Well, another tour is done and dusted. The Hardridge tour is our very first evening tour, taking in the grouse line and all the recent prehistoric finds we have come across up there over the last few weeks.
To be honest with the biblical downpours arriving at 4.30 and the usual flooding and mayhem following that down in the town centre it looked like the tour was going to be a late rain off but thankfully everybody made it safely to Harelaw and Allan and I were of the view that it was worth making the drive up to Hardridge to make a final call from there.
It was the right decision as the skies were clear up there and the ground was relatively dry. It stayed like that for most of the tour and although we did have a few heavy showers passing through, we were getting enough respite between them that the enthusiasm of the team wasn’t getting washed away.
With it being damp and warm the midges did put in an appearance for a spell but they weren’t too bad and we did go a bit mad with the Avon skin so soft which did seem to deter them from biting.
We did decide against having an extended tea break though which was a shame but we thought it was best to have short breaks and keep moving rather than be a static all-you-can-eat buffet for our winged friends.
We basically got round the same loop we had the news team out on a few weekends back, so our tour group which included tour stalwarts Libby, Frances and Moira with new faces Nicole and Paul got to see all that they saw but there were a few surprises in there along the way and sometimes a second look at a site allows you to spot things with a fresh pair of eyes.
The final hut circle find on the last outing to Hardridge is certainly discernible even if it isn’t the most spectacular looking piece however, that site looks far more interesting and after a second look, we have a hut circle sitting within a much larger enclosure. We have seen models of these things before… on the isle of Mull…. a hut circle within an enclosure would most likely be a prehistoric farm.
Another thing showed up as the jackpot for tonight and possibly for the year. Initially, we spotted this from across the burn as another hut circle find just as a visual oddity. As we got closer we changed our minds. Too small to be a dwelling with a scooped-out centre? Well, we have seen this before.
Scooped out like a robbed cairn? Next to other prehistoric structures?
You only find one bronze-age burial cairn in your lifetime right?
**Ok , well breaking news…. the time teamers believe we may have found another potential prehistoric burial cairn at Hardridge. Cautious celebration at the min but we plan to run this one by HES and we will be hailing them because this whole site merits a visit.