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Neither Google nor my Grouse-rotted brain is giving me any clues. Can someone assist?

maximus otter

Means nothing to me either, thought it was just a very obscure reference but rings no bells!
Oh dear! This is my fault. See:

https://forums.forteana.org/index.p...eam-of-last-night.59497/page-100#post-2312009

And @SimonBurchell 's excellent visualisation at:

https://forums.forteana.org/index.p...eam-of-last-night.59497/page-100#post-2312240
 
Earlier today I walked through Brailsford, Derbyshire. My route took me through the village and across fields past the church, which stands isolated among trees some distance from the village. The church itself was locked, but I was delighted to find the re-erected shaft of a Saxon cross, found buried underneath the medieval cross-base in the early 20th century, with a figure reckoned to represent a Viking warrior:

20241014_191936.jpg

20241014_192522.jpg
 
Earlier today I walked through Brailsford, Derbyshire. My route took me through the village and across fields past the church, which stands isolated among trees some distance from the village. The church itself was locked, but I was delighted to find the re-erected shaft of a Saxon cross, found buried underneath the medieval cross-base in the early 20th century, with a figure reckoned to represent a Viking warrior:

View attachment 82963
View attachment 82964
Have to say, it looks a lot like a Grey...
 
As promised to @catseye , I've been doing a fair bit of walking in and around the Cotswolds over the past month or two. At the tail end of September, I did a two-day hike out of Charlbury to the Rollright Stones, then looping back to spend the night in Chipping Norton before continuing on to Banbury the next day.

I do love the eroding limestone tombstones in the local churchyards, this one from Charlbury:
20240921_073222.jpg

Then onwards, through spectacularly atmostpheric stretches of woodland:
20240921_082233.jpg

I headed to Taston, the placename is a corruption of Thor's Stone, and the stone is still there. Local folklore holds that it was a thunderbolt thrown by Thor himself. The stone is an imposing monument, sadly diminished by being half-hidden by an overgrown garden hedge. Here you can see it in the shadow of the remains of the local medieval wayside cross. It is interesting that when they built the cross, they did not destroy the Thor Stone, which stood for thousands of years before the cross was built:
20240921_085755.jpg

My restless feet take me ever onwards, over fields and hills and through woods:
20240921_092613.jpg


20240921_101017.jpg

Until I reached the Hawk Stone, a solitary standing stone at a field edge some way outside Spelsbury:
IMG_1588.JPG

It really is a spectacular standing stone, 8 foot tall, standing like a linchpin through Time, pinning the past to the present.
20240921_102656.jpg

The stone has some folklore attached, the stone was said to have been dragged to its position by a witch; another says that the cleft at the top was formed by the chains when witches were bound to the stone to be burned. Touching the hollow in the top is said to bring good luck, and passers-by had deposited offerings there:
20240921_102706.jpg

Arriving in Chipping Norton, after a coffee break, I headed down to the local church, with its impressive effigy tombs, one example here:
20240921_124838.jpg

Then onwards to the Rollright Stones, which have collected a particularly large body of folklore that I won't relate here, including rumours of nefarious night-time rituals by black cloaked figures. First, the Whispering Knights, the remains of a Neolithic burial chamber:
20240921_143512.jpg

Then on to the King's Men stone circle, which I found crawling alive with neo-pagans. Duh! 21st September - I had arrived on the autumnal equinox. Or had I? Google tells me that the equinox fell on the 22nd September this year; however, coward that I am, and not wishing to be offered up as the next sacrifice, I did not point this out to the gathered witches, warlocks and other colourful folk - I'm sure they know their own business. There were more of them than appear in the photo here, and I am quite disappointed that a fellow clothed in multicolour strips of cloth didn't turn up in my photos:
20240921_145928.jpg

After dropping by the King Stone across the road, I returned to Chipping Norton via Little Rollright, the church of which had an effigy tomb of this rather dapper gentleman:
20240921_153353.jpg

I do love the way these Renaissance monuments are decorated with reminders of our mortality:
20240921_153410.jpg

Back in Chipping Norton, I stayed at the Crown & Cushion, a decent stopping point and, according to Doc Paul's app, supposed to be haunted by Gunpowder Plotters. I did not come across any.
20240921_173026.jpg

The next day, damp and overcast, I hauled on up the ridge again:
20240922_090126.jpg

The Rollright Stones were much less busy, in spite of it being the actual Equinox (that's what Google tells me). I could get decent photos of the King Stone without assorted witchy types:
20240922_102314.jpg

And indeed, of the King's Men:
20240922_102517.jpg

And the offerings that had been left in the middle the previous day:
20240922_101934.jpg

Then onwards, through more atmospheric woods, past ancient farmbuildings, dropping down towards Banbury, where torrential rain caught me for the last hour of my walk, making mapreading impossible by paper or phone, fortunately I was close enough to find my own way.
20240922_112107.jpg

