Cow Rescue at Hoist Point

A farmer attempts to rescue one of a herd of cows at Hoist Point with help from locals. The Holstein Friesian dairy cow is wandering along Hoist Beach between Kingston and Ringmore in Devon's South Hams and from Scobbiscombe Farm. The rescuers prepare the animal for hoisting. The outcome of the hoist is unknown but the task to lift a half tonne cow looks daunting.

Today it is not uncommon for the Fire Service, the Coastguard and the Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) to be called out to animals stranded either after having fallen over the cliffs or by having reached the beach by some other means. They even have special animal rescue gear. Some animals get stuck on the beach at low tide and have to be rescued before high tide when many of the beaches disappear. The area by Hoist Point belongs to the National Trust and here the South West Coast Path is one of the most scenic walks in Devon taking in farmland, cliffs and the sandy beach at Wonwell on the estuary of the River Erme looking over to Mothercombe in the distance and walkable at low tide.