Scotland Outdoors

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Synopsis

Your free, weekly, pocket guide to the Scottish outdoors. A flavour of the countryside in 15 minutes! From BBC Radio Scotland

Episodes

  • A Green Pharmacy with Herbologist Catherine Conway-Payne at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh

    10/01/2024 Duration: 29min

    Helen Needham visits the Physic Garden at the RBGE with Catherine Conway-Payne

  • Squirrels, Crannogs and the Taj Mahal of Arbroath

    06/01/2024 Duration: 01h20min

    Mark is in Hazlehead Park in Aberdeen hearing how the team from Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is working to remove the grey squirrel population from the city.In June 2021 fire destroyed the replica Iron Age Crannog on Loch Tay. In the years since, the Scottish Crannog Centre has moved location to the other side of the loch and the team has been working to create a new replica Iron Age village. Rachel went to see their progress and explore the new site.The Memorial Chapel in Arbroath’s Western cemetery was designed by Patrick Allan-Fraser, who established the town’s Hospitalfield House as a centre for arts and crafts, as a memorial to his late wife Elizabeth and her parents. It’s a striking building but has never been used to its full potential. Laura Guthrie goes for a visit and hears how the Hospitalfield House team hope to use it.We continue to hear from each of the areas vying to be given National Park status. This week Mark is in Pitlochry hearing about the bid for the Tay Forest National Park.The recen

  • Charlie Allan - A Tribute to a North East Man O' Pairts - Broadcaster, Writer, Farmer, Singer and Sportsman

    03/01/2024 Duration: 32min

    Helen Needham with archive recordings from Charlie Allan

  • Bothy Culture - A Celebration of 70 Years of the Secret Howff

    27/12/2023 Duration: 30min

    Mark Stephen hears tales of bothying including some very special cookery

  • Bothies, Dark Skies at Braemar and a Festive Tractor Parade

    23/12/2023 Duration: 01h21min

    Mark uncovers tales from the secret howff bothy in the Cairngorms. Mark and Rachel explore the dark skies in the hills above Braemar and Rachel finds out the lengths farmers go to to decorate their tractors for a festive run through the streets of Inverurie

  • Cinasium Soundscape

    20/12/2023 Duration: 16min

    The twin brothers behind the music project Kinbrae were commissioned to make a soundscape of an unusual building at Crail Airfield in Fife as part of the East Neuk Festival in 2023. The building was called a cinasium - a cross between a cinema and a gym. This was the social hub for the airfield when it was still active during World War Two. Andy and Mike Truscott used field recordings and created their own sounds, without using samples, to replicate the audio that would have been heard during the war years and beyond. Their recording includes the testimony of two local residents who remember the air raid sirens and fighting off the Fife coast. The soundscape was played on speakers during the festival - bringing the building back to life through the power of the creative audio.

  • Earth, Wind and Water

    16/12/2023 Duration: 01h20min

    Mark visits Alex Brewster at his farm near Pitlochry. Ten years ago, Alex changed his approach to farming to a more regenerative one, conserving and rehabilitating the soil. He shows Mark the impact that change has made to his land and explains how it all happened.Lake District climber Anna Taylor became the first woman to complete the 'classic rock' challenge all under her own steam. She tells Rachel about how she cycled between the routes on the challenge and more about her climbing career.The Cairngorm Gliding Club, located near Kingussie, has been going for nearly 60 years. Rachel heads for a visit and of course, a flight in a glider, to see what attracts people to taking to the skies.Bad weather can certainly have an impact on how we feel mentally, but what about our physical health? Writer and psychologist Louise Kenward has put together an anthology of nature writing from the point of view of people living with disability and chronic illness. She spoke to Helen Needham for the Scotland Outdoors podcast

  • Connecting With and Writing about Nature through Chronic Illness and Disability with Louise Kenward

    13/12/2023 Duration: 26min

    Helen Needham speaks with writer Louise Kenward about the anthology 'Moving Mountains'

  • New National Parks, Green Cumbernauld and Meikle or Muckle...or even Puckle?

    09/12/2023 Duration: 01h24min

    Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors

  • Cider Making in the North East of Scotland

    06/12/2023 Duration: 19min

    Mark Stephen meets Christian Stolte of the Wee Scottish Cider Company

  • Shining Guest Ants, Mushrooms and Coco Chanel

    02/12/2023 Duration: 01h20min

    Rachel is on Deeside where a rare and elusive ant which hadn’t been spotted in the area for over 70 years has been rediscovered in large numbers. She hears from the man who found it.And Rachel also chats to Dr Jenni Stockan, an insect ecologist at the James Hutton Institute who confirmed the ant discovery. She explains the process of identifying insects.We hear an excerpt from this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast which features author Peter MacQueen. Peter’s family have a hut in Argyll but to get there, you have to cross a stretch of water by boat or canoe. Mark heads out to visit the hut with Peter and his Dad.Dundee Museum of Transport is on a major fundraising drive to make their planned new home weather tight. The museum has major plans for the old Maryfield tram depot but before work to relocate can take place, Mark hears about the maintenance they need to carry out.We have not one but two rare insects on the programme this week as we also hear about the discovery of medicinal leeches in Dumfries and Ga

  • Living Off Grid in a Family Hut in Argyll with Peter MacQueen the Highland Hutter

