Chorleyanalytics

Perhaps Castle Howard should fence off their cows from the general public?

Incident number: 1004

Response ID: 307,631,374

Date of incident: 29.09.24

Location: Castle Howard grounds (North Yorkshire), East of the main estate and the South Lake

Status: Loan walker dog on lead on PRW

AW’s story

“On a circular running route and I wanted to take the footpath over the field. There were signs warning of cows with calves. I couldn’t see anything so I went through the gate with my dog on a short lead. The field is very hilly and you can’t see far. I approached slowly up the hill and then heard moos and noticed cows over the brow of the hill. One started mooing and the rest started to join in. I moved cautiously and slowly to the edge of the field, but they started to stand up. There was stamping and snorting – then they all started to approach. I turned and walked as fast as possible and heard them charging behind me but made it to the gate. It’s really disappointing and not the first time these particular cows have acted this way, with or without calves.”

Castle Howard – landscape, farming and wildlife on the Yorkshire estate

Taken from the Castle Howard website “An Aberdeen Angus suckler cow herd was established at Castle Howard, grazing estate fields, with most of the beef being supplied to the Farm Shop.”

Surrounded by bullocks

Incident number: 1003

Response ID: 307,588,507

Date of incident: 27.09.24

Footpath from Rudyard to Horton (Leek Staffordshire (What 3 words : ///refilled.publisher.tech.)

Status: Lone walker with dog on lead on PRW.

Cieran’s story

“The footpath runs up the right hand side of the field. Most of the cows were away to the left of the field but there was one bullock in front of me in the first third of the field. As I got past the bullock it started to follow and pretty quickly the whole herd of 30-40 bullocks was crowding in towards me. I was backing up holding my arms out and shouting to stop them but every time I turned around to walk away more quickly they would start to run towards me until I turned around again and shouted. This became more intense and they got closer the further up the field I went. I kept the dog on a short lead through the whole event. She was frightened but did not bark and was not aggressive towards the cows. Several times I had to turn, stand and shout to stop them from trampling me. I could not climb over the wall in to the next field as the farmer has installed barbed wire along the top of the dry stone wall. When we were in sight of the exit style I ran and threw the dog over before jumping through myself. The herd raced up to wall behind me and it would be impossible to get back down the same footpath.

This is a regular issue at this spot of the footpath and I now consider it too dangerous to use as this is not the first time I have had this issue.”

Walker put off walking the Welsh Coastal path by cattle

Incident number: 1001

Response ID: 307,458,462

Date of incident: 23.09.24

Location: The Mathern area of the Wales Coastal Path

Status: Lone walker no dog on PRW

Annette’s story

“I was not hurt or even charged, but there was a few hours of extreme anxiety of having to walk through multiple small herds of cows while being stared and mooed at as well as trying to locate my exit. Plus the ground is very difficult to traverse in a pasture so escaping quickly is not an option. One field posted a warning that there is a bull in the field. My choice was to go back through all the pastures I had just braved through or continue on. Thankfully the bull was not there that day but he recently had been. It is a large pasture to get through and no one should have to be terrified while hiking because of cattle. I’m not sure I will continue the path.”

Annette also adds wisely “Hiking solo already comes with elevated risk and some anxiety. We should not have added risk because of cattle.”

Dartmoor common land stand off with cow

Incident number: 998

Response ID: 307,430,357

Date of incident: 17.09.24

Location: Dartmoor Nearest village: Gidleigh (What three words careful.showrooms.studio)

Status: Two people with dog on lead on PRW

Anonymous report “We were on a footpath on a remote part of Dartmoor a couple of miles away from Scorhill stone circle, just to the north west of Rival Tor. We had previously passed 2 groups of black cows without incident. We saw the cow ahead, not far from the path. It started running aggressively towards us. My husband stood firm and bellowed at it, also waving his walking stick. I walked on with our dog still on a short lead while there was a stand-off between my husband and the cow. The cow started to shake its head which we knew was a sign of danger. Worried it was about to charge him, my husband started to walk away at which point it started running around towards me. I had let the dog off at this point as thought this was best. Luckily the cow stopped and there was another standoff. Fortunately it then lost interest as we walked away. It was particularly frightening as there was nowhere for us to escape to – no hedge, no stream, no gully, just open featureless moorland.”

