The Lager Flows

So this morning, Bobby and his granddaughter loaded a few lambs to go to market. A double decker bus for these girls.

With some persuasion, they got on.
Then the bottom crew got on.

I went to the auction mart in Skipton and was going to wait for the sale to start.

As I waited, I read the bulletin board.

Then this one caught my eye - a pup related to Jim Cropper's Sid!

Change of plans, I phoned the numbers. The first call got through to the wife, who thought I was a crank call, and she told me off and hung up on me. "Quit gibbering!" she told me. I called her back and convinced her I was no gibbering idiot. I talked to her husband, and told me there was an auction at Hawes, and that he wasn't available until the afternoon. I asked the tour guide (me), and the days events changed.

I took off to Hawes, which was about 1 1/2 hours away.

To get to Hawes, a drive over the Yorkshire Dales was in order.

There was a lot of wind and rain during the trip.

Higher up in elevation, the dales became evident.

The full force of the wind could be felt. I was expecting to see sheep blown across the road.

I did find these smart girls, hunkered down to protect themselves from the gales in the dales.

They weren't bothered by me at all.

This barn was miles away from any existing farms.

You could tell that it was still in use likely for lambing.

Finally, Hawes was found and I went directly to the auction mart. As I got out of the car, a wind blew my red CANADA hat off my head, and it blew under a truck and stock trailer...I waved the guy through, and, yes, it got run over. Perhaps I will call it my lucky hat, since it is now stained with sheep turds.

This was a two day sale for gimmer mules - those are this year cross bred ewe lambs for breeding this fall.

Everyone from miles around came for this sale. Some to buy, and some to kick tires. Prices averaged 115 pounds per ewe, one group went over 200 quid apiece. Apparently, the more speckles on their face, the better they are. I learned a lot from the locals.

After a bit, I phoned a man about a dog and went and saw it. Unfortunately, the pup had two blue eyes, and there was no deal to be made. He told me he was the breeder of Max who J. Cropper was running. I wish I had a picture of this man...he had a stunning 1 tooth in his head, but that did not take away from his gracious nature. I spent about an hour with him, talking dogs and sheep.

I went back to Hawes, and went to the Wensleydale Cheese Museum. The monks had made cheese in the medieval times.

The stone basin with the holes allowed the whey to drain away, and the water trough beside it was carved out of stone.

These stones were over 300 years old......

....and they were used to squeeze the cheese to get all the moisture out.

These were familiar to me, having grown up on a farm which milked cows.

Cream separators was something I remembered as well. I think I am too young to be in a museum!

After buying a load of cheese, perhaps I will find a friend with wine to devour it, I headed of to Thirsk, the place where James Herriot worked in the 1940's as a vet, and wrote All Creatures Great And Small. On my way there, a tree had blown across the road. I jumped out and helped the other motorists to break the branches away. The fellow on the right was obviously born in Great Britain.

On the way, Bolton Castle was passed.

I got to Thirsk, and made my way down town to James Herriot's Surgery.

Like all vets, this one too was not in. Missed by one half hour.

I guess he was out in more ways than one. Perhaps a trip back to Thirsk will be in order.

There was this lovely church in Thirsk...I, being a heathen, as I am told, did not attend.

My day ended with a lovely supper. Who would think a breast of chicken wrapped up in bacon would taste so good? Sounds like a Homer Simpson meal!

And for your viewing pleasure....some of the ride. Please fasten your seat belts!