Creehenge and Gem Rock Museum well worth a visit

If you go up to the Balloch Wood at Creetown you will find a set of stones that isn't quite as ancient as Stonehenge but is every bit as beautiful.

“Creehenge” is a stone circle at the entrance to the wood which features seven large blocks of granite that will stand for centuries to come amidst the trees. Balloch Wood has areas that include some of the oldest trees in the country, dating back thousands of years to the times when the whole of Scotland was covered with forest.

The unique idea of setting up the stones attracted a great deal of local support, not least from Galloway Granite which is a long-established Galloway business specialising in architectural and monumental masonry.

Creetown has a surprising connection with Japan. For many years a Japanese sculptor, Hideo Furuta, worked in the town using the local granite to create his works. A large stone globe he created stands in the centre of the town near the clock tower and there are other works dotted around.

The Japanese connection is continued at Creehenge, or “The Whinnie Face” as it is properly named. The words on the stones are in the Japanese poetry form known as haiku.

Pupils from the Creetown Primary School visited the woods and worked with Galloway-born poet Lucy Burnett. The leaflet distributed at the opening ceremony for the stones explained: “The class had recently been on a visit to the woodland and what they saw, heard, smelt, touched and tasted forms the basis of these poems. While retaining certain traditional features of haiku, such as brevity and a reference to nature/the seasons, a modern flexible approach is taken. Rather than strictly counting syllables, the focus is on the essence of haiku: capturing images in words and creating emotions through these images rather than personal expression. The poems were written by the class as a whole, with fragments of writing by all pupils combined and adapted to create the final poems. The illustrations follow sumi-e principles. This form of Japanese art is often used to illustrate haiku in order to turn the words of the poems back to into the images in which they originated. Copies of some of these poems have been inscribed on standing stones at the entrance to Balloch Wood, Creetown.”

Poet Lucy Burnett explained: “The class took the central concepts of haiku in their stride and were fantastic to work with. Some of the images they came up with were startling. Hopefully the result is a modern, fluid set of haiku which are offered to share our experience of the woodland, or to enhance your own visit.”

Here are two of the haiku on the stones:

animals come out
from hibernation
until grass sways
with the slow wind

light between larch trees
the overlapping echoes
of children's voices

To find the stones go up the road that leads past the church. You will need to leave your car at the bottom of the track where the road runs out as there is no parking. The stones are only a short walk away, although you need a powerful pusher to get up there in a wheelchair.

After the ceremony, Sharon was invited back to the tea and cakes session held at the fantastic Gem Rock Museum at Creetown. This is a must-visit place with an outstanding collection of rocks and gems presented in a fascinating way. Ideal for the family. There is a 4.5 billion year old, three kilogram, meteorite and the fossilised egg and dung of a dinosaur. The “Maverick” gold nugget is one of the largest natural gold specimens on display in the UK.

“Exhibits include world class specimens of fluourite from Weardale in the North of England, an outstanding smoky quartz crystal group aptly named the 'Crystal Crater' found in the Cairngorms Scotland, rare 'nailhead' calcite from West Cumbria, unusual 'Blue John' fluorite from Derbyshire and deep red 'Dulcote' agate from Devon. An alphabet of cut gems on display includes alexandrite, andalusite, aquamarine, beryl and chrysoberyl, diamond, emerald, fluorite, garnet, hessonite, iolite, jade, kunzite, lapis lazuli, morganite, nephrite, opal, peridot, quartz, rub, sapphire, tourmaline, unakite, verdite, Wyoming jade, YAG and zircon.”

The tea and cakes were served in the Prospectors' Pantry where Sharon loved sampling the special home baked Scottish cakes. Her favourite was “Rocky Road” which was absolutely delicious (see picture below). With a name that reflects the Gem Museum's interests it is one of the pantry's most popular items. “People know me and cakes and I am a bit of a gourmet. The Rocky Road was so yummy and it is on my list of all-time best cakes. I will be going back for more.”

For more information on the Gem Rock Museum see www.gemrock.net email: enquiries@gemrock.net. Telephone 01671 820 357. The Gem Rock Museum, Chain Road, Creetown, Dumfries and Galloway, DG8 7HJ. The museum is wheelchair friendly, as Sharon found out as she rolled along the ramps.


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