http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33765 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33765 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33764 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/33764 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32679 But Long Meg and her daughters are not related. Long Meg, at twelve feet high, is made of local red sandstone. She stands back from the main circle to catch the dying winter solstice sun. The other 50 stones are granite.
Together, they make one of the largest stone circles in Britain, dating back to 1500 BC. Yet so few people have heard of them. The mysterious cup and ring marks, like carved tattoos on Long Meg’s shoulders, face all four corners of the compass.
Wordsworth wrote a poem about the “sisterhood” of the stones urging their “giant mother” to speak.
We found them after an autumn walk along the river Eden, near Little Salkeld. Just before we emerged from a wood to the stone circle, our children spotted a red squirrel, which brought a different kind of magic to our day.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32679 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32677 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32677 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32661 Some served as markers on the pannier tracks that connected Yorkshire's monasteries, and some are boundary stones - such as the aptly named Fat Betty on the road between Castleton and Rosedale. Two miles inland from Robin Hood’s Bay are the three Bronze Age stones of the Ramsdale Circle. This is an unsurpassable site for a picnic, with a wonderful view of the coast across rolling moorland, which has probably changed little since the stones were erected.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32661 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32451 What better time than now to follow the route Keats took one autumn Sunday in 1819? You start out in the High Street where he lodged and end up at the Hospital of St. Cross which still doles out alms to the needy. It not only takes in many of Winchester's places of interest: the Cathedral (burial place of Jane Austen), Wolvesey Palace, Winchester College - but also passes along the beautiful banks of the River Itchen, which Keats described as "most beautifully clear". He also described the air as "worth sixpence a pint" - not sure how that rates after inflation!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32451 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32448 Between Ullapool and Lochinver, just before arriving art Loch Assynt, is a signposted car park and walk to the Bone Caves, so called because the remains of now extinct bear, lynx wolf and arctic fox have been found there. A wonderful walk on a good path then a final scramble takes you back 7,000 years to one of the earliest signs of habitation in Scotland. In this primeval landscape it is easy to sit there and imagine how it must have been to live there. This is limestone country and on the way there you pass by springs welling up from under the ground and entrances to the passages they have carved through the rock. Here is the longest underground cave system in Scotland and over two kilometres have been explored so far but they are for experienced cavers only so stick to the ones above ground.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32448 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32447 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32447 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32423 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/32423 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31748 Best of all, it's accessible on the Metropolitan tube line and a round trip will cost all of £7. En route, the Cock Inn at Sarratt and the Rose & Crown at Chorleywood make splendid stopping off points for sustenance and liquid refreshment. We passed a watercress farm too, and a huge bunch of freshly-harvested greens cost £1.50 and tasted a hundred times better than the stuff from the supermarket.

Take the Metropolitan Line from Baker Street or Marylebone Station to Chalfont & Latimer. Follow the river walk along the Chess river to Chorleywood village.
Chorleywood is on the Metropolitan tube line also.
The walk is about 7km.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31748 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31692 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31692 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31690 There are nine information panels (with quizzes for children) along the walk pointing out at each site the key events that have affected the wall and the city of Exeter.
The circular tour of this Roman settlement starts in Castle Street and continues into Northernhay Gardens, and to Rougemont Gardens to the Norman Gatehouse, where William the Conqueror established a stronghold within the city. The walk then takes in the city defences, the four main gatehouses from which entry to the city was controlled. At the North Gate discover how Exeter was threatened during various rebellions. The South Gate is arguably the most impressive of all the gates - follow the footpath alongside the city wall to Cathedral Close, turn right on to Southernhay, at Southernhay turn left then continue to the East Gate, the principal entry point into the city, which also played a vital defensive role during the English Civil War and the Perkin Warbeck Rebellion.
The walk takes in Exeter Cathedral, one of the finest examples of the decorated Gothic style in the country. Opposite the cathedral are many cafes to have lunch. The walk is around two miles.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31690 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31688 Take the 44 bus to Balerno High School, the walk is signposted to the left. Part railway path, mostly riverside there is countryside, Colinton Dell, allotments, the Water of Leith Visitors Centre (an unimposing building and gives the history of this once hard-working river) onto industrial areas, then a beautiful stroll from Roseburn to the Modern Art galleries (great art, great café) and is where the Anthony Gormely 6 Times begins, onto historical Dean Village and New Town, St Bernards Well, Stockbridge, Bonnington where industrial meets regeneration and on to where the Water of Leith meets the Firth of Forth at Leith Docks and AG #6 looks out to sea, (well worth the walk) on one side adjacent to the Royal Yacht Britannia, the other to working dockland.
One of the beauties of this urban walk is you can jump off the beaten track at any time – to have a break, explore (and you will be tempted!) or get a bus! I’ve lived around the city centre most of my life and I love walking here, and never fail to see something new.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31688 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31684 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31684 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31680 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31680 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31669 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31669 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31577 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/31577 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30807 I recommend the garden for its early summer colour and above all for its autumn tints. There is nothing better than the stunning Autumn colour reflected in the lakes.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30807 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30112 It's one of the least known, but most attractive, of the great Victorian cemeteries of London. Consecrated in 1840, it is one of the seven Victorian cemeteries established in a ring around the outskirts of London.
Some parts of the cemetery have been renovated in recent years, and the paths are well-maintained and the ruined yet elegant Anglican chapel sensitively preserved. However, there are also wild parts, with overgrown secret trails, romantic areas, spooky tombstones, beautiful trees, abundant wildlife and crumbling Gothic architecture to discover. It's a lovely place for a Sunday stroll and photo opportunities abound.
The Brockley Footpath, leading between the walled border of the cemetery and the covered reservoirs, is a strenuous workout, leading steeply uphill, but I wouldn't undertake it at night.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/30112 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/27738
Carreg Cennen is all the more interesting because of its isolation and spectacular location, perched on a ridge in the remote west of the Brecon Beacons national park, its romantic setting has inspired generations of artists, including Turner.

Approached through a farmyard, you will need decent shoes for the steep path and, unusually, a torch. The latter is necessary to follow the tunnel which starts within the castle walls and descends deep into the cold, wet rock below - a spooky climax to the visit for children and grown-ups, where it is believed prisoners were held captive for months on end in the pitch black.

Once you step, blinking, back into the daylight, the downhill trek will return you to the farm and car park where lunch, snacks and cream teas can be bought.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/27738