For Mangalitza read 'Mudlark'

After three days of almost constant rain - on one of which alone the total normally recorded for a month fell - the sun finally came out today. Briefly.
Mangel and his mates are now wallowing in a quagmire of what, in this part of the world, is known as 'slarmy' mud. This tends to be one of the driest parts of the country but the two towns nearest to us, Horncastle and Louth, made the national news and weather reports for the record amounts of rain that fell on Thursday last.
We are very much hoping for a drier week ahead though as Wurzel and Pepper have a long anticipated appointment next weekend at Heckington Show - one of the major agricultural events in the County.
Mangalitzas have an historic connection with Lincolnshire and the invitation arrived from the Chairman of the Show Committee as soon as word got out that Mangel and Wurzel had arrived at the Rectoryreserve.
There used to be a breed known as the (white or blonde) Linconshire Curly Coat but unfortunately it 'died out' in 1972, due in no small part to the pressures on agricultural production following the 2nd World War. However, in the early 1900's some of the breed had been exported to Austria and The Balkans to augment their stocks of Mangalitzas (also curly coated) which were under threat of extinction. During the 1920's Lincolnshire Curly Coats won many of the top awards at the Budapest show and achieved the Gold Medal in 1925. Before too long, crossbred Lincolistas were absorbed into the native Mangalitza stock in Hungary and Austria. Those in the west are usually 'swallow bellied' like Mangel and Wurzel; further east a single blonde colour (like Pepper) predominates whereas in parts of Hungary and the balknas a red tinge (like Ginger) is apparent. Their meat was held in high esteem and at one time they were even traded on the Vienna Stock Exchange! Today they are in short supply and are listed by the Society for the Conservation of Endangered Livestock Breeders of Austria. In 2003 there were just 39 boars and 106 sows spread across 46 breeders.
In 2006, for the very first time, a small number of these were imported to the UK: thanks to the enthusiasm of Tony York (http://www.pigparadise.com/) and his colleagues who planned, researched and then travelled across Europe to find some whose pedigrees traced back to the original Lincolnshire Curly Coat. No mean feat. DNA samples of these have been preserved. The hope is that the UK breed may be moved closer to the original Curly Coat. Meanwhile, there are now approximately 30 of the breed in the UK and Rectoryreserve is proud to have its herd in the midst of the Wolds in the county where the Curly Coats originated.
And that is why they are 'special guests' at Heckington Show next weekend. Perhaps it won't matter too much if they are a little muddy.....