Discover near Culloden Moor an impressive viaduct, ancient burial grounds and an ancient village.

Discover near Culloden Moor an impressive viaduct, ancient burial grounds and an ancient village.

[Music] Welcome to Belnuaran of Clava. The sacred 
landscape before you is one of the most evocative prehistoric sites in Scotland. 
Photos are encouraged here with a QR code to keep a track of the stone’s condition. These 
kings were built 4,000 years ago by farmers of the Nairn Valley to house their dead, 
specifically important community members. Step inside this cairn and follow its now 
roofless passageway to the central burial chamber. Let’s have a look. Have you 
been in here? Have you? Yeah. Pretty cool, eh? There’s two 
puddles in here. There is solar power. On the shortest day of the year, sunlight streams up the passageway 
to illuminate the chamber. Burnt bones discovered in two pots 
within the chamber of 1828 probably date from the later use of the Clava 
1,000 years after the cairns were built. This open circular enclosure with no 
apparent way in was possibly built as a temple. The ring cairn may have once had 
an entrance but none has been identified. Trace of burning were found inside. Perhaps 
from rituals linked to the burial king. Both of Clava’s large cairns are aligned to the 
mid-winter sunset. For the bronze age farmer, this was a forbidden time of the year in 
the northern hemisphere for short days, long nights, cold weather, and dried crops. 
Radioarbon dating of charcoal fragments found across the site puts the construction of the 
large kings to about 2,000 BC. The site seems to have remained in use for about 200 years 
and was then abandoned in about 1,000 BC. A curbed cairn is surrounded by a border 
of stones known as a curb (kerb). That’s what I think the stones on the 
edge of this are. Curbs. (Kerbs) Just up the road, 2 minutes away from the Clava 
Cairns, is this impressive viaduct. And this is the Culloden Viaduct also known as Clava Viaduct, 
Nairn viaduct or …pretty impressive actually Clava Moor Viaduct. There’s more arches on this 
one than Glenfinnan. It has 29 arches making it the longest masonry railway vioaduct in Scotland. 
It’s quite impressive. The closer you get to it, the more impressive it is. Built from 
rubble and dressed with redfaced ashlar, the archers are all semi-circular with a 15 
m span except for the one crossing the river. It doesn’t say anything. The total length of the viaduct 
is an impressive 550 metres. I think this is a way more impressive 
viaduct than the Glenfinnan viaduct, also known as the Harry Potter one. 
Although I haven’t seen that one to be fair and a bit further up the road is Cawdor Castle. [Music] We didn’t stop at the castle, choosing to spend time at other castles on our holiday 
and drove onto Cawdor Village. Yeah. This is a town called Cawdor….glasses off. 
This is a place called Cawdor which is about 20 minutes out from Inverness. So let’s So let’s 
have a look around the town. Shakespeare’s play MacBeth has made Cawdor Castle famous. The 
lesser known smaller village of Cawdor grew as an estate village serving the castle. Most 
of the village comprises of attractive stone cottages set in beautifully tended gardens. 
What is that, a river? You can hear it. [Music] Did you know that Cawdor was 
made famous by Shakespeare? In the play, MacBeth becomes the Thane of Cawdor. after the original Thane is executed 
for treason. Thane of Cawdor is the title character in Shakespeare’s play 
MacBeth. It’s beautiful now, isn’t it? The historical MacBeth died in 1057, centuries 
before the castle or the village were built. McMuddles. It looks like an antique shop.
It does, doesn’t it? You see all that marks on the stones? Yeah, that’s somebody doing that with a hammer. That’s 
all that scorch. Okay. That’s a hammer mark. This map shows us the layout of the 
village and we’re at the west end. [Music] The Cawdor Parish Church. The first 
church on this site was built in 1619. This was incorporated into the church 
you now see today, built 1829 to 30. This tower at the end dates back to 1619. We’re going to walk around in a loop now. Back 
to our car. I am amazed by all these beautiful stone walls. These are known as dry stone dyking 
or dikes/dykes. An ancient mortar structure built by meticulously interlocking stones and with the 
strength derived from skilled craftsmanship, gravity and careful interlocking. These are 
significant features of the rural landscape. See you soon. [Music] [Music]

Travel Videos, in 15 minutes.
Culloden Viaduct
https://www.visitinvernesslochness.com/listings/culloden-viaduct
Clava Cairns
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/clava-cairns/history/#:~:text=The%20cemetery%20at%20Clava%20suggests,how%20they%20understood%20their%20world.
Cawdor Village
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/cawdor/cawdor/index.html

15 minute travel videos.

I enjoy the learning and discovery of new places, while travelling in the mid 50s, staying fit, active and mobile, mindful of eating healthy, my challenge is always to find places to exercise and food that is healthy and affordable.

You may find some useful information and tips in my videos, I hope any information I offer, can help you add a few destinations to your own travel bucket list and I am thankful if you find entertainment and enjoyment in watching.

I enjoy the creative outlet of filming and editing my videos, researching, planning, filming, editing and work towards a weekly upload schedule. I aim to keep the camera rolling no matter what the situation is. My opinions are my own.

I would also like to know if you have any recommendations for future video content. Maybe challenge me to something out of the ordinary!

Equipment Used
DJI Action 5
iPhone 13
Software – Power Director
Music – Epidemic Sound
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#SherylGray #ClavaCairns #Culloden #Cawdor #Mid50stravel