You may remember that Terry Nutkins was the naturalist who featured in such programmes as Animal Magic, The Really Wild Show, Growing Up Wild, (A Sunday morning nature programme which had a 2 million plus audience), Pets Win Prizes, & Brilliant Creatures.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the name Gavin Maxwell, let me tell you a little bit about him……
Gavin Maxwell was born on the 15th July 1914 and died on the 7th September 1969. He was a Scottish naturalist and author, best known for his work with otters. He wrote the book Ring of Bright Water in 1960 and it is about how he brought an otter back from Iraq and raised it in Scotland. Ring of Bright Water sold more than a million copies and was made into a movie starring Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna in 1969.
He was the youngest son of Lieutenant-Colonel Aymer Maxwell and Lady Mary Percy, fifth daughter of the seventh Duke of Northumberland. His grandfather, Sir Herbert Maxwell, was an archaeologist, politician and natural historian].
He was raised in the tiny village of Elrig, near Port William, in Wigtownshire, near the south west corner of Scotland, and Maxwell's relatives still reside in the Port William area; the family's ancient estate and grounds are in nearby Monreith.
He was raised in the tiny village of Elrig, near Port William, in Wigtownshire, near the south west corner of Scotland, and Maxwell's relatives still reside in the Port William area; the family's ancient estate and grounds are in nearby Monreith.
In World War II Maxwell served as an instructor with the Special Operations Executive.
After the war, he purchased the Isle of Soay off Skye. He tried to establish a basking shark fishery there between 1945-48. He was unsuccessful, due to bad planning and lack of finance, according to his book Harpoon at a Venture (1952.)
After the war, he purchased the Isle of Soay off Skye. He tried to establish a basking shark fishery there between 1945-48. He was unsuccessful, due to bad planning and lack of finance, according to his book Harpoon at a Venture (1952.)
In 1956 Maxwell toured the reed marshes of Southern Iraq with explorer Wilfred Thesiger. Maxwell's account of their trip appears in A Reed Shaken By The Wind.. It was hailed by the New York Times as "near perfect".
Maxwell next moved to Sandaig (which he called Camusfeàrna in his books), a small community opposite Eilean Iarmain on a remote part of the Scottish mainland (in the Glenelg area). There his "otter books" are set. After Ring of Bright Water (1960), he wrote The Rocks Remain (1963), in which the otters Edal, Teko, Mossy, and Monday show great differences in personality.
The Rocks Remain is a sequel to Ring of Bright Water, as it demonstrates the difficulty Maxwell was having, possibly as a result of his mental state, in remaining focused on one project and the impact that had on his otters, Sandaig, and his own life.
After his Sandaig home was destroyed by fire in 1968, Maxwell moved to the lighthouse cottage of Eilean Bàn (White Island), an island he owned off the coast of the Isle of Skye.
In 1969, Maxwell invited John Lister-Kaye to move to Eilean Bàn to help him work on a book about British wild mammals and to assist in building a zoo on the island. Lister-Kaye accepted the invitation and moved to the island, but both projects had to be abandoned when Maxwell died from cancer later that same year.
Eilean Bàn now supports a pier of the 1990s-built Skye Bridge, and, despite modern traffic a hundred feet or so above, the island is a commemorative otter sanctuary. Also on the island is a museum dedicated to Maxwell.
I grew up watching shows like Animal Magic Anne I remember Terry Nutkins joining the cast. He was the first person I ever saw who had fingers missing and though it didn't make a huge impression on me at the time (I grew up in an era where polio and thalidomide were still rife so unusual body issues were not uncommon or even remarkable), I did find it interesting when I learned later in life that Nutkins' deformity was caused by one of -Maxwell's otters... Edal if I recall correctly, who sadly died in the Sandaig fire.
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