Animals are well known for their therapeutic benefit to humans. Dogs, cats, rabbits, even the odd gerbil, make good listeners and a figurative shoulder to lean on in times of mental turmoil. But cows? Less likely because they don’t get the chance that often.

However, they figure highly in the remarkable life story of Dave Mountjoy.  Should you want to drive, it’s about 900 miles (give or take the odd kilometre) from Sinton Green, near Worcester, where he grew up near the family farm at Great Witley, to the remote homestead in the French Pyrenees,  nearest town Mirepoix, where he now lives with wife Diana, sons Gabi and Elie, lurcher Mila and 36 cattle, all of which have names.

It must be 25 years since I last saw Dave. Then he was working at a plant nursery at Bringsty, near Bromyard and had launched a business called Potty Poems. In those days he would compose a rhyme for anyone who wanted to mark a special occasion, such as birthdays, anniversaries etc, and right away he didn’t strike me as your average gardener.

So it has proved and the road to his latest publication Being With Cows has been long and winding and not always smooth. Indeed, it is sub-titled How Grief Became Gratitude. But more of that later.

He went to Derby University and got a toe hold on the Saving the Planet wave that was gaining momentum among students in the early Nineties. In 1994 he made his first trip to Uganda as part of a conservationist expedition. The country had been devasted by the despotic rule of Idi Amin, but the attitude of the people made a lasting impression on Dave. “They had nothing, but they would give you their last meal,” he said. “It was so humbling.”

That visit to Uganda was followed by two more and a university dissertation, but it wasn’t paying the rent. “So I decided I had better get a proper job,” Dave added. “I trained as a primary school teacher in Norfolk and worked at various lovely schools for twelve years, particularly Somers Park in Malvern.”

However, his feet were getting itchy and he took to visiting France and staying at the home of a friend way out in the sticks near Limoges, in the country’s south west. When he met a young lady called Diana Casas, a Catalan from over the border, it was a meeting of minds.

Dave said: “We initially bought 100 acres with two barns, but there was no house. Fortunately the neighbour let us stay in an old wooden chalet - a glorified shed with no heating or insulation for a couple of years. We were then able to buy the farmhouse off the neighbour. 

“In 2022, we moved farm to where we currently are, much higher up in the hills near a village called Chalabre and closer to the mountains, where we have 260 acres of forest and meadow.”

By then I had managed to get farmer status, so I thought I had better get something to farm and initially we bought three Galloway cows. Now we have 36 in all, including some locally native Casta, which is an old rustic breed and inclined to have a mind of their own.”

 Things were going well until suddenly in October 2015 desperate news came from England. Dave’s brother Simon (another RGS former pupil) had committed suicide.

“Corky” Mountjoy, as he was known to his friends, was a hugely popular figure around Worcester. A talented sportsman, he was a partner at estate agents Andrew Grant and the company’s country homes manager. But he battled inner demons and one day took his own life, leaving a wife and young family.

“Corky’s death hit me hard,” said Dave. “In fact it shattered me. I felt like I was having a panic attack. It was after I went back home following the funeral I found being with the cows helped me cope with my grief. Going out to the fields to be with them I found very therapeutic.”

It was a life changing moment for the Mountjoy family and led to Dave and Diana setting up their Being With Cows Retreat. “The environment had been good for us,” he said, “so we thought why not share it?”

Throughout the warmer months of the year guests can stay on the farm and enjoy the experience of a retreat. Combining quiet meditational walks along the calm-inducing forest paths, with mindful sessions among the cows, the aim is to “allow people to unwind and drop quietly down into a place of natural stillness”

Dave explained: “The cows become wellness transmitters and they exude a sense of warm benevolence simply by being themselves.”

Reaction to his book has been universally positive,. Critics have called it “a tonic for the soul”, “incredibly moving”, “remarkably powerful yet heartwarming” and “an inspirational story for anyone in search of inner peace”. To mention just a few phrases of praise. 

You will find both the book and the Being With Cows retreat here. The paperback version will be released on 7 November and an audiobook will follow.

If you are searching for inner peace you might just find it there among scenic beauty of the French Pyrenees. And remember, it’s not a disaster if you tread in something!

Story courtesy Newsquest