As Britain reeled under the recent cold spell dubbed The Beast from the East, the North Yorkshire Moors were particularly hard-hit.

Pipyn Boult sends me this news from her small farm:

Well, talking about the Beast from the East, I felt as if I had a beast of a week – and it was only 5 days!  The taps and troughs in the barns all froze, which was a real pain and meant lugging water everywhere. Which in the cold and bitter wind wasn’t much fun.  However my neighbours across the yard (there are 4 households here) were a great help.  All the stock were under cover and the sheep don’t mind the cold – they only mind draughts and wet.  The cattle are tough as old boots.  So the animals were all happy.  I was just cold and tired, which meant once Sunday came it felt like summer!

Fingers crossed we won’t have another blast like that again this winter.  Today’s snow is nothing in comparison.  I am attaching a photo taken today after 5 days of thaw.  I can’t step over the gate any more!  The drifts were amazing as the snow blew off my neighbour’s fields and into my paddocks!