Silbury’s chats about the New Year’s Day walk

 

I trot along at the end of a long line of llamas. It’s the warmest day for a month and we have a chance to escort 40 odd-people (or should that be 40-odd people?) on a llama trek with a difference.

 

He and She are pretty transparent. They always have a trek involving most of the herd (and most of the village too) but really they are using the massed ranks of two-legs to train the young llamas for them. Very clever, I say. I have no problem with our people pulling a fast one if it means I get to go out.

 

Our clever people and their friends escort young llamas who hadn’t trekked before. Hetty Pegler had never done more than to go to a show last year, and my young niece Golden Valley Marden had not set foot off the farm before. All performed admirably, and our people may take out larger parties more often now.

 

Naturally, I brought up the rear of the 10-strong line of llamas, and I authorised usual walk-leader Brodgar to take up his regular station at the head of the line. We put a few boys in next – Stanton Drew, Avebury, Stenness, and Croft Ambrey before allowing me to supervise Hetty Pegler, Tenbury Wells, Marden and Merrivale. We tinker with the order and moved Merrivale up to a place with Avebury and Stenness to give her confidence and she was very happy.

 

We know how good the older boys are and 18-month old Stanton Drew trekked along beautifully with his Uncle Brodgar. But I was so pleased with the girls. My sister Tenbury Wells oversaw her daughter Marden and gave the little one confidence, but Marden did so well I was hugely impressed. Hetty Pegler was as good as gold and enjoyed herself as did Merrivale.

 

Just how do you get 10 llamas and 40 people to walk together? Well, our people showed their two-leg friends how to halter us – grown-ups need to halter Avebury and me because we’re so tall – but children haltered Stanton Drew, Marden and Hetty Pegler. It was a dry day and we could be groomed. This is good – it removes all the twigs and mud and bits ‘n’ bobs from our fibre and people seem to like brushing (and stroking) us.

 

We left Ringsbury, the retired so-called herd leader and the mothers Maes Howe and Long Meg with their cria Golden Valley Moai and Golden Valley Rollright at Old King Street Farm are the younger cria are not quite ready to leave the farm.

 

The long llama trek set off down the lane and to the crossroads in the heart of Ewyas Harold. We took a different route to our usual trekking route. We walked past all the churches in the village and took the back lane to the playing field. We started to take a circuit of the ground but decided to cut this short when a bull dozed his way through a hedge onto the field. Actually, we weren’t bothered, and nor was Bully. He just wanted to trample the sports’ field.

 

We walked home and everyone had a treat. I mean everyone – we llamas had hay and mix and the two-legs all piled off to the house where I imagine they had their own hay, cereal and water. All very jolly – new friends and a lovely New Year’s llama trek in Herefordshire.

 

 

Callanish and Doll Tor have moved farm, you’ll be interested to know. Our people do buy, breed and sell llamas (cheek!) and a nice young two-leg said he wanted a couple of llamas, so the two girls have moved to a place called Hampshire. Our girls, Maes Howe, Long Meg and Tenbury Wells do like having babies so I expect our people to buy a stud llama in the Spring. There won’t be any llama babies born at the farm this year – the girls are having a ‘year off’.

 

Expect more news from Golden Valley Llamas soon. Happy New Year, Silbury