Category: near misses

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.”

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.

Julia thinks farmers who know they have aggressive cattle should be made to graze their cattle away from the public

Report number: 987
Date of incident: 8/9/2024
Location: ///skip.adjuster.mopped on the Tarka Trail, Nr Okehampton, Devon

cows with calves on open moorland on Dartmoor (mostly pure black herd but main aggressor was pale brown)

Report: “It’s an area we walk very regularly, my dog is off lead but under close control. It was a very foggy day and we found ourselves amongst the cows on the moor. We couldn’t see them until we were about 20m away. We are well aware of their potential so were trying to avoid them. My dog ran past the brown cow and her calf was nearby, she turned and went to attack my dog who was able to run away uninjured. The herd of black cows then came charging up from behind to see what was happening, running past us on either side, we stood still.

Continue reading “Julia thinks farmers who know they have aggressive cattle should be made to graze their cattle away from the public”

A collision avoided by jumping over a hedge

Incident number: 968

Response ID: 306,988,458

Date of incident: 22.07.24

Location: I was in a field on a public way southwest of Chilcompton (near Midsomer Norton)

Status: Lone walker with no dog on PFP

RJB’s story

“Was crossing from stile to stile. Stiles were overgrown so was hard to find the exit stile. Got chased by 20-odd young but fully-grown cows and found the gap in the hedge to jump over just in time. I had to run across the field with an 18kg backpack on – if I’d been less fit or had less time to react then I’d have been at the very least in a collision with a charging herd.”

Is it unreasonable to expect electric fences on footpaths?

Incident number: 967

Response ID: 306,987,531

Date of incident: 13.07.24

Location: Nera Steyning Sussex (W3W: glossed.dumplings.odds)

Status: Loan walker on PFP with dog on lead

Neil’s story

“I entered the field via a stile on a signposted public footpath with my springer spaniel, who is 7 years old and has never had the remotest interest in livestock of any description her entire life, and this day was no different, and thus she was off the lead as usual, but close to me as usual, carrying a stick. I noticed the herd at the far end of the field (250-300 metres) clumped directly on the footpath route and essentially right in front of the next stile. I put Jem on the lead and began to walk gently in a very wide arc around the other edge of the field and we were about 100 metres from the first style when I noticed them moving towards us at what seemed a fairly regular walking pace. I became anxious about 10 or 15 seconds later when I noticed a couple at the head of the herd break into a slight canter and definitely in our direction, which then very quickly escalated into a run that the rest of the herd followed with. I quickly unclipped Jem and sprinted with her back to the stile we had come over. By the time we jumped back over it, the cows were almost upon us and running at what I would describe as stampede pace and they were snorting and mooing very aggressively. My heart was in my mouth and the dog was also quite scared. I am an experienced country walker and live nearby in the village of Henfield. I always respect cows and give them as much room as possible but have never been this aggressively pursued before by them. Really very frightening.”

Neil thinks

“Where there are a herd in a field with a public footpath running down one side of the field, but no easy escape (hedges on all 4 sides), I don’t think it is unreasonable for the farmer to have to place an electric fence along the line of the footpath. I know this wouldn’t stop them if they really wanted, but they would probably be wary of it having been zapped by it already a few times and would not come to near it. – Maybe? ! Also, if the herd are know to agitate easily – which the farmer should be aware of – then appropriate warning signs should be used on the stile access to the field.”

Hurdling a gate to avoid cows

Incident number: 962

Response ID: 306,985,898

Date: 05.05.24

Location: Near Brockhampton Herefordshire ( What 3 Words ///asleep.dated.pods on a footpath heading East towards Hollington Farm)

Status: Loan walker without dog on Public right of way

Rob’s story

“I was walking alone along a footpath from Lower Bolstone Wood towards Hollington Farm. As I entered a field I started walking alongside the hedge towards the other side. Then a group of cows came running towards me from the left hand side. The hedge was too high and overgrown to climb over or through so I ran to the other side of the field and hurdled the gate just before they reached me. There were approximately 20 of them and it was very frightening”

Emma meets cows with calves at Sycamore Gap

Report number: 986
Date of incident: 15/8/2019
Location: Sycamore Gap

Group of cows with calves. Dog on a lead. Family walk.

