WE went for a family walk at the Druid’s Temple, near Masham, on Monday. Attendance was compulsory, even for sulky teenage boys.

Seven or eight years ago I wrote a story about evidence of sacrificial slaughters taking place at the temple.

It’s not clear if they were pagans, devil worshippers or extreme barbecuers.

I’ve tried to find the story today in our archives but it has mysteriously disappeared – clearly evidence that our system has been infiltrated by users of black magic. I shall switch off and switch back on my computer in a cunning attempt to remove the spell.

Anyway, despite writing about the place a while ago, I knew nothing about its history and stupidly spent a good hour marvelling at the ingenuity of the Druids to balance such big stones on top of each other.

Not content with just being stupid myself, I spread the stupidity by telling the boys it was built by Druids as a chill pad – you’ve got to use the right language if you want to make history accessible.

Fortunately, they had their earphones in and were too busy texting to listen.

The family outing quickly descended, as they often do, into a full-blown skirmish of pine cone throwing, sticky bud ambushes and even a minor injury to a boy’s hand after he’d been shaken off while attempting to balance on a fallen tree. It was only when walking out that the penny dropped after I saw a chunk of metal sticking out of one of the rocks. This was not the work of an Iron Age priest at all, but a much more modern creation.

According to Google, it’s a folly that was built in 1820 by William Danby, from Swinton Hall, who was a bit eccentric rather than a Druid and just wanted to create work for the unemployed people of the town.

In other news, naughty kids rather than Druids were probably responsible for setting Leyburn bonfire alight the night before the big day.

Thankfully it was rebuilt the following day by the Round Table. Those responsible should remember that back in the day, such mischief could land you locked inside a Druid-built wicker man.