Moorise

Today the sun rose behind one of the big red cows, and she was silhouetted in a golden glow. As I was focussing on this lady, I had one eye on a frisky young Beltie bullock who was doing mock charges at Gus and me. The ladies of the Knott are much too dignified for that sort of behaviour.

There is something primordial about seeing the big cows in the woodland, echoes of the ancient aurochs that once grazed and browsed in the forests of Britain and Europe. We tend to think of cows as animals of green grass pastures, but these older breeds are quite at home in woodland clearings. Alas, many cows in intensive dairy units these days never even see a patch of grassland.

It was a lovely morning that lasted through to lunchtime when the sky began to cloud and hopes of a sunset were extinguished. On a walk to the Kent with Sue and Rowan, the resident cormorant took flight.