The UK Wild Otter Trust

I have been invited to become a Patron of the UK Wild Otter Trust - a huge honour.

The trust was set up to help raise awareness of British otters by providing talks at clubs and schools. It exists to help ongoing otter projects and groups that encourage otters in the wild. The trust is run by a really active team. You can read about them here.

The trust works hard to protect the habitat of the otter and is currently monitoring otter populations in North Devon. It work with anglers, fishery owners and organisations throughout the UK to ensure otter predation and behaviour is well understood. This has been well received and is vital to the conservation of this native species. To read more about the aims of the trust please click here.

 What can I do to support the Trust?

There are all sorts of things you can do. Click here for the UK Wild Otter Trust website and see how you can help secure the future of this special creature, which is still under threat. It would be hugely helpful if you simply told others about the trust and pointed them to the website.

If you would like to make a donation to the Trust, please click here.

The Diary of a Tame Otter

My book 'Funnily Enough' features the antics of our first two tame otters Bee and Jims. Rudi, another hand-reared otter, can still be found wriggling about inside my mother's clothing.

Having appeared at the Royal Welsh Show he will be at the Royal Berkshire Show, near Newbury this weekend, 19th & 20th September.

He is currently staring in the role of Otto in the movie Scottish Mussel opposite Talulah Riley, Martin Compston and Harry Enfield. It was premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival in June.

To watch 'Scottish Mussel' online, please click here 

If you would like to meet Rudi, please click here for

the 2015 Diary of a Tame Otter

Royal Photographer Arthur Edwards is in the News again

HRH Prince of Wales meeting author Sophie Neville and her otter. 
Photograph (c) Daily Telegraph - 28th July 2001

Back in 2001, I was introduced to the HRH Prince of Wales when we chatted about otter conservation. A number of photographers buzzed around us including royal photographer Arthur Edwards, then working for The Sun.

He can be seen holding his camera, standing behind us in the centre of the picture. In this instance he missed taking the shots that ended up on the front page of the Daily Telegraph - along with his own image.

Arthur Edwards was on the lunchtime News today, having his head painted purple by Prince Harry who took the opportunity to do so when invited to make hand-prints on his tour of New Zealand. I am not sure why Arthur Edwards was so deserving of the honour but his face was a picture.