Tamworth Pig: Crane Glen III (British Champion Animals Collection)

Description

Champion Tamworth Boar, Crane Glen III

Sire: Crane Glen.   Dam: Carn Pleasant Roseleaf 30

B.P.A. Young Pig Of The Year 2006

I was delighted to be given the chance to sculpt the Marquis of Salisbury’s champion Tamworth boar, Crane Glen III  – an opportunity not to be missed!

I drove over to the Cranborne estate in neighbouring Dorset, where I was met by the Marquis’ pig keeper, Trina Baker. As we walked over to the pig enclosures, through Cranborne’s magnificent grounds, we chatted about the Marquis’ love of pigs and about Crane Glen III [pet name, Joby – pronounced, Joe – Bee].

I love Tamworth pigs! They are such lively, intelligent pigs, with beautiful golden red coats and bright alert faces. The Tamworth pig as a breed originated when Sir Robert Peel brought red, “Irish Grazers” over in 1812, to join his existing herd at Drayton Manor, Tamworth. And in 1865, “The Tamworth” was officially recognised as an English breed. They are almost certainly the truest indigenous pig of the British Isles. Unlike our other pig breeds, it was not, “improved” during the industrial revolution by breeding with imported oriental pigs. The long face and lean, long-legged body, covered in thick hair, is very reminiscent of its ancestor the European Wild Boar.