20240922_120304.jpg

I passed by Tadmarton Camp, a small Iron Age fort that is nonetheless quite well defined, at least on the north side of the road that bisects it. The interior is used as a paddock, and I was able to walk around the rampart and into the interior:
20240922_140302.jpg

At one point I passed through a herd of cows with most impressive horns. They were docile, but their general spikiness made me a little more nervous than usual:
20240922_152310.jpg
 
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As promised to @catseye , I've been doing a fair bit of walking in and around the Cotswolds over the past month or two. At the tail end of September, I did a two-day hike out of Charlbury to the Rollright Stones, then looping back to spend the night in Chipping Norton before continuing on to Banbury the next day.

I do love the eroding limestone tombstones in the local churchyards, this one from Charlbury:
View attachment 83166
Then onwards, through spectacularly atmostpheric stretches of woodland:
View attachment 83167
I headed to Taston, the placename is a corruption of Thor's Stone, and the stone is still there. Local folklore holds that it was a thunderbolt thrown by Thor himself. The stone is an imposing monument, sadly diminished by being half-hidden by an overgrown garden hedge. Here you can see it in the shadow of the remains of the local medieval wayside cross. It is interesting that when they built the cross, they did not destroy the Thor Stone, which stood for thousands of years before the cross was built:
View attachment 83168
My restless feet take me ever onwards, over fields and hills and through woods:
View attachment 83169

View attachment 83170
Until I reached the Hawk Stone, a solitary standing stone at a field edge some way outside Spelsbury:
View attachment 83171
It really is a spectacular standing stone, 8 foot tall, standing like a linchpin through Time, pinning the past to the present.
View attachment 83172
The stone has some folklore attached, the stone was said to have been dragged to its position by a witch; another says that the cleft at the top was formed by the chains when witches were bound to the stone to be burned. Touching the hollow in the top is said to bring good luck, and passers-by had deposited offerings there:
View attachment 83175
Arriving in Chipping Norton, after a coffee break, I headed down to the local church, with its impressive effigy tombs, one example here:
View attachment 83176
The onwards to the Rollright Stones, which have collected a particularly large body of folklore that I won't relate here, including rumours of nefarious night-time rituals by black cloaked figure. First, the Whispering Knights, the remains of a Neolithic burial chamber:
View attachment 83177
The on to the King's Men stone circle, which I found crawling alive with neo-pagans. Duh! 21st September - I had arrived on the autumnal equinox. Or had I? Google tells me that the equinox fell on the 22nd September this year; however, coward that I am, and not wishing to be offered up as the next sacrifice, I did not point this out to the gathers witches, warlocks and other colourful folk - I'm sure they know their own business. There were more of them than appear in the photo here, and I am quite disappointed that a fellow clothed in multicolour strips of cloth didn't turn up in my photos:
View attachment 83178
After dropping by the King Stone across the road, I returned to Chipping Norton via Little Rollright, the church of which had an effigy tomb of this rather dapper gentleman:
View attachment 83179
I do love the way these Renaissance monuments are decorated with reminders of our mortality:
View attachment 83180
Back in Chipping Norton, I stayed at the Crown & Cushion, a decent stopping point and, according to Doc Paul's app, supposed to be haunted by Gunpowder Plotters. I did not come across any.
View attachment 83181
The next day, damp and overcast, I hauled on up the ridge again:
View attachment 83182
The Rollright Stones were much less busy, in spite of it being the actual Equinox (that's what Google tells me). I could get decent photos of the King Stone without assorted witchy types:
View attachment 83183
And indeed, of the King's Men:
View attachment 83184
And the offerings that had been left in the middle the previous day:
View attachment 83185
Then onwards, through more atmospheric woods, past ancient farmbuildings, dropping down towards Banbury, where torrential rain caught me for the last hour of my walk, making mapreading impossible by paper or phone, fortunately I was close enough to find my own way.
View attachment 83186
View attachment 83187
I passed by Tadmarton Camp, a small Iron Age fort that is nonetheless quite well defined, at least on the north side of the road that bisects it. The interior is used as a paddock, and I was able to walk around the rampart and into the interior:
View attachment 83188
At one point I passed through a herd of cows with most impressive horns. They were docile, but their general spikiness made me a little more nervous than usual:
View attachment 83189
These are wonderful! I want to walk the ridgeway one of these days, and these pictures have inspired me... Fabulous, thank you.
 
These are wonderful! I want to walk the ridgeway one of these days, and these pictures have inspired me... Fabulous, thank you.

Yes, I forgot to say that not only are the sites fascinating, but your pictures @SimonBurchell actually do them justice :) More photo essays please.
 
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