Imagination stone...

Driving from Pwllheli towards Porthmadog as we do most Saturdays we pass through the village of Pentrefelin. Not much happens there, there isn’t much to see – try Googling it and you’ll see what I mean – but each time we pass through we pass a tall, thin stone pedestal planted into the pavement by the side of the road.

I can’t remember when I first noticed it. Not that long ago, a year or two, maybe three, and it’s very easy to miss as you drive by - it’s so tall and thin and natural. I’ve been meaning to stop and take a closer look since first glimpse - but the thing is it’s on the main road and there’s nowhere to park with ease. Last Saturday I found somewhere – in the entrance to a drive, so not exactly ease - and I walked back to take a closer look.

The grey, lichen spotted, natural hewn stone stands about twelve feet tall. It’s very narrow - becoming a little thicker at ground level - and angular, almost square, but not square enough to be mason-made. At some point in its history it has been decorated - somebody has carved the date 1721, a square even cross, some letters (maybe initials), and a second date 1812 roughly into the stone. Over the years it looks like it’s been a target for locals with a tendency towards graffiti.

What is it? I’ve no idea and neither has Google, it could be anything - an ancient standing stone, a pilgrim marker, a headstone, a memorial to some ancient battle, a pillory stone for witches to be bound to and stoned (perhaps even worse), a way marker, part of some long vanished structure, maybe even the trunk of a fossilised tree. I just don’t know and I think I like it that way. If I knew it would be a single thing, this way it can be any number of things, anything my imagination wants it to be and I can change its purpose as often as imagination wills.

Yes, I like it that way. Today it’s the village kissing stone – the place where village maidens come to tryst with their beaus.

Who knows what it will be tomorrow.