Torchie — his name refers to his love of lamping with his lurchers in days gone by — planned to use his sidekick Dan in a manner as unfamiliar to me as a day on the Dales. Unique in stature and definitely not in vogue by today's standards, Dan is function over fashion — a reverse colliegreyhound lurcher made up of threequarters collie and a quarter greyhound. He is not the most athletic but was created to work among the sheep and rocks of the Dales, where speed isn't everything but honesty, attentiveness and the ability to take a knock are.
The day was to be a simple affair. From the moment Dan left the farmer's red Land Rover he raked about the grassland, found and marked a warren. Torchie then slipped in a ferret or two and we let Dan course, catch and retrieve the rabbits. Normally, nets would be laid to prevent any escapees but we wanted to return to the cornerstone of what ferreting should be about: likeminded souls enjoying each other's company, taking in the breathtaking scenery and producing good working animals while harvesting a stack of rabbits for the butcher.
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