| Equipment
For The Stone Hunter
Actually, you don't need much in the way of equipment to
get out there and search for ancient stones. All you need to
get started is a good Ordnance Survey map and your own two
feet. However, if you are going to do things properly and
also get more enjoyment out of stone hunting, a few
additional items of equipment are useful to have. This
section looks at a few such items.
All the items covered here have a permanent place in my
equipment bag and are taken with me on each and every
outing. They don't take up much space and all the items
listed left fit inside a small pouch or bumbag. Its always a
good idea to take everything as you will certainly find that
the one day you leave something behind that is the day you
will need it!
Compass
Next to a good
Ordnance Survey map, the not-so-humble compass is one of the
most useful tools you can have in the search for ancient stones. Not
every stone is easy to find, particularly stones that are on
the small side or lying recumbent and may also be concealed by
dense vegetation. A good example is the 018
Grey Mare, a large
flat stone on Wether Law near Longformacus, in the Scottish
Borders. The stone is only visible from a few metres away,
being situated in a low lying hollow and surrounded by deep
heather. A compass is also a good backup device for
your GPS receiver which will not always work in every
situation, such as thick woodland or urban areas where a poor
signal can decrease accuracy to an unacceptable level.
In circumstances such as this the compass can be used. A GPS
also relies on batteries, which can fail, usually at the
most awkward of times. A compass needs no batteries and will
always work.
Maps
These are without
doubt the most essential tool for the stone hunter. Without a
good set of maps, you are unlikely to find any great number
of stones and here in the UK, the only maps worth using are those provided by the Ordnance Survey. There are two
ranges available that are of use to the stone hunter, the
1:50,000 Landranger Series and the 1:25,000 Explorer Series.
From the point of view of actually locating ancient stones,
the 1:25,000 Explorer Series is by far the most useful. The
level of detail included on these maps is a useful aid to
navigating across the landscape and there are also far more
ancient stones noted on this series than the Landranger
Series, making them an essential tool for the stone hunter.
If you are simply following the instructions to a site
listed on Ancient Stones, the Landranger Series will
probably be sufficient for most stones that are easy to
access, and if you use the GPS co-ordinates you should be able
to find everything without too much hassle. If you are
searching for stones in your own area from scratch, I would
strongly recommend you purchase a set of Explorer maps.
Doing so will greatly increase your chances of finding
ancient stones.
Utility Knife
This item is not
really essential but can be invaluable when you find
yourself in need of one. For the stone hunter, it�s
usually used to clear vegetation away from stones to allow
decent photographs to be taken. Some stones are often almost
totally hidden behind thick vegetation such as nettles or
bracken. One such example was 042
Cromwell's Stone, near
West Calder, which was actually concealed beneath a fallen
conifer! One final point, choose a knife with both a blade
and wood saw. There are plenty in the Swiss Army range to
choose from.
GPS Receiver
This amazing device
uses 24 satellites to tell you where you are standing
anywhere on the face of the earth and is accurate to within
about 5m at best. It�s ideal for finding stones when you
already have an 8-figure grid reference. I�ve used it a
few times to find stones in difficult terrain, for example, 007 Crow Stones in the Lammermuir hills and it�s
also ideal for taking a grid reference on location for new
stones not marked on maps. For finding stones listed on
Ancient Stones, all you need do is enter the grid reference noted, hit to GOTO button
and just follow the arrow. I use a Garmin eTrex.
Stationary
Obviously, if you are
going to record information about a site, you need something
to write in. Nothing hi-tech here, just a small A6 size
notebook, two pens, a pencil and eraser. You could go for
waterproof paper if you�re that keen but I just turn my
back to the rain and get on with it. There are some almost
illegible smudges in the notebook but that�s all part of
the fun. I did consider some form of PDA (personal digital
assistant) at one time but decided I have enough to carry as
it is. Good old fashioned paper notebooks don�t fail when
you most need them.
Tape Measure
If you are going to
create a web site similar to the companion sites to this one
and want to record details of the stones you find, some form
of measuring device is required. I�ve tried and tested
metal measuring tapes but found them less than ideal. What I
did find was best was a dress-makers tape, which actually
came out of a Christmas cracker. It
can be fun trying to measure a stone in strong winds,
driving rain, etc and you do get some odd looks when there
are people about but if you want to get sizes you just have
to grin and bear it! Make sure you get the
plastic/fibreglass type of tape measure rather than the
cotton ones. They tend to stay cleaner and drier.
Batteries
With two items in my
equipment bag powered by batteries, a digital camera and GPS
receiver, spare batteries should be considered essential. If
you have walked for 6 miles, fought your way through 500m of
thick conifer plantation, only to discover that your camera
batteries are flat and you�ve no spares, you will realise
just how important carrying spares can be. For the digital
camera, I carry a minimum of two sets of rechargeable
batteries and always have another freshly charged set
installed in the camera. This might seem over-kill but
digital; cameras tend to eat batteries at an amazing rate,
particularly when flash is used. For the GPS receiver, I
carry a single set of non-rechargeable batteries. I find
that rechargeable batteries tend not to work very well in
the GPS unit and a single set has always been adequate for
the amount of use the device gets.
Binoculars
Not essential but
very useful for scanning the surrounding area for other
stones not marked on the map. They can also be used to look
for associated features such as ancient track ways,
prehistoric remains and the like that may be connected with
the site you are visiting. As a keen birder, I tend to carry
my binoculars whenever I�m out and about. You
need not purchase anything special for occasional use but
you do tend to get what you pay for. Cheap and cheerful
usually means poor image quality and if you purchase at the
top end of the market, the superior quality is obvious. MY
present binoculars are Leica Trinovid 8 x 24 which come in
around �250.00
Scale Ruler
This small item has a
permanent place in my equipment bag. It�s mainly used for
accurately measuring grid references from the map for
entering into the GPS receiver when on location. A recent
example when it was used was when searching for a standing
stone near Dere Street, the
Roman Road, in the Cheviot Hills - See 073. The whole area was covered
in deep grass about 600mm deep and the stone was next to
impossible to find without technical help. I used to scale
rule to take a grid reference from the 1:25,000 map and
entered the figure into the GPS unit. Calculating a grid
reference this way from a 1:25,00 map is accurate to about
10m, usually enough for most locations. In this case I was
able to walk directly to the site. make sure you get one
that will suit the maps you are going to use. |
