Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

Tag: broch

  • Cairns of Yarrows

    Cairns of Yarrows

    I seem to get more of an awareness of the history of a place if some effort is needed to get there. A car park close by and manicured grounds somehow sterilises a site. Yarrows Broch was quite an adventure, through bogs, under fences, and detours to avoid over-friendly horses. 2,000 years ago, the broch…

  • Broch of Gurness

    Broch of Gurness

    This is without doubt the best broch so far. And as an historical site, superior to Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar. I know Skara Brae is Neolithic and this broch is Iron Age, a mere 2,000 years old but I must admit I was disappointed by commercialisation of the older site. The Broch…

  • Càrn Liath

    Càrn Liath

    An Iron Age broch, a hollow dry-stone walled roundhouse between Golspie and Brora. Once thought to be purely defensive, the modern thinking now is that brochs were a status symbol, the stately home of their day. They are found throughout northern Scotland and were of considerable height. The tallest one standing today is 13 metres…