Getting sheep off Highthwaite Crag. The last upland area to be scoured for its ewes: pulling them off the high rocky land from the furthest corner; bringing them down to the flat green fields around the farmhouse where we can watch them and help them lamb.

Sam and the dogs; Frank, Tony and I. Tactics beforehand: Sam, Tony and the dogs to go one way; Frank and I the other, "to shout like hell" as we go through the wood. All together, to push the ewes up over the crag and catch them "in a pincer movement" on the other side.

We run over the rough ground, stones; scramble; shouting 'oi! oi! oi!' and 'ho! ho! ho!'; bang sticks against the trees.

Hot in the sun. Teamwork; listening for the others, thinking of where they might be. I'm "in the saddle" waiting, watching for the sheep to come over the crag. They don't come. I lie down, the sky is blue. Maybe I'll get a tan.

Flailing arms and shouting like a mad thing

Sam yelling at the dogs; the dogs flying past the sheep, swerving amazing tight corners

Exuberance at getting the sheep to run through the right gate; despair as they jump over a wall

Knackering. Fun. Do they have sheep-gathering competitions as well as stone-walling, sheep-shearing and sheep dog trials? Joy: finding I can do it, run a sheep a certain way, outwit it, pre-empt (sometimes). Liking sheep; respecting them. Nutty things, stupid sometimes, but pretty bloody brilliant too, living out there, jumping up a wall three times (and more) their own height.

Walkers. Climbers as we come down. Completely different ways of occupying space, acting in a place, being a person and a body.

In the pen dealing with the sheep, getting on with it. Being watched. Highthw like Piccadilly Circus, a hot bank holiday week-end after a lot of rain. I'm happy, familiar with the sheep. I like catching them; I'm comfortable holding them. Used to the smell, enjoy being comfortable with it, and the blood and the muck. But being watched. We're not a bloody tourist attraction (harsh! I'm so proud to be on this side of the wall, not a voyeur).

Now:

Tired. Sunburned. Happy. Bed.