Growing up in a remote corner of the Scottish West Highlands, animals and nature have always been at the heart of Polly Pullar’s world. But an otherwise idyllic childhood was marred by family secrets which ultimately turned to tragedy. As her new book The Horizontal Oak is published, she tells us how the natural world has given her the strength to rebuild her life. There’s a single oak high on the flank of Ben Hiant, overlooking the Sound of Mull. I have known this resilient tree since my early child­hood. It’s in a place I love very much. Massaged by…

Polly Pullar tells the powerful story of a challenging personal journey, which had it not been for the restorative powers of nature, might have ended very differently. Words by Polly Pullar, Images by SCOTLAND: The Big Picture. It’s January, the season when a fox’s hormones fuel the urge to breed. At night I lie in bed and hear their eerie yattering as they wander on their nocturnal forays, their soundtrack accompanied by tawny owls – they too are preparing for breeding. The wood is also thick with the aroma of red deer.  My son Freddy and I are following a…