    29/11/2023 Duration: 21min

    Mark Stephen visits the family hut of Peter and Graham MacQueen in Argyll

  • Trees, Permaculture and Hutting

    25/11/2023 Duration: 01h23min

    Earlier this week Mark went along to Agriscot, a farm business event held at Ingliston just outside Edinburgh. He spoke to Bob Carruth from NFU Scotland about who attends and what the topics were up for debate.Green woodworking involves making things out of unseasoned or unprocessed wood using only hand tools. It’s a method which appears to be growing in popularity as Rachel found out when she met green woodworker Aaron Sterritt near Forres.Helen Needham visits James Reid of Tap O' Noth Farm to hear about his approach to farming. He uses a method called permaculture, which focuses on the harmonious integration of landscape and peopleMark is in Perthshire- Big Tree Country- exploring the Dunkeld Tree Trail as we mark National Tree Week.And joining us live to tell us more about National Tree Week is Jon Stokes from The Tree Council who run the week and are marking 50 years of planting trees.While he was at Agriscot Mark met Euan Bone from Glenkiln Farm on Arran whose family had just won the Champion of Champion

  • Creating a Food Forest on the Side of a Hill in Aberdeenshire

    22/11/2023 Duration: 25min

    Helen Needham visits James Reid of Tap O' Noth Farm to hear about his approach to farming

  • Paper Boats, Shakespeare in Scotland and The Huntly Toads

    18/11/2023 Duration: 01h23min

    Rachel tries her hand at angling with the Dee Damsels. The group was set up by Tara Spiers to support women who were keen to learn more about fly fishing. Mark returns to the Greenmyres Eco Bothy run by the Huntly Development Trust. He gets an update on the work they’ve done on the site so far including walking and cycling trails plus hears about their plans for the future. Stretching nearly 80 miles from Fort William to Inverness, the Great Glen Way is one of Scotland’s most popular walking routes. However, part of the route is currently closed due to forestry operations as producer Phil Sime found out. We chat live to forecaster Judith Ralston about a new BBC Scotland documentary- Scotland's Weather- Our Changing Seasons. Poaching is seen by some as a victimless crime but as Rachel finds out, that is far from the case. She meets Police Wildlife Crime Liaison Officer for the North East, Hannah Corbett who explains the issues caused by poachers. And she also chats to two of the people who look after the R

  • River Dee Damsels

    15/11/2023 Duration: 27min

    Rachel Stewart meets some of those trying to encourage more women to take up angling on the River Dee in Aberdeenshire.

  • A Munro Triathlon, a Year in a Kayak and a Wobbly Cyclist

    11/11/2023 Duration: 01h22min

    On this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast Mark finds out about a project called Light is a Right – How to Winter Well. Glasgow University researchers have been looking into different things that might help us cope with the long, dark winter days. They explain to Mark what’s been involved in their research. Rachel is in Ayrshire meeting the Wednesday Weekday Volunteers who are always happy to roll their sleeves up and get to work at the Gailes Marsh Nature Reserve near Irvine. Wildlife photographer John Speirs shows Mark that you don’t have to venture far away from the busy streets of Oban to spot some interesting bird and wildlife. Kayaker Nick Ray hit the headlines earlier this year when he completed his yearlong paddle around the coast of Scotland. Nick’s appeared on Out of Doors quite a few times in the past to tell us about his kayaking adventures as well as his struggles with his mental health. Mark caught up with him on Mull, where he lives, to find out what he’s been up to since he finished his chall

  • How to Winter Well

    08/11/2023 Duration: 21min

    Mark Stephen finds out how to winter well over the next few months. He meets a group of academics from Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities looking into the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder and discovers what can be done to improve winter depression

  • Willow, Pigs and the Future of Farming

    04/11/2023 Duration: 01h25min

    Mark visits Deeside Willow to hear all about how to grow this versatile plant and its many uses. He also tries his hand at some willow sculpting. The Future Forest Company has transformed a former sheep farm in Ayrshire with the help of some rather interesting pigs. Rachel went to visit the Brodoclea site to hear about the organisation’s aims and what role their Mangalica pigs have played. Dr Kat Jones is director of the charity Action to Protect Rural Scotland. For the last few months she’s been walking the Glasgow Greenbelt to raise awareness of these often forgotten areas. Mark joined her for a wander along part of the greenbelt near Airdrie. Phil is in Cromarty to see the impact Storm Babet has had on a popular coastal path in the village. He hears how the community council plan to repair and future proof the route. Helen Needham meets Professor Roger Crofts at a climate conference at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. They chat about the much anticipated Agriculture and Rural Communities Bill whic

  • Clyde Valley Orchards, Pumpkins and the Paddle Steamer, The Waverley

    28/10/2023 Duration: 01h24min

    Mark hears about how Atlantic salmon will soon be able to access parts of the River Dee for the first time in a century following the removal of Garlogie Dam. Linda visits the Clyde Valley to hear about how a group of enthusiasts are reviving the orchards that once dominated the area. Rachel heads into the hills of the Inshriach National Nature Reserve in the Cairngorms to hear about a major new study which has recently been published looking at the relationship between controlling deer numbers and woodland restoration. Mark hears about the fascinating history of the oldest beam engine in Scotland that was once responsible for powering Garlogie Mill. Producer Phil goes pumpkin picking in the Highlands to hear about how climate change has affected this year’s harvest. We chat live to Vivian Bisset, a National Trust for Scotland Ranger about post-storm clean up and the impact that Storm Babet has had on nature in the North East. Rachel hears all about a Pictish-inspired Millennial stone in Fife. Linda cl

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