We had gone to bed early – exhausted by the journey from Poolewe to Uig. What felt like a full night later, I woke, refreshed, to find the sun streaming
Category: Neolithic monuments
Orderly and alignedOrderly and aligned
There’s an old aphorism in the field of teaching mysticism: that if you endeavour to do something of significance; something that requires careful planning and even more careful resourcing, then
emerging from the mist…emerging from the mist…
There’s a certain amount of ‘fighting back’ in this. The long period of Covid restrictions, followed by a summer in which we all got a taste of gentle freedom again;
The Shifting Stones of StonehengeThe Shifting Stones of Stonehenge
Not to be outdone by the recent discoveries on Orkney, Stonehenge – one of the world’s most famous stone circles – has thrown up a whole new story about its
The City and the Stars – revisited – Britain’s oldest stone circle…The City and the Stars – revisited – Britain’s oldest stone circle…
New evidence from the past two years’ work on Orkney has revealed breathtaking perspectives on the nature and importance of the finds at the Ness of Brodgar… (1000 words, a
Portraits…Portraits…
* Photographing stones… * * Is not like photographing people. * * Stones do not, normally, insist upon presenting their best side. * * Or veto the unhappy results. *
Wish you were here…Wish you were here…
* In Olden Times, Holidays were originally just that… Holy Days. The whole community would lay aside their workday duties and together engage in deeply or intrinsically symbolic activities that
The City and the Stars (9 – End) : The most peaceful place in the worldThe City and the Stars (9 – End) : The most peaceful place in the world
The conclusion of the Silent Eye’s extended workshop to Orkney. A visit to the neighbouring island of Rousay. A sad disappointment and a wonderful surprise. (1300 words, a twelve-minute read)
The City and the Stars (8) : LongshipsThe City and the Stars (8) : Longships
The traditional picture of the Vikings – looting, marauding, raping invaders – may not be entirely true of their time on Orkney, though they did rule this gentle archipelago with
The City and the Stars (7) : The Standing Stones of StennessThe City and the Stars (7) : The Standing Stones of Stenness
The Standing Stones of Stenness are reduced in importance compared with their former status. But 5,000 years ago, they were the stone circle for the Ness of Brodgar spiritual city.
The City and the Stars (6) : the twice-chosenThe City and the Stars (6) : the twice-chosen
To build something so sophisticated, so designed, as the Maeshowe Chambered ‘tomb’, would have required enormous dedication from the people of Orkney. Seen alongside the emerging splendour of the Ness
The City and the Stars (5) – Structure 10: pyramidThe City and the Stars (5) – Structure 10: pyramid
The more the Orkney archeologists uncover, the more it is certain that the settlement on the Ness of Brodgar was the hub of a dynamically influential and spiritual society, 5000
The City and the Stars (4) – The Ring of BrodgarThe City and the Stars (4) – The Ring of Brodgar
You turn to take in the landscape… This magnificent place, where the natural features are as spectacular as the Neolithic discoveries, lies between two lochs surrounded by a natural amphitheatre.
The City and the Stars (3) – The City on the NessThe City and the Stars (3) – The City on the Ness
A ten-minute journey from Stromness, on Orkney, lies an ‘isthmus’ which recent excavations have shown to contain one of the richest archeological concentrations in the world… It is nothing less
The City and the Stars (2) – Skara Brae’s Ancient HousesThe City and the Stars (2) – Skara Brae’s Ancient Houses
Skara Brae’s modern story began in 1850 when a violent sea-storm tore off the layers of grass, sand and soil that had covered what appeared to be two ancient and
The City and the Stars (1) – Skara BraeThe City and the Stars (1) – Skara Brae
With the Pictish Trail weekend a long car journey and a boat ride behind us, we had awakened in Stromness to the early morning of an overcast Orkney day –
The Flickering PresentThe Flickering Present
I’ve taken a lot of photographs during the past ten years, but none of them like the one above. Taken at Castlerigg Stone Circle, near Keswick, in December 2018, it
Fear and Love in the High Peak – part oneFear and Love in the High Peak – part one
It’s not the best of photo resolutions, but the above image says it all. Briony saluting the Derbyshire landscape in her own way at the end of three days of
Three Days of the Oyster-Catcher (Part 7 Final) Face to Face with MacbethThree Days of the Oyster-Catcher (Part 7 Final) Face to Face with Macbeth
We were standing in the car park near Drumin Castle. Dean was using the visitor map of the Glenlivet Estate to describe the day ahead. We were to begin by
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 5) – Stone in the SkyThree days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 5) – Stone in the Sky
You can’t miss Sueno’s stone. It sits on its own plateau, just off the old main road between Findhorn and Forres; now bypassed. You see its ‘hangar’ first, then realise
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 4) – Sea and StoneThree days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 4) – Sea and Stone
I didn’t want to leave Burghead, not even for Findhorn; a place I’d wanted to visit for a long time. Burghead had filled me (many of us, I think) with
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 3) – A Pictish HeadlandThree days of the Oyster-catcher (Part 3) – A Pictish Headland
The Moray Firth is vast, wild and beautiful. Examined on a map it resembles a child’s geometry exercise in triangles, with the coast between its ‘origin’ at Inverness and far-away
Three days of the Oyster-catcher (1)Three days of the Oyster-catcher (1)
We were standing close to the River Spey in the grounds of Strathallan church a few miles from the centre of Grantown-on-Spey: one of the gems of the north-eastern highlands
The Way to Dusty Death?The Way to Dusty Death?
We were in Ulverston, Dean and I. We’d just climbed the famous ‘Hoad’ – a tall monument on the top of a tall hill that looks like a lighthouse… but
Our Song of Truth…Our Song of Truth…
* We circle the Long Stone, feet planted gently but firmly on the earth… Arms and hands hang loosely by our sides… We close our eyes… We breathe deeply… We