Telegraph Weekend Saturday, June 2, 2007 Life on the herd shoulder

A breed apart Shelley Rogerson with Vaynols (above) in their field near Leeds

An Ml patch of scrub could be the road to salvation for rare , says Sarah Todd

As yet another Eddie Stobart lorry whizzes past on the Ml, it’s impossible not to be struck by the location of the last herd of Vaynol cattle in the world.

“They like this field and just don’t seem to settle anywhere else in the same way,” says Shelley Rogerson, who knows these angular, primitive- looking beasts better than anyone. She can’t help but smile. With 1,500 acres of the estate. near Leeds. to choose from — much of it beautifully landscaped by Capability Brown - the herd decided to occupy this strange strip of land that runs parallel to the motorway.

It’s not as if the estate’s beautiful parkiand is an alien setting for these rare animals. They were established at the similarly sumptuous Vaynol Park in Wales in 1872. “In those days. they were just kept to look pretty in the park afl(1 probably to amuse the owners with a bit of hunting,” explains Rogerson, farm service officer for Temple Newsam.

Traditionally, the Vaynol herd was kept white, with any black calves culled in the superstitious belief that they would bring a death to the family. Now some of the favourites among the herd, such as Fleur - bottlereared and the only one to come across for a stroke — are black. When Vaynol Park was sold in 1980, the cattle were tranquillised and moved to Shugborough Park in Staffordshire. They had various other homes before arriving at Temple Newsam in 1989.

“They were never at one place for long and we soon found out why,” says Rogerson with a laugh. “To say they were wild is a bit of an understatement They came with very sharp horns and tempers to match. I’ve never known animals with such a dominant herd hierarchy; it must have been brought about by their feral upbringing — left in the park to sort themselves out.”

With the help of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST), which was given the herd in 1984, the 12 remaining animals were tested to sort their bloodlines out. Bulls were selected and semen collected for storage. Breaking out from the breed’s genetic bottleneck has been a huge challenge, but the herd has slowly increased to 32. Further testing has identified the right heifers to breed using the frozen semen. Hopes are now high that Vaynol Garth, long since dead, might save the day. Helen, currently in calf to him (rather than the herd’s regular bull Malvin), has a male calf that will go on to head up a satellite herd.

So, the next goal is to find these quirky cattle a second base. “When foot and mouth disease struck, we were only five miles from the nearest exclusion zone,” says Roerson. “It would have been an absolute disaster if they’d had to be culled. It makes so much sense to look into setting up another herd. It won’t be easy finding the right home. We’ve also yet to breed the perfect bull, one that’s as genetically distant as possible. It’s something we’ve got to plan ahead for.”

One of the main attractions of the Temple Newsam estate, owned by Leeds City Council, is Home Farm, recognised as the largest rare breeds farm in the country. More than 500,000 visit each year, including La4Tence Alderson, chairman of the RBST. “The juxtaposition of the cattle — a native breed of Britain and therefore very much part of our heritage - and the modern motorway is very interesting,” he says. “We might smile at the fact they have chosen this land, which others would dismiss as inferior, but it’s very symbolic; it’s the type of poorer grazing that they prtfer. Such animals play a huge role in preserving the environment and could hold the answers to countless important questions. It’s vital that they are never allowed to die out.”

Temple Newsam: 0113 264 5535; www.leeds.gov.uk/templenewsam . Rare Breeds Survival Trust: 02476 696551; www.rbst.org.uk The other breeds on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust’s critical” list are Aberdeen Angus (original population), Chilli ngham, Northern and .

• To make this list, a breed has to have fewer than 150 registered animals.

• After the Second World War, the cattle industry went through a revolution to satisfy the need for vast quantities of at low prices. This brought a demand for larger cattle that could be reared quickly to produce lean meat in bulk.

• Semen from 1,200 native-breed British bulls is kept in a bank by the RBST. Some deposits date back to 1964.

The Aberdeen Angus also under treat