Ruth Livingstone
My book: Walking the English Coast
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Winfield’s Award
Killer Cows: Cattle Safety
Cattle charged at walkers – this could have been prevented by a simple fence
Incident number: 1229Response ID 329,262,000 Date: 16/4/26 Location: Preston Bagot, Warwickshire. Grid reference 176644 2 people, no dog Report: “Walking around the edge of a field the cows charged. I had to climb over a barbed wire fence while my husband ran around the corner of the field.It would be great to see special fencing […]
Charged at by a cow in Derbyshire (Pattern of previously aggressive livestock behaviour in this area)
Incident number: 1228Response ID 329,163,280 Date: 8/4/26 Location ///farm.prepare.character, Between Unstone Green and Dronfield,Derbyshire 2 People, with 2 dogs on lead Incident Summary: “On 8th April 2026, while traversing the established public footpath southwest from Highgate Lane, our party (two adults and two canine companions on leads) encountered an aggressive bovine. The animal emerged from […]
Ensuring Safety on a Walking Holiday: Cattle Management
We all have a right to walk safely along footpaths, and we can’t predict which cattle will be aggressive.
Tag Archives: photography
104 (a) Polperro to Fowey
A windy cliff top walk in Cornwall, along the South West Coast Path. With my eyes on the view I’m not watching my feet. Something slithers across the path ahead. An adder!
Continue reading
103 Looe to Polperro
Conditions aren’t good. The wind is fierce and both the sea and landscape are cloaked in grey. Waves roll in, crashing past grey rocks and lashing at the harbour wall. Continue reading
102. Freathy, Portwrinkle to Looe
I come to Tregantle Fort. This is a ‘Danger Area’ on the map and is used as a firing range. The South West Coast path crosses in front and the fort seems eerily silent – the many windows give the impression I am being watched. Continue reading
101 (part 2) Plymouth, Rame Head, Freathy
I am in Cornwall. Don’t think I’ve ever been here before and feel like an explorer standing on the edge of an unknown world. I wonder how difficult the walking will be. Continue reading
101 (part 1) Plymouth
I have misgivings but I dutifully follow the path and find I am in a wide concrete area, marked out in lanes for cars and lorries – a proper full-blown cross-channel ferry port. A dead-end. Continue reading
100. Noss Mayo to Plymouth
Now I am really worried. If I don’t make the last ferry, how will I let my husband know? He is expecting to meet me on Plymouth Hoe at 7pm. Continue reading
99. Stoke Beach to Noss Mayo
Changing maps is always exciting. But here is an incredible milestone. Today I will have passed the 1,000 mile mark on my walk. Devon has been beautiful – but we are nearly in Cornwall! Continue reading
98. River Erme to Stoke Beach
The path heads up a very steep field. The way ahead is barred by two obstructions. Firstly, by a field of bullocks (I don’t like cattle of any sort, and I definitely dislike bullocks). The second obstruction is an electric fence. Continue reading
97. Aveton Gifford to River Erme
My way is blocked by flooded roads. I walk across a squelchy meadow on a mattress of grass, floating on water. If I stop still for too long, I will sink. Forced to detour, I end up walking in the dark. Continue reading
96. Hope Cove to Aveton Gifford
The footpath crosses over a farm track where the mud is incredibly deep and soft and mixed with manure and churned up with animal hoof prints. It is almost impassable. Will I be forced to give up? Continue reading
Ruth's Coastal Walk (UK) 