"Don't mind the bull, he'll be fine" Lake District National Park by christine.j

Lake District National Park Travel Guide: 487 reviews and 1,306 photos

Bull?? What bull??
I had a asked a friendly lady where the public foot path turned off, she pointed to it and reassured me about a bull. It was only then that I realized that the cow standing on the path was no cow. I live in a city and when I see an animal looking like a cow I don't automatically check between its legs.
Hoping that the bull knew he was supposed to be nice, I still gave him a wide berth and walked across the very wet and muddy meadow. I wasn't the only one doing this, none of the hikers actually stayed on the path. We all preferred the muddy, wet land to passing the bull too closely.
As it turned out he was only slightly interested in us, he seemed to watch us struggling through the mud, getting very dirty, but luckily he had no desire to see us running. Nevertheless, for the way back I decided to take the bus.

I had read many things about walking in the Lake District, but an encounter with a bull was not among them.So afterwards I felt really adventurous. Don't laugh, I really did.
On the picture, the bull looks like a cute little calf, but pictures can be misleading. When you look closer you can see that he seems to have two heads and three forelegs, definitely not your average bull.

Even though I was only in the Lake District for a few days I got to see a lot through the tour I took and through the hike I did. It is a a very special area, not to be underestimated (and I'm not thinking of bulls right now) because of the exposed nature. I was there in the main season. The shores of Lake Windermere were crowded, but inside the park there were very few tourists.

Last visit to Lake District National Park: Aug 2008
Intro Updated Nov 20, 2008
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Reviews (12)

Special souvenirs - Lake District National Park

Special souvenirs Shopping (1)

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The Chapel at Muncaster Castle - Lake District National Park

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The castle has its own chapel. When we were there, a flower exhibition was being held inside, not your ususal exhibition... more travel advice

Muncaster Castle:Owls and Ghosts - Lake District National Park

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Muncaster Castle had been one of the places I had wanted to go to, but which was just too difficult to get to on public... more travel advice

Transportation (3)
See All Read the whole schedule, not just the...

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Comments (9)

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Aitana Sep 28, 2009 at 1:09 PM

The Lake District! This is one of the places I visited when I was in England! Nice to see your pictures and read your tips. Thanks for sharing.
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barryg23 May 10, 2009 at 6:02 AM

Muncaster Castle and the rail trip sound interesting, must try fit them in on my next trip up to the lakes at the end of May.
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Dabs Jan 28, 2009 at 8:46 PM

Lovely page, it's good to know that it's possible to visit without a car, I don't know if I could manage driving on the "wrong" side of the road :-)
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toonsarah Jan 23, 2009 at 1:01 PM

Excellent little page Christine. I had forgotten how much I liked the Lakes till I read your wonderful descriptions. And I too once took a Mountain Goat tour and was very impressed :-)
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scottishvisitor Jan 7, 2009 at 1:36 PM

Despite the bull in your way & the bus stop going the wrong way :) all sounds like an interesting trip. If Tom Kitten loved the cake so would I!!
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Trekki Dec 17, 2008 at 10:13 PM

I still laugh about the bull and remember my own panic in Patagonia when I saw them :-)) Ahh, ghosts :-) The flower art is adorable :-))
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Nemorino Dec 9, 2008 at 5:38 AM

Brings back nice memories of a trip to the Lake District with my family many years ago. Somehow we missed that nice historic railway.
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robertgaz Nov 26, 2008 at 9:43 PM

From between the legs; it's no cow on the moor! It's a big beefy bull; so take a wide muddy tour!
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Kuznetsov_Sergey Nov 15, 2008 at 9:26 AM

Lovely little page, Christine! I was laughing much while reading your story about such a dangerous bull!