unforgettable UK moment #1

So there we were, walking happily through green, grassy fields. Me absolutely thrilled at actually being in The Countryside, and getting very good at figuring out country gates. 

Then (abrupt stop, slightly worriedly), "Why are there cows in this field and why are they ALL walking towards us?"

Taken after they'd lost interest in me, naturally.

Cows, afar, from the safety of a vehicle as it passes by on the motorway, are cute, benign, ooh-look animals. Up close, they're huge. And I'm small. 

We continue walking, briskly, eyes front and survive to climb over the stile into the next field. 

Curious horse.

Horses are pretty much the same as cows. Pretty when seen from a distance, slightly worrying when right in front of you, muzzle at head height. Walk cautiously away, eyes front, don't panic. We survive the horse only to see..

two dogs, one huge, charging straight at us from the bottom of the field. I freeze and think, I'm going to die as the large one stops, hardly two steps in front of me. It's barking aggressively and I don't know what to do. I hardly notice the small, yippy one. 

This is a public footpath. We have the right to be on it as it is the right of the owner to call off her dogs. She does, but doesn't do so immediately. Shaken, we hurry on, over another stile and laugh nervously. Just when we thought it was over, both dogs rush through the gap in the hedge at us again. 

This time I really think we're going to die. The owner is out of sight now, she can't see how aggressive the dogs might get, the dogs can't look to her for assurance. She recalls them and to our relief, they go. This time we hurry on.

I stop taking photos and pick up a stick from the ground. The romantic sheen of The Countryside is slightly tarnished. 

Note the stick in my hand.

The next field (oh who would have guessed) had cows in them in the corner to our right, and (oh aren't we lucky) in front of us some distance away there were two dogs. We stop and wait and see if the dogs would react. 

One of them did. It was a nice, chocolate Lab which wagged it's tail at us and then lay down in the grass. Sigh of relief. Now, what about the other dog? 

Alerted by the Lab, the black dog turned round and I thought for the third time that day I was going to die. It was a Rottweiler and it had started to growl at us.

I immediately assessed the potential escape routes available to us. We couldn't circle round the dogs because that would take us right into the middle of the cows and should the dogs decide to charge us then, I definitely wouldn't want to be in the middle of a group of panicky 1400lbs (~ 635kg) cows.    

We couldn't go back the way we came because that will take us back to the aggressive dogs and I certainly didn't want to go through that again. 

We end up standing there with no choice of action. Then, someone whistles for the dogs and they go! We give it a few moments (Are they really gone?) before inching our way across the field. 

We survive and the next few fields are blessedly empty. Till we get to another field with cows AND calves, that is. 

By then I'm sick and tired of running into livestock and with turning back not an option, I plunge straight ahead, thinking, If they charge, I run, while trying not to think of the flock of rams in the field to my left - the only place I could escape to should the cows decide I'm threatening. 

Eyes front, with determination in my step, I start walking straight at the cows and mercifully they give way albeit hesitantly. We exit the field and hit the road. I'd never been so glad to see a road before.

I like my fields to be free of scary, curious cows and crazy, barky dogs, thank you very much.