Ruth Livingstone
My book: Walking the English Coast
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Winfield’s Award
Killer Cows: Cattle Safety
Miley and his wife have to wade across a stream to escape cattle.
Incident number 1305Date: 30.08.26Site: Public footpath alongside of Egglestone Abbey near Barnard Castle. County Durham.Bull with cows and calves (Comment: very large brown cattle with small horns.)2 walkers with dog on a lead. Miley’s Report: “We were walking from woods towards grasslands alongside Egglestone Abbey. This was the only route back to the gate onto […]
Cows chase walkers AGAIN on Sussex Ouse Valley way
Incident number 1303Date: 31.5.26Site: Between Lewes and Hamsey on the river footpath BN7I dog, on a lead, 2 walkers Description: “Chased by cows on footpath, not for the first time here but very scary. Our dog froze in panic making getting away from cows near impossible.We reported it to the council who have replied saying […]
Cows with calves roaming freely around Hare Hill
Incident number 1301Date: 24.05.26Site: Roughly this: What3words:Punctuate.Otter.Fronted. Near Over Alderley, Hare Hill permissive path. 1 dog on lead, 3 walkers. RH’s report: “We were just walking and suddenly a group of cattle burst out of a field (from nowhere) and moved around us, not charging but getting quite close, agitated and shifting around restlessly with […]
Author Archives: Ruth Livingstone
70. Christchurch to Bournemouth
Autumnal colours glow warmly in the sunshine – contrasting with bright blue sea below and jolly colours of beach huts. I feel almost overwhelmed with beauty and stop constantly to take photographs. It turns out to be one of the hottest September days in England, ever.
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69 (part 2). Hurst Castle to Christchurch
I see a Kestrel and eat a cream tea. Checking my map, I realise I have crossed over into Dorset. I am making progress!
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69 (part 1). Keyhaven to Hurst Castle
The small ferry-boat is well guarded by a fierce little black labrador – with a very waggy tail.
68. Bucklers Hard, Lymington to Keyhaven
I can’t get close to the sea in the New Forest. Ignoring ‘beware the bull’ signs, I walk through woods and hear things falling from the trees. I realise it is horse chestnuts (conkers) falling around me.
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67. Calshot to Beaulieu to Bucklers Hard
Sometimes during my walks – not often, but sometimes – I wonder why on earth I am doing this. What posessed me to start walking? And why have I continued? Continue reading
66. Hythe, Fawley to Calshot
I’m not looking forward to the walk today. At Fawley, the map shows a huge oil refinery and then a power station. I am particularly dreading walking along the A326. But I am pleasantly surprised …. Continue reading
65. Warsash, Southampton to Hythe
You can’t mistake the Hamble Ferry. It is coloured pink. Bright pink. My second ferry crossing is over to Hythe and poses more of a challenge. I am impressed by The Queen Mary 2 and enjoy the views from the Itchen Bridge. Continue reading
64. Gosport to Warsash
I get wet and am irritated by ‘private beach’ signs. But I enjoy a stretch of vegetated shingle, where unusual plants struggle to maintain a foothold in the inhospitable surface of dry, shifting, shingle stones. I marvel at the extreme fragility and the incredible tenacity of life.
63. Portsmouth to Gosport
Portsmouth is barely recognisable – changed from the grim city I once knew. And The Spinnaker Tower is wonderful. We strip off our shoes to walk across the glass floor – a vertigo inducing experience. But what are the mysterious buildings on the seafront in Gosport? Continue reading
62. Langstone to Portsmouth
I remember walking across a derelict wasteland of scrub and wind-blown rubbish to the edge of the water. I stood on a rock and gazed over brown mud and grey water and wished I was somewhere on the other side of the ocean – somewhere warm and sunny.