Report: “We were on the main footpath leaving Sycamore gap in Northumbria – the walk we were following was on a National Trust printed leaflet. When we got into the field I could see the cattle all crowded around the footpath and the stile, they were huge – looked like highland black cattle – huge horns. I sensed for some reason we may have trouble, possibly because of an earlier incident (described later,) and told my daughters if there were any problems to jump over the wall to the next field. I said this as sort of a joke but then as we approached one cow in particular looked troubled by the dog (who was on a short lead and perfectly calm,) she started following and virtually cornered myself with the dog, and terrifyingly when about 4 foot away, put her head right down and started scraping her front leg as if about to charge. I noticed there was a ditch with long grass, chucked the dog and myself in it (which effectively hid the dog) and walked slowly along, this thankfully seemed to confuse the cow, but it felt like a very very close call.”

“I contacted the National Trust as didn’t know what else to do. They said they would talk to the farmer involved but who knows. A few years previous to that in the Lake District we walked through a field of jersey cows, I always remember but couldn’t quite believe it, but do now, we had no dog then but they were definitely bothered by our then around 5 year old daughter – who was just with me on the path , they started gathering pace but thankfully I was near the stile by this point and got her over quick – I think it could have been nasty if we had been further away as they gathered speed – hope this helps wish I had thought about reporting to the HSE or yourselves – it didn’t occur to me until I saw the guardian article.”

Additional comment: “Really troubled me that this was a leafleted walk you can pick up at the National trust places, these cows were aggressive as with calves , this was quite a small field , it was the dog that was worrying them TBF – but based on other incident with young child I was really worried about families in that area as well.”

Ingrid is chased by bullocks on the South Downs Way

Report Number 983
Date of incident: 22/8/2021
Location: On the South Downs Way, just across the A road between Housedean Farm and Southease, near the top of a large hill.

Group of bullocks (young bulls), lone walker, dog on lead

Report: “I got to a gated field which the South Downs Way ran directly through, where I saw what appeared to be a couple of young bullocks rearing up and bucking when a couple with a dog passed by, the couple were walking slowly, and didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger, so I stupidly opened the gate and tried to walk past, staying close to the fence. When the cows clocked me they suddenly gave chase, and I had to fling myself over the fence to get away from them.”

“The fence was topped with barbed wire and I was wearing shorts, so I tore one of my legs up quite badly and had three long scratches on it for a few weeks afterwards. It was getting dark by the time I reached the bottom of the hill and I was quite shaken.”

“I had to have a tetanus jab and my GP double-checked my scratches.”

Comment re signage “There was a sign at the bottom of the hill, warning of a bull in the field, but no sign on the gate I actually went through.”

Comment by Ingrid “The field that was occupied by the cows covered an extremely large and irregularly shaped stretch of the south downs way, I would appreciate it if farmers could, where possible, keep large herds away from some of our country’s most popular walking trails.”

Mandy is charged at by a frisky bullock

Report number: 980
Incident date:1/5/2018
Location: https://what3words.com/rinse.burst.opposites Nr Brading, Isle of Wight

Group of bullocks, lone walker, no dog

Report: “I entered the field (Gander Hill) from the public gate from the Centurian Copse end, onto the footpath, I didn’t know the herd was in the field. After a few minutes I saw them on the top of the hill, there were 20-30 of them, they were frisky. I chose the lower path to keep out of their way as there was not an alternative route. They came nearer but were interested in each other not me, apart from one in particular that was very frisky and watching me closely. They were on the top of the hill, I was below. I should have turned back at that point but kept going, cautiously. Probably they were 100 yards away at least. I carried on for a couple of minutes thinking that I would get to the exit at the other end of the field before them. The one that was interested in me broke away from the rest of the herd and halved the distance between iteself and me in about 10 seconds. It was watching me closing, bucking, agile, dancing almost. The rest of them came a bit closer but were still frisky amoungst themselves and not very interested in me. I was very frightened, rooted to the spot, hands clamped by my side, nowhere to go, I was too far from the edge of the field to get to it and anyway it was a high fence with a lot of brambles and barbed wire. I was scared to wave my arms around or shout at it or move in case I frightened the rest of them into running at me. So I didn’t move at all, just stood stock still. It charged at me. But stopped of its own volition about 20 yards from me, stared at me for a moment and then tossed its head and rejoined the rest of the herd, which then ambled off in the direction of the far gate. I carefully retraced my steps back the way I came and exited the field.”

Mandy comments “Cattle should not be allowed to roam on public land full stop. Where there are farmers fields with footpaths, then those footpaths should be fenced, just basic stock fencing will do. I am happy for footpaths to be sensibly re-routed within the field concerned to allow a sensible solution that protects livestock and humans from unhelpful interactions.”

