The Rollright Stones, a Dismantled Railway and Käsespätzle 

Thanks Hedley! I think a lot of the Cotswolds is more "gentle" scenery than the comparative drama of the North Wessex Downs (or indeed South Downs) but it's a different atmosphere and nice in its own way. Sort of related to what we were discussing on Tuesday, I love being outdoors in the fading light! It shows a very different aspect of the landscape, and creates a very different atmosphere. In a weird way I also quite enjoy figuring out the transport logistics of how to get home - it was especially satisfying how well that worked on this occasion.

Thanks Chris! Yes this one was very much planned as I went along - I decided to get the train to Kingham about five minutes before it left Paddington, and then figured out all the other transport logistics while I was out on the walk. I was very pleased by how well it worked out, considering!

Thank Paul! Perhaps a bit outside your normal stomping ground but this outing did feel like it might have been your cup of tea with the combination of the dismantled railway and then the ancient history.

Thanks Warren! My phone tells me I walked about 12 miles in total. It's a shame that old railway line wasn't converted to make a footpath / track as some of them have been - it would have made some stretches of this walk more direct.

Thanks Ysgolgerlan! It is an interesting site I just wish it didn't have a car park right next to it!

Thanks for that comprehensive review Seán!

That's a delightful anecdote Alan! I too used to go to that area now and again for work (Zurich rather than Zug) and always enjoyed the food there. I think the "Dames Huguettes" from Gavignet is very good. It was young as well - a 2021 - Tom was saying he thinks many of his 2021s are in better shape than the 2020s.

@@tweedyoutdoors Interesting. I might order some more! lol

@@tweedyoutdoors It always made me smile that you caught a 'zug' (train) to Zug in the canton of Zug on the shore of lake Zug!! lol

Yes I know what you mean about the Whispering Knights. It's a little bit hard to take the King's Men (the stone circle) seriously given the height of the stones - I am ever so slightly reminded of that sequence in This is Spinal Tap! It's completely irrational but I want standing stones to be at least as tall as me or they just don't seem like megaliths. More like mesoliths. ...and yes the proximity to the road is unfortunate. Unfortunately this seems to be a fate shared by all the major stone circles of Southern England! Perhaps Stanton Drew is the most peaceful of the most well known handful. I suspect most people in Germany/Switzerland would make spätzle from scratch at home rather than buying them in a bag like I did. I have done that once or twice, and the recipe is fairly simple but it's very messy! These ready made ones aren't easy to find - I used to go do a German deli in London for them, unfortunately that closed down, but I was pleased to find some in Eataly, the Italian food shop the other day. I do think this makes a lot of sense as a form of pasta like food in a camping / outdoor cooking context as you can pan fry them, so you don't need to carry a load of extra water which you're going to end up throwing away!

@@tweedyoutdoors I think I was put in mind of the Spinal Tap sequence when I first visited! The King’s Men are at least 3 times the size of Casterton Circle stones that I viewed from afar last week!

There really is no accounting for taste!

Thank you!

Thanks L&J! I had been to the Rollright Stones once before as mentioned in the video and there were a fair few people coming and going that time, but this trip was even busier - perhaps because it was a Saturday? I don't mind walking along footpaths in the fading light - I usually carry a head torch just in case - but yes the roads can sometime be a bit worrying. It depends on the road a bit - if they're wide and/or have good verges to leap onto it's usually isn't really a problem.

@@tweedyoutdoors “ verges to leap onto”😂

Wow I had no idea! It's already quite a surreal sight but that's a whole extra dimension to it!

@@tweedyoutdoors ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-48dI_EiSGRU.htmlsi=9nmLU5HNuxmU0fFP One of these things in near by field. The black thing with north south east west held photographic film that would aid in measuring direction and yield of a nuclear explosion. All very crude.

Thanks Barry! It was a fun experience being on the Wessex Ways podcast but as I mentioned in this video I don't think it was my finest bit of speaking! Lots of umming and erring. Hopefully the points I was trying to make still come across if listeners are patient enough to sit through all those conversation fillers! Yes I feel the same at Avebury - much more inclined to linger there... and if the appeal of the stones ever wanes there's always the pub!

Thank you Rob, really appreciated!

Thank you! It was filmed yesterday, so maybe you're right about Imbolc, given the "official" date (who exactly decides that?) would fall midweek...? I am curious and slightly fascinated by how these groups organise themselves - particularly for events like equinoxes and solstices which aren't on fixed calendar dates, and if, say, the exact moment of a winter solstice falls at, say, midnight, who decides whether it's dawn of the previous or following day which is the key moment to celebrate? For Stonehenge it bizarrely seems to have fallen to English Heritage to make that decision, but for Avebury it appears to be a bit more anarchic!

@@tweedyoutdoors I think if people are in a group (I used to be) they'll decide which date is right for them, depending on how strict they want to be with astronomical movements, and how flexible they want to be around personal availability of group participants. Most I know, celebrate roughly around the day that's marked traditionally, Imbolc being 31st/1st for most people I think. Yes Stonehenge is very restricted and 'managed' but Avebury is still more free with constant access, so people can go whenever they want. Happy Imbolc! 😊🌱

I thought of you when reading about the toponymy for Rollright, and Richard Coates' suggestion that it derives from the Welsh "rodland rïx", although it does seem like quite a leap phonetically - any thoughts on that?

@@tweedyoutdoors Who am I to argue with such gentlemen and scholars? I would say, however, it sounds English. Very often pre-English names sound special, I always give the example of Calne, a native English speaker has to be told how to say it which is a damn good indicator it is authentically old old. But that isn’t a rule, the charters give the best indication and the English Place Name Survey or Ekwall’s Dict. of Eng. Placenames will give you the date of the early references in charters. It is not always 100% and I find some of the commentary impenetrable and/or misleading. The entry on Speen seems to say the opposite of what it is saying.

@@tweedyoutdoors is Coates’s argument for this available on-line? I’m curious.

@@AllotmentFox I was just citing the Wikipedia page on the Rollright Stones.

Westmark is the manufacturer I believe, and it's a "Monopol edition" (no idea what that means) - if you Google for "westmark wine prongs" you should be able to find it.