Further thoughts “There was a sign by the car park from the Gidleigh Commoners Association. FOR YOUR SAFETY PLEASE KEEP YOUR DISTANCE FROM ALL CATTLE ESPECIALLY WITH CALVES – went on to give more info about precautions and danger signs, the final advice was, amid danger signs eg cows shaking heads and pawing ground “to retire as calmly and quickly as possible” and then “if a cow actually offers (sic) to attack you let any dog off the lead and the cow may focus interest on the dog while you retreat calmly” The problem is – where do you retreat to in open moorland where there are no fences/boundaries???”

Cattle attack causes broken bones in a popular Yorkshire tourist spot

Incident number: 1000

Response ID: 307,458,160

Date of incident: 20.09.24

Location: Fields below the Saltergate car park on the A169 at the Hole of Horcum

Status: Two people with dog on the lead on PRW

Dave S’s story

“We were walking on a public footpath but in an unfamiliar area. The cows were congregated around the gate from the field so it was difficult to go around them. A few started bellowing and moving towards us and we backed away. One barged into me and flicked it’s head sending me backwards. I just managed to stay on my feet and we climbed over a barbed wire fence to escape”

Dave was diagnosed with a cracked rib after a hospital visit.

He adds “The path could easily have been fenced off or even divided through a different field”

Serious Injuries and an A and E visit

Incident number: 999

Response ID: 307,458,142

Date of incident: 24.07.24

Location: St Johns in the Vale, Near Keswick Cumbria (What 3 words beads.successes.goodness)

Status: Loan walker with dog on lead on PRW

Mark’s story

“Had been unable to locate the end of the planned public path and so had to follow another public path onto the valley floor and along the side of St John Beck north east of Thirlmere reservoir. After passing through a field with cattle entered another field and after passing a heard of approx. 16 – 18 cattle roughly have adult half calf’s I looked back an noticed they were starting to follow me. This then developed into a gallop with one adult at the front heading towards me. I moved over from the path to an area of reeds and water thinking if I get across they wouldn’t follow but before I got much further the front cow dropped down as I had already slipped down and then crashed into me. It’s head into my left side and I believe one of its knees into my leg”

Mark sustained two broken ribs and tibia plateau fracture in my his leg.

Marks adds “I would like to see improvements in public path signage and maintenance. At the end of the day I would not have had to enter this field to get back to my starting point if the path I wanted which was on the other side of a stone wall with no cattle could of been located.”

Walking on the Saxon Shore Way between Sandwich and Plucks Gutter

Incident number: 997

Response ID: 307,395,004

Date of incident: 01.09.24

Location: Saxon Shore Way between Richborough and Plucks Gutter

Status: Loan walker with no dog on PRW

Kaite’s story

“Walking on the Saxon Shore Way between Sandwich and Plucks Gutter recently, there were a number of very large open fields with cattle roaming freely including cows with calves, and no realistic way to avoid them – no alternative paths, no fencing etc. Most of the time when I came across them I had no idea prior to entering the field (often some way back) that there were cattle and I didn’t really have any choice but to hope for the best and go on. The first couple of times turned out to be fine (including a field with cows with calves, which I normally avoid). However in the third field with cattle a cow was standing right in my way, and eventually began to approach me. I backed away and slid down the river bank, and she followed, standing at the top of the bank – a group had now joined her. I waited to see if they would move but they stayed there. Fortunately I had a dry bag with me (I am a keen swimmer and had hoped to swim in the river at some point) so I managed to pack my things into the dry bag, get into the river and swim across, then picking up the path on the opposite bank where fortunately there were no cattle. I don’t know whether they would have hurt me but I wasn’t going to find out – having been chased on three previous occasions I am nervous around cows and try to avoid them wherever I can. Since the incident I have read online that other walkers have had run-ins with cows in the same part of the SSW. It’s a very isolated walk (I’m not sure I saw a single other walker all day) so there was no option to wait for another walker to brave the cattle together, and if I had been hurt it would have been hard to get help.”

Katie also added a link to the walk on Alltrails and previous warnings of cows

Saxon Shore Way: Sandwich to Hillborough, Kent, England – 7 Reviews, Map | AllTrails

Dartmoor is supposed to be an area of public access and people fought hard for that right in the past

Incident number: 996

Response ID: 307,292,939

Date of incident: 17.08.24

Location: Dartmoor nearish Sourton/Okehampton area

Status: Two walkers with no dog on PWW

Anonymous walkers

“A group of a few cows were standing together in front of the gate we needed to pass through on a public footpath. We gave them a wide berth and walked around them, deciding to go over the fence up from the gate instead of through the gate. One was staring at us in a way that felt potentially unfriendly more than curious. When we got nearer to the fence it stomped/snorted at us and started moving towards us (not running luckily or we wouldn’t have made it in time) so we ran and jumped the barbed wire fence and I cut my leg on the fence. Not badly but as it broke the skin I contacted NHS 111 afterwards and went to a walk-in centre to check if I needed a tetanus booster. My partner walking with me was not injured. We carried on the walk and encountered a much larger herd of cows later (still on the public footpath) and I was too nervous to go through them again so we ended the walk. Wish they hadn’t put cows on the public footpath, I know the NHS is there to help people but the whole thing was a waste of NHS time and ours and ruined a walk. I’m reluctant to walk on Dartmoor again as you can’t avoid cows in that part of the world. Dartmoor is supposed to be an area of public access and people fought hard for that right in the past.”

