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12/02/2012 at 09:39
Tony Stayne
I grew up in the beautiful village of Ashbury one mile from Wayland’s Smithy, in those days (1940 – 1955) we used to call it “Wayland Smithy’s Cave”. This was long before the stones were restored to their original positions in the 1960s . As far as I remember this was the name used by everyone locally.
We would usually combine a visit to the cave with a “fishing trip” with a jam-jar and net to the dew pond a few hundred yards away to the west. Sadly, It has long ago been filled in, as has the dew pond called ” Honey Bunch” close by. Local people will also remember Kingston Barn, adjacent to the dew pond. Unfortunately this has also been bulldozed. There were always barn owls to be found there.
Before the restoration it was possible as children to crawl into the main burial chamber where we would imagine ancient bodies lay and unimaginable monsters hung out waiting their chance to capture us.
So many historical places have been vandalised over the years in the vicinity; several Elisabethan cottages within half a mile, called Red Barn and the dew pond sited there, have gone and a good number of round barrows have been ploughed in over the years.
Thank goodness there is much more awareness of the historical richness of these ancient sites today and legal protection too, but we have to keep our eyes skinned for the “Destroyers”
Tony Stayne.
12/02/2012 at 09:57
heritageaction
Many thanks for sharing those recollections Tony.