Y Filltir Sgwâr/The Square Mile: Ancient land

In a year long series Tom Maloney, from Abersychan, shows how you can love a place so well it becomes a part of you.

A sign of a good book, well at least for me, is that you return to its pages to read passages over again, sometimes over and over again. It allows your thoughts to subtly mix, blend, separate and clarify, but more than that it strays into your mind when taking in the great outdoors.

Whether sitting comfortably in my chair, or if I am on top of a mountain ‘Tir, The Story of the Welsh Landscape’ by Carwyn Graves is mostly definitely in my thoughts at the moment. In essence it is a very creative exploration of  ‘… how the Welsh landscape in all its beautiful variety is at base just as much a human cultural creation as a natural phenomenon.’

Bronze age

This week it inspired me to take a step back in time early on Monday morning to the Bronze Age with a walk along the ridge from ‘Carn y Defaid at Mynydd y Garn-Fawr’, Blaenavon to the craggy top of ‘Y Blorens – The Borenge’.

Storm Darragh had passed, but it was still mightily cold and gusty along the ridge, with teeth enough to bite into the tips of your fingers if left uncovered for too long.

Cadw, The Welsh historic environment service, gives a time period running from 2,300 to 800 BC for the Bronze Age and although this signposts the importance of this metal alloy of copper and tin for tools and weapons during this time, stone was still hugely significant in the lives of people, hence the creation of the stone mounds.

There seems to be universal agreement amongst most of the sources that I have come across that a cairn or carn is in its simplest terms a heap of stones that was created as a hilltop marker or for some ceremonial, religious or memorial purpose. One thing for certain is that they are very distinctive and can be seen for some miles and to just call them a heap of stones does them no justice at all.

Sunrise

I began my walk on Monday with a golden sunrise breaking through the cloud cover, though in truth I did wonder if the weather would hold. Sometimes you just have to take a chance and I am glad that I did.

There was something mystical and quite magical about the sun’s rays over Carn y Defaid or Sheep Cairn in the distance, its low curvilinear profile at one with the hillside silhouette.

In summer, the ridgeway is like the backbone of a giant dinosaur, but right now it is a sinuous watery path that stretches like an artery across the land.

As I was walking, I thought about the tramroad at Tir Abraham-Harry, which I walked several times last week. How amazing it is that these two landscapes are so very close to each other and yet so very different with such different legacies.

Perhaps the biggest contrast is the sense of spirituality, there is a sense of ‘human cultural creativity’ embedded in the land here that talks to you still, if you let it.

Two cairns

Carn y Defaid is in fact made up of two cairns. The larger cairn is closest to the main path and the smaller is just to the north of this. The view from a distance does not prepare you for just how big these structures actually are when seen close up.

So, what are the drivers at work here? What makes people want to make these mounds of stones? The sites are well chosen. Firstly, the abundance of raw material that can be found locally would almost certainly have influenced the choice. Secondly, the views are breathtakingly amazing and, in all likelihood, they were just as amazing in the Bronze Age as well.

Their use as hilltop markers makes a lot of sense, but I think there may also be something else at work, something more instinctive that we see at play at the seaside. Children and adults alike will find themselves building all sorts of things from sand, pebbles and drift wood.

Harlech Castle

Only a few months ago I observed the building of ‘Harlech Castle’ on a beach. It started with one little boy, who was joined by his brother, then his parents and then another family joined in the fun … it was a joyous, collaborative endeavor and everyone felt a sense of achievement when the castle was finished.

In a sense, we, that is humans, just can’t help ourselves … we have to create. I believe we are born with that instinct and from humble first ideas, more elaborate creations grow that may or may not take on a greater meaning.

For all that these are ‘heaps of stones’, there is clearly intent and creativity here and on a big scale.

Coflein – The online catalogue of archaeology, buildings, industrial and maritime heritage in Wales is again excellent and gives exact dimensions for the cairns:

‘Carn-y-Defaid (S) Overall it measures 17.5m (east by west) by 14.5m and 1.2m high on the west. Its height on the east is nearer 2m and probably reflects the likely presence of outcrop upon which the cairn was heaped. The central hollow is 4m across and 1m deep.’

 ‘Carn-y-Defaid (N) It consists of a heap of loose rubble, mixed grade stones and small boulders, and measures 12m (east by west) by 11m with a height of 0.9m. On the east its height is nearer 1.5m where the cairn is perched on the edge of a steep slope down which part of its mass has spread. At its centre is a hollow 1.5m across and 1m deep.’

Changes in lighting can be as dramatic as any seen on a stage and almost in an instant the whole outlook of the panorama can magically transform in front of you. In an age without all the gadgetry that we have today I feel sure that this would have impressed the eyes of the Bronze Age beholders, just as it does for me. In the brightness of the sunlight the stones have beauty, energy and life.

Scattered, shimmering mirror pools of water, no more than two to three inches deep, where the motion of reflected clouds forms so many cinematic shows amongst the tumps of wild grasses of this raw landscape adds to the spectacle.

End and beginning

For a good while the path continues in much the same way as you make your way to ‘Y Blorens – The Borenge’ hilltop. That is … until you reach a mountain road. Crossing this road often feels like an end and a beginning to me, there is a different feel about the landscape approaching the hilltop, it feels more managed somehow.

The summit is marked by another Bronze Age cairn ‘Carn Blorenge’. This is a popular destination for many walkers today and I think it was one of the first peaks that visited many years ago, though I don’t think I was aware of the history of the cairn then.

It was a good place to complete my walk on Monday. In the biting wind, the artistry with which the land and sky were united by the creative vision of ancient builders in these stones touched my soul, even if only for a moment … it was much too cold to stand for too long!

Some Useful Information:

Car Park – The Foxhunter Car Park, Blaenavon has ample parking, but even this can be very busy at times. The Keeper’s Pond Car Park is also not far away.

Weatherproof Clothing – This is an exposed, rugged landscape. Good outdoor clothing and boots are a must here.

Book

Tir – The Story of the Welsh Landscape

Author: Carwyn Graves

Publisher: Calon