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Nant y Gaseg stone circle
5th of July 2019.
8th of July 2019.
10th of July 2019.
17th of July 2019.
This
was
the
first
day
at
Nant
y
Gaseg
farm,
near
Pontadawe,
working
for
Paul
and
Helen
Tremlett.
I
went
over
with
Olwen
Pritchard,
who
has
a
BA
and
MA
in
Archaelogy,
specialising
in
archaeo-astronomy,
the
linking
of
the lay out of ancient sites with the Sun, Moon and stars.
It
was
a
hot,
sunny
day,
so
we
had
good
working
conditions.
First
we
established
the
best
location
for
the
circle,
refining
on
the
rough
area
that
I
had
already
established
with
Helen
and
Paul
on
a
previous
visit.
We
then
found
the
centre,
and
decided
to
use
a
radius
of
9
megalithic
yards,
7.80
metres.Using
this
to
guide
us,
we
marked
the
cardinal
points
of
North,
East, South and West.
We
measured
all
of
the
stones
that
Paul
and
Helen
had
got
for
the
circle,
which
were
a
mix
of
limestone
boulders
that
they
had
found
on
the
farm,
long
menhirs
from
a
local
quarry,
and
2
beautiful
shaped
tall
granite
pillars, that had been drilled to use as gate posts.
There
is
one
quarry
stone
with
a
beautiful,
smooth
bowl
shape
into
it,
as
it
lay
on
the
ground.
We
agreed
that
this
would
make
a
lovely
recumbent
stone,
in
the
South
West,
with
the
bowl
of
rain
water
reflecting
the
light
of
the
Moon.
We
planted
some
more
flags
to
mark
some
of
the
sunsets
and
moonsets
visible
along
the
mountain
that
stretches
from
South
to
North
West,
then
I
went
home,
to
collate
the
information
and
plan
the
circle.
Click on the images above to see more
Barry
and
I
went
over,
with
more
poles
and
flags,
to
mark
out
the
places
for
the
rest
of
the
stones.
Helen
cleared
out
the
mass
of
clay
and
small
stones
left
in
the
bowl
stone,
revealing
it
to
be
perfectly
smoothly
formed.
Paul
joined
Barry
and
I
in
marking
out
the
locations
for
the
rest
of
the
stones.
I
decided
that
we
would
put
the
2
granite
pillars
at
North
and
South,
and
then
put
“filler”
stones,
ones
with
no
Sun
or
Moon
alignment,
on
either
side
of
them,
which
could
be
the
smaller
boulders.
At
Lammas
the
sunset
should
roll
down
the
end
slope
of
the
mountain,
and
there
will
a
stone
there,
whose
other
edge
should
tie
in
with
the
sunset
on
daughter
Grace’s birthday.
The
question
of
where
to
put
the
tallest
of
the
quarry
stones,
which
is
a
lovely
sparkly
grey/black,
unlike
all
the
others,
came
up,
and
Barry
and
I
both
thought
it
would
make
a
good
outlier
stone,
one
that
sits
outside
the
circle
as
an
extra
marker,
and
a
guide
in
towards
the
circle
itself.
Paul
and
Barry
went
to
a
good
spot
in
the
adjoining
field,
by
a
spring,
and
when
Olwen
and
I
checked,
it
almost
exactly
marked
Beltane
sunrise,
[allowing
for
a
slight
rise
in
the
horizon].
This
ties
in
nicely
with
the
birthday
of
Bryn,
Helen
and
Paul’s
son,
on
the
26th
April,
and
we
made
this
an
exact
fit
by
doing
some
calculations
for
the
rising
slope
and
slightly
different
date.
We
then
moved
the
5
poles
around
the
South
end
of
the
circle,
taking
them
out
to
create
a
slight
egg
shape
for
the
“circle”.This
will
emphasis
the
recumbent
stone
formation,
of
the
bowl
stone
with
2
flanking
stones,
and
Paul
said
he
would
make
a
mound
for
the
bowl
stone
to
sit
on,
to
bring
it
up a bit and make it more striking.
Click on the images above to see more
When
we
were
all
assembled,
Ros,
Barry,
Olwen
and
Paul
and
Helen,
we
started
by
Blessing
the
stones
with
a
sage
smudging,
and
with
water
that
had
collected
in
the
bowl
stone.Then
we
Ommed
the
stones,
singing
to
them, and told them what we were planning to do.
The
first
stone
to
go
in
was
the
North,
which
was
one
of
the
granite
pillars.This
went
in
well,
and
we
aligned
a
groove
in
the
top,
from
an
old
drill
hole,
so
it
runs
North-South.
