A-Z 2018 Challenge: British Rivers - 'A': Aire, Axe

The problem with my researching British rivers is that it is easy to be sidetracked and this has happened immediately with both the Aire and the River Axe.

Horses cooling off in the River Aire

The river rises at Malham Tarn in North Yorkshire, and drains the central  Pennines to flow south-east through West Yorkshire until it joins the River Ouse. Its upper reaches are in the valley of Airedale - where the Airedale terrier originated.

But not this one!

After leaving the Pennines it crosses the Yorkshire coal field to be joined by its major tributary, the River Calder. Leeds is the principal city on its route.

The River Axe gets its name from an ancient Celtic word meaning 'abounding in fish.' I thought I knew where the river was located but now I've found there are two rivers with that name located in the South West.

One rises or rather emerges from the limestone caves at Wookey Hole.

Wookey Hole and mill leat

This flows westward and northward through Somerset, splitting into two Axes before reuniting and entering the Bristol Channel at Weston Bay.

My other Axe flows south and enters the sea on the south coast at Lyme Bay.

The river rises in Dorset but passes through Somerset and Devon. The photo taken in 2007 shows cattle standing within a meander likely to have become an island by now as the river eroded the neck. The houses are at the northern end of the town of Axminster (famous for its carpets).

Photo attributions:

• River Aire Close to Woodhouse Railway Bridge: 22 June 2005, ex geograph.org.uk, by Mick Melvin  ; CC BY-SA 2.0 Licence.
• Wookey Hole and mill leat: 18 Feb 2005, ex geograph.org.uk by Pierre Terre CC BY-SA 2.0 Licence
• River Axe (Lyme Bay): 17 May 2007, ex geograph.org.uk, by Derek Harper CC By-SA 2.0 Licence

A-Z Challenge 2014 - 'A'

My A-Z posts this year will be about dogs I have known, dogs I talk to and some I would love to meet. Regular visitors to my blog will recognise some of them I’m sure. Hopefully you will find links to literature – fact and fiction, films, famous dogs and even a dog owner or two. As usual I am expecting to cheat for some letters of the alphabet; I’m sure you will see why.

A – Airedale, Alsatian, Afghan

I must start with the first dog that I remember, that ‘King of Terriers,’ the Airedale. I was very young, I’m not sure that I was old enough to go to school. The only photograph (now lost) that I saw of my father was him kneeling on the front lawn with Punch. Punch was our Airedale with a simple attitude to cats – he hated them. Mind you he took it to extremes when he killed the landlord’s cat for being on his lawn.

Feisty was probably the best word to describe Joe, the Airedale Terrier I used to meet on walks in the North Yorkshire village where I live. He was sure that he was in charge. Like all Airedales Joe was happy to work with you but he never let you think he was working for you.

Joe - an Airedale Terrier

At home Joe often occupied a chair where he could see out of the window and bark at passers-by in the deep voice characteristic of his breed.

Joe on guard

His  bark was the best burglar alarm of all. In the middle of the night it would get you up - to dispose of any large spiders that had appeared. He had warned you of their presence so it was job done. You had to get rid of them.

If you didn’t know Joe that well you might think he was aggressive or bad tempered. Feisty may be the word for him. He was actually affectionate but on his own terms, and underneath all the feistiness he was a very sensitive soul. (You can see more about Joe at north-yorkshire-village-dogs-joe.

Airedales originated in the valley of the River Aire, near Leeds in England and were bred by crossing an Otterhound with a now extinct terrier. In WWI they carried messages in the trenches; Airedales were also one of the first breeds to be used as police dogs in Germany and Britain.

They were a favourite with Presidents of the USA. A statue of President Harding’s ‘Laddie Boy’ is in the Smithsonian Museum..

President Harding and Laddie Boy
(Press photo - National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress)

  

Edgar Rice Burrough’s dog was appropriately named ‘Tarzan’ but I couldn’t possibly say why Bo Derek called hers ‘Harum Scarum’. If you have every wondered why John Wayne was nicknamed Duke – it was name of his Airedale; they were known as ‘Big Duke’ and ‘Little Duke’.

Today German Shepherd dogs are more well known as police dogs than the Airedale. Of course the German Shepherd and the Alsatian are the same breed with German Shepherd now the accepted name but I felt justified in including an ‘Alsatian’ in this post just so that I could show you this.

A young Alsatian (German Shepherd) takes a nap

I have never actually seen an Afghan Hound but have always thought it an elegant dog. A member of the Greyhound family, it’s said to have been one of the animals aboard Noah’s Ark

An Afghan Hound - Taziban Ozarq from Austria
(wikipedia commons; upload Zwoenitzer, de.wikipedia - CC BY-SA 3.0)

I would have taken them with me too.

Going to the dogs again - Sunday Stamps

I was going to post something quite different this week, until I came across these stamps on my favourite market stall.

Poland

The poodle and the Airedale terrier were immediately recognisable but not the bulldog.

I had some trouble with the next set too.

San Marino

The Pointer (top left) and the Boxer (btm right) were easy enough. I've seen several Salukis which are also known as  Italian Greyhounds (top middle) and this matches up with the English Greyhound (btm left). Knowing that San Marino is a republic in Central Italy helped with the 3 lire stamp.

