Response ID: 302,416,861
Date: 12/05/24
Location: Two incidents in North Yorkshire Moors on popular walking routes/ Cleveland Way.
Kevins Story:
“The first incident was in a field in Middleton-on-Leven that leads towards the road to Hutton Rudby, near Middlesborough. The second instance was around the Wainstones whilst walking a stretch of the Cleveland Way. The Wainstones are a place of scenic interest and the Cleveland Way is a national walkway.
The Middleton on Leven Cows: I was on the path from Bullister Gill as it meets with Scarth Wood and then emerges at Middleton on Leven. The field is the public walkway that forms the last part of this stretch. I was hiking through to the N.Yorks Moors. I saw the field and that the cows had young with them. I couldn’t see an alternate route. When I entered the field there were some moos, but nothing too severe. Once I dipped out of sight behind the gorse bushes, following the hedgerow to the exit point, the mooing became more alarmed. They weren’t charging, and were cautiously continuing to approach. I hopped the style without further incident.
The second encounter was trivial for myself personally, however the potential risk of harm or injury from cows is definitely above average. From the opposite hill these cows were visually larger than average,. Once the visible ones had grouped, I made my way to the Wainstones without incident. I thought that once up in the stones the cows wouldn’t be likely to handle the steeper terrain. I was wrong! There were huge hoof prints up through the Wainstones and right along the moortop until the next boundary wall, something like a quarter of a mile or more! Given the isolated terrain, the cliff edges and difficult terrain, plus this being a scenic point of interest and a national hiking route, these cows pose a significant risk. I’m uncertain of the breed, but they were twice the size of dairy cows and could handle mountainous terrain like a walk in the park. The calves cleared 50 metres or so in a matter of seconds. And with such a wide roaming area through gates into different boundaries there is few options for escape. Again no incident here for myself, but the risk assessment of the scenario definitely places this area above the average.”
Kevin wants “Balanced laws and public insurance policies by law for farmers, safe and secure boundaries that protect both cattle and people from harm by law, signs of risks of injury or death to humans by law where boundaries would be difficult or where scenic beauty ruined. All maps and apps to include cattle risks by law, no livestock dangerous to humans to be kept on places of scenic interest, national trails, or public rights of way by law, no livestock dangerous to humans to be kept on land more than half a mile from the farm of ownership by law, and farm ownership and contact numbers to be placed visibly clear on risk associated signs at entry and exit points to the walkways and on all cattlefields as rights to access aren’t always easy to discern.”
Cattle Safety 