NATIONAL Trust staff in Purbeck are celebrating the arrival of rare twin calves.

They were born on Greenlands Farm, part of the Trust’s Purbeck estate.

The red Devon calves are being taken care of by Lisa Hawthornthwaite – who hit the headlines in 2008 when she became Britain’s only cowgirl – looking after a herd of 30 cattle which roam the Purbeck heathland.

The latest additions to the herd have been named Clover and Bob by Lisa’s daughter Charlotte, aged nine.

It is rare for cattle like proud mum Ellabella to give birth to twins and Lisa said she had no inkling that anything unusual was going on until the second calf arrived.

She said: “We’ve never had a set of twins at Greenland Farm before, so this is a new one on us.

“We only thought she was having one calf and then within an hour she popped the other one out. We had no warning at all.”

Despite early fears Ellabella might reject one of the youngsters, the new family now seems to be doing well.

The calves are spending their first week indoors while Lisa makes sure Ellabella is able to provide them with enough milk.

If all goes to plan they will move out into a field near the farm buildings until they are old enough to join the main herd.

Clover and Bob will roam Studland and Godlingston Heath, playing a vital role in maintaining the habitat that is home to rare species like the sand lizard and Dartford warbler.

Lisa already has plans to train Clover and Bob to walk on a halter so they can be taken to areas not accessible by vehicles to graze.

“These two will be here for the whole of their lives I expect, so they have got a nice life ahead of them,” she added.