Walked by Julie Brominicks
WALES
12.1 miles/19.5 km 8 hours Challenging 438m
Earthfast, they wear grass skirts. Sixteen are gathered here though two have toppled. Eight are glacial erratic rocks, the rest – like the Stonehenge monoliths – spotted dolerite rocks from the Preseli Hills.
Gors Fawr shares none of Stonehenge’s tourism, development or wow factor. Rather, these diminutive stones occupy a gorsy plain in a gently peopled landscape.
Yet humble though they appear, this circle is dense in history and mystery. Its relationship to the Neolithic landscape is visible, palpable, walkable, somehow present. Right there are the outcrops of quarried dolerite. Within walking distance are yet more circles, tombs and standing stones.
1 START
From the bus stop, walk through Crymych. This spirited, well-equipped village developed around a railway that once served the quarries. Pass the school and Spar, then turn right, the Preselis ahead. The road is quiet and hedge-banked. Turn left at the junction, pass a farm.
2 1.4 MILES
The bridleway crosses the road and takes you on to The Golden Road, a prehistoric un-waymarked trail crossing the Preselis. Note the path right to Foeldrygarn, an imposing Iron Age fort, but instead keep left to the fenceline and continue past the forestry over rough sheep pasture.
3 2.5 MILES
Grassland cedes to heather moorland with ascent. Craggy dolerite tors either side of the route provide power and atmosphere. To your left is Carn Menyn, the outcrop of spotted dolerite from where the Stonehenge blocks were quarried.
4 3 MILES
Continue along The Golden Road. Expansive views on either side of the trail backdrop the tors. Pass Carn Bica and Bedd Arthur – a Ne
