AN EARLY fascination with the strange black and white speckled birds encountered on a remote North Pennines farm has provided one of the strangest additions to a school curriculum.

Thanks to the persistence of schoolboy Daniel Jenkins, a pair of guinea fowl have become the centre of attraction at his primary school - 150 miles away in the east Midlands.

The birds, who have grown up at Pinfold Farm, above Daddry Shield, Weardale, were transported to seven-year-old Daniel's school by grandfather Neil Pattinson.

They have joined pot-bellied pigs, pygmy goats, hens, ducks and a handful of sheep on a three-acre farm at Edwalton primary school, Nottingham.

Headmaster Brian Owens said: "The children here are enraptured by them. It is wonderful that the inspiration to bring the guinea fowl so far came from a child helped by his family."

The guinea fowl first arrived at the Pattinson family farm at Daddry Shield 20 years ago as the result of a joke. Someone had stuck a pair of their eggs among a clutch of pheasant eggs - and they hatched out.

At an early age Daniel was hooked. "He was fascinated by them going 'gobble, gobble' around the farmyard and followed them everywhere," said Mr Pattinson.

"Apparently Daniel was constantly talking about them to pals at school and handing around pictures we had taken of the birds during holidays spent here in Weardale."

So the Pattinson family decided it would be nice for Daniel to share his love of guinea fowl with his schoolmates.

Mr Owens said they had not yet decided on pet names for the new-arrivals at the school farm, set in three acres of protected woodland.

Twenty years ago there were over 50 such farms attached to schools through Britain. Now there are just two.

Mr Owens added: "The children are responsible for feeding and watering the birds and animals and the parents provide most of the money to run the farm through fundraising."

He said the two guinea fowl have settled very well in their new environment.

And just to keep his grandparents up to speed on their progress, Daniel sends a weekly progress report back home to Daddry Shield.

FACTFILE

Fowl facts

Guinea fowl are pheasant-like birds of the Numididae family native to west Africa. They are widely domesticated in areas of Britain, but rare in upland areas like the North Pennines. They have black plumage, marked with many white spots. Like geese, they make excellent watchdogs.