Kelpies, Cold Water Dooking and Seaweed Pressing
Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors
Episodes
Scotland Outdoors
A topical guide to life in the Scottish outdoors.
Episodes
Mountain Tales - The Cuillins of Skye
Mark revisits a series of programmes he made in the early 2000s called Mountain Tales. The programmes feature Scotland's iconic hills and mountains and what it means to those who live and work in the area nearby. Mark finds out what the mountain range, the Cuillins of Skye mean to a mountain guide, climber, musician, geologist and sailor
Water Voles, Point to Point and Alloway's Giant Mural
Rachel is in East Lothian where local residents are campaigning for better access across the busy A1 road. For a considerable stretch there’s no official pedestrian crossing linking the villages close to Dunbar with the coast. And as Rachel sees, it’s a very busy road to try and cross as a cyclist or pedestrian. Mark visits Dean Castle in Kilmarnock and finds out about its fascinating history including being completely destroyed by fire before an impressive restoration in 2018. The Covid lockdow...
Music for Our Planet with Laura-Beth Salter and Ali Hutton
Helen Needham wanders around Glasgow Green with Laura-Beth Salter and Ali Hutton who have created a new album called 'From the Ground' as a response to climate change
Life on Mars, Boat Building and Rats
Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors
A new era at Mountaineering Scotland
Rachel Stewart speaks to Anne Butler, the new President of Mountaineering Scotland and newly appointed Chair Jo Dytch. The pair are the first women to hold the roles. During a walk up Glen Tilt near Blair Atholl, Rachel asks them about their aspirations in their new jobs and whether they think more females are taking to the hills.
Blood Sucking Leeches, Skittish Whales and Horse Gymnastics
In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Mark visits what is believed to be the UK’s largest urban farm. Lauriston Agroecology farm is on a hundred-acre site near Edinburgh Airport and is a hive of activity. Mark hears how the site has been developed so far. The Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie is well known for its polar bears, wildcats and over recent weeks, its monkeys. But as Rachel found out, it’s also home to an important conservation breeding programme for leeches. Not perhaps the m...
Creating Abundance at Lauriston Agroecology Farm in Edinburgh
Mark Stephen gets a tour of the UK's biggest urban farm from Lisa Houston
Shetland Sparrowhawks, Feral Pigs and an Art Deco Pavilion
Rachel heads to Fort Augustus for a chat with Cieran Watson from Forestry Land Scotland and Morag Milne from NatureScot about how they can manage the growing number of feral pigs living wild in the Scottish countryside. Mark meets Niall MacLeod who is part of the Loch Awe National Park committee to chat about their bid for Loch Awe to be a contender for Scotland’s next National Park. Over the winter, the Cairngorm Reindeers have been busy shedding their antlers. Rachel chats to one of the herder...
Rising from the Ashes - Transforming Dead Wood from Ash Dieback into Furniture
Mark Stephen speaks with furniture makers who are turning wood that has been affected by the ash dieback fungal disease into furniture and other objects.
Time for Tatties, Wooden Ships and the Art of Hedgelaying
Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors
Mountain Tales - Schiehallion
Mark Stephen visits Schiehallion in Perthshire. Known as the hill of the wee folk, Mark meets those who live nearby and finds out what the iconic hill means to them
Salmon, Osprey and a Self Build Plane
Mark heads to Turriff to attend the 2024 opening of the River Deveron. He hears from Richie Miller of the Deveron District Salmon Fishery Board as well as John Beattie, who officially opens the salmon season. Rachel visits warden Jim Hughes who is celebrating 25 years in post at the Balgavies Loch nature reserve in Angus, to chat about the most memorable moment of his career. It has been 6 years since the community buy-out of the Isle of Ulva in the Inner Hebrides. In the first episode of her po...
