Wild Cattle Rule!

We had a bit of a rocky start this morning. The person whom we thought was organizing our visit to Chillingham Castle and the Wild Cattle thought the field trip was tomorrow not today, so after a phone call to set that straight, we spent about 20 minutes waiting for him in front of Alnwick Castle when he was actually waiting for us in front of Chillingham Castle. And then there was the packed lunches--absent again, just like the packed breakfasts of last week. In due time we found our lost organizer and the lunches were delivered to us later in the day, so all was well.

The Wild White Cattle of Chillingham were amazing. Richard, the warden who guided us to where the cattle were resting, gave us an excellent account of the history of the wild cattle. They are most likely descended from the auroch, which has been extinct since 1627. The cattle are totally wild; they have never touched by a human, and in fact, if they were to be touched, then would not be taken back into the herd, but killed by it. There are 80 of the cattle in Chillingham Park, and another 20 in a herd in Scotland. They were divided up so that in the event of disease, there would be one herd remaining. The lowest number the herd has even fallen to is 17 in the very difficult winter of 1947. The herd is ruled by the alpha male, or the wild king. He typically is in power for about three years before another male wins the spot. Twelve calves have been born this year so far. The calves are snow white when they are born, the cows are cream colored, and the bulls are a dirty white, battle scarred and covered in mud and dung. All of the cattle have horns from about the age of 8 weeks on; the horns of the cows are lyre shaped and tilted slightly to the back of the head; the horns of the bulls point forward. Some people felt more than a little nervous as we stood about 150 feet from the main herd and seemed more than a little eager to close the pasture gate.

After descending from the pastures, we went to Chillingham Castle. Along with the white cattle, the castle was part of the study of the Eva Ibbotson book The Beasts of Clawstone Castle. The castle garden was quite nice; the inside of the castle, complete with various "dungeons" was eclectic and eccentric to say the least. The general feeling of the students seemed to be that the atmosphere of the Castle was captured completely in the book.

The last part of the trip was a journey into the Northumberland National Forest. We travelled through Wooler to the Harthope Valley, which was beautiful. A small stream wound down from the Cheviot Hills, which are covered in heather just about to break into full bloom. There is a slight tinge of purple over the hills which will increase over the next few weeks. We were all tired so no one ventured too far out on the public footpaths, but it was a great opportunity for a group photo.

To the North Sea coast tomorrow as we bring out field trips to a close. We hope for fine weather, but after three days of sunshine, we know our chances are lessening!