New National Parks, Green Cumbernauld and Meikle or Muckle...or even Puckle?
Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors
Episodes
Scotland Outdoors
A topical guide to life in the Scottish outdoors.
Episodes
Cider Making in the North East of Scotland
Mark Stephen meets Christian Stolte of the Wee Scottish Cider Company
Shining Guest Ants, Mushrooms and Coco Chanel
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...
Living Off Grid in a Family Hut in Argyll with Peter MacQueen the Highland Hutter
Mark Stephen visits the family hut of Peter and Graham MacQueen in Argyll
Trees, Permaculture and Hutting
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 t...
Creating a Food Forest on the Side of a Hill in Aberdeenshire
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
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 rou...
River Dee Damsels
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
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 photographe...
How to Winter Well
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
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 bee...
Clyde Valley Orchards, Pumpkins and the Paddle Steamer, The Waverley
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 ...
Cairngorms Connect Deer Project
Rachel Stewart presents Scotland Outdoors
A 12th Century Flour Mill, Forfar Loch Skiffs and Hunter Gatherer Archaeology
Helen visits a mobile laboratory in St Andrews as it travels around various European coastlines to explore coastal habitats and collect samples from the soil, water and air to assess things like pollution. Mark chats to John Fletcher, the first person to set up a commercial deer farm in Scotland back in the 1970s. As well as being a farmer, John is a vet and an author and he tells Mark what it was that first interested him in red deer. Helen heads to Glen Dee to meet a group of archaeologists. F...
An Adventure in Archaeology in the Cairngorms Unearthing 10,000 Years of Human Activity in the Mountains
Helen Needham meets Graeme Warren and others during a dig in Glen Dee
100 Years of BBC Aberdeen
Out of Doors celebrates 100 years of BBC Aberdeen. This week we have a special programme looking back at what life was like in rural communities in 1923, how people enjoyed the outdoors and the early forms of conservation. We’re joined by author and broadcaster Graham Stewart who tells us about the origins of broadcasting in Aberdeen. Paula Williams from the National Library of Scotland tells us about how people used the outdoors for recreation in the 1920s and the growth of mountaineering. Stua...
A Life with Deer, Rewilding and Donating a Kidney with John Fletcher
Mark Stephen chats with deer farmer and author John Fletcher on his farm in Fife
The Humble Tattie, Dundee Botanic Garden and the Ness of Brodgar
Throughout the programme we hear from Dr Kevin Frediani, curator of Dundee Botanic Garden. Kevin is very much in favour of letting nature do its own thing and Mark hears how he has managed to put that into practice in the garden. He also tells Mark about his drive to find a net zero path for the upkeep of the gardens and grounds while looking after a huge array of plants from all around the world. Rachel visits the Ness of Brodgar in Orkney, one of the most significant neolithic settlements in t...
The Ness of Brodgar Archaeological Site in Orkney
Rachel Stewart presents Scotland Outdoors
Books, Birds and Underwater Bugs
Helen heads to Inchgarth Reservoir on the outskirts of Aberdeen to meet Ian Broadbent, Local Bird Reporter for the North East, who tells her why recent bad weather in the USA has meant some new arrivals on our shores. He also tells her about the work that has been carried out at Inchgarth to improve the habitat for Snipe and Jack Snipe. Earlier this week Rachel visited the Wigtown Book Festival. Established in 1999, the festival has gone from strength to strength and now offers a ten day program...
Bob Reid on WH Murray and National Scenic Areas
Mark Stephen chats with Planner and Mountaineer Bob Reid
Land Yachting, Edinburgh Common Riding and the Big River Watch
Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets which are used to make many everyday items. However, tonnes of them end up being washed up on our beaches posing a threat to wildlife. Rachel finds out about the Great Nurdle Hunt, a campaign to highlight the issues microplastics cause. Mark visits Pitmedden Garden in Aberdeenshire and has a nosey around their orchards as they gear up to celebrate Apple Day this weekend. Avian Flu has caused the deaths of thousands of seabirds along our coastline. Last summer the...
Three Generations and a Sunken Ship
Maud Start meets the Peterson Family onboard the Christiania, their retired rescue ship.
Geese Sculpture, a Modern Stone Circle and Crossing the Cuillin Mountains
Founded by Jordan Grant after he was inspired as a teenager to turn his life around, Glasgow Garden Maintenance is now offering an apprenticeship scheme for aspiring tree surgeons. Mark meets Jordan and a former apprentice to hear about how the business has gone from strength to strength supporting young people into new careers along the way. Rachel visits the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther and takes a look at one of their exhibitions- The Long Haul: a generational study of fishing in t...
Auchtermuchty Common, Holyrood Bees and a Micro Flour Mill
Rachel looks for dolphins at Spey Bay with Alison Rose from the Scottish Dolphin Centre and hears about their Shorewatch programme. In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Mark explores Dr Neil’s Garden in Duddingston in Edinburgh. We hear from head gardener Claudia Pottier as she shows Mark this incredible secret space. The Flow Country stretches across Caithness and Sutherland and contains the most extensive blanket bog system in the world. In recognition of its global significance, a team h...
Dr Neil's Garden at Duddingston, Edinburgh
Mark Stephen presents Scotland Outdoors
Jock Tamson's Gairden, Shetland Ponies, Beachcombing and a Doocot
Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart present Scotland Outdoors.
In Search of the Northern Damselfly
Rachel Stewart meets Stephen Corcoran of the British Dragonfly Society at Insh Marshes
Model Railways, Mini Submarines and Bamboo Bikes
Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors.
Sampling the Soils of Schiehallion
Helen Needham climbs Schiehallion with Soil Scientist Andrea Britton