Tag: Tintagel

Charged at by a bull

Report number: 847

Date of incident: 08/05/24

Site of incident: On the footpath up the river from St Nectan’s Waterfall, Tintagel, Cornwall. Coordinates 50°39’58.6″N 4°42’32.2″W. WhatThreeWords; ///disarmed.nipping.perfected.

There was a dairy bull in the field with multiple bullocks.

2 people no dogs

We are seasoned and experienced hill walkers. We approached the field on well worn path along from a much loved popular waterfall. We made sure to keep talking as we approached as to not startle bullocks (visible). As we entered the field the younger bullocks backed off. The dairy bull immediately started with aggressive body language. I picked up a large stick and tried to continue to follow the path with confident but non threatening body language. The bull charged us. I attempted to be assertive so raised the stick and held my ground. The bull continued to charge us, just stopping short of hitting us.

Continue reading “Charged at by a bull”

Alison’s spoiled and extended walk

Report number: 818

Date of incident: 11/9/2023

Site of incident: near Tintagel, Cornwall



We were following a footpath through farmland and went over a stile and the next footpath was directly ahead following the hedge line. Unfortunately, right at the other end of the field, directly in front of the stile was the herd of cows.

So as not to spook them by walking directly towards them, we tried to go around. Unfortunately, these cows seemed territorial and were undecided as to whether they were going to allow us through or not.

They started coming towards us which did not seem like curiosity or to see if we had food. There was no where to go and my 14 year old was really scared. I tried talking calmly to them – but it made no difference. They looked like they were on the verge of charging.

In the end I made myself as big as possible with my arm out wide and clapped shouting “Back”. This caught them off guard and we managed to squeeze around them and over the stile. They quickly pursued us to the stile but luckily we were safely over. We had to re-route for the way home.

We weren’t injured, just badly frightened.