Further comments “Cows shouldn’t be allowed on public footpaths. If the farmer really needs to put cows on a public right of way due to space restrictions, then I’m sorry but the farm is too small for the number of cattle being housed there. This should be regulated by agricultural bodies. There’s absolutely no excuse for putting people in harm’s way for the sake of agricultural profit. I’m not saying don’t farm, because it’s an important part of our food system, culture and heritage – just downscale if necessary. Even if the cows don’t hurt hikers, intimidating people goes against the spirit of the public right to access the countryside, which is important for everyone’s health and wellbeing.”

Climbing trees to avoid cows in Lee Mill Devon

Incident number: 995

Response ID: 307,223,358

Date of incident: 17.09.24

Location: Lee Mill, Devon UK. A path that follows down from Lee Mill Park to a public walkway / field.

Status: Two people walking with no dog on PRW

Georgia’s story

“We walked down the pathway where lots of people walk their dogs, just 2 of us. It takes you between 2 fields, with the upper one having around 8 bulls and the lower one having a smaller patch of land. There were no signs or anything to state there were any dangers. As we got to the pathway in between, the bulls began walking down to us. We decided to move which is when they began charging. The gate was too far away so we climbed up a tree and waited for the bulls to clear off a bit, as we had been circled and they were extremely close showing aggressive behaviour. Nothing would deter them so we just sat and waited. Once they began to turn away from us after about 15 minutes, we grabbed our bags and ran for it to the gate. Upon closing the gate we looked behind and saw they had chased us the whole way and the leader was kicking out, huffing.”

She adds “Keep bulls / any animal that can pose a threat to passer-by’s behind a fence and put up signs to state there are bulls on the loose. We could have been trampled or charged at.”

I want the people in your country to know that this is happening in the US also.

Incident number: 994

Response ID: 307,193,852

Date of incident: 15.06.24

Location: Alhambra Creek Staging area of Briones in East Bay Regional Park in California (The East Bay)

Status: Loan walker no dog on PRW

Mary’s story

“A calf started after me after he was butting heads with his buddy. He decided to do it to me. This has happened frequently with adult cows as well. The cows get all over my path, the fire road, as well as the field where they graze. I therefore have no other place to walk. I go slowly but they don’t care and they charge. The cattleman does not manage his animals at all!”

Mary wanted to warn us of potential US dangers – but cows are cows which ever country you go to – so be careful wherever you travel!

We shouted and threw things and the bullocks thankfully backed off

Incident number: 993

Response ID: 307,189,790

Date of incident: 16.09.24

Location: Grid ref 20 59 Bridleway from A5012 near Mouldridge Grange

Status: Two people no dog on PFP

Nick’s story

“We were pushing our bikes up the steep bridleway when we saw a bullock staring at us up above on the steep side of the valley. We stopped & the bullock turned to go through to the next field & joined 3 more bullocks in a group. My brother had picked up a fence post as he had been chased a month ago down from Burbage edge. As we passed them at a reasonable distance they came towards us at pace but not charging. We stopped, shouted & thrust the fence pole, they backed off but came again to which we repeated our actions. They backed off again & this time stayed put as we slowly but purposely walked on.”

Nick would like Fencing & ask farmers to situate feed stations well away from paths.

Lucky to escape with minor injuries

Incident number: 992

Response ID: 307,063,688

Date of incident: 15.09.24

Location: Near the car park at Upper Burbage, near Sheffield

Status: Group of 3-5 people with one dog on a lead. (There were signs warning of cattle)

Sophie’s story

“We were try to pass on a path, with cows on either side of the path, giving them space. One of the cows charged at one member of the group, headbutting him repeatedly and headbutting and trampling the dog. Once he had passed we thought this had ended as the cow turned back away but then all of a sudden turned round and charged at him again. Our dog was injured and we thankfully only suffered minor injuries”

We wish Sophie and her party well and hope the poor dog is ok