Blenheim Palace

Why Blenheim Palace will be the perfect setting to get some very important messages across, writes Adam Henson.

August means hedgerows laden with fruit, swifts soaring overhead and the sweet scent of honeysuckle on the breeze. Out in the fields the harvest is in full swing, silagemaking is underway and thoughts are already turning to next year’s crops as preparations are made for ploughing and cultivating. So if August is the busiest month in the arable farmer’s calendar, it’s also time for the highlight of the year for the Countryfile presenters. That’s because for four days we decamp to one of the most beautiful parts of Britain; an historic, landscaped parkland in a location so special that it’s been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Blenheim Palace estate certainly is special and it’s a breathtaking venue for BBC Countryfile Live. The event is a festival, a celebration and a showcase all rolled into one with the aim of highlighting everything that’s inspiring and enchanting about the Great British countryside.

But for me the show has another, crucial function. Although I’ll be leaving the hard work of harvest behind me, I’m not abandoning the day job completely because some of my native and rare breed livestock will be accompanying me to Blenheim to appear in a recreation of ‘Adam’s Farm’. The idea is that the cattle, sheep, pigs, chicks and goat kids will help show tens of thousands of visitors just what an important part farming plays in our lives and the vital role of good livestock husbandry and high animal welfare. I’ve always believed that knowing where your food comes from is a valuable life lesson, especially today when there’s real concern about the public disconnection between the production of our food and how it’s consumed. Of course there are thousands of books and millions of internet pages devoted to agriculture, but nothing compares to actually witnessing the farm experience in person. Telling is no substitute for showing.

So alongside my British breeds there will be other impressive livestock, including a mighty Suffolk Punch, the traditional work horse of East Anglia. We’ll shear sheep, stage a lifelike livestock auction, and elsewhere there’s the Shire horse village, hardy little Shetland ponies, a dog arena presided over by TV legend Peter Purves and historic old tractors alongside the latest monster farm machinery. I’m also very proud to say that we’ll give everyone the chance to ‘Ask the Farmer’. I know that for many people that rare opportunity to put questions directly to the men and women who rear and grow the nation’s food is the most memorable part of Countryfile Live. If that’s the case again this time then I’ll leave Blenheim a very happy man.

sources: Berkshire Life, August 2018