Castle Howard – Cattle Safety

Rammed to the ground by a cow on Castle Howards estate

Response ID 309,244,045

Report number: 1038

Date of incident : 1/11/2024

Location: Wilburn, Yorkshire on a walk by the castle Howard estate ///harmlessly.fitter.cowboys

2 walkers and baby, no dog. Cows and calves in field.

Account: “My husband and I were walking with our baby in a sling on me. The trail went through a herd of cows so we tried to go around them and as we walked by, a cow starting getting agitated. It then charged us and rammed my husband to the ground. As he backed away on the floor, it backed up and charged him again. We backed up slowly. Another cow came charging towards us looking upset and we walked slowly backwards and it stopped. No injuries (other than a wet bum but no bruising) but still quite scary!”

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.”

Multiple spoiled walks and near misses – badly scared walkers

Killer Cows receives many varied reports of aggressive and scary behaviour by cattle, and several of our recently reported incidents are posted below. There does not seem to be one type of breed that is safer and we cannot assume that because cattle did not react the last time we walked through their field, they will be equally calm the next. Farmers can fail to spot when cattle are a risk – so how can we notice?

Our reports are split with 50% having a dog present, 50% not. These incidents have happened in quiet rural spots and in areas where there is a lot of public footfall. Each incident results in badly scared walkers; they are no longer able to enjoy the wonderful freedom of walking along a footpath without worrying whether there are cattle in the next field.

The guidance issued by NFU or The Ramblers can work in some occasions, but not in others. Signage doesn’t seem to be updated to reflect whether cattle are present at the time you are walking – so no help at all. Signs warning of cattle in fields don’t absolve the farmer of their duty of care to walkers, but they may deter some walkers – and some farmers may be happy with this result. There are farmers who are actively looking at ways to keep walkers safe and are proactively working with the legislative bodies – we applaud them. Our footpaths give us access to our countryside, we need to feel safe to enjoy them.

Read the varied accounts below –