Historical Photo Location

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Removed User 16 Aug 2017

Any idea where this interesting looking cairn is/was. It's most likely in Yorkshire somewhere? Photo from 1920s/30s.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4lzakqs04do067d/IMG_0805.JPG?dl=0
Post edited at 09:10
 Andy Johnson 16 Aug 2017
In reply to Removed User:
Looks like the tall cairn at Twisleton - http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5137957

Post edited at 09:40
 Lankyman 16 Aug 2017
In reply to Removed User:

I don't think it's the Twisleton cairn - I took that pic and the cairn's not as big as the old photo nor does it have the spiral set of protruding steps. Looking at bigger versions of the photo shows none of the distinctive scars/layers present in Chapel-le-Dale or other similar dales in the limestone areas of Yorkshire. I've come across lots of big cairns in the Dales and N. Pennines but can't recall one like this with steps to get to the top.
mysterion 16 Aug 2017
In reply to Lankyman:

I think cairns change over time don't they, the Wild Boar Fell ones have changed quite a bit as I recall
 GregHood 16 Aug 2017
In reply to Lankyman:

Looks like one of The nine standards. Possibly before being beefed up to prevent toppling.
Lusk 16 Aug 2017
In reply to GregHood:

A place I've been meaning to go to for ages.
I can feel a tour of Britain's cairns coming on.
 GregHood 16 Aug 2017
In reply to Lusk:

Which other cairns would you include in your tour?
 Andy Johnson 16 Aug 2017
In reply to GregHood:

The nine standards were my initial thought, but none of the pictures I could find matched the shape or the protrusions of the one in the OP's photo.

The reason I thought of Twisleton is that the ground seems to slope away quite steeply in the background, which matches the terrain in the photo. Current OS maping doesn't show any trees in the dale below though. My recollection of Nine Standards Rigg is that it is flat-ish.
 Mark Bull 16 Aug 2017
In reply to GregHood:

I don't think it can be Nine Standards - the lighting suggests the camera is pointed roughly between north and east, and there isn't a sufficiently steep drop in that direction. And the irregular shapes of the stones suggest limestone rather than grit.
 Rick Graham 16 Aug 2017
In reply to Removed User:

I don't think it is from a limestone area.

Some of the rocks in the cairn are too long and narrow.

IME limestone does not get that shape unless its is dressed manually.
Lusk 16 Aug 2017
In reply to GregHood:

> Which other cairns would you include in your tour?

Which ever ones I manage to get to until I find the one in the OP!
Maybe get a few megalithic sites on the way, they can be good value, I've been to a great one in Ireland.
 Andy Johnson 16 Aug 2017
In reply to Removed User:
A few observations:

- Assuming the guys in the picture are about average height, its about eleven feet from the base to the ledge where the lower person is standing, and about three feet more to the top. Big cairn.

- The people in the picture seem to be wearing ordinary shoes and trousers, not boots and plus twos. Suggests an easy approach to the cairn.

- The base looks almost square-ish - almost like a lime kiln.

- The background looks like classic Dales to me. There is what looks like a stone wall going left from the trees.

- The sloping aspect makes it an odd site for a cairn (at least in my experience). Big ones tend to be at summits. Maybe a monument or viewing platform?
Post edited at 20:23
Removed User 16 Aug 2017
In reply to Removed User:

All good stuff here guys thanks! Twistleton was a good shout but it doesn't look big enough. I'm guessing that these things change substantially over time, I can imagine the top narrower section could have been removed as a possible danger, as well as the steps.
 Simon Caldwell 17 Aug 2017
In reply to Removed User:

The background looks rather like the Eden valley, and there are a number of massive cairns along the slopes of Mallerstang Edge. This one is big, and has the spiral steps...

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/563473
 Lankyman 18 Aug 2017
In reply to Simon Caldwell:

> The background looks rather like the Eden valley, and there are a number of massive cairns along the slopes of Mallerstang Edge. This one is big, and has the spiral steps...


Not likely to be your Geograph contender which is much more slender and cylindrical in cross-section than the mystery cairn. Plus, when you are standing on that part of Mallerstang Edge the opposite side of the dale is much further away and much lower in altitude. I think the key to pinpointing it is locating the small wooded gills behind and left of the mystery cairn.
 Simon Caldwell 18 Aug 2017
In reply to Lankyman:

Probably not, though who knows, things change in time, bits could have fallen off. But its construction is very similar as are the stones, so could be somewhere nearby (there are loads of cairns around here).

It was the small wooded gills in the old photo that made me think of Mallerstang - there are several similar ones along the Eden. For example
https://www.facebook.com/ROCMountainMarathon/photos/a.1308764515824816.1073...

In fact, look at the area above the white buildings in the centre of the image at about 29 seconds
https://www.facebook.com/ROCMountainMarathon/videos/1297326450301956/


 Mark Bull 18 Aug 2017
In reply to Simon Caldwell:

I think the lighting angle probably excludes the E side of Mallerstang.
 Simon Caldwell 18 Aug 2017
In reply to Mark Bull:

The pics I posted are on the west side
 Mark Bull 18 Aug 2017
In reply to Simon Caldwell:
Apologies - I can't see the video but most of the stills looked like the Mallerstang Edge /Hanging Seat side rather than the Wild Boar Fell side to me.

(Edit: maybe I wasn't clear enough: I meant the E side of Mallerstang valley)
Post edited at 16:21
 Simon Caldwell 18 Aug 2017
In reply to Mark Bull:

With you now I thought you meant the east side of the edge which is on the east of the valley

Anyway, I'm probably wrong, it just reminded me of that area, and I got excited when I saw the pic of the big cairn with the spiral steps round it!
 Mark Bull 18 Aug 2017
In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Good shout for the terrain but the shadows can't point south!
 Tom Valentine 18 Aug 2017
In reply to Removed User:

Probably as well not to reveal its location on here since a sizeable body of posters would want to see it disassembled asap.
mysterion 19 Aug 2017
In reply to Removed User:
Could be here but veering a bit more north/left. Maybe the most collapsed (already kicked over by UKC?) one. Would place it at the dip in the skyline in the old photo (filled in by the ridge visible beyond in the modern photo)

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/163899
Post edited at 01:11
Lusk 19 Aug 2017
In reply to Tom Valentine:

> Probably as well not to reveal its location on here since a sizeable body of posters would want to see it disassembled asap.

Eh?!?! You'll have to spell that out in very simple terms for me to understand!

Anyways, I seem to be not the only person suffering from piliostonosis.
 Lankyman 19 Aug 2017
In reply to mysterion:

I'm not convinced it's in/around Mallerstang - either side. The valley beyond the mystery cairn looks quite narrow whereas Mallerstang is a full-on wide dale. Those trees/bushes in the little gills are quite close. I wonder if it's somewhere like upper Littondale? It also looks like there are some trees to the RIGHT of the cairn also very close. I've fiddled about with the brightness/contrast and it looks more and more like the valley below is more of a narrow gill rather than a 'proper' dale.
mysterion 19 Aug 2017
In reply to Lankyman:
If the cameras have different focal lengths this will change the perspective depth within each photo. The modern photo looks fairly wide-angle, the older photo looks much narrower
Post edited at 16:58
 Tom Valentine 19 Aug 2017
In reply to Lusk:

Cairns are seen as a Bad Thing by some people on here.

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