyn would also be keen to attend. Who wouldn’t enjoy the prospect of spending a couple of days in this lovely corner of Cumbria in the company of a group of sound artists and musicians? It turned out, Martyn knew many of the people who were working at the festival.

Martyn and I arrived at the lovely Into the Woods site, ticket sales were limited to 150 so the place had a nice relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere. The campsite is set-up around a large field with a bar, stage, kitchen, clubhouse and various other facilities on site.

We went along to a couple of workshops, Field Recording and Sampling with Jayne Dent and Folk Voices with Jennifer Reid, both of which were excellent.

On the evening the artist’s performances were held in the lovely nearby church of St. Michael and the Angels. The little red sandstone church was the perfect venue. Jorge Boehringer filled the church with the sound of his droning distorted viola, I’m currently listening to this as I write. Jayne Dent followed with a piece built around sound samples and field recordings collected during the earlier workshop. Jayne performs as Me Lost Me, her latest album, RPG is currently getting lots of play in our house. Ore concluded the performance with an improvised piece played and tuba, trombone and a pair of resonant gong speakers which I found mesmerising. You can find their work here, I can now add Doom Tuba to my list of favourite musical genres.

The sound artist performances combined with the setting left me feeling calm, slightly entranced and ready for the wander to the stone circle. The procession was led by the gold foil bedecked Noize Choir. We walked along an ancient holloway dodging deep muddy puddles and the entrances to a large badger sett, it was a joyful chaotic affair.

On arriving at the stones half of the group walked around the circle in a clockwise manner around the stones, the other half went anticlockwise, the air was full of laughter, chanting and children shouting. There were a number of people visiting the stones when we arrived, I’m not sure what they made of our rag-tag group but I’m pretty sure that our arrival will have created a lasting memory of their visit.

Returning to the campsite, a large fire was burning, people were eating and drinking and generally having a good time. Folk artist Jennifer Reid topped off the night with a brilliant performance of chat and songs. Jennifer’s energy, humour and positivity is completely infectious, she’s wonderful.

The following morning, after a great recovery breakfast from the kitchen, we headed over to the stone circle for Paul Frodsham’s walk and talk around the stones. Paul is a professional archaeologist who has worked throughout northern England. He told us that he has had a lifelong interest in the Long Meg circle since first visiting it as a student. He an led an excavation at the circle in 2015.

Paul started at the Long Meg standing stone and talked about his theory that the carvings on standing stone may have been made prior to the stone being transported from the banks of the river Eden to its current location. He then moved onto the stone circle describing the structure of the circle and its alignment to the winter solstice. He also explained how there had been a large enclosure around the area now that is now occupied by the farm buildings. This enclosure predated the circle and is the reason that one edge of the circle is flattened.

Paul also expressed his frustration at how little investigative archaeology, compared to other large British prehistoric monuments, has been done at what is essentially one of the oldest and largest stone circles in our Islands. Paul is trying to redress this issue but to do so requires resources and funding. He is also working with others to set up a Friends of Long Meg group to promote the and hopefully attract resources for further investigations.

All in all I think everyone who attended this little family-friendly festival had a very positive experience. The site was lovely and organisation of the event was first rate. Well done to everyone involved, I look forward to future events.

North Pennines AONB

Into the Woods

The Old Stones of the North Exhibition

Circumstances have prevented me from visiting our joint exhibition, so this week we took a trip over to Grasmere to have a look. I was impressed with the way that the Heaton Cooper Studio has presented our work. The exhibition runs until the 29th May.

The World of Stonehenge

I took a trip down to London to see the British Museum’s The World of Stonehenge exhibition. It was wonderful to see items that I’d read about over the years all gathered into one place and beautifully displayed. If prehistory is your thing, I’d definitely recommend a visit. here’s a few images to whet your appetite.

The Old Stones Exhibition March 2022

My friend Tony Galuidi asked me if I’d be interested in a joint exhibition, I agreed and here it is. If you like big old prehistoric stones and you happen to find yourself in Cumbria, pop in and have a look.

Size matters…Yorkshire Megaliths & Cumbria’s Prehistoric Monuments

I recently saw this wonderful illustration of Yorkshire Megaliths. I contacted the author, Adam Morgan Ibbotson, and he kindly sent me a copy.

