THE WHITE COW

Back from the brink

Descended from white cattle that roamed the land when Britain was joined to the rest of Europe, the Vaynol is one of our rarest native breeds. Small and slender with upturned horns, there are fewer than 150 of this semi-feral cow left, with populations limited to Lincolnshire and Scotland, and most owned by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. This year, however, the Tait family have welcomed Snow, a Vaynol calf, to their farm near Edinburgh. A second calf is due this summer. rbst.org.uk