My pocket sized dog book tells me that Maremma is a region by the Tyrrhenian Sea and that there is a breed called Maremaner Herder dogs. The picture in the book can only be the same type of dog as on the 3 lire stamp (top right) where it is identified as Pasture Maremmano. So I'll settle for describing it as a large sheep dog.

As you could post whatever you wished this week you should check out others' choices at Viridian's Sunday Stamps-62

The Man Who Talks to Dogs

A-Z Challenge – ‘D’

Because of my interest in dogs I started to write about the dogs in the village where I live. The outcome – I suppose I now know as many dogs as people and I’ve heard people call me, “The man who talks to dogs.”

The first dog I remember was when I was very young, I’m not sure that I was old enough to go to school. The only photograph (now lost) that I saw of my father was him kneeling on the front lawn with Punch. Punch was an Airedale with a simple attitude to cats – he hated them. Mind you he took it to extremes when he killed the landlord’s cat for being on his lawn.

The first dog that I was allowed to take out for a walk was a white Labrador/Lurcher named Laddie, the gentlest dog you could imagine. He kept us in rabbit meat during WWII. Poor Laddie came to an untimely death when he was chased out off an alleyway behind a village pub straight under the wheels of a lorry.

Flick, the Whippet, came from South Wales. She covered herself in glory in a very short time by catching a hare almost as big as herself. I once wrote a short story based on this event called ‘The Chase.’

Major the Springer Spaniel had a demeanour to match his name. I’ll swear he sat to attention while his photograph was taken. Major was owned by my future wife’s family in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

 Major

My wife and I have never had a dog. One of my sons and my daughter have made up for this. Milly and Cara were the last two Irish Water Spaniels owned by my son. Milly was the most intelligent dog I’ve ever met and not a bad footballer either. She craved chicken bones and was the scourge of the neighbourhood raiding refuse bins for the remains. (You may read about Milly and Cara at http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/04/irish-water-spaniels.html).

Milly and Cara

My daughter who lives in America had two golden (yellow) Labradors, a brother and sister, named Sam and Maxie. They are the stars in my blog post ‘Dogs of Troy’ at http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/09/dogs-of-troy.html

Gem, Sam, Jack and Maxie

 When my daughter moved house, the pack increased to four with the addition of Gem, a black Lab mutt, and Jack, the chocolate Labrador know affectionately as the ‘Brown Bomber.’ Jack is my Lucky Dog (http://bobscotney.blogspot.com/2010/12/lucky-dog.html)

 

Jack

 Only Gem of the ‘originals’ is still alive and she has been joined by the elder statesman, a Retriever named Cody – the most obedient dog I know. He loves fishing in the lake.

 Cody

Scout and Lily are the younger Retrievers in the house. I have been told that it’s my job this summer to train Lily to behave. Wish me luck when I talk to the dogs.

[Posts and photos on North Yorkshire Village Dogs may be found in my blog archives in December 2009, January, March, June, July, September, October and December 2010]

North Yorkshire Village Dogs - Joe

Feisty is probably the best word to describe Joe, the nine-year-old Airedale Terrier. He is sure that he’s in charge. A pedigree puppy from Lancaster, he has a different character than Theo, his predecessor. Like all Airedales Joe is happy to work with you but never lets you think he’s working for you.

If you meet him on a walk you can see him assessing you as soon as you are in sight. He is not keen to be approached and will pull back from being stroked. He may even bark at you with that deep voice characteristic of his breed. He may even deign to take an offered treat – but it doesn’t always seem important enough for him to accept.

Joe has the run of the house and let’s anyone walking by, or visiting, know that this is his territory. There’s no chance of not hearing his deep-throated bark, once heard at close quarters you will always remember it. Make a sudden movement inside and off he goes again. Bonios will pacify him long enough until he has eaten them but if he doesn’t know you – well he starts again. 

Joe has his own chair in the lounge in which to curl up and look around. He has a duvet for his bed but will also sleep on the landing. Joe is fond of food, especially scones, cushions, mints and Fishermans Friends; he even eats bees. In fact he will suck almost anything and transport all sorts of items out into the garden in the summer.

[This is not Joe’s chair]

Airedales don’t moult a lot but their coat needs regular attention. Joe is clipped every five weeks. A skin condition means the special Malaseb shampoo is used every four weeks for his bath. Joe also takes Metacam anti-inflammatory tablets for his lumbosacral disease, not that you can easily tell he has a problem. 

Joe does not like being left alone for long; if he is he will cry and howl in protest. Surprisingly however he doesn’t like being cuddled unlike his predecessor.

On walks he is always kept on a lead. You get the impression that if he is let off then he would be away doing his own thing. Joe tolerates the other dogs he meets and gets along well with a Cocker Spaniel that occasionally comes to stay.

Although primarily a pet, his bark makes him the best burglar alarm of all. He guards the house so well that in the middle of the night he will bark to get you up - to dispose of any large spiders that appear. He will warn you of their presence, but job done it’s up to you to get rid of them.

If you didn’t know Joe that well you might think he is aggressive or bad tempered. However his bark is worse than his bite. Feisty may be the word for him. He is actually affectionate but on his own terms, and underneath all the feistiness he is a very sensitive soul.