I was rather chuffed, Adam wrote one of my favourite books of 2021, Cumbria’s Prehistoric Monuments. It’s a lovely book, comprehensive, very readable with beautiful photographs, maps and illustrations. If prehistory and big old stones are your thing, you’ll love this. You can buy it here

Rey Cross ii

OE stan ‘stone, stones’ is a very common pl. el. It is used alone as a pl. n. in STAINES, STEANE, STONE, where a Roman milestone or some prominant stone of another kindmay be referred to.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names. Eilert Ekwall. 1959

I recently took a trip over the Pennines to Cumbria. On the way home I stopped on Stainmore to have a look at Rey’s Cross. The Cross is located in a lay-by beside the A66. The A66 crosses the Pennines through the Stainmore Gap, a Pennine pass that was created by the flow of ice sheets during past glacial periods.

Historically, This part of Stainmore has always been important. The moor is rich in late Prehistoric remains. It was also the site of a large Roman marching camp, within the ruins of the camp is a wrecked prehistoric stone circle. Legend has it that the stone cross was raised as a memorial to Eric Bloodaxe, the last king of York, who was slain on the moor in 954.

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The cross, situated near the highest point of Stainmore, is close to an ancient county boundary, is a weathered shaft set into a substantial stone base and is thought to date to the early anglo saxon period. The name`Rey’ is thought to have been derived from the Old Norse element `hreyrr’ which can be taken to mean a heap of stones forming a boundary.

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One of the earliest references to the stone is from The Chronicle of Lanercost where it is call ” Rer Cros in Staynmor ” The chronicler states that it was set up as a boundary marker. The boundary was between the Westmoringas and the Northumbrians, the Glasgow diocesan border, before that it marked the border between the Cumbrians and the Northumbrians.

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The antiquarian William Camden tells us ” This stone was set up as a boundary between England and Scotland, when William (the Conqueror) first gave Cumberland to the Scots.”  Camden was incorrect, at the time of the Norman conquest much of Cumberland was already under Scot’s rule. The historic county of Cumberland was not established until 1177, however the stone could still have marked the boundary of the territory.

The A99 was widened in the early 1990’s so in 1990 the stone was moved from the south side of the road to its present site on the north side. An archaeological survey and excavation was undertaken as part of a wider archaeological project, sadly no burial was found beneath or around the stone.

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What fascinates me about this stone is that it marks a place that has been significant to the people of our islands for thousands of years. The people of the Neolithic period used this as route way between the east and west coasts. Later, the people bronze age erected a stone circle close to the site. Later still, the Romans heavily fortified road to guard the legions marching between Catterick and Penrith and it has remained the primary northern trans-pennine link ever since.  A hundred or so metres west of the stone is the modern east/west boundary between Cumbria and Durham and the route was also once the medieval border between Scotland and England. East meets west, north meets south all within sight of the weather-beaten old stone.

Gunnerkeld Stone Circle

Gunnerkeld – Sportsman’s Spring

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This beautiful concentric stone circle is situated a mile and a half north of Shap in Cumbria, an area rich in prehistoric monuments.

It is thought that the outer circle was erected during the Neolithic period. The circle is the same diameter as the famous stone circle at Castlerigg. Another similarity is the two large portal stones, a feature that can also be found at the Castlerigg circle. This leads to speculation that perhaps the two circles were erected by the same prehistoric architect.

The inner circle and a central cist were added during the Bronze Age, perhaps changing the use of the site from a place of ceremony and ritual to a sepulchral function, a place of the dead.

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Another remarkable aspect of this lovely stone ring is it’s proximity to the M6 southbound carriageway, which is just a stones throw away.  The soundtrack here is one of speeding traffic.

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Access to the site is via Gunnerwell Farm, this is private land, if you visit be sure to ask at the farmhouse, the farmer is very friendly. Also you need to cross a stream to access the field where the stones are located, wellies are advisable.

Sources

The Stone Circles of Cumbria – John Waterhouse 1985

Prehistoric Monuments of the Lake District – Tom Clare 2007

A Guide to the Stone Circles of Cumbria – Robert W.E. Farrah 2008