spencer
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Fave sites to visit after dark
Oct 19, 2018, 00:13
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Prompted by Thelonius's Bennachie pic. Nocturnal visits are by no means acts of eccentricity, they can add to the experience and also very probably ensure solitude. Mine's the cairn down at Mull of Galloway, the lighthouse beam sweeping overhead, the lighthouses on IoM and NI answering in the distance, and the lights of the townships along the Solway Coast twinkling away, and, if lucky, corncrake calls in Sept/Oct. Love it, done it quite a few times now, would have next week but for my other half just breaking her hip. Next year.... As an aside, the foghorn at the light has been restored to working order and operates on weekends out of nesting season. What a sound: if you want goosebumps...
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GLADMAN
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Re: Fave sites to visit after dark
Oct 19, 2018, 07:03
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To be honest every upland cairn in hill fog is like being in the dark...…… only light. Well, grey. If that makes any sense? :-)
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thelonious
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Edited Oct 19, 2018, 08:45
Re: Fave sites to visit after dark
Oct 19, 2018, 08:07
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That's a good question. I tend to visit hills more than megalithic sites if I'm out after sunset. Don't go as much as I would like to, mainly due to not really liking driving in the dark. The night does change places, even ones you can be very familiar with, also hill fog as Gladman rightly mentions. The sense of distance and scale alters. Cairns and outcrops seems to grow and loom out of the dark. I prefer being out on a hillside than in a forest. Circles and stones take on an otherworldly feel which I find a little unsettling. The torch illuminates the stones but as a consequence seems to make the surrounding area so much blacker and what hides there is always a worry to me.
I do wonder if some sites are really meant to be visited at night. If we could speak to the folk that build recumbent stone circles and told them we visited in the day, would they just laugh and say, 'that's all wrong, it's like going for your fish supper before the chippy's open'?
Your Mull of Galloway sounds fantastic.
Fave sites to visit after dark for me? – It’s Bennachie, as it is during the day. Magic place.
(Hope your other half is on the mend soon Mike, hip breaks aren't good)
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spencer
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Re: Fave sites to visit after dark
Oct 19, 2018, 11:12
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I agree with you about the nocturnal purpose.. my opinion, and I know I'm not alone in this, is that a fair few cupmark and bullaun sites were meant to be filled with water and the moon's reflection then viewed and venerated. Thanks re my other half...bikes and potholes after dark are not a good mix. Total hip replacement Tuesday and she's up and walking already. Hats off to the James Cook in Boro and a brave and gutsy woman. We'll be stoning together again soon enough, hopefully : )
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spencer
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Edited Oct 19, 2018, 11:18
Re: Fave sites to visit after dark
Oct 19, 2018, 11:14
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Mention must be made of the site of Chris Collyer, late of this place sadly, http://www.stone-circles.org.uk ...lovely night shots aplenty
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Ravenfeather
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Re: Fave sites to visit after dark
Oct 19, 2018, 11:38
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Ring of Brodgar. Easy to access, and the sense of presence is only magnified when you stand alone among the great stones, the arc of the circle stretching away and embracing you.
Additional pluses are if you are very lucky on a crisp Autumn/Winter night you might see the northern lights above the stones, which is truly magical, or even just sit atop Salt Know and watch the stars over the hills of Hoy.
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thelonious
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Re: Fave sites to visit after dark
Oct 19, 2018, 11:46
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Hob's light photos on flickr are something else. (Hope they don't mind me posting the link here)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hobsonish/albums/72157623948537873/with/3809290340/
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thelonious
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Re: Fave sites to visit after dark
Oct 19, 2018, 11:48
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Damn that's good.
More than a little bit envious :-)
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spencer
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Re: Fave sites to visit after dark
Oct 19, 2018, 11:56
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Am I alone in thinking that Ness of Brodgars builders were prompted by the reflection of the firmament and auroras in the waters either side?
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Howburn Digger
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Re: Fave sites to visit after dark
Oct 19, 2018, 22:02
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Any of the beautiful RA in Galloway. The effect of water, torch, flash, moonlight etc sometimes seem (to me) to point at some kind of nocturnal use. Many of the carvings are almost (or totally) invisible during the flat light of day.
Favourites are the Lagganmullan panels (there's a lot of them scattered across half a dozen fields) because of ease of access in the dark. A winter contender this year is the "spider" motif at Barharrow. I'd love to get a nice illuminated shot of that beastie in the dark.
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/101909/barharrow.html
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