Thixendale, looking along the Thixendale footpath.

The winter equinox was yesterday.

I visited the Robert Fuller Gallery where I indulged in a mince pie and a cup of coffee. Staff were  busy sorting orders to get into the post. I had been exploring in the car without any intention to sketch anything but found myself near the Thixendale footpath. I quickly got out my iPad and decided to capture this view. It was sticky and wet underfoot but it was not raining and there was no wind. I thought this view had potential as an evolving painting. That is I can revisit to record changes as the seasons progress. I have set up an HD ratio of 1920:1080 which will enable full screen playback on an HD monitor. As I sketched near to a field fence I was nudged in the back. I turned to see two horses had silently approached and were standing in the field reaching over the fence. I bent down to get a handful of grass which I gave to one of the horses. A farmer pulled up with a stock trailer. I moved my car to enable him access to an adjacent field. I recognised him from previous painting trips and we chatted happily. I mentioned in passing how I met a sheep farmer from the Isle of Man who was horrified when I told her of a plant I had seen on the high fells near Seatoller. Her concern was that the plant could kill sheep. When I enquired she explained that it caused necrotic reaction to sunshine and that exposed areas on sheep, their ears and face were affected. The farmer was very interested and did not know the plant, I told him it was bog asphodel and he made a note of it. He said I should have been here the previous week as he pointed to the steep hillside. I could see feint track marks in the scrubby hillside grass. He told me of a van courier who had misjudged the sharp bend at the top of the hill. He had gone through a fence onto the hillside. It was quite a job to resolve the situation. The farmer made me aware of a lower Iron Age earthworks on the flank of the hill. The van made use of this almost hidden feature which guided him to a less steep area where he managed to get off the hillside grass. Who could imagine that there could be a link from Iron Age earthworks and a modern day van. The farmer unloaded his sheep, 17 from the low deck, 16 from the upper deck. He then set his young dog to round them up from a slightly shrubby hillside. The dog brought them down and we guided them into the field ( Long Dale) where the horses stood. The farmer turned the head of one of the horses. I was shocked to see it had lost an eye. he explained what had happened and that the horse was happily resolved to his situation. As he was setting off, we glanced up the hillside where we saw three or four sheep which the dog had missed. So he got the dog out and quickly remedied his mistake. I helpfully remarked, that though we counted them out, we did not count them in, to the field as they passed. He looked at me, considered, then blamed the young dog.

Picture expanded too include people repairing a fence which had been broken when a van left the road Click the image to see it enlarged..

This is from the 16th of January. Driving over the Wolds, I thought it was perhaps going to be too misty but in fact it was okay. Passing Gill‘s farm on the top road, I came to the sharp bend where the road drops down to Thixendale. I had to stop abruptly as I turned the corner, farm vehicles were  blocking the road. A tractor with a trailer was parked off the road at the top edge of the field another 4x4 yellow JCB vehicle, interestingly with four wheel steering, was parked across the road with a chain extending fixed to the front appearing to hold a post. The driver remained in the vehicle as  the other driver, of the tractor, was busy installing fencing to new posts by using a hammer to hit staples into the post. He reached into his overall pocket to grab a staple several times. I cringed a little as he hit them into the post, but he never hit his fingers.   I asked, as I passed, if it was all because of the delivery van, that they were replacing the fence. He smiled and said yes and hope it doesn’t happen again. They can just be seen on the top extreme left with the track marks of the runway truck just visible. To be continued.