One For The Book

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Great Britain Travel Blog 8 - To Raise Lodge in Cumbria!

May 13, 2019

Goodbye, Wales; Hello England and Cumbria!

After saying goodbye to Glyn and Lynne, we drove the five miles or so to Glyn Ceiriog to say goodbye to Elgar. It is bittersweet because they are all such wonderful people. But our continued Great Britain shepherd's adventure trip needed to get under way...

Saying good bye to the Jones farm in Wales...

A building I thought was interesting, in Glyn Ceiriog

Then we drove the several hours up to Raise Lodge, near Wigton, in the north of England, where we were to stay with the Scrimgeours and Ludi. It seemed like another long travel day, even though it's not such a long distance in miles. (I had unfortunately picked up a travel cold...which was miserable and a bummer...but I tried not to let it ruin my trip. I blame the International Terminal at London Heathrow which is a petri dish of international germs!) After a stop to get a cartload of groceries (and cold supplies for me!) we arrived at the serene and beautiful Raise Lodge.

My lovely and comfy room!

After we all got settled in our rooms, Derek took all of us around in the pickup at evening chore time to see the sheep. There were several different green and lush fields, full of ewes with lambs. Most were Swaledale Mules, with Texel cross babies. The lambs were little chunks! There were quite a few fields that comprise the property, one with a fairly good sized hill, that they call the Church Field. Ludi was just as enchanting and funny in person as she had been online all these months while we corresponded about planning our trip.

Derek worked his good bitch, Lyn, and she did a very nice job on the hill being sent back for ewes and lambs. Helen made dinner for all of us when we got back, which was really nice.

Tomorrow would be another adventure. Spring was much further along here, than in Wales. There were flowers and green grass and blooming things. I knew that when I looked out my bedroom window in the morning, it would feel like a scene from one of my favorite movies, Enchanted April (even though it was May!).

Great Britain Travel Blog 7 - We Go on a Gather

May 12, 2019 PM

We left Llanddewi-Brefi and drove the three hours back to Llanarmon-D.C. because we were supposed to on a gather with Glyn, Elgan, and Gethin. We made it back in time...whew! And thankfully, they were running a little late with their preparations. The sunset was so late, that we still had plenty of daylight.They were bringing in yearling Welsh Mountain ewes off the mountain for a sheepdog trial that they were hosting the following weekend (and also for tick treatment on the ewes).

Amazing work by the men and their dogs! Wow! Steep hillsides with gorse; the Welsh Mountain sheep can run so fast even straight downhill. I kept thinking that my dogs at home would have been seriously unfit, outclassed, and not too useful...I'm afraid. What an experience. I was unfit too. I ended up staying back, near the pickup. The hillsides were steep with running water all throughout and I was afraid I'd fall. Gloria did well and kept up with Glyn and his dogs on the steep hillside, and got a lot of stunning photography and video. The landscape was so huge, however, that Claire and I had a panorama view of the whole operation. It was for me at least, out of this world...

Glyn had previously taken Elgan and his dogs around to the back side of the mountain and dropped him off, and then he came back for us. Gethin and his dogs had gone to the other back side of the mountain with a quad and the two of them were marching over the top of the crest, with dozens (hundreds? ) of young ewes bleating and running ahead of them in streams of white. It was both thrilling and breathtaking. These little phone pictures do not do it justice, at all. This was the real deal.

Gethin and Sara asked us to stop in for tea afterwards in the old house Blaen y Cwm, which is a listed building, where no one had lived for 20 years and they have restored. Low ceilings, huge exposed wood beams, thick whitewashed walls etc...amazing, and a view that is incredible of the Berwyn Mountains. They're all so nice. We loved how they handled their dogs in mostly soft voices. Many of them had two sets of whistles on the dogs so that they could take out two dogs and work them separately on the hill. This night Glyn was laughing because he had brought out two dogs to work that evening, who are on the same set of whistles, which didn't help him at all. And no leash either, to hold one while he worked the other...so his belt came off and was used as a leash in the emergency. I think we had distracted him (yikes)... but I was so grateful that they set this up for us to see.

