Talking Bull

Is it me? I just get so annoyed by getting ¾ the way around a circular walk only to be faced with a stile and the ominous sign “Bull in field”. What does this mean? Bull in field is harmless? Bull in field so continue at your own peril? Or bull in field but hey, don’t worry, if it attacks you can always sue? Only the farmer knows and he is certainly not letting on.

Two recent walks were frustrated in this way. One required us to travel 3 sides of a very large square and the other had no viable alternative within our allotted time despite our being so close to our destined refreshments that the gastric juices were already flowing! On both occasions the same pre-printed laminated sign was used and it would have been easy to have included some additional information to indicate how the sign should be interpreted.

Maybe the farmer was just happy for us to be thwarted in our efforts to use the public footpaths across his land. Or maybe we should simply be made of sterner stuff. Somehow childhood memories of being chased by stampeding bullocks seem to linger on …

If you are unsure how to react when you encounter cattle or a bull in a field then the Ramblers give some good pointers in the “Cattle in fields with public access” section of their “Animals and Rights of Way”.

The Pub Walker
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