Jump to content

Stone markers on hills


khitajrah
 Share

Recommended Posts

I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the large stones up on the hills that folk used to use as guideposts when walking from place to place. Do these really exist (as guideposts) or am I mistaken. I recall being told something about them many years ago. Is there any sort of 'map' with them on it? What are they marked as on the OS maps? How would one follow them now, if, say, one was planning a massive hike this summer with the eldest son. :wink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Only place I've seen natural stones (as opposed to OS Trig points) used as route markers is between Ruhr Water and Lang Clodie( North of Ronas Hill). Most of the rest of them are fishing meads or suchlike. Some may have been onshore meads, but in such a small landmass, there is little to know, other than where the top of the hill is.

 

Others might have more info though?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've only known of them as "mead points" for use when caa'ing hills etc, and in that respect they are useful for walkers too, but not necessarily as a guide to any specific place.

 

There are a few around the north west of Yell, which I remember seeing some "experts" on a documentary discussing, debating about how old they were etc etc. If only they had thought to ask a few locals :roll:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replies - well, there I know now. :)

 

What about those piles of stones that walkers sometimes create on the tops of hills - is there any story/tradition behind those? Are those what you are referring to as fishing meads or mead points? Those are unfamiliar terms to me.

 

My first encounter with an OS marker was quite recent. I didn't even know they existed until the other day (one of the fine sunny evenings we had recently) where I got into one of those "I wonder what is on the other side of that hill?" moods, so I went and checked. There was one of those OS markers at the top of the hill. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The piles of stones, cairns, are usually on hill tops or along paths to them and they are marked on OS maps as...cairns.

 

Yeh they are useful for walking especially in bad visibility (a known point on the map/ground), but also you can usually eye them from one to another in good visibility which saves a bit of map reading and route planning.

 

Happy walking :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A mead, as I always understood it, was any reference, be it personal or communal, to help any form of navigation. Hence why you will hear people saying things like "I wis OK whan I got a mead on whar I wis at" when they're been south etc.

 

It can be a man made pile of stones, a geological feature, sometimes singular or sometimes by lining up, or if you're south, probably a pub :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This could be a complete urban (or rural, I suppose, to be more accurate) myth, but didn't da Coonty boys put a whopping big stone at the end of each newly-completed stretch of road that they'd constructed?

 

Maybe not quite 'in the hills' but markers nonetheless.

 

yea , theres one in the tignwall straight n another at mangaster , think it was for putting plaques on about european funding or something

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This reminded me of something I saw recently on an old 1-25,000 Pathfinder map where there is a "Pile of Stones" marked near a place called Tingon which is a couple of miles up a track running north from the road to Hamnavove (The one just north of Eshaness). Stones are maybe a quarter mile to the west of Tingon. Just says "Pile of Stones" on the map which is the 1976 edition. Tingon is shown on the 1-50,000 landranger map but not the pile of stones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...