Wild Cattle, Wild Northumberland Landscapes

Today dawned –guess what?!! –cloudy and lightly raining! It did not bode well for our field trip to Chillingham Park to see the wild white cattle that have lived in the Park for the last 800 years. But by the time the coach had reached the car park, the rain had stopped. We proceeded to walk the mile to meet Warden Richard, who was our knowledgeable tour guide.

The cattle were very active today, possibly due to the cool, overcast weather. We were able to get some excellent photographs at quite close range, always with the warden between us and the herd. There are a total of 93 cattle in the park, the highest number since records were started in the 1700s. We saw a couple of herds and were especially pleased to see the calves, which can be born at any time of the year. The youngest calf we saw was a couple of months old. It was amazing to see animals that are classified as a “unique species" and to consider the wonders of nature that have preserved this species for hundreds of years. 

 I have posted a link to the Chillingham White Cattle website. It is a charity to which donations can be made to aid in the preservationof the cattle.

Back in the parking lot, we ate our packed lunches, then we explored the Chillingham parish church and graveyard. The church is still used for weekly services.

The next spot on our itinerary was Chillingham Castle, site of much of the action in one of our children’s literature selections, The Beasts of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson. (And as you can tell by the title, the Wild White Cattle are also important characters in the book.) The castle has quite an eclectic collection of many, many items. A true curator would go mad trying to organize everything. It is sort of like a garage sale in a grand but slightly shabby setting. Eva Ibbotson did a great job of capturing the feeling of Chillingham and its ghosts in her book.

The Castle garden is very lovely and kept up, as the photos indicate. Better to show garden pictures than to try to describe with words!

Our last stop of the day was Hart Hope Valley in Northumberland National Park. The roads leading to it are very narrow “one track” roads, meaning that it is only one car wide. We had a 16 passenger coach, which is the largest coach that is allowed to enter the park and travel these tiny roads. We got lost and had to ford a stream, then we got to see a sheep jump over a stone wall. Who knew that sheep had a vertical leap??

We finally got sorted out and found the stopping place. We spent about 45 minutes walking, relaxing and photographing. The landscape in Northumberland National Park is incredible, with rolling hills covered with heather which is just starting to bloom.

Before we got on the bus, we took yet another group photo.  We are getting really good at arranging ourselves.

Hopefully we are off to the North Sea coast in the morning, but the fog is just rolling in over the Duke's pastures tonight.  We have back up plans in case we can't go out to Longstone Island.  Stay tuned!