Report No: 927
Date of Incident: 10/08/24
Location: Bottom of Cader Idris (just up from steps), Wales
2 people, no dog.
Account “We had walked up the steep steps on the Minfford Path route at the foot of Cader Idris, to a large open area with no cover. A cow with calves charged at me and my partner, we had driven two hours to go walking and turned back.”
Tom also adds:- “For public footpaths it should be illegal to have cows with calves roaming across them.”
Incident No: 926
Date of Incident: 08/08/24
Location: Near Newbold Astbury, Cheshire. Lat/long 53 08 40 N 002 13 46 W WTW – spoken.kicked.acid
1 person, no dog
Account “I was on a run at about 6p.m. I crossed into the field, which has quite a steep incline, so the cows weren’t immediately obvious. As I came over the brow of the hill I saw a number of cattle. A large bull started to run towards me and cut off the footpath. I moved through an open gateway into the next field and moved behind the hedge. There were also cattle in there. The original bull followed me, along with many other cattle from the 1st field. They surrounded me and were blocking the gateway I had come through. The front ones were about a metre away from me, including the original bull. I remained by the hedge, facing them, with my arms outstretched. I stood for about 25 minutes. Each time I tried to move they followed me. Eventually the original bull started eating (though he didn’t move away) and I was able to walk quickly around the herd and escape over the fence at the bottom of the field.”
Report No: 925
Date of Incident: 01/08/24
Location: what 3 words melon.mural.tower – near Marston Montgomery, Derbyshire,
2 People, no dog.
Account: “We were walking down a supposed bridleway with our bikes, but it was completely overgrown so we had to push our bikes. There was a field to our right containing a herd of cattle and they were very unhappy with our presence. They were snorting and taking it in turns to faux charge. We were separated by a single waist high wire which may have saved us. We carried on walking calmly and they all ran about 50m further along the field to wait for us, still snorting and distressed. We stopped to discuss what we should do and they all ran back up to us. We decided we had no option but to walk on an adjacent field away from them and got away unscathed. There were no calves that we could see. We were scared by these cattle; we met some cows further along and they were fine.”
Suggestion from Ali – “The path being maintained would be a start. There could be more robust protection if the cows are known to be aggressive”
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One of our members, Jill, appeared on Countryfile last weekend 21st July 2024 with her husband Mark talking about their attack three years ago, near Stockport, Greater Manchester, as part of farm safety week.
She was seriously injured by a herd of cows and older calves. She broke multiple bones and spent two weeks in ICU and a total of three months in hospital.
I don’t know if you realise how traumatic the recall of her story must be for both her and her husband and how brave both she, and other people who tell their story are, to spread awareness in the hope that it will save others from the same fate.
Her full story was also reported in the Manchester Evening News. the link is included below plus a picture of the brave couple in a much happier picture.
I was attacked by a herd of cows. I really thought I was going to die
Incident number: 907
Response ID: 304,899,542
Date: 15.07.24
Location: On the Cotswold way in the first field just above Thrift Wood farm just outside Wood Stanley.
“As we entered the field, we saw there were young cattle across the path. The dog was on a very short leash. We walked slowly and calmly up the field. The cows who were already quite close and on the path itself. They started to show an interest in us and the dog, coming slowly towards us then running and mooing. We let the dog off the lead and she ran up the hill. The cows started coming towards us very quickly. Luckily there was a closed metal farmers gate of the side of the field and we made towards that with the cows very close and climbed over. Luckily the dog could squeeze under it as I am sure she would have been stood on. It was very scary and we then spent a long time trying to find an alternative route.”
Incident number: 902
Response ID: 304,618,394
Date: 30.06.22
Location: Near the M1 in Derbyshire when walking from Scarsdale Abbey to Bolsover Castle.
