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25/03/2019

Connecting with the ancients

Sunday was bright, with a sharp breeze and welcome flashes of sun.
Up on Feizor Thwaite Moor in the Dales,
we were looking for traces of the past.
Inside Dead Man's Cave, a welcome respite from the cutting breeze, 
the three of us drank tea and took in the view.
While I explored years of graffiti worn away by the weather,
Himself and Moss sat at the mouth of the cave.
Youngest took the camera and fired off the flash to follow the cave contours.
Tea drunk and scarves and hats firmly put on, we set off to find the ancient
Celtic wall. 65 foot long and solidly square it is refuses to be marked on
any maps. We wandered over the moors until we stumbled upon it.
Is it missed from maps because it moves ...?
We sheltered from the cutting wind behind the solid structure,
the exposed side of the wall was bleached white and brittle,
the sheltered side, moss and lichen encrusted.
The skies were darkening which only served to 
magnify the amazing affect of the sun.
The reason for our walk - I wanted to find this propped stone.
It was being watched over by a large dog fox - a handsome creature with
a rather generous tail.
On the home stretch, the skies now heavy and we
could feel the rain in the air.
A good walk - cold but good.


That is.....
except for the small incident that occurred 
less that 500 metres from the car.


 A cluster of Hereford beef heifers congregating at the last gate.
We strode forward - looking as large and purposeful as we could,
Moss hidden by our many legs.
Clapping of hands and farmery style whistles to get them to move
revealing amongst them a very large and testosterone filled bull.

He raised his huge head,
looked at us and growled, deeply.
I could feel it in my chest.

Himself had already reached the gate and slipped through, 
I retreated as the bull stepped forward.
Head down.
Youngest was urgently instructed to hurl the dog over the wall
and to get over too.

It was at that point I saw that Himself
was face to face to a second black bull.
Huge as the first,
he too began to roar.

Both bulls drooling, roaring,
the Hereford now pawing the ground,
watching us.
Himself threw himself over a fence, grabbing the dog
came to us,
we had managed to get over a six foot stone wall
topped with barbed wire.

The bulls roared
and roared
and growled and drooled.

We walked quickly away through the field
Every third pace, I looked behind.
The bulls too interested in each other and the heifers surrounding them.
Shame the only place they chose to hang out was the only place we needed to be.

Took until getting to the car to stop shaking.

No signs to say 'bull in the field'.

Over 8 miles to add to my #walk1000miles challenge - but jeez .... not ones I would like to repeat.

14 comments:

  1. Lovely pictures...but scary tale of the bulls!

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  2. What an incredibly scary end to what had, up to then, been a fabulous walk. Any bull is to be treated with caution, with a dog in tow he's to be completely avoided but two of the buggers winding each other up doesn't bear thinking about - thank goodness you got away. Was everyone OK? Any scrapes and barbed wire damage?

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    1. Surprisingly no one hurt, despite two hurtling over the wall, one flying over it at high speed as she was thrown and one walking past both bulls despite being ear scratching proximity!!

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  3. Hmm,, no sign to say bulls in the field. I've seen such signs but there have been no bulls in that field for years! Glad you got 8 more miles done and back home safely!

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  4. A frightening time for you all (inc the dog). A lovely walk though and some beautiful pictures you captured - the tree one especially is magnificent.

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  5. Whau that was scary with those bulls. Glad you are all fine. Lovely photos!!

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  6. Phew.... Great photos. You should have got the Bulls! Make a great painting. Once you had calmed down.x

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  7. That sounds incredibly scary! Two bulls, with their herd - it must have been terrifying. I hope you can look back on the awesome pics you took and the rest of the walk with a little more enjoyment. (Those pics are amazing, especially the pale tree)

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  8. I would have adored the ancient cave and wall.
    Arilx

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  9. I was so enjoying your walk & then, WHAM, a scary bit. Never been face to face with a bull, but have been surrounded by a herd of about thirty cows, which also drool, though only low moos were heard from them. I'll tell you more in an email. Thanks for taking us on the walk, which was fascinating & "love" the photo of the sunlit tree. Take care & huggles.

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  10. Oh blimey , that's scary! Glad you all managed to fling yourselves over the wall. X

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  11. A great walk and great photos - I love the first one of Moss outside the cave - but what a scary end. I'm glad you all got away safely.

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  12. I do enjoy being good able to 'join in' your walks but I'm not sure I would have liked the ending to this one. You are made of stronger stuff than I. I'd still be shaking now!
    You have captured some beautiful images. X

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  13. Wow...scary. What an end to a beautiful, if windy, walk. xx

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