Adam Henson at Cheltenham, Cotswolds, England-14Jan2010

Adam John Lincoln Henson (born 8 January 1966) is an English farmer, author and television presenter.

Family

Henson's grandfather

Leslie Henson Leslie Lincoln Henson (3 August 1891 – 2 December 1957) was an English comedian, actor, producer for films and theatre, and film director. He initially worked in silent films and Edwardian musical comedy and became a popular music hall comed ...

, was a music hall and musical comedy comedian and actor. His farmer father

Joe Henson Joseph Leslie "Joe" Henson, MBE (16 October 1932 – 5 October 2015) was a farmer who founded the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and appeared as a presenter on BBC shows such as '' Animal Magic''. Biography Joe Henson was born in London. His father, ...

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

,Joe Henson MBE: A year to remember
''cotswoldlife.co.uk'', 17 November 2011. presented a countryside TV programme with

Angela Rippon Angela May Rippon (born 12 October 1944)"Angela Rippon," ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Detroit: Gale, (2008) ''Gale Biography In Context'' is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and tele ...

and

Phil Drabble Philip Percy Cooper Drabble (13 May 1914 – 29 July 2007) was an English countryman, author and television presenter. Brought up in the Black Country, he later lived in – and wrote mostly about – the countryside of north Worceste ...

; while his uncle,

Nicky Henson Nicky Henson ( Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson; 12 May 1945 – 15 December 2019) was a British actor. Early life Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson was born in London, the son of Harriet Martha ( Collins) and comedian Leslie Henson. Adam Henson, a fa ...

, was a successful actor. Henson is married to Charlotte "Charlie" Henson and has two children.

Early career

Born on the farm he now works, Bemborough Farm near

Guiting Power Guiting Power is a village and civil parish in the Cotswolds, in Gloucestershire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 296. Guiting Power stands on the slopes of a small valley formed by a tributary of the River Windrush ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, he was educated at

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

and later at Westwood's Grammar School,

Northleach Northleach is a market town and former civil parish, now in parish Northleach with Eastington, in the Cotswold district, in Gloucestershire, England. The town is in the valley of the River Leach in the Cotswolds, about northeast of Cirencester ...

. Henson did some work at the Chatsworth Estate, and gained an HND in Agriculture at Seale-Hayne Agricultural College in

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, where he met his business partner and friend Duncan Andrews. After graduation, the pair travelled for over a year through

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

working on

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

and arable stations, then a kiwi plantation in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, before returning to plant tea in the

Atherton Tablelands The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River. It was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tinar ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. After diving on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

, they returned via

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Henson now runs the Cotswold Farm Park which his father started, which attracts over 70,000 visitors per annum. Adam Henson and Duncan Andrews took on the lease of Bemborough Farm from his father in 1998, and the pair now jointly run the estate, growing wheat, spring barley and oilseed rape, alongside a flock of 350 commercial ewes and numerous rare breeds of farm animals.

TV career

Henson broke into television work in 2001 when he was successful in gaining a presenting position on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's ''

Countryfile ''Countryfile'' is a British television programme which airs weekly on BBC One and reports on rural, agricultural, and environmental issues in the United Kingdom. The programme is currently presented by John Craven, Adam Henson, Matt Baker, T ...

'' programme, after it ran a presenter search. Since this time he has worked on programmes such as ''Countryfile Summer Diaries'' and ''Inside Out''. Due to his extensive farming knowledge, he has also worked on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''On Your Farm'' and ''

Farming Today ''Farming Today'' is a radio programme about food, farming, and the countryside broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom. It is broadcast each weekday morning (having been recorded the day before) from 5.45 to 5.58, and a longer programme ...

,'' and the joint presenter with

Kate Humble Katherine Mary Humble (born 12 December 1968) is an English television presenter and narrator, mainly working for the BBC, specialising in wildlife and science programmes. Humble served as President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Bir ...

of ''

Lambing Live ''Lambing Live'' is a farming programme which was broadcast live on BBC Two in five parts, beginning on Sunday 7 March 2010. Presented by Kate Humble and Adam Henson, the show was mainly filmed live on the Beavan family farm, near Abergavenny in ...

''. He now has a wider presenting portfolio, which includes BBC's ''

Gardener's World ''Gardeners' World'' is a long-running British gardening programme, first broadcast on 5 January 1968. The 2022 series is the 53rd. Its first series was presented by Ken Burras and came from Oxford Botanical Gardens. Up until 2020 most of its e ...

Live'' in June 2010. At a farmers' conference in

St Mellion St Mellion ( kw, Sen Melyan) is a village and rural civil parishes in England, civil parish in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish is about south of Callington, Cornwall, Callington and is in the St Germans Registration District. ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, Henson revealed he received death threats against his children after he presented reports on ''Countryfile'' about badger culling. In November 2013 he starred alongside

Nigel Slater Nigel Slater (born 9 April 1956) is an English food writer, journalist and broadcaster. He has written a column for ''The Observer Magazine'' for over a decade and is the principal writer for the ''Observer Food Monthly'' supplement. Prior to ...

's ''Nigel and Adam's Farm Kitchen''.

Books

Henson has written five books: ''Countryfile: Adam's Farm: My Life on the Land'' (2011) ''Cotswold Farm Park'' (2012) ''Like Farmer Like Son'' (2016) ''A Farmer and His Dog'' (2017) ''A Breed Apart: My Adventures with Britain’s Rare Breeds'' (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henson, Adam 1966 births Living people People from Cotswold District English farmers English television presenters People educated at Cheltenham College