We went to feed our main flock yesterday morning. Their field which belongs to a friend and neighbour runs adjacent to the railway line. On the other side of the line is another friend's crop field. There has always been a gate on either side of the line to allow for access across for livestock, shooting parties etc. Yesterday morning a group of five Network Rail blokes were removing the gate, gateposts and a stretch of fencing pertaining to on our side of the line. We asked what they thought they were doing and they said they'd had orders from York to carry out the work. None of them had brain cells enough to query the fact that there was a large flock of sheep literally feet from the area they were clearing and that it just might be a temptation to those sheep to pay the railway embankment a visit. Yes, we did have three strand fencing around the perimeter, but, deep snow wasn't helping it to work effectively right now. We and the two landowners who had had no notification of the work being done insisted they put everything back as it had been. They said they would. We went back in the evening to give the sheep a second feed and found that their reparation was very short of the mark. They had neglected to inform us that they'd cut the metal gate in half and their idea of making it good was to prop it against a few shallow bedded posts and wrap a bit of wire around the whole here and there. The sheep had as predicted got through and we couldn't search along the line until we were granted permission for fear of trespass. We have a very biddable flock by and large and most came back by way of a shaken feed bucket. It was hard to do a head count in the dark as we crammed them into our feed yard for their safety. They were happy enough as they got stuck into our feed and haylage but we feared all may not be accounted for. A lovely chap in charge of 'operations' came out and assessed the situation and was so shocked and apologetic. He took photos and sent a report. This morning a headcount in daylight revealed two of last year's lambs were missing. Another chap came out this morning and walked the line, finding tracks which he followed for some time before they became difficult to trace. The trains were on a 'go-slow' through the stretch of line but our lambs haven't shown up. In the meantime many of all our presold fleeces are covered in haylage and bedding and may not be salvageable. We've been advised to put in a claim, but it won't make up for the nightmare we've been put through.
