Been out on the common a few times recently, still mostly quiet. I've been noticing how many strands of spider silk float around the place at this time of year, or maybe they're just more noticeable without clothes. 

After a good a long run of never having had any difficult situations while walking naked there (or anywhere else for that matter) I had a couple of run-ins on the afternoon. The first was near the cycle track where I was challenged by a couple I'd guess in their 60's, she on a motorised scooter. They'd come from around a corner before I had time to consider what to do. The chap gave the traditional 'what about the kids?' and then swore a little bit, although not in an aggressive or intimidating way, and after hearing him out for a few seconds I wished them well for the rest of their walk.

The second one was if anything worse. An older chap on a mountain bike noticed me from a parallel track (where he shouldn't have been riding - another story!), gave me a very loud hello and leapt off his bike so he could talk with me. He started up a general conversation about the weather, where the dear are stuff like that, and I politely nodded and whatever. What made it uncomfortable was after a while I noticed he kept touching himself through his shorts, again and again and again, and I guess I realised why he was so keen to stop me and get chatting. I told him I'd better be carrying on my walk and quickly moved on, looking back now I might have said something else, but that's usually the way, isn't it?

After literally hundreds of miles of walks and never having had any troubling encounters within 10 minutes I had two. All things considered, all those previous unblemished experiences, I can't say my confidence has been much dented, if at all.

Oh, and the sign had been ripped off at the gate facing the Budby village track (again), almost forgot to mention that cheery detail!

Otherwise it's been the normal tranquility, hardly anyone around at all, and was glad to see @tribalbrit up there too, nice to see a friendly face up there after the previous things.

I agree there seem to be spiders Webb's everywhere...

@the-tibetan-hat

It's always nice to see a fellow naturist out and about. I have always envied how much easier it must be to have your partner with you, clothed or otherwise.

The webs are a pain, I have spent ages rubbing and brushing to remove them some feel like steel rope.

I saw the dog man after speaking to you. He gives me the creeps , there's just something about  him,  

On my way back I met a guy I've spoke to a few times with 3 collies. One is very young and jumped up me it's claws scratching my penis and making it bleed , it then followed me for ten minutes then ran to its owner,  then came back to me. Then back to him. When I reached my car he was there as too was a woman I know with her 2 collies. I said I thought I'd gained a dog there, to which he replied I'm glad it was you, someone else might have stole her.  I had to stop myself from asking how he knew it was me. We all chatted for 10 minutes then went on our way. 

Funny how some accept us for what we are and do, others think there's an alterative motive.

@tribalbrit

 "jumped up me it's claws scratching my penis and making it bleed"

Sneaky, it has been trained to do that :-), probably by my partner 🙂

@hillwalker

I know what you mean, I didn't get much sympathy from my wife. 

It's anyone out this week or next?

I'm off for a couple of weeks and will have plenty of opportunity for a week day walk, though it's quite a long way from Manchester so it would be great to meet up with someone who knows the area.

I had quite an upsetting experience last evening. As I walked across the common I came across  a lone longhorn cow, I thought it was odd especially as all the others were in a different area. My 6th sense told me something was not right, so much so that when I reached the other end I turned and retraced my steps back to the cow. In the ten minutes or so since first passing, the cow was giving birth to a calf, how lovely I thought. Then realising all was not well, the calf was still born, I was at a loss to what to do. The cow would not let me approach, not that I would know what to do anyway and having the dog with me didn't help.

I stood helpless for a while as the cow licked and nudged the calf but it was not moving. After a time I returned home and reported what I'd seen to the warden who in turn reported to the Graziers by which time it was dark and to late to have helped.

I feel terrible that I couldn't do anything to help. I'm not a fan of cows but was quite upset to witness what I had. 

That is nature, I am afraid. Although longhorns are domesticated cattle, they normally calve outside with minimal intervention. Cows will usually leave the herd when they are calving and find a quiet spot and rejoin the herd when the calf is active and walking around. The worst thing for a calving cow is probably dogs, as these will stress them, and which absolutely should be on a lead and kept at a distance where cows are known to be calving or with young calves.

If it was having a stillborn calf, there probably little that could have been done, or that would be safe.

Posted by: @tribalbrit

...The cow would not let me approach, not that I would know what to do anyway and having the dog with me didn't help ...