Raced at by bullocks

Report number: 978
Incident date: 5/9/2022
Location: Berry Pomeroy – walking on public right of way path from the village up through huge field to head towards castle.

Lone walker, dog on lead.

Report: “The field from the village is huge and slopes up so you cannot see when entering if livestock are in there. It’s a circular walk from Berry Pomeroy village to the castle and back. As I got to the brow of the hill I saw a huge group of (what I presume were) bullocks They were a long way off but when they saw me they came racing down and started bombing me and hitting the hedge around me and my dog. I was about 20m away from the gate so I ran for it as they were getting more aggressive. I just managed to get through the gate and they ran into the gate after me (colliding with it.) I was terrified. Stupidly I didn’t take my dog off lead.”

“I had to get a friend to drive to collect me as the only way back to village was along a well-used B road that people use as a rat run to Paignton/Torbay and that has no footpaths. The bullocks were still at gate when my friend picked me up an hour later from the castle. I’m surprised no one has been killed in that field. A notice should be put up to warn hikers! I’ve never gone back.”



Lucky Lucy escapes a stampede

Report number: 970
Date of incident: 28/2/2015
Location: Nr Oswestry, Shropshire ///lies.footpath.internet

Report “I was walking along the footpath, on my own, with no dog, at the place previously mentioned. 20 to 30 bullocks were in the field. They were pretty frisky and interested in me and started heading towards me when I entered the field. They followed me along the hedge line but I wasn’t too worried as cattle do get interested in visitors and I knew they would back off if I stopped and approached them. They started to get a bit closer and broke into a gallop. I stopped and jumped towards them to get them to back off. The nearest to me veered away but those behind hadn’t seen my signal and ploughed on toward me. The inertia of the herd left them no choice but to barge into me, knocking me down. Lucky I was next to a barbed wire line and was knocked under it and into the hedge. The bullocks thundered past and it was only by chance that I wasn’t trampled as my head and legs were only inches from their hooves. The barbed wire ripped my clothes and left some quite deep scratches in my back and side and the hedge left me with bruises and scratches. I lay there for a short time in a bit of shock I suppose.

The cattle had wandered off and I got out of the field and carried on my walk. I think I realised a short time later how lucky I was and headed home for a sit down. I suffered barbed wire scratches to my back and scratches from the hedge.

I’ve been around cattle my whole life and thought I understood them. I’d been with stampeding cattle before and they usually swerve if challenged. In this case, the topography and way the herd was closely packed meant that most of the herd didn’t see my challenge and continued their stampede. I would have ducked through the hedge had I thought there was a chance most of the herd wouldn’t see my challenge.”

This happens every summer in this area of Derbyshire

Incident number: 960

Response ID: 306,985,266

Date: Repeated dangers over the past 15 years

Location: New Mills, Derbyshire, SK22 4QE SJ989866 w3w inert.cornfield.games

Simon F’s story

“I’ve not put a date in this report – it’s every summer! We avoid this particular farm from May to November each year because of the aggressive bullocks they keep in the fields. The initial incident occurred when we were walking along a popular local footpath to a bench called Peggy’s Pew. The path crosses the field diagonally and the bullocks approached us, cut off the path and began to charge at us. We half held our ground and half retreated until we were at the field wall, which we then climbed to escape. Since then we enter fields around this farm cautiously and if we see the groups of bullocks approaching we turn round, leave the field and go elsewhere. If we are just doing a local walk with no real itinerary then diverting is possible. But this is not always the case for everyone and not the case for us when we’re further afield. It is not just this farm. It seems cows and bullocks are becoming increasingly aggressive. We have been chased near Whaley Bridge and took refuge in a hawthorn hedge – not sure which farm. We diverted and climbed a fence after finding bullocks blocking the track out the field at Woodends Farm above Wood Lanes near Poynton. In the same area at Platt Wood Farm I’ve left a field where the cows packed it out with no spare space and walked through the field parallel. And I see it on Strava too – runners or walkers having incidents. Last week someone’s walk was cut short by cows (Rocks Farm off Whaley Moor) or last summer someone out with their young daughter in a pushchair had to leap a fence with pushchair to avoid cows. But when you read the sad stories on this website, and given the increasing frequency of incidents, I agree with your campaign’s argument that it should be the farmer that is responsible for stopping these incidents occurring and not blocking footpath access with aggressive cattle.”