Barbrook and boredom

Sunday 12th September, 2010 – Car Top, Derbyshire.

As if often the way, whenever you have had a wonderful experience, such as exploring a stone circle you have never visited before on a sunny day, then perhaps these things should be considered to be the highlight of the day, and the day should end there. Sadly, yet again, I pushed both Kal and myself on to another area. I had been to the Big Moor just north of Chatsworth House in Derbyshire in the winter months, and as we were so close to the place again I wanted to see if the Barbrook stone circle was easier to get something out of in the sunshine than it had been in a howling icy gale on my last visit, when I had been not very inclined to stay and do much work on it.

I remembered the lay-by to stop in, and the footpath, and the distance to the circle. We found the Barbrook circle without any problems.

There was a quite apathetic nonchalance with which we entered the circle. Yes, it was the end of the day, but usually we are both quite excited about the prospect of dowsing a circle, whatever the weather or time of day. As we listlessly wandered around the circle’s stones we kept finding negative responses:

• Was there any energy here? NO.
• Was there anything her of any interest to us at all? NO.
• Was the site linked with any other sacred place? NO.
• Was there anything that either of us could do here? NO.

So much negativity! We spotted the ritual offerings that other visitors had left here. Well, at least they must be having some positive effect? Someone believed in the circle! Were the offerings energising the circle? NO. Oh dear – a total loss!

I told Kal that perhaps all was not lost. Apparently there were other circles around here too, and maybe they were still alive in some way? We set off. A family was ahead of us on the path and the children seemed to be really enjoying being out even though the moorland was bleak and uninspiring. They pranced and galloped everywhere, putting our energy levels to shame. At one point, as we rounded a bend in the path and were beginning to wonder where these other circles were, we found one of the kids lying on the floor taking a close-up photo of something on the ground. It was a gigantic fly agaric mushroom – the biggest I have ever seen, almost entirely on its own in a patch of mossy earth.

We took the chance to ask the father of the family about where the circles might be. He only knew of a roundhouse on the top of the moor, but not of the circles. Feeling that something was better than an aimless wander through bleak moorland at dusk we headed up onto the moorland again, and sought a path across to the roundhouse. Within minutes my spider senses were tingling, and without the aid of rods we found the remnant of the roundhouse’s circular wall.

It was energetically dead.

Right, right. never mind. We could see other stones that looked like they might be the remains of circles, so we hopped between visible stones. Sometimes we arrived at just a pile of a few remnant stones, but on two occasions they looked as through they might be the remains of two small stone circles. Aha! Did they have anything energetic about them whatsoever? NO.

You know what? We can take a hint. There was nothing for us here. If you’re thinking of going to see these megalithic marvels, and you are in any way interested in dowsing, save yourself a bleak and featureless and cold walk, because the only thing you will find on Car Top or Big Moor is a whole heap of boredom. Now, I like rocks, but this was intolerably dull.

Bah-humbug-brook!

Gwas.