My wife and I had a cow experience fourteen years ago, in the southern Lake District.  We were walking through a field, on a footpath, containing a small herd that was just milling about.  My wife is a veterinary nurse and used to cows, and I'm not afraid of them, so we took no notice, then we saw that they had formed themselves into an evenly spaced line across the field and were walking steadily towards us.  I decided that it might be better to walk along by the hedge at the edge of the field and down a slope so we made for that, the cows turning into an evenly spaced arc to follow us.  I sped up a little but my wife simply doesn't grasp concepts like the need for haste when a difficult situation is likely so dawdled behind.  When I reached the hedge I turned round to see her, standing still, about five yards behind, her arms outstretched, head pulled down into her shoulders, chin on her chest and eyes tightly shut, with a neat and tight semicircle of bovines moving in towards her.  'I'm going to be trampled' she wailed.  I moved forward stretching my arms out to the sides and said, in my deepest boomiest voice, 'no you're not', whereupon the bovines pulled back as one.

Three weeks later we read in one of the Sunday papers that a vet she'd worked with some years before had been trampled to death by cows while walking her dog.  The speculation was that the cows, which may have been nursing calves, went for her dog and she made the mistake of trying to rescue it.

I've had other encounters with cattle that have given me a healthy respect for them.  It is not safe to go near cows with calves, especially with a dog.

@jorrox

I have had three encounters with cattle.

The first was whilst walking between Tullibarcat and Newtyle.when me and my dog bumped into a dozen or so cows. No problem, very docile, they followed us for a while and lost interest. A few weeks later, we bumped into the same group only this time they had calved. A totally different reception. Seeing 20+ cows charging towards you is scary. We ran, i grabbed the dog and threw him over the fence. The cattle stopped just a few yards from me.

A couple of weeks ago, i was walking through the haar and could not see my hand in front of my face. And then i smelled them. As i focussed i could see their outline and they began to stir. We started to run and the cattle followed us. We made it safely to the gate. Phew.

You can threaten cattle with Mcdonalds but they dont listen.

Whether to run or not is tricky.  If they're not running already, then it's probably best not to run as they may break into one and the can be rather bad at knowing when to put the anchors on!  If they're in a gentle canter / run and appear more curious than protective, then again flapping your arms and shouting normally does the trick.   If it looks like a full on charge... then yes, run. Run like your life depends on it!

I never have a dog with me so haven't experience them charging.  Plenty following me out of curiosity.  In calving season you get the warnings if you're aware.  Eg mothers standing up and facing you - preparing to defend. I just give them all a wide birth in such cases.

On a naked walk along the river bank, I came upon some cows and pretty well grown calves which seemed gentle enough, but, as with some of the other contributors, I gave them a wide berth and chose not to startle them. As I passed, the calves started to follow me, not in aggressive way, but more out of curiosity. I was aware of them, but did not pay much attention until I experienced the strange sensation of a large nose on my bare backside. That made me jump!

In my experience cows generally ignore us walking through them, though if they have calves we make sure we walk round the outside of the field rather than through the herd, as mothers don't like to be cut off from their offspring. But a herd of bullocks is another matter - they are always frisky and inquisitive and will come to investigate and follow us, and we've had them cantering towards us as well. They don't mean to be aggressive, but half a ton of beef on the hoof can cause plenty of damage through friendship!

The best response to inquisitive cattle getting too close is to make yourself as wide and loud as possible - spread your arms, wave them around and tell the beasts to b****r off! Always worked for me so far, anyway.

In my experience cows generally ignore us walking through them, though if they have calves we make sure we walk round the outside of the field rather than through the herd, as mothers don't like to be cut off from their offspring. But a herd of bullocks is another matter - they are always frisky and inquisitive and will come to investigate and follow us, and we've had them cantering towards us as well. They don't mean to be aggressive, but half a ton of beef on the hoof can cause plenty of damage through friendship!

The best response to inquisitive cattle getting too close is to make yourself as wide and loud as possible - spread your arms, wave them around and tell the beasts to b****r off! Always worked for me so far, anyway.

Well no problem with the cows yesterday, eventhough they were gathered with calves by the cattlegrid where the tracks cross in the middle of the common. Just took our time and made sure they heard us coming.

Just over 8 naked miles with my partner who decided to stay clothed this time. A few more people around being a Sunday afternoon but no issues at all. Apart from the obvious caution around any children (a very rare sight in this part of Sherwood - didn't see any yesterday) it's really getting to the point where I forget any worries about being naked, and just walk around as I normally would, nothing furtive, no apologising, just a sort of new normal. This is especially so when I'm walking with my partner, and other people seem to simply go along with it in the same casual way, like it's not a thing. Maybe the signs are something to do with this, forewarning for them, confidence for me, peaceful times for all.

I've met a couple of naturists in the last week or so for any newbies here's the rather random route from yesterday, starting at the Pumping Station. We did an extra loop as you can see.