Pensioners ‘attacked’ by stampeding cattle at Clumber Park

Two pensioners have described the moment they were forced to run for their lives after being ‘attacked’ by stampeding cattle at Clumber Park.
Maltby couple Barbara & Chris Michael who say a herd of Cows chased after them in Clumber Park, near Worksop.  To go with story.

NWHU 12-8-15 Cows;  Barbara & Chris Michael close to the spot where a
Herd of Cows charged at them in Clumber Park.  They had to clamber over two fences to escape.Maltby couple Barbara & Chris Michael who say a herd of Cows chased after them in Clumber Park, near Worksop.  To go with story.

NWHU 12-8-15 Cows;  Barbara & Chris Michael close to the spot where a
Herd of Cows charged at them in Clumber Park.  They had to clamber over two fences to escape.
Maltby couple Barbara & Chris Michael who say a herd of Cows chased after them in Clumber Park, near Worksop. To go with story. NWHU 12-8-15 Cows; Barbara & Chris Michael close to the spot where a Herd of Cows charged at them in Clumber Park. They had to clamber over two fences to escape.

Barbara and Chris Michael say they were walking through the popular National Trust attraction in Worksop when ‘around 30’ cows became ‘spooked’ and started charging towards them.

The retired couple claim they even climbed over two barbed wire fences to escape after running for around 200 yards before calling for help.

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The National Trust has said that it was ‘extremely concerned’ to hear about the incident and have decided to ‘step up’ its monitoring of the cattle.

Barbara, 66, told the Guardian: “I thought we were going to be killed.

“We could not breathe, our hearts were pounding and our legs were like jelly.

“Something spooked the cows and they came thundering towards us.

“They made a terrible noise.

“I did not think we were going to get out quick enough.

She added: “I would say there was around 30 of them.”

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The Maltby pair, who have been married for 46 years, said they were at the South Lawns part of Clumber Park, when the incident occurred on Sunday, August 2.

They said that the public needed to be made aware in case it happened again.

Former forklift driver Chris, 67, said that he and his wife are regular walkers and have been National Trust members for more than 25 years.

Jago Moles, conservation manager for the National Trust at Clumber Park, said: “We were extremely concerned to hear that a couple were involved in an incident concerning cattle grazed on our land. We take all issues that pose any risk to peoples’ safety very seriously.

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“We do have signage in place alerting visitors to the cattle but as a precaution we will be stepping-up in-house monitoring of the cattle.

“Cattle have been grazed on this area of Clumber Park for around eight years and this is a very rare incident,”Jago added.

“We have spoken with the couple involved and have assured them that we are looking into this incident carefully and have taken on board their concerns.”