Wales is both beautiful and rugged...I loved it. Best day ever.........

Great Britain Travel Blog 6 - We Go To Visit the Master Stickmaker

May 12, 2019

A bright and sunny, gorgeous day, following a hard frost overnight...we left about 6:30 a.m. to head south to Dafydd Davies' - the Master Stickmaker - home and workshop, in Llanddewi-Brefi. It was about three hours' drive through beautiful country. We drove through a place called "Devil's Bridge", that Elgar had mentioned to us. Our destination was about 20 miles from Aberystwyth...where the ISDS International sheepdog trial has been held in the past, and where it will be held in 2020.

I had anticipated getting to this village for so long, I took this picture through the windshield!

We arrived, and DD was so sweet and kind. We had a wonderful time. He showed us his shop, and the horns and shafts in all phases of assembly. We took a breathtakingly beautiful custom stick home for Mary Minor. It is a fascinating process to hear him speak about how he acquires the horns, and the shafts, and then builds them out into custom works of art.

Where the magic takes place -- DD's workshop!

I bought some whistles from Dafydd to take home. Some for gifts, and some for me. I bought three buffalo horn and three polymer -- which were in two different widths. The horn whistles are made from scraps of horn not used in the stick handles, at least in the case of the buffalo horn whistles. Nothing is wasted! I am wishing now as I write this, that I could have bought more polymer whistles...but I also remember that we bought almost everything that he had made up and ready to go. Earlier in the year, I had bought a Welsh Mountain ram's horn whistle, made by DD, and imported by Nina Fox of Stockdog Gems. I wore the whistle that day, and I gleefully waved it about the workshop as it had returned "home"... for "luck". LOL.

DD is so friendly, gregarious, and kind. His wife made some Welsh cakes for us, and he fixed us coffee and tea, to our liking. It was very enjoyable. Then we piled in his van and he drove us out to their family farm. His brother and nephew farm there, and DD helps them from time to time when they need an extra hand.

Their farm is beautiful, and so tidy. The sun was shining and it felt like heaven. I do believe that heaven is in Wales, at least for me. They had just finished lambing, a few weeks before, like at Glyn's where we had been staying in North Wales.

They lamb inside, in two gigantic sheds. They have a fresh water system running down both long sides of the shed, so that the ewes can access it. Then when the lambs are 1-3 days old, they are turned out into close by outdoor paddocks, The sheep are "improved Welsh Mountain" sheep and didn't have the brownish red markings on them that we had seen elsewhere in Wales. They are all white at this farm. When they gather, they gather up to the top of the mountains, instead of the opposite as is commonly done. His brother's dogs are mostly Welsh sheepdogs although there was one border collie in the group. By the date that we arrived, all of the ewes and lambs were out on the abundant green pasture. It was idyllic.

Dafydd said that if his father were still living, he would have done the same thing for our visit, i.e. take us out to the family farm. He called it "our little mile" -- only in Welsh -- which he translated for us. It was really neat of he and his brother and nephew to share this slice of heaven with Gloria and me.

After we left the farm, he took us by the (now closed) school where Megan Tanner's father was formerly the headmaster. What a nice man and what a great visit we had!

This little village school in Wales is where my "six degrees of separation" with Dafydd began. :-)

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Great Britain Travel Blog 5 -- To Bala!!!

May 11, 2019

The day finally arrived. We drove to Bala, Wales, for the historic dog sale, with Elgar and Claire. It was a gorgeous, sunny day in Wales with everything around us just waiting to be enjoyed!

Elgar pointed out many landmarks on the very scenic route that we took to Bala. Some of the roads were no more than one (small) car wide. It was a very nice tour! It is so beautiful - from green valleys up to high barren areas -- all with loads of sheep (mostly Welsh Mountain breed).

