Of Rings and things.....

....the stone kind of rings.....  Earlier this month I had a chance to wander around the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness.  Amazingly I managed to do it in between tour buses! Both are very popular for tourists, and locals alike so I treasure the times I'm there almost on my own.  So here are a few pictures.

First - the Ring of Brodgar - the circle is about 104 metres in diameter and the stones vary in height from 7 to 15 feet.  The circle dates from about 2500 and 2000BC.  Only some of the stones remain but it is still very much a circle.  Unfortunately due to the popularity of the site by tour buses/cruise liner buses, as well as others the path around the circle is in a poor state.  So Historic Scotland who manage the site have roped it off to give the path time to recover.  This means you can only walk round the outside of the circle, but it's still a lovely atmospheric walk! And the heather is out to add to the beauty....

A stone with a very human profile....

And the Ring now sits amid a fertile farming landscape.

While the Stones of Stenness now has fewer stones visible, the original diameter was only about 44 metres.

Hmm I realise without people in it's hard to gauge the size of these.  I *think* they are bigger than the Ring of Brodgar, or at least not smaller!

Er, except this one - which has been damaged. Note the buildings in the background - this is the site of the Ness of Brodgar Dig.  There have been TV programmes, lectures and magazine articles about this amazing site. This web site has lots of info about the excavations.  I'm hoping to visit soon.

Hoy Hills sit in the background.....

Here are some schematics of the Stones of Stenness and how they fit into the landscape with the Ring of Brodgar and the Ness of Brodgar dig. (Click on image to see bigger and hopefully read!).