Bison and Deer Roam Woods in Bedfordshire

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26982, 18 January 1949, Page 5

Bison and Deer Roam Woods in Bedfordshire

By Harvey Blanks

LONDON, Dec. 29. I spent Christmas in what must be one of the most unusual villages in all England. At first sight, there is’nothing very remarkable about Woburn, in Bedfordshire. It lies just over the border from Buckinghamshire and a mere few hundred yards off ancient Watling street. There is the usual High street, with its handful of tiny shops, village post office, and couple of “ locals ” —small inns where the villagers gather for their nightly pint of mild and bitter and a game of darts. It has a rather imposing church and a little row of almshouses. Archie tecturally there is nothing to distinguish it from a host of other villages all over England. „ *

On Christmas Day, however, chancing to wander into the woods that border it, I found a herd of European bison and some hundreds of Thibetan deer—to say nothing of flocks of exotic and imported birds, including Australian black swans-

its priceless art treasures all in storage. Caretakers keep the boilers fired to warm the vast empty rooms and protect them from the ravages of damp and mould. It was used by a Government during the war, but the cost of upkeep and the army of servants that would be needed to staff it will probably prevent it ever again being used by Bedford’s dukes. The estate itself is still functioning efficiently', although on a commercial basis. Venison and game are regularly despatched to London for sale to hotels and West End restaurants. The produce from its farms also goes to the markets. But the fate of the great mansion is still undecided. It is hardly worth being taken over by the National Trust, for it is not old as English mansions go, and is impressive mainly because of its size. Perhaps it _ may become in time one more administrative centre for a nationalised industry, as has been the fate of many other large one-time ancestral mansions. And the aristocracy will have been replaced by our ever-expanding bureaucracy.

It is rather an unpleasant shock to find onesself suddenly confronted with a huge shaggy monster weighing about 15cwt. and I lost no time carrying out a strategic withdrawal to the nearby Royal Oak to seek an explanation. There the smiling landlord, in tweed and gaiters, introduced me to a green-coated gamekeeper who told me the story of the animals.

The woods I had strayed into belonged to Woburn Abbey, ancestral home of the Duke of Bedford. The present duke lives in a large house in the village, which all belongs to him, but his father —a great amateur zoologist—had bred the bison herd from beasts imported last century. At one time many other animals had been kept in the woods, including giraffes, but these had died and not been replaced. Rare Deer The herd of Thibetan deer I had seen was the only one of its type in the world, and was of great scientific value. The de.er were known as Pere David, and one stag and two does had been imported from their native land during the 1800's. The species had, however, become extinct, all being killed off for food about the time of the Boxer risings. When the Duke of Bedford of the time discovered that his three animals were the only remaining Pere David deer in all the world, he decided to preserve them, and over the years, by careful breeding, a herd of more than 700 had been built up. Recently, the gamekeeper told me, some concern had been felt over the dangers of in-breeding. A few years ago a stag had been born pure white. Within a couple of years a white doe had made its appearance, and zoologists from many countries had come to Woburn to examine the pair. They had not been able to decide, however, whether the colour was a throw-back to an earlier strain or a deterioration in the species caused by in-breeding. Only time would tell. Personally, I thought the Pere David deer exceedingly ugly. They have long heads like a horse, and a peculiar “ clicking ” gait when they walk, caused by the rear hooves hitting their front ones which they are tardy in picking up. The exotic birds are reminders of past glories of the Abbey. When it was built in the late 1700's, on the site of a much earlier one destroyed by fire, a special “ dairy ” was built in the grounds, of imported' Italian marble, and expensively furnished with priceless Chinese porcelain and carved mahogany furniture. Here, the Duchess of Bedford used to take strawberries and cream on fine afternoons with her guests. . , , To provide a vista for the duchess and her visitors, a vast artificial lake was created, with an island in the middle distance on which was built a marble “ Greek ” temple. The lake was then stocked with fish, and thousands of cranes and exotic waterfowl were imported to inhabit its fringes. Woburn Abbey to-day stands de-serted—-a great grey rambling building, not particularly beautiful—with