The dog sale itself was like a step back in time, for me. Part country social event, part livestock auction. Sheep were let out at the top of the field, just like in a trial. The handlers had a certain amount of time to work their dogs on the sheep as they saw fit. The sheep were pretty lively Welsh Mountain yearlings and most of the dogs had probably never seen anything so mobile... then when a bell was rung by the auctioneer staff, the handler was to call the dog off while bidding continued. An exhaust person took the sheep off the field while the bidding went on...and the handler and dog stood in front of the crowd until bidding was completed. The auctioneers sounded just like the ones I knew from the states, and their cry was very familiar to me but with a Welsh accent. The feverish pitch of the auction grew as the day went on...but the buyers were confined to a smaller group that crowded close to the sales ring. The rest of us were there for the social occasion. I could see that folks came out to the sale as a kind of rite of spring - to greet their fellow handlers and friends in a country fair type of atmosphere.

The first several dogs went so cheap, that the sellers passed them through without selling. A few dogs sold high but there were questions in our little group of onlookers as to whether they were real and actual bidders, or not... a typical auction. There were buyers on the phone, we were told. Carefully, we kept our hands in our pockets and avoided eye contact with the ring men! We picked out a few dogs that we liked, and several that we didn't really care for - not the dogs' fault but perhaps they were put in over their heads, or their training level, or their handlers were nervous and didn't present the dogs well. All in all it was all about the presentation. Dogs who couldn't fetch the sheep down the field, for instance, we said, no thanks (not that we were buying anyway). Our new friend John Dyke was there, so we saw him again, and he introduced us to several gentlemen who provided enlightening commentary on each dog, and one of them even converted the guineas price of the high sellers into British pounds and then into American dollars for us... astounding. :-)

At the dog sale, we ran into Sue Main in the line to get coffee and sandwiches, and it became then a double treat! Sue was so warm and friendly, just as she has seemed online. Standing in line, we heard a voice behind us exclaim, "Gloria!?!?!? I thought I heard American voices!"And it was Sue. :-) We met her lovely grandchildren and enjoyed hanging out with her for part of the morning. It is such a small world, this sheepdog world... and the coffee/tea and sandwiches were served on china plates by vendors wearing what I would call white lab coats...it was all so civilized, despite us in our wellies, standing out in a sheep field!

Gloria bought a crook from a local gentleman selling sticks at the trial. I think she got the best stick that he had by deciding early on that she wanted it and not waiting for others to snap it up. It is a very handsome piece with a carved black horn handle carved with a thistle on it, and a hazel shaft. It had just a nice feel to it.

At the crossroads between The Hand and The West Arms-Chirk was invaded by the Normans 1000 years ago!

beside The West Arms :-)

A lovely field behind The West Arms, where E told us they used to hold a regular sheepdog trial... now sadly lost to time

At Bala!

Gloria and her prize new stick

Dogs being shown on the field at Bala

The exhaust pen at the Bala dog sale

If you wanted to buy a puppy there were probably ten choices, or more, to be had out of the back of vehicles and all well bred pups

Vehicles lined up against the field barrier to watch the Bala dog sale from prime positions

Once we had our fill of the dog sale (we did not say to see the young dogs in the puppy pen), we bid our goodbyes to Sue and to other new friends that we had met recently, and continued on our tour out to the location of the original first recorded dog trial -- at Bala -- and what a setting...wow. It is also the site of the first World Trial. At Bala, there is also Wales' largest lake, natural and not man made.

Bala dog trial site

The stone and the plaque

Looking down from the stone back to the road to our car

Elgar and Gloria discussing the stone

Bala dog trial location (!!!)

Close up of the plaque. Everything is spelled out in both languages, wherever you go in Wales

If all that were not enough, on our way home we stopped by the Vivod Estate, where the Vivod Sheepdog Trial is held. It was an amazing and gorgeous field!