A Winscombe Compton Bishop Circular Wander, Part VII,' Up & Then Down  to the Old Barton Drove
Channel: semw52
Date: 2022-07-04

Eventually I emerge from the combe of Compton Bishop and head along the wide main route skirting a dry stone wall with Crook Peak now at my back as I face the return wander to Winscombe..I reach some sign posts and a gate and then descend onto a small pathway that will lead to the Old Barton Drove where I observe the Cumbrian Herdwerke Sheep---very woolly fleeces and large feet--adapted over millennia to the Cumbrian fells and cold weather.........Today they are shedding their wool.....Also NO cows around so I can relax now---Once again this old Drove is evidence of days gone by, of history----I find it so easy to go back in time and imagine the old farmer driving their animals here, of farmers and shepherds in smocks with straw hats and wellies---yes the stereotype really----its the Peace of this drove that captures my thoughts--I wander slowly absorbing  everything around me---A Timeless place in many ways---the farm dog barks to greet me as I pass by...The big trees blow their rich Oxygen all around me--and the various wild flowers dance in the breeze