A Sheepfold in a Car Park

This might be a bit wordy today, but the quest I am on requires a bit of explaining. Bear with me and you can come on a journey.

Drove Roads
Drove Roads, which are all over the country, were used in centuries gone by for moving herds of cattle and sheep from farms to markets. They are marked on old maps, some are used in current tracks and trails and evidence of their existence can be found in names of places, streets, inns.

Andy Goldsworthy was interested in a drove route that went from the farms in South West Scotland, over the border into Cumbria and then into Yorkshire. He was going to follow this route, going from one sheepfold to another along the way. He was not going to be driving cattle though; he was going to take an arch with him - as you do!

The arch, made of red sandstone, would be built in a sheepfold, where it would spend the night. It would be photographed and then dismantled and taken to the next site, where the whole thing would be repeated. The idea in part was to reflect the passing through nature of travellers over the centuries, leaving memories of their journey. Each sheepfold that was used would be renovated or even rebuilt. The arch will, wherever possible, leave behind it a trail of revived, working folds, a trail of goodwill.

I decided to follow this journey and I started yesterday with the first fold that was used. On Spango Farm in Dumfreisshire. We located the farm and fold, a lovely circular one, on the hillside. This is the picture I would have blipped yesterday, if the extraordinary arch through the window hadn't taken precedence.

We saw the fold from a distance and then decided to see if we could get close to it. We drove up to the farm, asked if it was alright for us to do this. We were told that was fine, so we drove a short way and then walked up the track you can see in the picture. What we weren't told was that, as we got back to the car, the gates were all closed as a flock of sheep was being brought down to the farm. We waited and then eventually the farmer opened the gate. He chatted about the fold, remembering the arch that was built in it. He said the fold was rebuilt soon after and they now use it at lambing time. It has to have a wire fence round it to keep the cows from knocking it over, which is what had happened previously.

That was yesterday. Today we visited the next stopping place, over the border at Longtown. There is a big livestock market here, which has the dubious fame of being the place where the first animal to be infected with the Foot and Mouth disease was sold. The old marketplace was just a short distance away by the river. And here the drove road went through and a sheepfold used to be sited. The place is now the premises of a Haulage Company. Goldsworthy thought it was somehow appropriate to have the arch resting in a place that deals with the transport of animals. So here the arch was erected and a fold was later built.

We parked in the car park and soon found the fold. Why they would have wanted a fold here is anyone's guess, but there it is - on the edge of a car park hidden in the trees. I went up on to the road to take this picture. It was impossible anywhere else.

So here it is - a sheepfold in a car park. Now wasn't it worth getting to the end of this ramble!!

No words tomorrow.