Ruth Livingstone
My book: Walking the English Coast
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Winfield’s Award
Killer Cows: Cattle Safety
Popular walking route with unsafe cattle roaming across it
Report number:1234 Date: 4/5/26 Location: On the side of the river Arun just past Arundel castle 2 people with dog Laura’s report: “We were walking on the footpath and the cows were quite a way to our right, to our left was the river. The cows started coming over, we went down towards the river […]
Family forced to swim to escape from dangerous cattle
Report number:1233 Date: 3/5/26 Location: Aller, near Langport, Somerset Family group & dog Libby’s report: “We were chased and pinned against the rivers edge by a whole group of cows who were kicking and jumping. They edged closer and closer until we were left with no option but to jump into the river and swim […]
Experienced walkers frightened by agitated cows
Report number: 1232 Date: 25/4/26 Location: Between Overton and Erbistock (Wrexham). Approx What3Words = riverside.period.curtail 2 people no dog Frances’s report: “We crossed a stile into the field and immediately noticed a herd of cows on the other side. They seemed to be minding their own business and facing the other direction so we continued […]
Tag Archives: photography
Stage 41. Birchington to Margate to North Foreland
Margate on a sizzling hot Good Friday. I am intrigued by the Royal Sea Bathing Hospital and pay a visit the Turner Contemporary. Hamish Fulton says ‘Walking is an art form in its own right, it does not have to be a lesser form of land art.’ Now, that is my kind of artist!
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Stage 40. Whitstable to Herne Bay to Birchington
Perhaps it is hunger, but I begin to have paranoid fancies. I imagine the pub full and no space to sit down. I imagine it has stopped serving food (it is now nearly 3pm). I imagine there are signs saying ‘no boots allowed’.
Stage 39. Faversham to Whitstable
I meet a man who is walking along the narrrow top of the wall, hands outstrectched for balance.
“I think you are forty years too old for that,” I say, smiling.
“I am letting my inner child out,” he replies.
And why not?
Stage 38. Teynham to Faversham
The light, the water, the mist, the stillness, the clarity of the near distance, the obscurity of the far horizon – so magical. I have never experienced anything like this before. Then I notice a strange sound. It is gun fire. Continue reading
Stage 37. Sittingbourne to Teynham
When I reach the sea wall, before me stretches a lovely vista of gleaming mud flats and an expanse of blue water beyond. Although I am still in the shelter of the Isle of Sheppy, I am nearing the open sea again. I feel a surge of blissful happiness. Progress at last and the sea is ahead of me.
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Stage 36. Upchurch to Sittingbourne
Passing a building site, workmen in yellow jackets nod and say hello. If they think it is odd to see a middle aged woman walking on a train track in the middle of nowhere, they are too polite to say so.
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Stage 35. Gillingham to Upchurch
I meet a cat with weird eyes, avoid a real tramp and take some spooky snaps of Kingsnorth Power Station, before heading off to the sewerage works. Later, I catch a glimpse of a man skinning and gutting rabbit with no sign of a knife … really?
30 (cont): Tilbury to Gravesend
The light is fading. In my walking boots, and with my rucksack and poles, I stick out like a sore thumb. I do not belong in this area …..
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30. Fobbing to Tilbury
“Or, if you walk into the village, you may be able to catch a bus.”
“I am not allowed to travel by bus,” I tell him.
If he thinks this is a little odd, he is too polite to say so.
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29. Southend to Basildon to Fobbing
I hesitate outside the dark mouth of the gloomy alleyway. For the first time on my whole journey, I feel very uneasy. I am not concerned about tides, or mud, or even snakes. It is the thought of ….. Continue reading
Ruth's Coastal Walk (UK) 