Funnily Enough, the film location...

The book 'Funnily Enough' is largely set at my parent's house in the Cotswolds, revolving around the real life antics of my mother in 1991. Twenty-four years later she is still going strong.

Having recently appeared in Broadchurch, playing Charlotte Rampling's ancient mother, Mum has just finished filming Cold Caller, a short film by Philip Cook, shot on location in her own garden, which was very convenient.

It is a chilling tale shot by Matt Bigwood and produced by George Collings. Mum plays Marjorie, an old lady who receives a call from a certain security expert who does not take his gloves off when he accepts a cup of tea. It is soon clear why the director wanted to use a garden with a deep lake.

It has been fun following the development of this short film in the press and on Facebook.

It has won a number of awards:

The body is still to be found.

Living with tame otters

Daphne Neville - Otter Conservationist

'Do you still keep tame otters?'

The answer is, 'My mother does.'

But this photograph we have just found was taken some time ago!
It has been a life-time of living with otters; about 34 years.

If you are in the Cotswolds and would like to make an appointment to visit them, please click here

A few stories about living with the tame otters can be found within the pages of Funnily Enough.

There are more in Bee a Particular Otter by Daphne Neville who has appeared on endless television programmes, speaking about the conservation of British wetlands and rivers.

This series was presented by Toyah Wilcox. I was on location helping to look after the otters when it was being filmed in the Golden Valley but can't remember what it was called. Do you?!

Toyoah Wilcox with Bee the Otter in about 1992

Mum, Dad and their tame otters

My parents have kept tame otters since about 1980.

Over the years they have collected quite a few stories about them.

They are very inquisitive,

love eggs

and playing in the hay.

but most of all, they love being loved.

They appeared on CBBC TV in 'Wild' one Saturday morning recently
and will be at the Royal Welsh Show all this week 

These beautiful photographs were taken recently for a feature in the Sunday Telegraph

Please click here for the article published on 21st July 2013 

A year spent in a wild water garden in the Cotswolds

The cherry tree over the River Frome that flows past Baker's Mill

The mill pond in April.

And in June

The garden is unique.

High summer is when the teasels are in flower. They were originally grown to card Cotswold wool spun on the site.

September, with the first cold mornings.

October

The first frosts

The first snow

Mid winter

Filming our tame otters

Filming with otters is never easy. You can imagine what happened 0.05 seconds after this photograph was taken. On the other hand, our tame otters will spend ages drying off after a swim.

The easiest way to photograph our Asian short-clawed otters is when they are elevated in some way. Rudi is good at climbing but will descend with caution as he is not built to jump.

Often the script calls for an otter to be swimming underwater. Whilst this is possible it takes a long time to capture a sequence. A whole day was needed to take one underwater photograph for the scene in The Waterbabies. Here the little boy playing Tom is letting a young otter smell his hand. 

Much depends on the confidence of the actors appearing with the animals. Whilst Belinda is completely relaxed in my father's arms, she remains a wild creature and it takes her time to get used to strangers.

This little girl who appeared in the drama series 'The Secret of Eel Island' was wonderful with the otters.

Many of the scenes were set on a houseboat which worked well as they could not jump off it and there was no chance for them to off run into the woods.

Oddly our otters don't like swimming in our lake. I think Adam Henson must have lost one here.

No, he was after a pig.

At least you can carry an otter about and hold one in your arms.

To read more ~ click here

More about our tame otters who appear in 'Funnily Enough'

We still keep two tame otters at home in the Cotswolds. Bee and Jims who appear in 'Funnily Enough' passed on some time ago but Belinda and Rudi are just as delightful. Belinda is the tamest otter we have ever kept. Here she is, sitting on Mum's shoulder.

Rudi is exceptionally energetic, a real climber.

Belinda is now fourteen, which is a great age for an otter. Their life expectancy in the wild is only about eight years at the maximum.

They are in good condition and eating very well - on a diet consisting of raw trout, day-old chicks and rare beef - but as a result must be the fattest otters you have ever seen.

Sophie Neville on Channel 4

'You've reached that stage!' my friends keep telling me.
I think they mean that it's my turn to look after my parents.

