forget dogs - its the bull owners at Newtown Creek

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chrisedwards

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Halfway through my favourite walk at Newtown - along the Solent Way.

So grateful that the dogs of Hampstead farm had not intimidated me for a change

....but still smarting at their notice to keep our dogs on lead due to free range hens

and along to a field - bisected by the path - to behold notice....

CAUTION - BULL IN FIELD

No way round on the outside; couldn't follow fence on the inside as it comprised impassable barbed wire.
 
WAS there a bull in the field? such notices are all too common.

There is a field on the footpath from Shalfleet to Newbridge which has similar permanent signs. Normally there is no bull ....BUT earlier this year there was indeed a large bull rather disgruntled that he was on the wrong side of a fence from the cows! Fortunately the field was easy to bypass (although probably technical trespass).

Nearby there are also fields with notices saying ' beware cows with young calves' . Now THEY can be really nasty.:(
 
and do you suppose that the notice is there capriciously ? Dogs off leads can panic a herd causing young cattle to run into barbed wire fences.

Is there any excuse for not having a dog on a lead on a footpath, for not 'having it under control@ ?


If the notice said "Danger - Bull in field" the farmer would be guilty before he even started his defence.
 
sarabande said:
and do you suppose that the notice is there capriciously ? Dogs off leads can panic a herd causing young cattle to run into barbed wire fences.

Is there any excuse for not having a dog on a lead on a footpath, for not 'having it under control@ ?


If the notice said "Danger - Bull in field" the farmer would be guilty before he even started his defence.
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+1
Inconsiderate bloody farmer, a bull in a field, who'd have thought it?
Coupled with the audacity to have hens, I'm shocked.
 
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It's not unreasonable to expect dogs are kept on leads when crossing farms where there is livestock but farmers also have responsibilities regarding livestock where there is public access across their land.
 
We have just had an 'elf 'an safety advisor on our farm. Just forked out £300 on signs which include beware of the bull, had to put them up all round the dairies, and dry cow fields. Don't start me on the "fragile roof use crawling boards" signs!

Don't expect a hazard due to reading a sign, just remember the farmers are covering themselves.

Now Henny Penny and the sky falling in, that is serious!
 
A workman was killed last year on a farm near here after working on a roof that didn't have the fragile roof signs, no one told him, he fell through and landed on a tractor. H&S gets a bad rep but it's generally made people safer, accident rates have fallen consistently since the '70s. There are pen pushing idiots but I reckon you get them in any walk of life.
 
Next to us there is a large field with such a sign and a public footpath. Half the year the field does not contain any animals and it is popular with dog walkers. When it does contain animals its not. Unfortunately its not possible to see until half way across if the herd is lurking at the bottom corner. Last year an elderly man ended up in intensive care when he was trampled. In my view any signs are only of value if used when they are applicable and removed when not applicable. I think there could be a case for arguing for damages for injury based on negligence by the farmer if such signs are used without reasonable justification thus leading to the public to believe, based on current experience, the sign is not applicable.
 
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For some reason I'd never landed on the Newtown side before this summer but this year we did and had a lovely walk but yes, many of the public rights of way seemed to have "DANGER Bull in Field" signs. No bull evident (apart from the sign itself) and I suspected this was a "I can't legally stop you from crossing my laaand but I can try and scare you off" tactic but we took the long way round as you never know when bulls are going to be hiding in a tree waiting to pounce. Or is that drop bears? FWIW we don't have any dogs.
 
I can see why farmers in England get a reputation for being grumpy. If I had to put up with such attitudes and lack of knowledge I would get grumpy too. Of course farmers have nothing better to do than walk round all their land putting signs up and down as appropriate in case some numpty doesn't realise that fields might contain livestock and that the entire country isn't simply maintained for their convenience. Perhaps if people had their livelihood threatened daily by other's irresponsible behaviour they would feel differently.

Did you know that the dumps your off-lead dog does on farmland can cause diseases which cause cattle to abort and sheep to die?
 
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chrisedwards said:
....but still smarting at their notice to keep our dogs on lead due to free range hens
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Why?
Have you not seen what some dogs will do to hens given the chance?
Terriers are the worst of all.

DOI: Hen-keeper who has lost hens to visiting dogs.

Owners' reactions included phrases like:
"Oh look, he's playing with your chickens" (Chicken hanging dead from said dog's mouth)
"Oh, she doesn't usually do that"
 
I once walked from Street, Somerset ( how did they manage to make a village in as lovely a place as Somerset so boring and soul-less - Oh, Quakers... ) aiming to go up Glastonbury Tor, again, via public footpaths.

I got nearly all the way there, a few miles, to find some inbred Farmer Palmer had placed a large bull in the field where the public footpath crossed; no signs, no way round...

Still, possibly not as bad as the Isle Of Sheppey at Harty Ferry; when a chum & I walked to the crossing looking around, the locals from the pub - and everyone on Sheppey seems to be retired gangsters from London - altered their clay pigeon line so the shot was peppering the mud all around us.

There's a lot to be said for taking an Elephant Gun on these relaxing walks ! :)
 
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Barleycorn said:
We have just had an 'elf 'an safety advisor on our farm. Just forked out £300 on signs which include beware of the bull, had to put them up all round the dairies, and dry cow fields. Don't start me on the "fragile roof use crawling boards" signs!
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http://press.hse.gov.uk/2014/family-farming-business-sentenced-after-worker-injured-in-roof-fall/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-20774893

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-2715571/INQUEST-HEARS-OF-FATHERS-ROOF-FALL.html

http://www.carmarthenjournal.co.uk/...-roof-tumble/story-21091075-detail/story.html

Falls through roofs are a real problem, and not just on farms.
 
pmagowan said:
I can see why farmers in England get a reputation for being grumpy. If I had to put up with such attitudes and lack of knowledge I would get grumpy too. Of course farmers have nothing better to do than walk round all their land putting signs up and down as appropriate in case some numpty doesn't realise that fields might contain livestock and that the entire country isn't simply maintained for their convenience.
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Rights of way are maintained for the convenience of the general public.
 
Does anyone actually KNOW the current law (in England) regarding bulls in fields crossed by a properly recognized Public Footpath?

I have a recollection from long ago that it was permissible if the bull was in with cows (so presumably less interested in you:(). ..... but no idea of the reliability of that statement.

(yes, I could research it myself .... but far easier if someone already knows the definitive answer).
 
It's perfectly legal as long as there are cows with it, and it isn't a dairy breed. We cross fields with them in regularly. Usually they can't be bothered to stand up. Bullocks are far less predictable.
 
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