Jennifer P’s story: “My husband and I were walking from Scarsdale Hall to Bolsover Castle along public footpaths on a route we’d found online. As we neared the M1, the route took us into a field of cattle with a wire fence along one side. It was soon after an episode of Doc Martin had aired where Doc Martin had to jump over a barbed wire fence when he was being pursued by a herd of cattle, and I joked to my husband that we’d end up doing a Doc Martin if the cattle came for us. I have to admit I was wary of them. My grandad was a farmer and kept cattle. I used to play with them as a child and wasn’t scared of them at all, but there was something about the way these cattle looked at us that I didn’t like. Sure enough, we were half way through the field and they began to charge. We were near the fence and managed to get over it without injuring ourselves. But we were then trapped on a steep slope of brambles. Even if we’d fought our way up through the brambles, it led to the motorway so not an ideal escape route for pedestrians. The farmer was a hundred metres or so away cutting hedges on a tractor so we yelled and he eventually spotted us and came over. He waved the cattle away with a stick and we climbed back onto the path and went to safety. He wasn’t apologetic – he said they were just curious. They were stampeding and we could have been crushed. I wish I’d reported it to the HSE at the time but I didn’t know that you could. This is one of four near misses we’ve had with cattle in the last four years and I’m now too scared to walk anywhere near them.”
We all know that feeling, looking at a map of an unfamiliar area, trying to plan a route. Walkers enjoy the freedom that access to our footpath network gives them; most walkers are careful to respect the farmer’s land and often help keeping the footpaths clear, they can notify farmers if livestock are lose or look ill. Well tended farms with farmers following HSE guidelines help walkers. We all get to enjoy our beautiful countryside.
Continue reading “Walkers and Farmers – we can help each other.”Report No. 886
Date of Incident. 25/05/24
Location. Near Metton, Norfolk, England – what3words – followers.crunching.galaxies
No dog
Account “Two of us, early 30 yr old males, were passing from Metton towards Felbrigg mid afternoon in light rain. We came to a field which was signed with ‘bull in field’ and saw a group of 30+ cows, at least one bull and several calves (young, but mid size). We are experienced outdoorsy people and walked into the field, we were a long way from the group of cows, and we noticed one of them coming towards us. We still weren’t concerned until they started moving as a group and loudly huffing. As we gently moved quicker they started to charge. We turned, walking backwards moved our arms up and down expressing ‘Hey!’ at them – which has deterred further movement on other occasions. This worked at first but then they all began to charge. We loudly shouted ‘HEY!’ This slowed them at first but they began to run. By this point we had gotten closer to the fence and were able to scramble out of their way. They then all came close as they could to us, on the other side of the fence not moving. It was a VERY close call.”
“I was not aware until today we could report it. Honestly we didn’t know we had rights about this as while it’s a marked footpath and on OS as a walking route, we assumed it’s still private land – so on us if something happens.”
Killer Cows states: The farmer has a duty of care to people that walk across their land.
Incident number: 881
Date: 31.03.24
Site: Over 6 days walking the northern half of the Offa’s Dyke Path. Montgomery to Prestatyn.
Description: A group of five of us started to walk the northern section of the Offa’s Dyke Path, a National Trail, from 26th May to 31st May 2024. We walked on average 14 miles per day over 6 days.
We had to walk through fields of cows and bullocks every day. Some days the National Trail route took us through as many as six fields containing cattle. One of our group was not at all happy with walking through fields with any large animals, so they stopped their walking trip after day 2 as a result.
I am uncomfortable walking through fields with anything but the most benign cows. I had an incident as a young teenager where I was unwittingly in an effective “bullfight” with an extremely aggressive bullock! The other three in our party are reasonably confident with big beasts. We are all experienced long distance walkers. If it had just been me and my partner, the walk (and our holiday) would have been abandoned at the first cow field on day 1! She was persuaded to continue, only with promises of surrounding her and “sacrificing” ourselves should the need arise.
Advice to find an alternative way to avoid a particular field is, in reality, often impractical with many field boundaries.
The range of encounters was from cows a long way away in a field paying us no attention, (but even this can concern some, including my partner.) We met cows, no calves present, crowding near gates/stiles having to be gently mo(o)ved and then following us from curiosity. There were cows with calves having to be given a very wide berth. The most scary incidents involved bullocks. We had 6 scary incidents with bullocks over 84 miles of walking. We would enter the field as a group and be immediately surrounded by bullocks getting very close. We would talk calmly to them, occasionally shooing them away, raising and waving our arms. We learned to gradually escalate our responses, as they seemed to get used to whatever we did and overcome their fear! By the time we reached the end of the field, we would be dealing with charges/mock charges to within inches of us.
