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StoneGloves

1149 posts

Re: The precious stones ...

Sep 12, 2011, 19:56

Yes, that was the wrong hill I gave you for the southern extreme moonrise. I think another section, of what I take to be a sturdy stone row, aligns with Kip Law, which does indeed have a substantial hilltop cairn. It's been three years since I was in that valley so I must apologise for being rusty. The alignment for the southernmost section of the row, where the carved (or so-called carved) stone was found, is to Newshield Moss, beside the Alston TV transmitter. Have a look at this picture ( http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/589664 ) and there's a small hollow to the right of the TV aerial. That is more pronounced from lower down, looking up. I sat and watched the southern moonrise from the top of the fells, just once. It rose over Alston and I sat on the edge of what perhaps had been a stone circle. Views of seventy/eighty miles nort and south.

The monuments I have found in the main valley - the upper South Tyne - are mainly wrecked. Up the tributary valleys are where the intact stuff is found. Here is a picture of a typical currick ( http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/135210 ). They can be seen generally from one view angle only and often show annual, or biannual, sunsets. Your declination calculation for the Slaggyford stone row (I) gives a decent value for the equinoctal sunrise, so thanks for that, even if the line of sight is now obscured by tree cover. There are three potential alignments from that elongated - z structure, two to the south and one to the north. The one to the north probably had a fairly large outlier, which is still in place, though felled, and, I think, looked to an open horizon. There is a prominent drumlin, very close by, with a ledge cut into the side, near the top. This has been investigated and is listed as prehistoric, but don't ask me for the reference number.

It doesn't harm anything to Google the term 'Kirkhaugh gold'. It is a possibility that gold was another of the minerals being processed locally. It is preserved in placenames, such as Geltsdale ...

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Re: The precious stones ... (tiompan)

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