The brother of Alistair Porter, who died after being attacked by cows in a field near Winsley in May 2013, has told an inquest how the herd "deliberately" tried to trample on them.

John Porter was walking with his 66-year-old brother, who was visiting from Edinburgh, along the public footpath through a field in Turleigh with two dogs at the time of the incident.

The inquest at Salisbury Coroner's Court has heard how the land, known as Elbow Field by locals, was a popular cut-through for walkers, leading ramblers from Turleigh to the Kennet and Avon Canal in Bradford on Avon.

Mr Porter said his wife Mary had dropped him and his brother, known as Mike to friends, off in Freshford with their dogs at around 11.30am on May 13 to allow them to walk back to his home in Crossways, Brassknocker Hill, Monkton Combe.

"I had not encountered cattle in that field before," said Mr Porter, who told the inquest that he had complied with a sign and put both of his dogs on leads before entering the field.

"If I had known that there were calves, as I know them, then I wouldn't have entered the field. One is aware that cows have their natural protective desires."

Mr Porter said the cows were moving up from the canal across the footpath and had told his brother that they should wait until the herd of around 20-30 had walked across the footpath before proceeding.

"If cattle advance towards you, which is normal as they are inquisitive, usually you can wave your arms at them and they will go. We were about halfway across the footpath when I did just that," said Mr Porter.

"They were taking an interest in us, possibly because of the dogs, and rather than move off they just milled around us. We were both knocked over and we recognised that we were both on the ground.

"We picked ourselves up and then they knocked us down again. They seemed to deliberately trample on us and it was extraordinary."

The attack was witnessed by John Wall, who had been working at the nearby Wessex Water sewage works, and he told the inquest that he was alerted to the incident when he heard the cows make a loud noise.

"I saw the two men come up over the brow of the hill and the cows then circled them," said Mr Wall.

"I remember seeing one dog run off on its lead and then the cows attacked the two men."

Mr Wall added: "The cows were making a hell of a racket. I had my window down as it was a warm day, and the cows were going mad, basically."

He described how the two brothers then made their way to two separate entrances to the field, with Mike Porter coming towards the kissing gate nearest Mr Wall.

"He was asking how his brother was and that was his main concern, as well as asking about the dogs. I then phoned the ambulance and kept talking to him.

"I walked down from my van to check on his brother, who looked in a worse state. I then saw that Mike had got into the passenger seat of my Transit when I got back."

Despite the best efforts of paramedics from Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Great Western Air Ambulance, Mr Porter, a retired lecturer at Edinburgh University, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The inquest also heard from three victims of previous cow attacks in the area, including David Billington, of Dane Rise, Winsley, who suffered serious injuries during an incident in a neighbouring field in 2011.

He said: “A short while after entering the field I heard thundering hooves. I raised my arms to protect myself but I was struck by the cow. I don’t remember anything at all until I regained consciousness about an hour later.”

Farmer Brian Godwin, 81, of Timothy Rise Farm, Winsley Hill, who leases and farms on the fields, told the inquest that he believed the previous cow attacks had been isolated incidents.

He said: “We had problems before but we had done everything that we thought we needed to.”

Mr Godwin told how his farm was issued with paperwork from the Health and Safety Executive about how to reduce hazards for walkers, with leaflets warning how aggressive cow behaviour stemmed from protective maternal instincts over calves.

The inquest also heard how the minimum requirement from the HSE was to erect signs warning of calving cattle, but Mr Godwin told the inquest the ones he put up kept being torn down.

Mr Godwin, who runs the farm with his wife and his two sons, said they had decided to adopt further safety measures after Mr Porter's death, including installing electric fences. 

When asked why he had not taken further safety measures, he added: “Some of the recommendations were adopted but we didn't think an incident like this would happen. I never anticipated it whatsoever.”

Mr Godwin refused to answer a question about whether he should have introduced further safety methods before Mr Porter's death, such as installing temporary public footpath fences and moving cattle away from the public paths.

A tuberculosis outbreak in May 2013 limited Mr Godwin to having just three fields without public rights of way and he used those for sheep because they were more at risk from dog chases.

The inquest, heard in front of a jury of four men and six women, was expected to finish on Thursday.