There was one field, where a group of bullocks were quite enclosed by water/mud/trees, where we did opt to jump a fence. Luckily that was an option as these were very feisty.
We saw relatively few other people walking the dyke (end to end). Those we did meet all shared concerns with bullocks. Having spoken to locals they reported that numbers of people walking the dyke have dropped significantly over the past 20 years. This may be due to relative popularity of other paths but could be due to livestock issues.
A couple of points that I think our experience raises:
Comment: I think bullocks, cows with calves and any aggressive animals should not generally be allowed on paths with rights of way. As a minimum the right of way should be protected from beasts of any kind by an electric fence.
Incident number: 880
Date: 31.05.24
Site: On the Wyche way east of Naunton, Worcestershire.
Two bulls and cows and calves in two fields between which the Trail runs, I’ve since been informed the bull is most likely to be a Limousin.
Description: Two of us were walking along the Wyche Way, we didn’t have a dog. We came to a field where we met the first bull, this one was behind a single band of ?electric fencing with cows behind him. The bull was bellowing to another bull behind a hedge to our right. We crossed the field, effectively walking between the two bulls, to a stile in the corner. The next field we entered contained the other bull plus around 20 cows and their calves – all standing around the stile, they were not segregated from the footpath.
Fortunately the cows were frightened of us and backed off a bit, so we walked close to the hedge past them. And fortunately this bull was too preoccupied with the first bull that he ignored us.
No signs were around to warn us of the dangers. We are two ladies in our mid 70s and we were pretty scared but had no choice but to walk on, there was nothing we could do to avoid the danger, there were no warning signs, no suggested detours to avoid the bulls and cows and calves. Our fitbits showed a huge spike in our blood pressure!
Comment: No dangerous horses or cattle etc should be allowed on any official trail or footpath.
Incident number: 876
Date of incident: 18.05.24
Site: Tow path next to river Arun – going north from Arundel/Burpham on side of North Stoke- last field leading out to the Gurkha Bridge. In the past I have come across a very similar scenario in the field on the direct opposite side of the Arun (same farm/farmers?) but that time was able to turn round immediately as I could see them from the stile)
Description: I got half way across the field and met group of heifers on the path (about a dozen). The river was to my right and flood plain to my left so I had little choice but to continue or turn back (4 miles detour to where I was going!) – they looked bit lively so I decided to turn back.
My dog is a small puppy and just stayed by my side. As I walked back the whole group started following then trotting after us and some of them bucking whilst also fighting between them to get to the front – with about 5 yards left I decided I had to leave the dog and slip down to the river (very tidal!) or run.
I decided to sprint (luckily at 65 I’m pretty fit). I hurdled the stile with the whole herd inches behind me. Of my 65 years this was one of the scariest moments in my life! I took some photos of the heifers from the other side of the stile. I then had to walk the whole 4 miles back to where I started as the only other bridge is in Arundel town centre.
I had no injury but was badly frightened.
Comment: I normally don’t have problems with cows in a field as long as you can avoid them/take a wide berth and can exit the field in an emergency. Both these experiences were on tow paths where you are very vulnerable with nowhere else to go that is safe. My previous experience I mentioned in this area was over a year ago so clearly heifers being on the tow path in this area is not uncommon.
Response ID: 302,464,247
Date: 16/05/24
Location: Hadlow, Tonbridge
Dudley’s story: “I was walking on my own with my dog. Having walked dogs through cows fields for the last 40 years it was just another walk with a dog, on the lead, through a cow field. As per usual the cows were inquisitive and came up to sniff my dog’s nose, who in turn, licked the cows nose. After a couple of minutes I decided to carry on my walk. Like most days the cows follow us for a bit, about 4/5 of them. But today, as I was trying to leave them, the cow reared up making weird snorting noises!! This was some sort of call to all the other cows in the field and 20 odd more came running over, mainly huge cows with full udders. Their tails were flicking and heads swaying from side to side, they looked very agitated and virtually surrounded us. I shouted at them to move like I usually do, this time they wouldn’t. The snorting cow was still rearing up, like a horse, about 6 feet away and still looking mad! Eventually with lots of shouting and clapping I managed to slowly edge away to the gate, with a slightly pounding heart!! I have never seen the cows like this before!”
Cattle Safety 