ADAM’S ANIMALS

Is the Valais Blacknose the prettiest sheep in the world? Farmer and Countryfile presenter Adam Henson relives his trip to the Swiss Alps and the Cornish countryside to find out

How a flock of Swiss Valais Blacknose sheep have made their home in Cornwall.

Talk to me about sheep. That’s a phrase I hear all the time, and it’s no surprise because I’ve spent my whole life surrounded by commercial flocks and Britain’s rarest breeds.

I love telling stories of our primitive sheep: the big fleecy breeds such as the Cotswold; the Soay; or the hardy ‘blue’ sheep of the Lake District, the Herdwick. But it took an 800-mile trip to the Swiss Alps and the village of Belalp in the canton of Valais – one of the most memorable filming assignments I’ve ever had with Countryfile – for me to encounter a breed they call ‘the cutest sheep in the world’, the Valais Blacknose. In fact, I saw 1,200 of them. They were being herded off the mountains and across a small bridge over a deep gorge in a spectacular annual tradition to get them home before the onset of winter.

If anything, their name is misleading – it’s not just their noses that are black, but their faces, ears, knees and ankles, too. Their pilgrimage made riveting TV, but it also caused quite a stir among sheep breeders all over the UK.

FLOCKING TO BRITAIN

Cornwall couldn’t be more different from Switzerland, but that hasn’t stopped a flock of Valais Blacknoses making themselves at home in England’s most southwesterly county. Farmers Emma and Stuart Collison saw my film and immediately fell in love with the breed. In fact, they were so taken with the sheep that, within 18 months of watching my report from the Alps, they became the first people to import the breed to the UK. Bringing the animals here wasn’t as easy as it sounds – it took a lot of negotiating with the Swiss authorities – but eventually, 25 ewes and two rams made the journey from central Europe to Bodmin Moor.

When I visited Emma and Stuart, they introduced me to their newest arrival; the first Blacknose lamb to be born in Britain. At the time, she was just four-days old and enchanted me with her silky fleece and big black ears. The Collisons even allowed me to pick up the little lamb and take her, with her mother, over to their pasture and introduce her to grass for the first time. It was a lovely moment on a sunny Cornish day. Since then, a small but dedicated band of breeders have cropped up all over the British Isles, from the Highlands to the New Forest, as well as in Wales and Ireland. We’ve even played host to the Oxfordshire Valais Blacknose breeders and their felted fleeces at BBC Countryfile Live at Blenheim Palace.

BLACKNOSE BEAUTIES

As any shepherd or shepherdess will tell you, the lifeblood of the sheep business is the agricultural show and the livestock auction. Even these days, when farming videos can be downloaded instantly and millions of pounds’ worth of trading is done online, nothing beats seeing a prize-winning animal in the flesh or experiencing the buzz of a sale-ring in person. So, although these lovely Swiss Valais sheep are new to the UK, they already have a dedicated annual show and sale. This year, the two-day event, launched in 2016, takes place at Borderway Mart in Carlisle on 24 and 25 August under the enticing title ‘Blacknose Beauties’. What could be better than an eye-catching heading for an unmissable breed? Ask Adam: What topic would you like to know more about? Email your suggestions to editor@countryfile.com