Will Johnny Scott succeed in shooting a Ben Loyal Macnab – a goose, a stag and a brownie – and be back at the lodge for dinner? The elements are…

The more he looks at it, the more Mike Yardley is impressed by a French gun made in the time-honoured way though with an intriguing bolt mechanism

Alan Titchmarsh was fascinated by nature from an early age. He talks to Caroline Bankes