Angela’s story – Aggressive cow attacks walkers in Cheddar Gorge

292,890,420 Report Number 806

Date: 21/10/23

Where: Cheddar gorge , Black Rock walk , grid ref: ST482546 for car park at start of walk

Who was involved: 2 walkers , no dog, single black cow with a calf

We were walking along the footpath and a lone cow and calf were coming towards us. As we passed by, not making any noise and giving them a wide berth, the cow charged at my friend and started to head butt and attack him, pushing him into the hedge with force with repeated head butting.

The cow then retreated and went back up the footpath away from us, we caught our breath and 4 people arrived who had been walking someway behind us. They said they had seen it all happen and it was not provoked in anyway. We all continued up the footpath a little shaken and then heard screaming and crying and around the next bend we saw 2 adults and 2 teenagers running towards us with the cow attacking them, the adult woman was knocked to the ground and was repeatedly charged and head butted, the cow now trying to trample her as well, her husband while trying to pull his wife away was then knocked to the ground and head butted and kicked .

In the mean time my friend, myself, the teenagers and 2 of the other people that were walking behind us had retreated through a fence and up in to the woods to escape . The other two people tried to help the ones being attacked and succeeded in getting the cow to retreat. Once it had gone then we all ran to the start of the footpath and through a wooden gate to the car park.

My friend had bruises, cuts and scratches . The other two adults had cuts, bruising and suspected other traumatic injuries to hands and arms and they went to the tourist info point to report the incident and get first aid treatment

We didn’t need medical treatment though we were both very shaken and shocked by both the initial attack on my friend and then witnessing the even more vicious attack on the people coming towards us, but the other two adults would have required medical attention.

We reported the attack to the tourist information centre in Cheddar Gorge, the police and the National Trust.

Public right of ways should not have cattle wandering along them, this incident was on a paved pathway, not a field.