'I haven't reached a stage. It's been a constant battle.'
'What battle?'
'A battle against mould. I'm allergic to mould.'
'Mould?'
'Black mould. It gets everywhere, especially in fridges.'
'But don't you clean them?'
'Yes, but I'm allergic to the cleaning fluid.'

Don't bother to watch too much...
I can't think why this constituted prime-time viewing but Cynthia was great.

...but my apron is quite swish. Please note the spotty apron from Seville.

Sophie Neville decluttering on Channel 4 November 2021

All permissions obtained in release contract with Betty TV for Channel 4

My most recent television broadcast appearance was on Channel 4 in the U.K. for Betty TV's 'Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners' helping my mother Daphne Neville with an overdue blitz on the clutter in her attic.

What do you think!

Funnily Enough excerpts in iBelieve ~ the Christian lifestyle magazine

~ More extracts from 'Funnily Enough' in this month's iBelieve magazine ~

For two issues at £5, or to subscribe to the print edition, click here and scroll down to see prices on the left. For other subscription options and a preview of an earlier issue click here.

~ Click on the images for Amazon links ~

'Funnily Enough' - Is it really true?!

The proof of the pudding

and my interpretation.

Perhaps this was taken sooner, rather than later, but it all happened.

Funnily Enough at Chalford Post Office ~

My father, Martin Neville in his Denys fire engine outside Chalford Post Office, which was run by Mr Ruck back in 1966 when this photo was taken.

Sophie Neville is standing on the front seat, in front of the fire hose. Daphne Neville is standing in the back with a baby in her arms. Contemporary artist, Rufus Knight-Webb is with his brother and sister, sitting in back third from the left. His father was the local GP.

Martin bought the Denys, which had a Rolls Royce engine, from B.I.P. who had been using it as a works fire engine in Birmingham. He was taking his family and friends off for a picnic at the polo ground in Cirencester Park.

We relish the thought of what Health and Safety Officers would think of the photograph today. The vehicle had useless breaks and the clutch kept going but it took us all to Cirencester Park and back without mishap. I remember the esign of the cigarette advertisements and longing for a Walls ice cream. These were made in Gloucester, not that far away.

You can read more about the characters in Funnily Enough ~

My mother and her otters

Daphne Neville
who has been working in otter conservation from 1981



In 1981 we learnt from a survey conducted by English Nature that there was a disastrous decline in the native population of otters in England and Wales. It was estimated that there were only 80 pairs left whilst Scotland was maintaining about 6,000 otters.  

My mother took it upon herself to raise public awareness of our aquatic eco-systems. Over the years she has been asked to hand rear a number of zoo-breed Asian short-clawed otters who have delighted the public whilst acting as ambassadors for their species. Thousands of adults and children have met the otters and learnt how the public can help encourage the revival of our native species - often about a topic they have not considered before.

Our first tame otter ~ called Bee, as otters smell of honey



It's clear that England and Wales were about to lose their native otters when Mum began working.  This major British mammal species is now reviving thanks to recognition that we need pure river water and undisturbed river banks. My parents advise farmers on how to accommodate wild otters and encourage the public to pick up litter, control their dogs, and drive slowly along lanes at night to reduce road casualties. They have been able to convey the difficult concept of water quality by taking otters to occasions such as the Water UK conference and The Otter Forum at the Natural History Museum.  The decline of otters in England and Wales related entirely to pollution: the discharge of industrial waste such as chemicals used in the manufacture of carpets entering the River Severn, farming effluent from slurry pits and slippage pits, sheep dip and indiscriminate use of PCBs and DDT insecticides. Otters are a vital indicator species, their health directly reflecting the health of British rivers.

Daphne Neville with Bee the Otter

The work is physically demanding – it requires travelling long distances, working long hours in all weathers, getting soaking wet, then camping on site - but Mum always finds the energy to give a child her full attention, even when totally exhausted at the end of a long day.

The rewards? One man told her that he had just completed a zoology degree, having been inspired by a talk she gave at his primary school years ago. That was enough. She has done much to educate inner-city adults and children who know nothing about otters. When she appeared at Countryside Live, on the Olympic site at Hackney Marshes in North London, I heard people look at an otter and ask, ‘Is it a squirrel?’, ‘Is it a rat?’ and ‘Does it eat vegetables?’

My drawings of our tame otters can be seen here.

with further sketches on this page.