Galloway Scots Scriever
Rachel Stewart meets Susi Briggs, the newly appointed Scots Scriever. The National Library of Scotland revealed that Susi would be the Galloway Scots Scriever in November 2023. Susi is a poet, author, storyteller, musician and podcaster with a passion for the Scots language. In her new role, she will be tasked with creating original written work in Scots. Rachel visited her in Gatehouse of Fleet to find out how her local landscape and love of nature has inspired her creative work over the years....
Flamingos, Fedges and Newfoundland Rescue Dogs
If you added up all the land currently forming playgrounds and playing fields around Scotland’s schools, it would be roughly the same size as Dundee. Most of that is tarmac or grass cut short for sports but as Helen Needham discovered when she visited Levenmouth High School in Buckhaven in Fife, it’s possible for schools to use some of their land in a different way to improve biodiversity and benefit learning and wellbeing. Two rare needlework samplers thought to have been embroidered by Robert ...
Imbolc, Natural Burial and Swimming in Cellardyke
Mark visits Aviemore Bikes to hear about a scheme encouraging locals to take up the use of an e-bike free of charge. He hears who has been using them and why. This week’s Scotland’s Outdoors podcast features cellist Jessica Kerr telling Helen Needham about her project ‘Stories of People and Trees’. She’s been gathering stories relating to trees and has commissioned some new music inspired by them. We hear an excerpt where they admire the trees in Maxwell Park in Glasgow. Back in lockdown in 2020...
Stories and Music About People and Trees with Cellist Jessica Kerr
Helen Needham hears about some special trees from musician Jessica Kerr
Wildcats, Caves and a Honey Sommelier
Rachel ventures into the sea caves at East Wemyss in Fife to hear about how coastal erosion is threatening the Pictish carvings on their walls. Last summer, the Saving Wildcats project released 19 cats in the Cairngorms as part of efforts to prevent the species becoming extinct. Mark visits the Highland Wildlife Park where the next kittens that will be released have been bred, to hear about how the project is going. We’ve all heard of wine tasting but have you ever thought of giving honey tastin...
Honey tasting in Edinburgh
Rachel meets Dr Gino Jabbar from Simply Honey in Edinburgh. He is a honey producer and sommelier and runs classes introducing people to the art of honey tasting. He believes that honey is a "taste of the landscape" and there are marked differences in the taste of the product depending on the season and location of the bees. He invites Rachel to sample different products and explains how different plants and trees influence the taste.
Snow, River Management and the Perthshire Creative Trail
Perthshire is known for its big trees and stunning countryside, and it is also home to a large number of artists. Rachel hears about the Perthshire Creative Trail which has been established to encourage people to explore the great outdoors while soaking up some art at the same time. She meets one of the organisers and an artist involved. Mark meets Mike Scotland, the founder of Community cleanUP. The Aberdeen-based group organises litter-picks to clean up the city. But as Mark hears, starting to...
Down on the Farm with Perthshire Farmer Martin Kennedy
Mark and Martin discuss the various issues facing farmers in Scotland including river management, beavers, new entrants, the future of agricultural support and why farming is the best job in the world.
Winter in the Mountains, Willow Coffins and Puddles
Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors
A Green Pharmacy with Herbologist Catherine Conway-Payne at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh
Helen Needham visits the Physic Garden at the RBGE with Catherine Conway-Payne
Squirrels, Crannogs and the Taj Mahal of Arbroath
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 Wester...
Charlie Allan - A Tribute to a North East Man O' Pairts - Broadcaster, Writer, Farmer, Singer and Sportsman
Helen Needham with archive recordings from Charlie Allan
Bothy Culture - A Celebration of 70 Years of the Secret Howff
Mark Stephen hears tales of bothying including some very special cookery
Bothies, Dark Skies at Braemar and a Festive Tractor Parade
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
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 th...
Earth, Wind and Water
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. T...
Connecting With and Writing about Nature through Chronic Illness and Disability with Louise Kenward
Helen Needham speaks with writer Louise Kenward about the anthology 'Moving Mountains'