Curiously, Price says that the Rose Croix Chapter "is associated by name with Valle Crucis Abbey".

Furthermore, Price goes on to say that "Bro. A. Langdon Coburn read a Paper on the history of the Abbey and referred to its affinity to the Rose Croix Order".

Asside from the obvious theme of Christian Brotherhood, what might this mean? And how is the Rose Croix associated by name with Valle Crucis Abbey?

I'm afraid I haven't a clue!

Contact the British Society of Dowsers if you wish to attend. Maybe I'll see you there?

The event was turned into a fun-filled family day out, with many activities at nearby Valle Crucis abbey including mediaeval battle re-enactment and story-telling with tales from the Mabinogion. I bumped into someone who'd read and enjoyed my book which was a bonus, also I met up with another keen dowser from North Wales. On a trip into Llangollen I noted that Courtyard books and the Tourist Information centre both had copies of the book.

There's now a website dedicated to the excavation work where you can find out further information, see: ProjectEliseg.Org.

Curiously enough, this graveslab isn't mentioned in the CADW booklet. Perhaps owing to the fact that it is also absent from the more definitive Medieval stone carving in North Wales by Colin Gresham it is hardly mentioned in the literature at all.

The graveslab dates from the 13th or 14th Century. I'm sure that thousands of visitors to Valle Crucis must walk underneath it without even knowing it's there!

There will be an open day for the public this Saturday (31st of July) and, weather permitting I hope to attend. I may even bring a few books along should you wish to buy a signed copy from me.

There's also an interesting article on the forthcoming excavations at the Pillar of Eliseg. Here's the LINK.

Places like Amazon list it but still don't have any in stock. My thanks to S. Mather for the five-star review! In all, getting better but some way to go.

It is highly probable that there were pre-Abbey buildings at Valle Crucis but what about this crypt? As those of you splendid folks who have bought my book will recall, I mentioned the claim made by the Reverend Owen to have found a crypt under the high altar (see .p14) but what did this amount to? We usually think of a crypt as being a rather substantial stone vault, big enough to walk around in, supported by columns and full of stone monuments. Did such an expansive chamber exist at Valle Crucis?

In spite of what it says on Llangollen.org, the answer is far from clear. At least this was the impression I got from talking to someone who was involved with the geophysics scans undertaken at Valle Crucis in 2001, namely David Crane.

I'd gone to the abbey armed with that snippet of information from Llangollen.org which one would naturally assume to be correct. I also took my dowsing rods with me. For a short while I had the place to myself but then a coach-load of tourists showed up so conditions for dowsing were not ideal although it did give me the chance to talk to one or two of them about the history of the place and also mention my book (of course!).

I drew my findings onto the ground-plan. I had indeed gotten reactions where one might expect to find the edge of an underground chamber, in fact, there appeared to be two. However now I'm not so sure. On the one hand I seem able to "hit" the archaeology quite accurately but occasionally I misidentify it, for example one type of wall for another. I noted that in the South trancept there was a strip of slightly darker grass, over a foot wide, which seemed to line up with my dowsed edge. I took a photo of this and it turns out that it might possibly indicate the remains of a structure to anchor the "night-stairs" which allowed the monks direct access to the church from the dormitary on the first floor. Only time will tell on that one.

There are good grounds, it would seem, for objection to the existence of this crypt, one of which is that the water-table level would have made it impractical. Bear in mind that in his excavations elewhere in the cloister Reverend Owen required the contant use of a water-pump below a certain depth. A large underground chamber would have been prone to the effects of ground-water impinging on its walls.

The poet Einion Wan implied that Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor, the founder of the abbey was buried "in the floor" of Valle Crucis - not much help either.

A big question-mark still hangs over this one!

The forthcoming excavations in the vicinity of Eliseg's Pillar will be mostly closed to the public apart from an open day in which I hope to be involved and hopefully sell a few more copies of my book. This will be at the end of July.

Why can't I have more days like this?

My advice is to go ahead and order it anyway - this may have the effect of encouraging the distributors to order more from the publishers and finally get things moving.

Alternatively the book is available direct from the publishers or from me - I still have plenty of copies available to readers.

If you are a book retailer you can order direct from Llanerch who are more than happy to discuss terms and quantities.

So far the book has been spotted in Llandeilo, Newport and Glastonbury (bless 'em) but I don't have the details. A copy was sold at Yswyth books in Aberystwyth and I know that the British Society of Dowsers have a few copies too.

CADW have decided not to stock the book - I have not been given any explanation for this whatsoever. I cannot begin to comprehend this; if there's one bookshelf where it truly belongs, surely it's in the shop at Valle Crucis abbey??!!!

Never mind, it's their loss.

P.S. If you like Chilli con Carne, try the one at the Bridge End hotel at Llangollen - famously hot and not for the faint hearted! The pub known as the Corn Mill has a great array of real ales and occupies a breath-taking position, right over the River Dee. Worth a visit.

Ian

So yes, there is a bit about dowsing in it, but a lot more besides - history, Arthurian Romance, mythology, archaeology, Templar burials, John Cowper Powys, even completely new translations of poems by two mediaeval Welsh bards, Einion Wan and Guto'r Glyn. Something for everyone, I hope.

On April 25th 2010 I will be giving a talk to the West Wales Dowsers Society. Copies of the book will be available for sale.

Ian

Still no sign of of any copies on the bookstore shelves but at least things are now moving in that direction. These things take time you know...

Ian

I will be meeting up with them next week to buy a box-load from them which I will then sell on. The copies sold by me will be autographed. You will also be able to order it direct from the publishers shortly.

So next week I finally get to see the finished product in all its "glory"!! At last.

Ian

A recent article on Megalithic Portal suggested that there may be some sort of excavations later this year, in the vicinity of the Pillar of Eliseg, but I know nothing more about it at this stage. This could be interesting!

So as I say, it's a diverse book. It is part speculative but for the most part these are confined to a single chapter. It's designed so that you can skip anything that's not your "bag" but I bet you'll still find plenty that is.

I will continue to post to this RSS feed even after the book is published, so please stay tuned to this feed.

So, hopefully by not self-publishing it will receive a wider audience, which I believe it deserves. Regardless, I'm pleased that we're now nearing the destination of what has been a long and occassionally tiring journey, Just what the book-reading public will make of it I don't know. So there's this mixed emotion, a sort of combination of great excitement and fearful dread.

Llanerch sell a lot of Arthurian books, so for me they seemed the obvious first choice, and in fact they were the only publishers to whom I sent the text of my book. I take that as a very good sign - some writers spend months looking for a publisher. At any rate it's good to know that somebody (asside from members of my own family) actually enjoyed reading it. Hopefully, in the fullness of time, you will too.

Sad to say that I will not be doing a book-signing in Galloways of Aberystwyth, that possibility has now gone.