Then
the
South
stone
went
in,
the
other
granite
pillar,
and
a
drill
hole
through
this
one
also
goes
North-South.
The
East
boulder
was
placed
next,
then
the
West,
a
low
boulder
that
has
lots
of
white
quartz
crystals
on
its
surface.
Next
came
the
bowl
stone,
onto
its
mound.
This
went
well
too,
but
when
we
tried
to
place
the
other
curvy
stone
[the
chaise
longue}
upright
beside
it,
as
one
of
the
flankers,
it
diid
not
want to go there, and so we left it to one side for a while.
The
2
stones
in
the
NW
quadrant
went
in
next,
marking
the
Major
Moonset
and
a
filler
point,
nice
and
smoothly,
then
the
matching
2
in
the
NE
quadrant,
and
now
there
was
a
real
sense
of
the
circle
coming
into
being.
We agreed to stop then, and continue the following week.
After
an
awesome
Full
Moon
eclipse
the
night
before,
we
commenced
work
early,
and
began
with
another
Om,
and
more
smudging
of
the
stones.
Barry
showed
Paul
how
to
dowse
the
energy
patterns
around
the
circle,
which were already developing.
Paul
had
brought
round
the
2
boulder
stones
for
each
side
of
the
South
stone
the
day
before,
so
we
started
with
putting
them
in
place.
Next
came
the
2
stones
flanking
the
recumbent
bowl
stone,
which
went
in
very
well,
now we had the right ones!
As
each
of
the
other
stones
had
been
put
in,
Helen
had
placed
offerings
of
coins
and
glitter
under
them
in
the
holes.
She
then
placed
her
own,
more
personal
offerings
under
the
Major
Southerly
Moon
set
stone,
[
the
one
on
the
left
looking
from
the
centre
of
the
circle]
and
then
Paul
put
his
under
the Minor Southerly Moonset stone, so they are each side of the Bowl.
We
then
asked
Grace
to
choose
her
stone
from
those
that
were
left
for
us
to
use,
and
make
her
offerings
into
the
hole.This
went
in
as
the
Lammas/Beltane
sunset
position,
which
is
marked
by
the
the
right
hand
edge
of
the
stone.The
sunset
on
Grace’s
birthday,
August
16th,
is
indicated
by the left hand edge, where the sun will disappear into the mountain.
Next
we
put
the
Lammas/Beltane
sunrise
stone
in,
after
a
nice
lunch!
This
went
well,
as
Paul
and
Barry
got
practised
at
gently
but
firmly
handling
these
heavy
stone
beings,
and
manoeuvring
them
into
the
right
position
in
each ones’ hole, so that the flatter sides were facing in to the centre.
The
SE
quadrant
was
the
next
to
do,
and
after
some
discussion
we
agreed
that
the
stone
we
had
placed
at
the
West
was
too
low,
so
it
was
moved
over
to
the
SE.
It
was
also
agreed
that
the
Chaise
Longue
stone
should
stay
as
a
chaise longue, in the SE, as a mirror to the Recumbent in the SW.
Next
to
it
went
the
stone
we
had
brought
over
from
the
West,
making
this
whole
quadrant
low,
sit-upon
stones.
There
is
a
large,
low
hill
in
this
direction,
so,
no
sun
or
moon
rises
can
be
seen,
thus
it
seems
appropriate
to
have
seats
here,
from
which
to
view
the
circle,
the
view
and
the
Sun
and
Moon as they set into the mountain.
Last
to
go
in
was
the
new
West
stone,
a
lovely
pillar
similar
to
Grace’s
stone
next to it. The circle is complete! And lovely!
We
went
in
for
some
tea,
then
came
out
to
finish
off
with
the
outlier-
Bryn’s
stone.
After
Paul
had
dug
the
hole,
Bryn
put
in
his
offerings,
and
then
Paul
and
Barry
carefully
manoeuvred
the
stone,
all
8
feet,
6
inches
of
it,
into
its
place.
It
is
located
further
up
the
slope
of
the
land
so
it
is
possible
to look down on the circle, which is nice.
We then returned to sit on the Chaise Longue, and admire the Circle!
We
also
discussed
later,
how
the
South
stone
can
be
used
as
a
Gnomon,or
Sundial.
It
should
be
possible
to
imbed
in
the
ground
a
calendar
marker.
the
Sun
is
always
exactly
South
at
noon
GMT
every
day
of
the
year,
but
is
higher
or
lower
in
the
sky
depending
on
the
time
of
year.
A
line,
marked
with
special
birthdays
,
could
be
shown,
as
the
Sun
reached
that
height
on
the line on those birthdays!
Click on the images above to see more