Place of Stones

Place of Stones
AuthorRuth Janette Ruck
GenreBack-to-the-land memoir
PublisherFaber and Faber
Publication date
1961

Place of Stones is a 1961 memoir by Ruth Janette Ruck (1928–2006) about living on a farm in Snowdonia, Wales. Place of Stones was followed by sequels Hill Farm Story and Along Came a Llama. Place of Stones remained in print until at least 1992.[1][2]

Place of Stones is set not far from the location of Thomas Firbank's I Bought a Mountain[3] and has been compared to Elizabeth West's Hovel in the Hills.[4]

Ruck lived on Carneddi (place of stones or cairns), a farm that includes the 1529 hall-house Tŷ-Mawr.[5] Carneddi is located above Traeth Gwylit (Menai Strait) on Moel y Dyniewyd [cy].[6] Ruck was 17 years old when she first came to the farm.[7] Some of the improvements she made were funded by the Act of 1946 supporting hill farmers.[7] Ruck also wrote about her participation in the on-location filming of Inn of the Sixth Happiness, which was partially shot in Wales.[7]

The Guardian described Place of Stones as "delightful."[3]

  1. ^ "Caernarvon and Denbigh Herald 18 Sep 1987, page 21". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Idyll among the stones: Obituary of Paul Orkney Work". The Guardian (London, England): 28. 28 November 1992.
  3. ^ a b "The Guardian 16 Jun 1961, page 5". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  4. ^ Jones, Noragh (1993). Living in Rural Wales. Gomer. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-86383-971-9.
  5. ^ Dunn, Margaret; Suggett, Richard (3 February 2015). Darganfod Tai Hanesyddol Eryri: Discovering the Historic Houses of Snowdonia. RCAHMW. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-871184-54-9.
  6. ^ "Idyll among the stones: Obituary of Paul Orkney Work." Guardian [London, England], 28 November 1992, p. 28. Gale OneFile: News, http://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A170969016 . Accessed 4 Apr. 2023.
  7. ^ a b c "The North Wales Weekly News 29 Jun 1961, page 8". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 5 April 2023.