Road to the isles, 28th June, stone circles and an abandoned boat

We reached the coast at Crinan and then swung inland following a tiny road across marshland, over a bridge that the van only just fitted through. We found a lay-by for lunch where the field walls were covered in lichen and campanula and a small stream ran through a copse.






We moved north in this slightly erratic manner until we saw signs for the standing stones at Kilmartin Glen. This seemed a worthwhile excursion and indeed the site at Kilmartin comprises some standing stones, two small stone circles and a tomb as well as countless lesser remains. Quite amazing that this place is relatively unheard of but has one of the most important concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in Scotland.
The Nether Largie standing stones were erected around 3,200BC and are thought to be in alignment with the moon and sun.



From the standing stones we walked a short distance to the two stone circles in Temple Wood. One was far more extant than the other but they had both been piled with small stones, presumably taken off of the surrounding fields. I thought this rather spoiled them, but I suppose it did protect them to some extent. However it did not stop a lady from tree hugging and softly moaning to herself.



Another quick trot brought us to the Nether Largie South tomb. Built around 500 years before  the circles and the standing stones, it was used to house the bodies of the local farming community. It was re-used as a burial site by the Beaker people and then again in the early Bronze Age. Some children were having fun running across the top of it and all was surveyed by the local fauna.





Leaving the glen we went into the rather pleasant village of Kilmartin and visited the church which has sculptured stones in the graveyard and in the church itself. These date from 900 to the 1600's. The afternoon was drawing on and the sun was trying to burn through off cloud leading to some rather lovely light over the hills. It seemed correct for such a historically sacred place.






Now it was time to look for a campsite and we moved further on, back to the coast past the smart yachting village of Ardfern. We found a site in Aird for camper vans run by a nice man called Simon who had provided an honesty box for the fee, as well as a loo and the normal facilities. We went out to the end of the peninsula where Alan tried his normal 5 minutes of fishing, before being interrupted by an expert which persuaded him to give up all together. 
After tea we walked down the lane fringed with wildflowers and found an abandoned boat offering some nice photographic opportunities.













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