AgentOrange
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Sedburgh - Cumbria
Feb 13, 2002, 10:16
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Im off there soon. Any sites or pretty places that anyone knows of nearby that are not listed in MA? Im prepared to climb!
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IronMan
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Re: Sedburgh - Cumbria
Feb 13, 2002, 12:36
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The Langdale Valley is the site a Neolithic hand axe 'factory' which isn't too far from Sedbergh if you're in a car (1/2 - 3/4 hr drive?). To be honest it just looks like another scree slope - it gets used as a quick escape route in bad weather by folk coming down from the tops, so it's badly eroded. If you're interested, it's the (very steep) slope at the right hand side of the magnificent Pike o' Stickle, approached from Mickleden down below.
Langdale itself more than fits the 'pretty places' requirement! It's my personal favourite Lakeland location and IMHO it is one of the most beautiful places imaginable. If you've got plenty of time to kill and aren't just on the look out for stone sites, then a good walk is from the 'Stickle Barn' (New Hotel on OS map) up to Stickle tarn and over Pavey Ark, a fantastic sheer rock cliff. Once you are up there the top is pretty easy moorland and you could walk it over to Pike O' Stickle then descend into the valley below via the handaxe factory route, taking care to look for any bits of handaxe. They do, apparently, turn up in the scree. Having said all that I went up on Sunday, with a walk up Bowfell in mind and ended up bailing out, the weather was absolutely fucking dreadful! In that case though the Old Dungeon Ghyll (pub) at the bottom is always worth a visit ;-)
I don't want to build your hopes up too much but I recently found this article, about rock art found around the same area of Langdale:
"One of the largest and most elaborate panels of prehistoric rock art in Britain has been 'discovered' in the central Lake District. The carvings are openly visible, but until now they have been completely overlooked by prehistorians. The concentric ring and cup designs, identified last year by amateur rock art sleuth Paul Brown, can be found in Langdale on an important routeway to and from the Neolithic 'axe factories' around Pike of Stickle, commanding extensive views up and down the Langdale valley. Stan Beckensall, author of many books on rock art, described the Langdale panel as the 'rock art discovery of the decade', adding that its revelation had caused astonishment among rock art scholars. A second new rock art panel in the Lake District, as large as the Langdale example but less elaborate, has recently been found at Greenrigg in Paterdale. "
I'm thinking of going up to check it out in the next couple of weeks, weather permitting. Apparently the discovery was made in 1999, but I've only managed to find a few websites that mention it. I haven't been able to find an OS ref. yet, and Langdale being a valley full of large boulders the proverbial needle and haystack spring to mind. If I manage to find a reference I'll let you know. If anyone else knows anything about it I'd definitely be interested in some information.
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IronMan
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Re: Sedburgh - Cumbria
Feb 13, 2002, 12:39
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Forgot to mention - there is a quarry entrance somewhere on that slope also, which could well have been part of the handaxe factory, I'm not 100% on that though!
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FourWinds
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I love rock art...
Feb 13, 2002, 12:54
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Found this
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The more elaborate one was discovered in Langdale. It consists of a dozen sets of concentric circles, each up to 50 centimetres across, a triangle of around 50 tiny pick marks, and sets of parallel lines up to one metre in length.
The second engraved panel, found 10 miles to the north-east in the Ullswater Valley, is different in style and consists of 11 parallel lines and 300 circular depressions, each one five centimetres in diameter and up to two centimetres deep. Three smaller rocks nearby also feature dozens more depressions, three of which are surrounded by single circles.
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One of the Arcaeologists working at the Axe Factory is Prof. Richard Bradley ( [email protected] ) Perhaps he knows where they are.
There are some pictures in this document. It looks like they're down a cave somewhere
http://www.ldnpa.nildram.co.uk/files/annrep00/page8.pdf
Hope this helps a little. Anyway, the descriptions sound amazing! Wish I was there.
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FourWinds
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There were some found here too
Feb 13, 2002, 13:15
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near Greenrigg in Paterdale. Or is that one of the above?
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IronMan
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Re: There were some found here too
Feb 13, 2002, 13:22
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I think I saw that mentioned somewhere too. I'll look in to it. I think it should read 'Patterdale' (two t's) which is further north, on the southern shore of Ullswater. Another beautiful location, handy for a walk up Hellvelyn as well.
This is all very good stuff! Best get me boots cleaned up.
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IronMan
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Re: I love rock art...
Feb 13, 2002, 13:33
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Just had a look at ARCHI to see if it threw anything up for the Langdale area and one of the results was:
Prehistoric: - Boulders prehistoric rock sites, NY 3140 0583 - Cumbria
It doesn't mention any cups or rings but it is in the right area, so may be worth checking.
All those windy roads... Mrs Ironman aint gonna be happy with me at all!
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AgentOrange
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Re: I love rock art...
Feb 13, 2002, 15:53
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Thankyou for all taht info - ive printedit off. I like the idea of a bit of scrambling up scree-slope - depending on the weather of course!
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IronMan
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Re: I love rock art...
Feb 15, 2002, 13:19
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I found a website detailing the sites rough location as near Chapel Stile but no grid ref. - the one given by ARCHI seems to definitely fit the bill. The boulder is also used by rock climbers and it's at Copt Howe, so shouldn't be too difficult to locate.
Check here for a few shots and a brief description:
http://www.alkelda.f9.co.uk/copthowe.htm
Looks amazing, I think I'm going up this Sunday.
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FourWinds
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Re: I love rock art...
Feb 15, 2002, 13:55
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Great bit of info, although how they could have gone unrecorded is beyond me!
It appears that they actually disappear below the current ground level too.
For the sake of a few of us, if you do reach these beauties, please take a good look at the surrounding hills. It is said that the stone lies on an important track to the axe factory.
If you imagine the parallel lines on the carving to be the track, do the circles correspond to the layout of the hills around? i.e. Is it a map? Does that make sense?
Cheers and I envy you seeing those babies.
Ride On!!
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