Location On footpath on the outskirts of Aldbury, Hertfordsire, England
I person, 1 dog – on lead
Account “I was on my usual early morning dog walk that includes a field that had recently had a herd of black cows put in it. I’d been nervous of walking through it ever since, but a friend persuaded me cows are completely harmless and we walked through together and she demonstrated how to make my arms wide and make a loud strange noise if I felt threatened by them, which would warn them away.
Location On PROW immediately after gate from Swinburns Park Estate near Watermillock, Cumbria
People 2, no dog
Account “We stopped walking as soon as we saw the cows on the path in front of us. The cows were single file walking up the path. The lead cow was dappled grey colour and as soon as it saw us it bellowed loudly and started walking towards us followed by the rest of the herd all making loud bellowing noises. We had no option to turn and run for our lives back to the gate. Once we were on the other side of the gate the grey cow had moved off the path into the tall ferns and saw us over the stone wall and came running towards us bellowing.” Respondent suggests that the following may help: “Warning signs on the path and preferably get the pathway fenced off from the grazing area.”
Location: On PROW between Germoe and Porthleven, Cornwall. WtW – ample.lateral.dreamers
I person and 1 dog
Group of bullocks
Lottie’s account “I was following a marked footpath, my dog was on a lead. There were no signs about cows. I entered the field and then went along the path to an opening on the path which joins to the next field. In that field were bullocks who quickly stood up and came towards me. I felt I couldn’t escape so I stood on a wall and had to call for help. The farmer arrived after 15 minutes and shouted at me saying it was my fault for entering a field with cows when I had a dog. He lead the cows away so I could walk out of the field. My dog is safe with livestock. There are no signs warning that over 20 bullocks are on the footpath, there is no safe place to escape them and they surrounded us.”
This is an article that was published in Farmers Weekly and written by one of COWS members, Dr Jerry Alderson, who was asked to write it after appearing on a Farmers Weekly podcast.
Imagine this. You are in your local town, about to use a footpath across a patch of grass which you have used many times before. At the path entrance is a new sign stating ‘DANGER’. There is no explanation. The path was never signposted. Neither has it been closed. No alternative route is offered. What would you do?
Account “I was suddenly surrounded and tried to pull the dog in but then it all kicked off. I don’t remember everything but was I knocked onto the ground and eventually let go of the lead when I realised I was in real trouble. I remember being butted while on the ground but don’t actually remember how I get away. I had 3 broken ribs, facial injuries, leg injuries and was kept in hospital for 1 week.”
Respondent also states “Don’t put crazy cows in open access areas.”
Location: On PROW near High Stool Farm, Flagg, Derbyshire – WTW – cloud.carpeted.bluffs
2 people, 2 dogs
Cows with calves
Account “We entered the field on the right of way. Our dogs were on a close lead. The cows started running towards us. One charged at my husband and knocked him to the ground. He was unconscious for sometime. Cows were headbutting his head. I ran back and made myself big and loud to try and keep the cows away. My husband finally came to and he struggled to the next field. He had a very swollen face, black eye, and substantial bruising. He was admitted to hospital for his injuries. We discovered in hospital he had 3 broken vertebrae in his lumber spine and bruised/broken ribs he was in hospital overnight and is still under hospital care. This has been reported to the police and local authority.”
Respondent also states “The trauma for me was unbelievably awful. I thought my husband was dead and the incident has seriously impacted my walking confidence and seriously impacted my husbands health”
Account “We were walking with my dogs on leads, who are country dogs used to cattle, no barking or stress from the dogs, with my 21 year old son. We walked past the cattle with no problems then one of the cows closed in, then charged me, butted one of my legs that knocked me over, then bucked it’s rear legs up like a horse. I managed to get up. The other 10 cattle then began to follow us as we started to leave the field. We raised our arms shouting – we were afraid, as they all were closing in and we were in the middle of the field, they then dispersed after we shouted. I used to live on a dairy farm and am used to cattle but I’ve never seen behaviour like this before. There were signs warning of a bull in the field – but there was no bull. I’ve reported this to the farmer.”
Respondent also states “There should be warning signs on gates with contact numbers to report any incident and ideallybanning cows from public footpath sites”
Location: On PROW in Potten End, Hertfordshire between Water End Road and Hempstead Lane.
Family group, no dog
Cows with calves in field
Account “We were walking to the Mad Squirrel brewery last Saturday afternoon around 3pm. There were 4 adults, 2 toddlers and one baby. We had two buggies (fortunately). My friends who live in Potten End have had no problems when walking this route in the past however on this day, a number of cows were in the bushes to the side of the path and as we were walking along the path and closer towards their direction, they started to approach and surround us. We continued walking but became quite fearful with how aggressive and intimidating they were. In the end, we managed to get past them but they kept trying to charge at us and move off at the last moment. We managed to get to the end of the path and throw the children over the fence whilst one adult in our group had to swing a pushchair continuously to prevent them from coming closer towards us. They continued to progress and once the rest of the adults had got through the gate, he ran and threw the buggy over the fence before the cow could reach him. Needless to say, we were covered in cow faeces due to throwing the buggies over the fences after wheeling through whatever was in the field due to fearing for our safety.”
Additional comment “More warning signs are needed. Hostile cows like that should not be left in fields where there is a public footpath. We had very young children who were extremely frightened and as parents, we genuinely feared for theirs and our lives.”
