Incident number: 1286
Date of incident: 14.07.26
Location: Welsh Coast Path in the Vale of Glamorgan heading west from Cwm Nash towards Dunraven.
Status: Lone walker with no dog on PRoW
Charles’s story
“I was walking across the fields along the clifftop on the Wales Coast Path. In the second field there was a large herd of cows grazing right by the path. Being apprehensive about passing too close to them I started walking around the perimeter of the field to try to avoid them. This of course meant temporarily leaving the path. About half way across they were still grazing peacefully so I cut back diagonally across the field in order to reach the path exit gate on the other side. I kept glancing at the cows to see if they were still OK and when about three quarters of the way across I noticed about half a dozen of the nearest ones staring at me – perhaps they had not noticed me before. I was walking at a brisk pace across the field but not running. The next time I glanced at the cows around 5 or 6 were running towards me. I therefore started running, but I was confident of reaching the gate before they reached me. I had walked that way before, I knew the gate opened, and I knew there was no way they could cross through the gate or over the wall adjoining it. So I was not too worried. But when I got to the gate I saw that the whole herd of estimate 40 to 50 cows – some quite large – was charging full tilt towards me. Furthermore if I had not been near the gate they would have overtaken me as they were running far faster than I could. So it was with huge relief I passed through the gate. What triggered this I don’t know. I did nothing to provoke them. Perhaps it was because I was walking across the middle of the field which they regarded as their territory. But the key point is that if they had noticed me earlier and had started running before I was in reach of the gate, I believe they would have charged me, knocked me over and possibly trampled me to death. I believe the farmer responsible should not put such unpredictable cows in a field through which runs the Welsh Coast Path – perhaps he resents this and it is his way of deterring walkers.
I believe they are a danger – I will never cross that field again if they are there even at the expense of a lengthy detour inland. What if children had been involved. I believe this incident should be reported.”
Cattle Safety 