Layout and Location - The Stones and the Stars: Building Scotland's Newest Megalith - page 153

F IG . 5.15 Viewpoint panorama by Gavin Roberts (1830 map to left ), behind
DL chair in the Astronomy Project office (Photo by Ian Downie, 1979)
them with an “afternoon” here and an 'aye-aye' there, took note of
the information I had come for and left by another way.
The name on the tomb was not Walker (which was on another
plaque two or three along) but Forrest. William Forrest (1839-1913)
had evidently intended the great cast-iron structure to be a family
vault, judging by the number of marble panels, but there were only
three occupants. His son had died 24 years before him, at 4 years
old, and his wife 3 years after him.
But with the joke over, nevertheless our problems didn't
end. By this time we were exploring quarries in search of stones
(Chap. 6 ), and on the day we went to Kilsyth, we had a flat tire as
soon as we passed Sighthill Cemetery. The borrowed car had no
spare tire, and we were stuck for the day. On the next attempt,
as we passed the place where we were stuck, our naval friend
David Proffitt remarked “we're all right this time” - no sooner
said than another deluge fell on us.
Pressing on, however, we got to the stage where we would use
a theodolite for a proper skyline survey. We began by consulting
the Ordnance Survey map and picking landmarks that we could
use for due north, but when we checked them on the panorama,
John and I realized with a terrible sinking feeling that true north
was a long way left of where we supposed. A hasty return to the