Last weekend, I went looking for this structure. It's a replica of a section of the 'Sweet Track' - a Neolithic walkway in the Avalon Marshes. The original was 2 km long, and built in the spring of 3806 BCE. It's named after the peat cutter who first discovered it, in 1970.
Sign by the track.
@RickGaehl How interesting. I guess you're allowed to walk on it?
@Emmacox Oh yes, that's half the fun of finding it (it's very poorly signed, and hidden in the middle of a marsh).
@RickGaehl having done water vole surveying in big wellies while walking in marsh in 10ft reeds, I know how easy it is to get disorientated in it.
@Emmacox Now that does sound challenging! I didn't need to get into water to find the track, but it was poorly signposted and almost hidden amongst the reeds. I actually walked right past it once in my search.
@RickGaehl Interesting! Wonder how they they pinned down the rather exact build year...
@grumpydad Dendrochronolgy - a fascinating science. Check it out on Wiki.
@grumpydad @RickGaehl paleodendrology, I guess
@wood5y Thanks - looks like a fun watch.
@RickGaehl Should be called the Glastonbury (or similar / related) marshes. Glastonbury connection to Avalon is a late Monastic invention to get pilgrims (paying tourists).
Avalon is a corruption of the Welsh Isle of Apples (Similar in Irish, also place of Apples) an otherworld created by Manawydan fab Llŷr (Irish Manannán mac Lir, not the King in Children of Lir but Ler). It's also a mistaken later idea that the Isle of Man is named after him.
@raymaccarthy 😉 I think they're just trying to lure a few more visitors in by the choice of name. Visitor numbers mean grant funding, after all...
@RickGaehl
Started by the monks* that fibbed about having the graves of Guinevere and Arthur!
😆
Visitors spend money!
12th C. Glastonbury Abbey. So 500 to 700 years later than Arthur.
https://www.medievalists.net/2025/09/medieval-discovery-arthur-glastonbury/
(evil 3rd party javascript & trackers)
About the same time as the Pope "gave" Ireland to Henry II and the Normans invaded. Or about 100 years after the Normans conquered England.
"Joseph of Arimathea had brought the Holy Grail" to Glastonbury. Mediaeval French Fan fiction of Welsh tales.
@raymaccarthy Yes, the Arthur's grave hoax was a real money-spinner for the Abbey. 😁
@RickGaehl Thanks for tooting this out. I love learning about this sort of thing. It made for a great photo, too!
This is what's known as a Republican motorway.
@RickGaehl I was there a few weeks ago. It felt mighty spongy under foot.
Somewhat amusingly, when we got there, there was a guy stepping off it with a woman who I suspect was his carer.
He caught sight of my brother-in-law and said, with hatred slathered all over his face, "Why don't you go and fuck yourself you stupid cunt?!"
Carer apologised profusely but it was definitely a memorable encounter. "Sweet" track indeed 😆
@Taskerland Disconcerting, eh? I hope it didn't spoil your enjoyment. I remember, one time, encountering a chap and his carer on a marshy walk. He was dressed up as a high-ranking Nazi officer in white mess uniform. I haven't forgotten that one either. 😊
@RickGaehl I had a similar encounter when I got dragged to Sing Along a Sound of Music at the Prince Charles cinema.
A chap was attending in an immaculate SS uniform but declined to participate in the costume competition. In fairness, if you are going to spend your Saturdays dressed as a Nazi, there are only so many places you can go and Sing Along Sound of Music is one of them 😂
@RickGaehl There's a great #TimeTeam episode where they excavate just such a pathway near Greylake in the Somerset Levels. S05E02. They make their own replica using period tools, too. Well worth a watch.
Jul 2, 2026, 6:03 PMTIME TEAM
Is it a coincidence that their logo corresponds to what PBS uses? I wonder why they both chose three faces, featuring a prominent bridge going straight from the brow down to the tip of the nose, as is characteristic of Romans, or even Roman gods and goddesses.
Since "TIME" is part of their name, perhaps they were thinking of Hecate. https://www.maicar.com/GML/Hecate.html
