Sue McArdle

if not working for the finest purveyor of sausage rolls, i enjoy walking the 🐶 (#JackMac) good food, wine, and cycling. And looking forward to my next holiday.

[Sama Hoole @SamaHoole]

On the second Sunday of April, a couple from Birmingham walked the footpath that crosses Brian's fell.

Their dog, a young border collie named Otis, was off the lead.

There were sheep in the field.

Otis went after the sheep.

The owners called Otis. Otis did not return. Otis was, in dog terms, six months into a lifelong relationship with sheep that had, until that moment, consisted entirely of seeing them on television.

Otis chased a small group of younger ewes for approximately eighty metres, which is, in Otis's own assessment, a successful afternoon.

Doris, who was on the section above the wall, observed this.

Doris did not run.

Doris walked, deliberately, at a measured pace, to a position approximately fifteen metres from where Otis was, by then, pursuing the younger ewes in a circle.

Doris stopped.

Doris looked at Otis.

Otis stopped.

There is, in the literature on livestock guarding behaviour, a phenomenon known as the calm interdiction. It does not require aggression. It does not require display. It requires only a confident, settled animal placing itself in the path of the disturbance and refusing, with absolute mildness, to be impressed.

Otis, who had, until that moment, been having the best afternoon of his short life, was suddenly looking at a Texel ewe who was not running.

The category had broken.

Otis sat down.

The owners reached Otis approximately two minutes later. Otis was on the lead by then. The owners apologised, profusely, to Brian, who had walked up from the gate at a measured pace and was holding his stick in the way that people who have not been to agricultural college nevertheless know how to hold sticks.

Brian: "You'll need to keep him on the lead from now on."

Owner: "Yes. Of course. We're so sorry. We didn't think."

Brian: "Most don't."

He could have said more. The law gives him the right to shoot a dog worrying livestock. The literature on stress-induced lambing failure is extensive. The young ewes, by the time Brian reached them, were panting hard enough that Brian made a mental note to check them again in the morning, and to tell the apprentice to do the same.

He didn't say any of this.

He said: "Have a nice walk."

He went back down to the gate.

Doris, by then, was already grazing again.

The young ewes recovered.

The lambing in autumn was unaffected.

British footpaths cross approximately 140,000 miles of farmland. They have done so since some of them were carved by mediaeval cattle. The system depends on dogs being on leads near livestock, on walkers closing gates, on the basic countryside code that takes about four minutes to read and is, somehow, still not being read.

Doris has not read it either.

Doris does not need to.

Doris simply stops, and looks, and the dog stops with her, and the system holds for one more afternoon.

It would be nicer if it didn't have to.

[Sue McArdle @fizzysue]

@kalmnkasos @LNER Dont get too excited though....both coffee machines and the hot water tap were out of order this evening. So all that was on offer was a glass of cold water.

[Sue McArdle @fizzysue]

@northernassist hi, will you be running any additional trains between newcastle and Sunderland for the #WRWC game on Friday? Particularly interested in after the match...

[Sue McArdle @fizzysue]

@nwater_care leak on st Paul's road Hexham. Pavement on north side. ///january.typist.ferried w3w location approx.

[Sue McArdle @fizzysue]

@PSH_A1674 @parkrunUK Really inspiring talk this morning, thank you for sharing your story with us. I'm sure @TyneGrparkrun will be swamped with volunteers next week after your call to arms!

[Greggs @GreggsOfficial]

Travelling home for Christmas like

[Ade Oladipo @ade_oladipo1]

There will be a generation of people who don’t know why this is so amazing 🤣🤣

[Jenny Chigwende @Jelorissa]

If you know a young care leaver aged 18 - 25 who may be alone on Christmas Day, please let them know that there is a place at our table @w12together for them. @LBHF @Sobus_H_F @HamUnited @hammersmithandy @youngh_f @MilkHoneyBees @RupaHuq @ChelFulhamBen @InventionRooms

[Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team @soudalquickstep]

Loulou 😃

#TourOfBritain

[Stan Collymore @StanCollymore]

Graham Thorpe, England cricketer, with beautiful daughters, loving wife, family and friends.

Took his own life.

