LAY OF THE LAND
Dolmen de Menga, Antequera – Spain
The Dolmen de Menga and Dolmen de Viera burial mounds stand close together on a low hill on the northern edge of Antequera town. If the Dolmen de Viera was a rather conventional passage grave (see previous post), then the nearby Dolmen de Menga is anything but. This is one of the largest megalithic structures in Europe, with the size and unique features of this single chambered burial mound being one of the main reasons why the Antequera dolmens are listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Tholos de El Romeral, Antequera – Spain
The Tholos de El Romeral is the third burial mound making up the UNESCO world heritage site at Antequera. After the Dolmen De Viera and Dolmen De Menga, this burial mound seems a bit like the ‘poor relation’ as it is located in a rather run down area – 1 mile to the east of the other two mounds and the new visitors centre. You have to drive down a dusty and bumpy track past some industrial buildings to find the Tholos de El Romeral, however this is another wonderful monument and well worth visiting.
Robin Hood’s Mill – Stainforth (Settle)
The village of Little Stainforth is located 2 miles to the north of Settle, in the Yorkshire Dales. The first edition OS map from 1851 marks a ‘Robin Hoods Mill’ in a field half a mile to the south of the village. This interesting place name was noted several years ago, but Googling the name at that time produced no results, however a more recent search did provide some information.
Continue reading >>The Fairies Hill Maze – Asenby
Asenby is a small village located 4 miles to the south of Thirsk. The old Ordnance Survey maps show the site of a maze alongside a crossroads just to the south of the village. Unfortunately, even by the time of the 1890 edition map the maze is marked as ‘site of’ – meaning that it no longer existed at that date. There are however, several old references to the Asenby maze, and this information suggests that it would have been quite a significant feature in the local landscape.
Continue reading >>>The Goathland Plough Stots – 2025
The village of Goathland on the North York Moors has preserved the old tradition of ‘Blessing the Plough’, which takes place in early January every year. Connected with this tradition are a group of sword dancers known as the Goathland Plough Stots, who have their ‘Day of Dance’ on the Saturday after the Plough Blessing. On this day they tour around the village to perform their sword dances, and collect money for the village charity.
