Near-miss Stories – Page 10

Scared walker -“Either fence the cattle off from the path or do not put them in a field with a public footpath.”

Incident number: 941

Date of incident: 30/6/2024
Location: Gregynog Estate near Tregynon, Powys. Footpath between Skew Bridge and Gregynog Estate footbridge.

Group of cattle – “I don’t know what. No time to stop and look.”
No dog, single walker.

Account: “I was walking bang on the path. I know because I have GPS. The cows approached me at a trot. I had no stick so I had to wave my coat. They speeded up. It was terrifying. I was so scared I was screaming at them to GO AWAY, waving my coat at them. They just kept running at me from different angles. I had nowhere to go. It is a big field and I wasn’t near any edge.”

Further comment: “Either fence the cattle off from the path or do not put them in a field with a public footpath.”

Lisa asks “Why are farmers allowed to keep bullocks in fields with public rights of way?”

Incident number: 939

Date of incident: 29/8/2024

Location: What3words Patrol.kicks.classmate . Whitehall near Hemyock

Group of bullocks
No dog, single walker

Account: “I started into the field, no cows present. They came from the left at the far end of the field and were just 3 or 4. Soon there were at least 15, I didn’t count. They started to watch me so I skirted away a bit, though they were close to my exit. In a few moments they gathered around me. I kept walking and speaking in as calm a voice as possible. I could hear them trotting behind me and I was quickly surrounded. I just kept going, from the left and slightly behind they all began to run together, like a stampede, but thankfully I attained the gate. A lady renting the house beside the field, owned by the farmer, asked what had happened as she had seen me in the field.

It was terrifying. I had no idea whether they would run towards me, I had no stick to fend them off. Completely upsetting, I felt fortunate to be unhurt.”

Comment: “I still feel very distressed, lucky to be uninjured. I had no help and could easily have been hurt.
Why are farmers allowed to keep bullocks/ bulls in public rights of way? At least without warning. It shows lack of any care for those whose right it is to be there.”

JJ has several bad encounters with cattle

Incident No. 938

Date of Incident. 29/08/24

Location. Perrydale Farm, Sparrowpit, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, SK178ES

Account “I had decided to walk down the road rather than across the footpath I had taken earlier as I had already been chased by a herd of cows. As I walked down the track I realised another herd was roaming free across the track and was blocking the path. I tried to walk as far away as I could, slowly and calmly. The young cows began to bolt around and as I passed 2 of the young cows began to rear up and run at me. I managed to get behind a wall and out onto the main road, I was so terrified by this.”

“During this walk trying to tick off 3 popular Ethels* I was plagued by cows –

>I was chased or approached in 2 fields,

>completely unable to cross 1 field due to aggressive cows hanging around the stile

>I had to leave a footpath and cross into another field over barbed wire due to a cow that had escaped it’s field,

>paralysed by fear walking down another bridleway because of several cows on a path that were stamping feet at me (thankfully a group of bikers appeared and helped me past)

>and then finally when I tried to choose a longer, less safe route back to the start (including a 2k walk on a busy country road with no pavement) I was chased by these bullocks.

I’m so angry that farmers can take no effort to protect walkers from harm and there is no recourse – even if that harm is sheer terror (have previously been attacked and harmed by cows)”

“I have tried to find contact information for the farmer but can’t find any.”

*Ethels – https://peakdistrictwalks.net/peak-district-ethels-list/ – Killer cows hadn’t heard of Ethels!

Advice can help but it doesn’t remove the risks

Incident No. 936

Date of Incident. 21/08/24

Location. Witton Weavers Way, Maiden House Farm, Blackburn, Lancashire

Account “This is the second incident in this precise field in 18 months. The first incident I hold myself responsible; I didn’t know what to do in the event of a cow attack and, as they began to approach me, I ran (which caused the whole herd to stampede after me). Luckily, the gate to the field which is usually open to the adjoining field was closed that day, and I dived over it.

After this first event, I was duly rattled and then did a bit of research on what to do if I am ever in a similar situation again.

