It's a rather wet and gloomy morning here in the valley and the atmosphere is certainly not enlivened by the news that Foot and Mouth has returned to England.  We are currently under a nationwide livestock movement ban except under license.  Let's hope that the Government has learned from the devastating mistakes it made 6 years ago and handles this outbreak in a much more controlled and systematic way.  All we can do is watch and wait over the next few days to see how the disease develops.  There is some hope since this is a time of year when most livestock farmers are busy haytiming and there are relatively few animal movements or major markets taking place certainly here in the north.

I took a walk up river yesterday from the Tarn to Cam Beck and have identified a suitable project for the autumn if all the necessary plans can be made. Above Drain Mires there are two large meadows on the east bank that are currently unfenced and border a fine stretch of river.  This extends to the footbridge at Coppy Gill where the wall starts that runs up to the start of the new fence we put up in the spring.  The ground is easy here compared to Cam Beck and the only real challenge is the rather sinuous nature of the river which will mean a number of direction changes rather than one long  straight run.  I will work up a more detailed plan together with costs before talking to the landowner.

If we can get this project completed we will have a very long run of fenced bank from just below the stepping stones at Selside all the way down to Drain Mires Barn.  All that will then remain is a 300 yard length to the top of the fence that the RCCT put in a few years ago.  If a subsequent project can fill this gap the river will be protected from Selside to Horton, about 3 miles.

The posts for the watergate at Cam Beck have withstood the summer floods and seem set firm, but the wall downstream of the new fence has fallen admitting stock to the buffer strip and I will need to replace a few tree stakes which have obviously been used as handy scratching posts and broken off.  I plan to spend a day next week repairing the damage and will have a go at gapping the wall to keep the sheep out.

Ian