Location: On PROW, Near Birchen Lea Farm, Station Rd., Harecroft near Bingley West Yorks
over 10 Ramblers, no dog
Cattle with calves in field
Account: “One cow was actually on the footpath, so we gave the cow a wide berth; the rest of the herd (with calves) was a little way off. The single cow charged at myself and another person as we tried to walk around it. We quickly ran to the stone boundary wall whilst other people in our Ramblers walking group persuaded it to move away allowing us to pass. This was a terrifying experience.”
Additional comment: “Cows with calves should not be in a field with a public footpath or the path should be fenced off from cattle.”
This attack has been reported to the local council and HSE
Incident number 1146 Date of incident: 21.06.25 Site: What3words: ///pinch.infringe.builders (Ellesborough, Aylesbury) Cows with calves in field. 1 walker, no dog
Steve’s Description: “I was walking towards Ellesborough Church when a large, completely black cow ran at me, head down, knocking me over before I could reach the gate. I fell onto a hard chalk path, knocked my head above my right eye, I had a cut to my knee and grazes to my legs and arms, and to add insult to injury covered in something unmentionable.”
Additional comment from Steve: “I have walked and hiked many hundreds of miles though woods, farmland and mountains and this is my first experience of cows acting aggressively. I’m so pleased I found your website to report it. Good luck with your campaign.”
Incident number 1143 Date of incident: 21.06.25 Site: Attacked by a cow on the footpath between Foolow and Wardlow Mires, 200 yards north of Wardlow Mires 3 Stags Heads pub. Derbyshire. Cows with calves, pale colour, bigger than a Jersey cow. I person, no dog
Description: ” I was walking down the foot path towards Wardlow Mires. A single cow from a small group of cows with calves charged and knocked me against a dry stone wall, butting me repeatedly. The wall saved me from being trampled. I have lacerations to my right arm and hand.” Additional comment: “Let as many people know how dangerous cows can be as possible. Farmer should take more care in alerting hikers to the dangers.”
Incident number 1142 Date: 18.06.25 Site: 1st incident at watched.calibrate.behave on the PROW adjacent to Pickedstones Farm in Exmoor National Park, approximately 3 miles SE of Simonsbath. . 2nd incident at jeering.cases.gambles on the same footpath but approximately 1/2 mile closer to Simonsbath. 2 walkers, no dog.
Description: “We were walking a loop path from Simonsbath along the River Barle (the Two Moors Way) then up onto the ridge to the North for the return journey to Simonsbath. The route is described in ‘Exmoor and the Quantocks’ – Outstanding Circular Walks. Pub. Ordnance Survey 2022. ISBN 978-0-319-09011-4.”
1st incident – “We arrived at a gate. The other side of the gate was a large herd of Friesian cows with calves at foot and a Charolais bull. No warning signs, no mitigation, no diversion offered. I entered the field carrying my ‘cow-stick'(my wife is very cautious around cattle, having seen many severe injuries and deaths caused by cattle whilst working in intensive care in Nottingham.) I have some experience handling cattle. I walked calmly toward the herd holding the stick out to the side and speaking. Often this will cause a herd to move aside and clear a path. On this occasion they grouped together facing me with the bull in the centre of the group. Not advancing but not retreating either. It was clear they would not let us pass. There was a gate to my right into an adjacent field (what 3 words: polygraph.penned.frost) which we passed through (thus leaving the PROW), and crossed the adjacent field keeping parallel to the PROW but the other side of the field boundary. We then climbed over the double fence, back onto the PROW at compounds.catapult.channel, which was beyond the boundary of the cattle-containing field. My wife was scratched all over by waist-deep brambles and barbed wire making this diversion. If we had not diverted around the cattle, we would have had to retrace our steps (approximately 6-7 miles from this point) turning a relatively easy 8 mile walk into a 13-14 mile hike for which we were not provisioned or prepared.”
“After tending to my wife’s wounds, we proceeded along the path in the direction of Simonsbath.”
2nd incident – “after approximately 1/2 mile a very similar situation presented itself. The path was blocked by approximately 200 head of mixed cows with calves at foot and another Charolais bull. ( The above photo is of the connecting gateway to the other herd but my priority was to get us to safety not to get a good image) This time the cattle were very belligerent – grouping together, bellowing and agitated. Again there was a potential ‘escape’ gate into another field where we could have diverted (at ringside.passages.briefing) but, unfortunately, this gate was also open and the field to which it led contained the other half of the herd. Thus we were faced with a very large, agitated herd containing cows, calves and a bull, which had been split either side of the path.” “Even my cow herding skills were no match for this situation. Again there were no warning signs, no mitigation and no diversion offered. We therefore abandoned our walk and headed down the hill to our left which has a 1:1 gradient and drops down to the Two Moors Way which we headed out on.”
“Later the same day I spoke to a local business owner in Lynton about our experience – he knows the area well and has walked the path we were on many times. He has also attended many Exmoor national park meetings and events. He tells me that the farmers in the Simonsbath area are generally very anti-tourism and actively discourage use of the paths wherever possible. The location of the cattle we came across and the lack of mitigation (a short strand of electric fence could have completely solved the first incident and better planned fencing could have solved the second) certainly creates the impression that the cattle are being used to discourage use of PROWs which, of course, is illegal.“
Jerry comments. “Keep cattle and people apart! My wife was quite shaken by this because at one point it felt, to her, as if we were trapped between two herds. She was also scratched and bruised by our forced diversion. It stopped us proceeding with our planned route and made our walk longer than it should have been on a very hot day. “
Cattle Safety 