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Men Gurta - St Breock Downs Longstone
The heaviest standing stone in Cornwall

This menhir or prehistoric longstone, which was originally about 16 feet high known as Men Gurta - the waiting stone - and also called St Breock Longstone. Weighing about 16.5 tons it is still the heaviest standing stone in Cornwall.

The word menhir is a combination of two words found in the Cornish language; men (stone), and hir (long).

Men Gurta is 4.9m high and is of local shale with veins of feldspar

Among dozens of sites revealed in Cornwall were an unusual prehistoric settlement surrounded by concentric ditches at Lansallos, and an iron age settlement surrounded by a circular ditch with marks of other circular and rectangular structures within one field at St Ive – evidence of continuity of settlement over at least 4,000 years.

Its layout is unusual, with concentric ditches with entrances connected by two parallel ditches. The inner ditch may have surrounded a settlement from the bronze or iron age. 

This curious story about how the Isle of Man is tying itself in knots over Freedom of Information requests begs more questions than it answers:

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=42382&headline=Why%20have%20rep...

‘Shy Ronnie’ (aka Isle of Man resident HNWI John Whittaker) has had another setback with his wind turbine plans:

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=42363&headline=Wind%20turbine%2...

Jeez! Aren’t the Isle of Man and Ireland lucky we both have Chief Ministers who are ‘cool’ and in touch with the people.

Manx Chief Minister Howard Quayle MHK often avers in his regular soirees with Paul Moulton at MTTV how in touch with the common man, ‘the hoi polloi’, that’s us, he is. Howard makes it sound as if you could drop into the Cabinet Office and have a coffee with him anytime - just try!

In line with my ‘slack saturday’ strategy I’m about to settle comfortably when I find a message in my inbox. It points me towards an article on something called the SAVE CAMLORK pages which highlights a recent paper by several well known luminaries.

The world has been turned on its head these days the Cops are ‘the conscience of the nation’ years ago it used to be the Church. The Church is kind of irrelevant now except for running food banks so ‘Les Flic’ step in like in this piece (link):

http://www.iomtoday.co.im/article.cfm?id=42362&headline=Businesses%20sho...

Constructed nearly 6000 years ago, some 1000 years before Stonehenge, Tinkinswood Burial Chamber - Siambr Gladdu Tinkinswood is an impressive Neolithic dolmen. A huge 40 ton capstone, thought to be the largest in Europe, covers a rectangular burial chamber with a dry stone wall forecourt.  When excavated the chamber held the bodies of over 50 individuals, along with broken pottery and worked flint. Originally it would have been covered by an earthen mound. It is located about a mile from St Nicholas (Sain Nicolas) in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales (Bro Morgannwg, De Cymru).

UPDATE: My effusive optoimisim over the new development reported here is dashed as Paul Moulton says its archive material. Like politicians even journos have a 'hol' at this time of year it seems, I wonder now if the latest site plans will go unrealised - oh woe!

In Dublin housing activists have escalated their protests over the housing crisis. Homelessness and affordable housing. The move comes as a dramatic increase in rents in all areas of the country especially the Dublin conurbation are revealed.

Despite being evicted following a court order from properties occupied for a week protesters have gone on to occupy the Offices of the Housing Minister. The Housing ministry is sited in the Custom House and imposing building that any visitors to Dublin using the IOM Ferry will be aware of.