Octavia Pollock

Cannock Chase AONB: Heathland, ancient woodland and grand country houses

Cannock Chase is the smallest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Britain. Octavia Pollock takes a closer look.

The Lincolnshire Wolds AONB: The beauty spot where Tennyson found 'calm and deep peace on this high Wold'

Octavia Pollock takes a look at the Lincolnshire Wolds AONB, a landscape where the hands of Man and Nature have worked together for centuries.

11 breathtaking images of The Gower, the spot so magnificent it inspired the creation of Britain's Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Octavia Pollock takes a look at the magnificent Welsh coastal landscape of The Gower Peninsula, whose tales are as eye-opening as its beauty.

Adare Manor: The 19th century Gothic masterpiece that's become a very 21st century hotel

Adare Manor is no-expense-spared labour of love created by a billionaire owner — and it makes a wonderful weekend away, as Octavia Pollock discovered.

The penguins of London Zoo: Traditionally good parents, occasionally clumsy and strictly not monogamous

'Once, the BBC was filming here and the penguins would take apart the equipment and run away with it, always the most expensive bits.'

The nativity camels: Unbelievably clever, a tad greedy and undeniably festive

‘They know we’d never take them anywhere dangerous. They trust us so much.'

The Shetland pony who goes to the races

‘The louder people cheer, the faster they go. It gets faster and faster all week – or my nerves get worse!’

The chickens of Wyken Hall: Mischievous, adorable and the best listeners a person could ask for

‘In my left-leaning youth, they would attend meetings, but my comrades voted to remove them. That was when I realised my time there was up – the chickens were very concerned about the Albanian question!’

Britain's first giant tortoises: 'They’ve been around for 200 million years - we’re a blip to them'

Adrian Graham is passionate about his pets, which can live for up to 250 years and grow to the size of a rather tall man.

Animal Magic: ‘For a while because the canal was full of buffalo – they had to close it for 24 hours to get them out!’

An absolute beginner's guide to clay pigeon shooting, part 3: New techniques, old friends and how to buy your own gun

If you're looking to get into shooting, a series of lessons is the place to start —as Octavia Pollock has been finding out at the Cowdray Estate's Hownhall shooting school.

An absolute beginner's guide to clay pigeon shooting: 'Coffee drunk and dogs cuddled, it was time to begin'

Octavia Pollock had never so much as held a gun before she decided to try clay pigeon shooting — she headed down to the Cowdray Estate's Hownhall Shooting School to give it a go.

Rudi the otter: 'we had to convince Parliament to focus on clean water and the easiest way to do that was with a baby otter'

Affectionate and loving he may be, but small-clawed otter Rudi has a purpose.

The Devil’s Horsemen: The stallion who's starred in Game of Thrones, Wonder Woman and The Crown

Octavia Pollock visits Camilla Naprous of The Devil’s Horsemen to find out more about the horses they train for film.

How a pony in the Highlands always beats a quad bike: 'Unlike a vehicle, ponies will avoid bogs that swallow the unwary'

On estates such as Balmoral, The Queen’s home in Aberdeenshire, tough and shaggy Highland ponies are vital members of the stalking team when it comes to bringing deer off the hill. Octavia Pollock found out more.

Matthew Parris on his llamas: 'They’re interested in everything humans are doing'

Matthew Parris, the MP-turned-journalist/political commentator, keeps pet llamas at his home in Derbyshire. He spoke to Octavia Pollock.

The joy of earning to play polo, the intoxicating sport where you'll ride 'on one of the Ferraris of the horse world'

Watching a polo match will give anyone who loves riding an urge to try it for themselves — Octavia Pollock went to the Cowdray Estate to give it a go.

Curious Questions: What's it like to keep your own elephants?

Elephants may look prehistoric but they’re sophisticated, says the Duke of Bedford. He spoke to Octavia Pollock.

The Pietra dura maker: 'Everyone else in Florence was looking at the paintings, but I was looking at the pietra-dura floor'

Pietra dura – the art of creating images by cutting stones and fitting them into a jigsaw of shapes – flowered under the Florentine Medicis, but there’s only one man in Britain creating these precious-stone mosaics today: Thomas Greenaway.

Curious Questions: Is there any future for Encyclopedia Britannica?

Once the first set of books required in any home library, encyclopedias have long since been superseded by the internet. But rather extraordinarily there is still a market for them, as Octavia Pollock finds out.