Too many men in particular, at a time when information is plentiful, charities on standby, text, phone and email services ready, are deciding to end their lives.

Many reading this, like me will have hit very close to where Graham got but stopped short, just. It's a desperate, confusing and frightening experience mixed with a matter of factness that at the time feels sobering, you feel you're thinking and acting clearly but you're not.

Graham's wife took the decision to tell the world of how Graham both lived and sadly died, in the hope that if you or someone you know are struggling you'll grab one of the branches set out below and contact someone who can and will help.

When someone takes their life, there's a trail of pain, questions and few answers, but many of us know that anxiety and depression gets so bad that life simply doesn't feel worth living. In my case I was lucky, very lucky. I ran, and ran some more until clouds lifted, the anxiety moved away and I could think straight. Looking back I've been seconds away from death several times, so reading about Graham is incredibly confronting, upsetting and sobering as I'm sure it is for many.

I didn't know Graham but his story is all too familiar. Anxiety and depression for men, particularly men, hides invisible as the forced machismo creates a mask, a shield. You laugh, you crack a joke, you "look" ok and you carry on. But then one day as if you were preparing a meal, you take stock, prepare your deed and,

You take your life.

Leaving others with a lifetime of pain.

You don't mean to, it's the last thing you want, but it's the unintended consequences of a decision made, nonetheless.

If you're reading this, and can relate to any of the above, firstly have 5 minutes to think of Graham, his children and his wife, they need all the love and support that can be sent their way.

Then, if you're anxious, depressed, really struggling, ease know that my email is open to sound off, that charities such as the Samaritans are there 24/7, SANE charity phone line is open from 4pm to 10pm daily, MIND have drop in centres nationally and emergence services will always help on 999 or NHS 111.

To Graham and his family, you're on my mind and the mind of many, and to those struggling, you're a second away from help even in your darkest hour.

Protect life. Yours.

Stand up. Speak out.

[Election Maps UK @ElectionMapsUK]

The 2024 General Election if Not Voting counted as a vote for the 'Apathy Party':

Apathy: 611, 40.3%
LDM: 22, 7.3%
LAB: 13, 20.1%
GRN: 2, 4.0%
CON: 1, 14.2%
RFM: 0, 8.5%
Others: 1, 5.6%

Apathy majority of 572.

[🚩Dan Credentials🚩 @CharlemagnumPI]

Becoming a dinosaur scientist and winning a gold medal for jumping on the trampoline, don't tell any 7 year old their dreams are out of reach

[Dara Ó Briain @daraobriain]

Next Sunday the All-Ireland hurling final will be on the BBC for the first time. It’s Cork vs Clare, a cracker of match in front of 82,400 screaming fans at Croke Park, for the highlight of the Irish sporting year. If you’ve never seen Hurling, here is a quick explainer…

[Beauty of music and nature 🌺🌺 @Axaxia88]

🐦Japanese Snow Fairy, also known by its common name, Flying Floofball

🪷🪷🪷
#birds #birdwatching #photograghy #BirdsOfTwitter

[Henry Moeran @henrymoeranBBC]

Supposing Jimmy Anderson's run-up is about 19 yards, and he's bowled 40,002 deliveries in Tests...

Well that's 760,038 yards, or 430 miles.

Which is, by chance, the distance on foot to walk from the Utilita Bowl to Chester-le-Street via every Test venue in England.

[Pundamentalism @Pundamentalism]

England have never missed a penalty under Keir Starmer.

[Northumberland County Council @N_landCouncil]

Lots of Pictures in of #DogsAtPollingStations Scooby who is a rescue dog at Berwick Animal Rescue Kennels outside a polling station in #Berwick. Wouldn't it be great if we could help him find a forever home as he has spent over 3yrs waiting to be adopted https://t.co/tlJrVowZ3A

[Michael Spicer @MrMichaelSpicer]

The One Minute Leaders' Debate

[Keswick boot co @keswickbootco]

Spotted in kirkby Lonsdale and something of a mantra for us and lucky so manny of you Yes you can get things cheeper but your not getting the service and your supporting business with dubious owners and offshore accounts #shoplocal #shopindie thank you #supportthehighstreet 🥾🧡