Angelsey Brynrefail circular walk – cows charged at me and my dog

Incident number: 935

Response ID: 306,162,318

Date: 16.08.24

Location: Angelsey: Walking to Mynydd Bodafon from Nan ty sebons across a large field Near Brynrefail

Liz and her dog Rosco were walking along this popular walk when 30 plus cows charged towards them at speed! Rosco had been on a lead and was calm so there was no real reason for them to charge. They moved quickly away from the footpath and managed to find a route away through undergrowth. Liz was very grazed and itchy after trampling through brambles and nettles to reach the path again and obviously very scared.

Liz says “I have problems with cows every week when I walk in Wales or England. They terrify me! They charge at speed towards me! Some farmers fence their cows away from footpath. Wish this was a legal requirement on public paths.

The charge line of cows was at least 12 cows wide at the front!!!

Incident number: 933

Response ID: 306,151,398

Date: 18.08.24

Location: Near Rushall Wiltshire (What 3 words outbid.shuttled.insurers)

Paul’s Story

“Two of us were walking without a dog along a public footpath. A large number of young bullocks were in the field (at least 50). They were 80 -100 meters away as we entered the field and started walking downhill towards the other gate but they immediately came closer and then charged at us as we were crossing on the public footpath. The line of cows was at least 12 cows wide at the front. We held our arms out as we walked but they were coming closer and fast. Shouting momentarily deterred the nearest leaders, also clapping, but more of the herd kept coming. They were less than 10m away. I kept walking and shouting and waving at them and my companion, behind me, charged a couple of 2m at them in desperation and finally the herd of cows turned back. We were able to reach the far gate.

The cows need to be separated from the footpath. Large numbers of cows like this are very dangerous.”

Dartmoor: Wheal Jewel reservoir – Cows charged and a lucky escape

Incident number: 930

Response ID: 306,096,962

Date: 16.08.24

Location: On public access land at Wheal Jewel reservoir – Dartmoor

I was walking on my own without a dog through open moor. I saw a group of cows and calves so I gave a wide berth – about 30 metres. The cows charged at me presumably to protect their calves. I jumped into a gorse bush and waited for them to go away. I thankfully only suffered a few minor scratches.

Bravery at Hadrian’s Wall

Report No: 929

Date of Incident: 19/09/22

Location: Hadrian’s wall path just west of Cawfield’s Quarry

Account “I was walking Hadrian’s Wall Path when a woman with a dog ran past me towards a gate. She was being chased by a cow with its head lowered. I (stupidly or bravely, I don’t know) stepped between her and the cow to protect them, spread out my arms, and yelled at the cow to stop. It skidded to a halt in front of me, looked me over, then peered around me towards the dog. Once the woman and the dog made it to the other side of the gate, the cow ambled away.

I believe that had I not intervened, the woman or her dog would have been injured.”

Tom was charged at on Cader Idris slopes

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.”

Amanda manages to remain calm!

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.”

Ali and his friend meet a hostile group of cattle

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”

Millthorpe Derbyshire “We are all so traumatised, never have we felt so scared for our lives”

Incident number: 921

Response ID: 305,399,403

Date: 31.07.2024

Location: Millthorpe, Derbyshire (What 3 words ///crops.flexibly.inert)

Emily’s story

“I was walking along a public footpath across a field with my mum, 6 year old boy and two dogs on leads. The cows just seemed inquisitive coming closer to see who we were. My mum and son began to get a little concerned and then all of a sudden one cow started charging towards us at which point the cow must’ve only been 6 meters away. We were by a hedgerow in the middle of the field, so we dived into those. Then three other cows came head first charging into us. I was protecting us all screaming and hitting them on the head. We backed further into the brambles. The cows were very aggressive and on high alert. Charging around the field and coming back to us to ram us further. With no exaggeration I thought they were going to kill us. We were stuck in this vulnerable situation for at least 45 minutes. We called our family and they rushed up within 10 mins, they found a man sitting with a small buggy truck. My dad and husband distracted the cows at the top of the field whilst the man in vehicle came to our rescue. The cows were charging at another fence trying to get at my dad.”