Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
Be like me and hug a tree
Clive Anderson on his lifelong love of woodland and why he’s thrilled to be a judge in our wildlife photography challenge
Although best known as an ex-lawyer who got into TV and found fame with his own chat show, Clive Anderson has always been an enthusiastic fan of the great outdoors. Against expectations perhaps, he’s president of the Woodland Trust, which is dedicated to preserving Britain’s ancient woods. It came about when he was in a TV quiz show where he had to nominate a charity to benefit from the money he’d won.
‘From a young age I’d always been interested in trees,’ says Clive, 63. ‘And I chose the Woodland Trust because it’s a charity that didn’t have a particularly high public profile.’ As a result he was invited by the Trust to talk at fundraising dinners and then, in 2003, he was asked to become its president.
Clive’s passion for Britain’s natural beauty meant he was also delighted to be asked to be a celebrity judge for our Great British Wildlife Photography Challenge this year. ‘I really like the idea behind it,’ he says. ‘Trying to capture a telling image of a creature requires you to learn about that animal and to adapt your behaviour. In the past people got interested in animals in order to shoot them or steal their eggs. The charm of taking photos is the reverse: you’re only going to get anywhere if you don’t disturb them.’
He’s no professional photographer himself, but four years ago he and his wife Jane set out with an expert guide to photograph the beavers that had been reintroduced into Argyll in 2009, close to the house he owns not far from Oban on the west coast of Scotland.
‘They’re shy creatures that live most of the time in water. That means installing yourself on the edge of the loch hours before they’re likely to turn up. Not only must you sit silently but you have to withstand the midges. There are various ways to keep them at bay. I used a skin patch of B vitamins that the midges don’t like. I also slathered a herb-based cream on any exposed bits of skin.’ After all that, and even though he says beavers look rather like giant rats, he did get some decent shots – although for his private album rather than for publication.
He’s also keen on red squirrels, which are under threat. ‘They were thriving until about 150 years ago when someone thought it would be a good idea to introduce those pesky little grey squirrels from America. It’s not that they attack their red cousins but they carry a disease, some sort of pox, which the red ones can’t withstand. Now the red are mostly confined to Scotland and the Isle of Wight, and possibly in areas where there are pine martens, which prey on grey squirrels.
‘I got into trouble once on the TV show QI when I mentioned that you’d never eat red squirrel because appar- ently they taste horrible, unlike their grey counterparts. There was a flurry of protest, which I still don’t quite understand. People eat rabbit; what’s the difference? And while I haven’t eaten one myself, if grey squirrel were on the menu I’d give it a whirl.’
Though he lives in the city – north London, to be precise – Clive gets out among the trees at least twice daily while taking his dog, a sort-of terrier called Albert, for a walk. Albert also recently went with him to the Isle of Mull while Clive filmed a documentary. It wasn’t exactly a wildlife programme, he says, although he was very taken with the sea eagles he saw. ‘They were reintroduced to the island in the 70s. We were only filming for a day but one majestic specimen flew overhead precisely at the point when the cameras were rolling for an interview I was doing.’ The programme will be shown on Channel 4 in the autumn.
A criminal barrister until the early 1990s, Clive began writing comedy sketches for the likes of Not The Nine O’Clock News, then quit the law when he got his own chat show. He’s hosted Radio 4’s Loose Ends since 2007, and seems to pop up everywhere, often in projects indulging his love of nature. ‘I was invited to appear on Springwatch earlier this year. I spent some time in one of the hides observing various birds. What struck me most was the huge variety of wildlife on offer.’
Clive is used to judging competitions, quite often involving books or short stories. But the Weekend wildlife photography contest will be virgin territory for a man who thrives on variety. ‘I’m looking forward enormously to casting my eye over some expert photographic images,’ he says. ‘It’s something I’ve never done before.’