Rare Breeds in East Anglia

At last our website is just about finished! This blog is to keep interested parties up to date with what is going on, and hopefully there will be contributions from others too!

Perhaps I should give some background on who we are and what we do. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust was formed in 1973 by some concerned farmers who felt that so many ancient British breeds of farm livestock had been lost forever and something should be done to ensure no more breeds became extinct. One of the last to go was the Lincolnshire Curly Coat pig (see above). Very near to extinction was the Norfolk Horn sheep, and it was probably this breed more than any that led to the formation of the Trust. Since then no more breeds have been lost and the work of the Trust has become increasingly important. To take some words from the Trust's own website:

The RBST is the leading conservation charity working to restore Britain’s native livestock breeds to their rightful place in our countryside. Our work is funded entirely by membership subscriptions, donations and legacies.
Our purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the United Kingdom’s native farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR).
We gather and interpret information to produce population statistics for all our endangered breeds.
We collaborate with research organisations to identify breed characteristics.
We advise, support and work with breed societies to ensure that important bloodlines and essential genetics are identified and diversity maintained.
We promote the value of native breeds to the public and represent their interests to government.

There is a network of Support Groups throughout the country where volunteers man show stands, and give help and advice to people wanting to start up with some animals of their own. Not all our members have livestock but all have an interest in the work of the RBST. We do have a bit of socializing too, but we are very widespread and it is impossible to get everyone together! Our Support Group was founded in 1985 and covered all of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Essex Group was unable to carry on some years ago and we now welcome anyone from Essex who would like to join us.

It costs the grand sum of £10 per year to join us and receive our quarterly newsletters. We love to meet new people at shows and you will find all the events we attend listed on the website. If you would like to help - great! But maybe we can help you - are you thinking of keeping a few chickens or a small flock of sheep to keep that paddock down?