Cows??

I caught some flak last week on facebook when I referred to a cow as "him".  So today I am posting some cow/steer/bull etc pics because there were a lot of "he cows" around though I guess officially a cow can't be a "he', can he?

The walk to Naunton was gorgeous and the nice weather held.

 Definitely some bovine males!

 Some male/female action going on here!! Or perhaps male male sniffing? I think I see two sets of horns!

 A nice tidy field.

 I had to "steer" my way past quite a few ungulates but not a single one seemed to notice me :) Wrong species I guess!

 Glad I didn't have to work my way past this crowd!

 Very pastorale!

 Climbing over a stile while taking photos probably wasn't the best idea...

But I made it through ok...

 Hey...who turned the he-cows into sheep?

Smile!

 Cool tree trunk looks like giant toes!

 Does anyone know what this berry bush is called?

 Some nice farmhouses in the distance.

 My favourite sight of all - my signpost!!

Some farmhouses are quite large!

A wee bit of fall colour...

I had to find a tiny footbridge - here it is! No problems following the directions today :)

 The path was pretty evident! I had to turn to the right and climb that large hill however.

 Great views from the top!

 See that telephone pole way down there, that's where I turned to climb up the hill - now I'm almost at the top.

 I kept following this path til I came to a road. I crossed the road, went through a gate...

 and Naunton started to come into view!

 There it is!

 Having climbed some hills I had a great vantage point to see all around me.

 I moseyed on down the hill into the village of Naunton.

Getting closer!

 On the outskirts (by the manor house) was a large dovecote dating back to the 1600's (or earlier - no one seems to know its exact age) which kept the lord of the manor in dove pie, dove soup, doves on toast and whatever else they made doves into way back then.

 A very picturesque footbridge I had to cross...

 They sure knew how to build to last! I went inside to take a peek - I've never seen a dovecote before.

 AND it's still home to many doves - I could hear them cooing and rustling away.

 There was a gate preventing me access (probably just as well;) so I reached my arm in as far as it could go and snapped looking up towards the top. Tiny hotel rooms for hundreds of doves!

 I assume this horse was incognito? Flies bothering him perhaps?

The special top to the dovecote allowed the doves to get in but kept the nasty hawks OUT!

Naunton was very quiet but I heard the pub was good so I went off to look for it.

 And found it!

And of course I tried the Donnington Ales :) Plus salmon cakes, salad, spicy chili sauce for the salmon, a most excellent salad dressing and a nice refreshing pint!!

It was the best lunch yet!

 And since it was such a nice day, warm and sunny, I sat out back on their patio and thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Pretty sweet eh?

 It wasn't long before a couple and their dogs took the table above and started eating bags of crisps. Potato chips are "crisps" and french fries are "chips". Both are eaten in great quantities!

Since the owners of my next B & B in Guiting Power didn't want us to arrive until 4pm I wasn't in any rush so relaxed and enjoyed my lunch. After lunch I had a nice walk along the stream and then went to view the village church before finding my way to Guiting Power.