Adam Henson - Like Farmer, Like Son

Contents

Agriculture and show business may appear to be unlikely bedfellows, but for Countryfile presenter Adam Henson, as for his father, Joe, who tragically passed away in the autumn of 2015, they are the twin poles that have defined his life.

First and foremost, Adam is a farmer. Raised on the same farm in Gloucestershire, Bemborough Farm, that he runs today, Adam can often be found with his sleeves rolled up, involved in every element of the day-to-day operations.

Like Farmer, Like Son is a truly remarkable account of Adams life that explores a hidden family history and the unbreakable bond between Adam and his life-long hero: his father Joe. In the 1940s and 50s, Joe, the son of stage and film star Leslie Henson, chose a completely different path, alien to his thespian parents and decided to pursue a career as a farmer. In addition, Joe overcame a serious stammer to become a regular broadcaster on Country Matters and also became the saviour of Britains rare breeds. He even put his business and his reputation at stake to open the worlds first Farm Park.

Here, for the first time, Adam reveals the family traits, childhood experiences and farming wisdom which have made him the man he is today. As he trawls the family archive and discovers his own bloodline, Adam learns to understand and appreciate the famous grandfather he never knew and pays tribute to the wonderful father he has so recently lost.

Adam Henson presents Countryfile, often from his 650-hectare farm in the Cotswolds. Having studied Agriculture at college, Adam took over Bemborough Farm from his father. The farm now grows wheat, spring barley and oilseed rape, runs a flock of 400 commercial ewes and has the UK's leading collection of rare breeds, many of which are in demand for film sets and advertisements. Cotswold Farm Park (www.cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk) offers a total countryside experience for all the family, welcoming more than 100,000 visitors each year.

Adam presented Lambing Live with Kate Humble, writes for Countryfile magazine and has appeared on Radio 4s On Your Farm and Farming Today. He has a long heritage in TV his father, Joe Henson, presented Animal Magic with Johnny Morris, his grandfather, Leslie, was a comedian and his uncle, Nicky Henson, has appeared in Faulty Towers, Inspector Morse and Downton Abbey.

Adams Farm: My Life on the Land

IT IS IN the nature of memoirs that they traditionally begin with a birth. In my case, I feel as though the only way to open is with a death.

When my father, Joe Henson, passed away in October of last year, I was touched by the warmth and passion of the many tributes that he received. He had always been at the centre of my familys life, but it was moving to realize that he had meant so much to so many other people, too.

Dads death was a news event. Broadsheet newspapers ran lengthy obituaries, praising his lifelong devotion to farming and his ground-breaking work as the conservationist who opened the Cotswold Farm Park on our farm in 1971 and who was founder chairman of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust two years later.

Were it not for Dad, many species of British domestic rare breeds would be long gone.

Countryfile, the BBCs weekly rural affairs and agriculture show that I have worked on for 15 years, put together a great tribute to him. It ranged far and wide through his life, and his own years of TV work, before my colleague and friend, John Craven, delivered the perfect eulogy: Joe Henson was himself a rare breed, a true gentleman who believed passionately in the animals and breeds he preserved for the nation.

It was moving to appreciate the depth of the public feeling for my father yet my grief, obviously, was primarily a personal one.

Its devastating for anybody to lose a parent, I know, but my relationship with Dad was particularly close and intimate. Right from my first days, he was my rock; my mentor; my hero. It is no exaggeration to say that he taught me virtually all I know about both farming and television. Without him, I would not be doing what I am today.

My life has mirrored my fathers to a quite uncanny degree. Today I run Bemborough Farm, the farm where I grew up and that Dad nurtured for nearly 40 years before passing it on to me in 1999. Its centrepiece remains the Cotswold Farm Park, his pride and joy and his lifes defining passion.

I have also been lucky enough to follow Dad onto television. Thirty years before my nervous BBC debut, he was blazing a trail on TV shows like Animal Magic and In the Country, discussing farming with passion and eloquence. He made presenting look so easy and as I now know, after years of first-hand experience, it really isnt!

Dad was no ordinary farmer, and no ordinary man, and his natural patience and calm were all the more remarkable as his own early life was not easy. As a kid, I always knew that he came from a showbiz family: his father, Leslie Henson, was a West End comedy actor who hosted Sunday Night at the London Palladium and was a huge pre- and post-war British celebrity.

I knew that. What I didnt know was just how unorthodox, difficult and challenging my fathers early life was. It was a secret that he and my mum kept incredibly well: only three years before his death did Dad write my three sisters and me a letter telling us his full, amazing story.

People say Like father, like son, and the story of my life, which I am about to tell in this book, is so intimately entwined with the story of Joe Henson. It is a tale that begins 50 years ago, with me in short trousers by his side in the place I still call home: Bemborough Farm.

I AM SURE that there must be a downside to growing up on a country farm, surrounded by animals, with acres of fields and woods to hand to run and roam and play in. There must be minus points but try as I might, I cant remember what they were.

When I cast my mind back to my childhood on Bemborough Farm, in the heart of the Cotswolds, my memories are of fun, adventure and, most of all, freedom. To a curious, wide-eyed nipper, it was like growing up in a giant playground. It felt as though every day brought some new distraction to investigate and explore.

In fact, you know the eternal argument about whether kids personalities are shaped by nature or nurture? I guess I got the best of both worlds: I was nurtured by nature.

I was born on 8 January 1966 and christened Adam John Lincoln Henson. As with most things in my family, there was a story behind that. My father was Joseph Leslie Henson, after his own father, Leslie, and for five generations Henson children had been given a middle name beginning with the letter L.

My parents had already applied that principle to the three elder sisters who had come before me. Their first daughter had been christened Elizabeth Lesley, the second was Mary Louise, and the youngest was Rebecca Lucinda.

There again, you can give children names but there is no guarantee that they will use them. Elizabeth has always been known as Libby. Mary never liked her first name and so has always been Louise or, as we call her, Lolo. And Rebecca shortened her name to Becca.