khitajrah Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooter Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 I'm sure people have erected piles of stones in various areas as markers but there are also trig points which were used by Ordnance Survey to take measurements to create maps.This site shows their locations. > http://www.trigpointinguk.com/trigs/view-trigs.php?q=940533 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Njugle Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marooned in Maywick Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shetlandpeat Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 The South Road has some standing stones as the road goes through hills that have been dug out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khitajrah Posted April 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longdog Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinner72 Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khitajrah Posted April 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Ah, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhutch Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted April 13, 2011 Report Share Posted April 13, 2011 Might be one or two with EU plaques, Muckle Roe Bridge for one, but mostly just a little modern tradition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMe Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khitajrah Posted April 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 Sorry, more questions! Why are these standing stones here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyumpi Posted April 14, 2011 Report Share Posted April 14, 2011 If you go down to the 1:25,000 OS map then there is a homestead marked in the same location. They may well date from the same period but Shetland's prehistoric inhabitants didn't seem to be quite as in to standing stones as our flash southern neighbours in Orkney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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