ScotWays (Scottish Rights of Way and Access Society) have published the sixth edition of Scottish Hill Tracks in around 100 years. The book launches on Saturday 28th September. Over the last five years hundreds of volunteers have helped to compile the book. Mark meets with ScotWays Director Tim Simons to discuss the book and its importance. The importance of seed saving is increasingly being recognised across the world as a way of establishing resilience in the natural environment. It is also th...
Sep 28, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast A weaving of Ian's essay 'The Sacred Mountain' with a walk up Aberdeenshire's most prominent hill, Bennachie. As we pass through the Autumn Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, we offer an invitation to reflect on the changing of the seasons by visiting a special place.
Sep 25, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast With many parts of Scotland finally getting harvest underway, and planting for 2025 harvest being undertaken, NFU Scotland is asking growers to now complete its 31st consecutive annual harvest survey. Mark meets with Scott Campbell, North East representative on the NFUS Crops Committee, to chat about how the harvest has been so far and what the implications are further down the line. Helen Needham meets Gretchen Daily of the Natural Capital Project at Stanford University. A special festival gets...
Sep 21, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Helen Needham meets Gretchen Daily of the Natural Capital Project at Stanford University
Sep 18, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Phil Sime visits an RSPB reserve on North Uist where local crofters work alongside the charity to improve the habitat for birds including corncrake and Golden Eagle. Rachel is in Milton near Invergordon hearing about a rather impressive beech tree that has an important place in local history. She hears about efforts of the community woodland to help preserve it for future generations. The Forth Bridge is a railway bridge and a UNESCO world heritage site, and it never fails to impress Mark when h...
Sep 14, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 2023, Musician and Sound Artist Jenny Sturgeon spent 37 days walking the 864 km trail from Kirk Yetholm in the Borders to Cape Wrath in the North West Highlands. Along the way, she recorded sounds and wrote about her journey which have been mixed together for this podcast to produce an immersive and inspiring piece.
Sep 11, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast There was much celebration in Caithness a few weeks ago when it was announced that, after decades of planning and preparation, The Flow Country has been awarded UNESCO World Heritage Status. It’s the first in Scotland to be granted this status on purely natural criteria and is also the only peatbog in the world with World Heritage status. At one time, scything would have been common practice in Scotland, for making hay or harvesting crops. But, with the advent of machinery, land managers were no...
Sep 07, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dorothy Pilley was a pioneering climber who wrote of her adventures in the high peaks in her book 'Climbing Days' which was published in 1935. Thanks to the efforts of her great great nephew, Dan Richards, it has been republished. It contains vivid descriptions of her adventures around the globe and is testament to her personal strength and bravery as a woman breaking new ground in this domain.
Sep 04, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's time for the second Big River Watch of the year. It’s a chance to spend time observing the health of your local river between the 6th and 12th of September. The River Dee trust are taking part in the forthcoming survey and Keilidh Ewan, education and outreach officer for the trust gave Mark some more information. A new trial is underway in Scotland which could cut the harmful emissions associated with manure on farms. Two farmers are trying out a system called Bokashi which the Soil Associa...
Aug 31, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Stephen meets long distance walker Claudia Zeiske in Peterhead after the completion of her 220 km walk from the Cairngorns to the coast of Aberdeenshire. Along the way she has been collecting stories of the effect COVID had on the communities she passed through. In her rucksack has been a bright pink tablecloth which she has embroidered messages on and invited those she has met to sign
Aug 28, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Andrew O'Donnell is a natural history film maker but he's also a musician who records under the moniker of Beluga Lagoon. Maud Starts meets up Andrew on a river bank where they watch dippers and talk about his latest album
Aug 27, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast In January 2015, Margaret and Angus Mackenzie’s son Neil died in a climbing accident in Canada. Neil loved the outdoors, and to continue his memory, the couple set up a trust in his name to provide funding for those wanting to access outdoor pursuits. This year they’re undertaking a bit of a walking challenge as Mark found out when he went to meet them. Across the country, a growing number of citizen scientists are monitoring the state of our rivers. Rachel heads to the Clyde Valley to catch up ...
Aug 24, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Stephen visits Kenneth Steven at his home on Seil Island in Argyll
Aug 21, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Glenmore Lodge, the Scottish National Outdoor Training Centre, has recently established Scotland’s first hill navigation training course to be delivered in British Sign Language. One of those involved in setting it up was deaf climber and mountaineer Morag Skelton. Mark chatted to Morag for the Scotland Outdoors podcast, and we hear an excerpt where they speak about her childhood outdoors and the practicalities involved in climbing when you can’t hear. For our latest Scotland Outdoors podcast, R...
Aug 17, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Scottish gardening expert M.T O'Donnell talks about what measures people can take to make their gardens more appealing to nature. She shows Rachel Stewart around her own garden near Glasgow and discusses how to create useful habitats for wildlife and plant good food sources for birds and insects.
Aug 14, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart present Out of Doors live from Dynamic Earth as part of BBC at the Edinburgh Festivals. We are joined by an amazing panel of guests, all with their own connections to Scotland and the outdoors. James Crawford is a writer, publisher and broadcaster. His latest book, Wild History: Journeys Into Lost Scotland, was published in 2023 and he has written and presented three series of the BBC One landmark documentary series Scotland from the Sky, which was Shortlisted as ...
Aug 10, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Stephen meets Morag Skelton at Glenmore Lodge in the Cairngorms
Aug 07, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Scotland’s first new vet school in over 100 years has opened to applicants. Mark went to visit the School of Veterinary Medicine at Scotland’s Rural College in Aberdeen and spoke to the Dean, Professor Caroline Argo about how and why the school has been established. When you visit the Isle of Seil, one of the main visitor attractions is the An Cala Garden. The garden was created in the 1930s and Rachel was shown around by Sheila Downie who has owned it for the past 40 years. Earlier this month t...
Jul 20, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the early twentieth century, very few ospreys were breeding in Scotland. They had been persecuted for decades and their eggs stolen by collectors. In 1954, a pair successfully raised two chicks near Loch Garten which gave conservationists hope that they could return to Scotland as nesting birds. Operation Osprey was launched to protect them from those intent on raiding their nests, with volunteers watching the nest at Abernethy twenty four hours a day. It proved a difficult journey but sevent...
Jul 17, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast We are in East Lothian with Patricia Stephen, founder of Phantassie Organic Produce. They head out to the fields during pumpkin planting and chat about the growth in organic food and farming over recent years. Friday 12th July was the launch of this year’s Big Butterfly Count organised by the charity Butterfly Conservation. Mark met Apithanny Bourne, their East Scotland branch chair, at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to find out more about the count and see if they could spot the elusive Hol...
Jul 13, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rural Wales and rural Scotland face many of the same issues: a lack of affordable housing, limited opportunities for young people and the prospect of rewilding. In this podcast, Helen visits Welsh musician Owen Shiers who lives in a housing cooperative up a long steep track in West Wales. They discuss culture, trees, housing, farming and the nuances surrounding rewilding, and discover that there are many similarities between this area and Scotland.
Jul 10, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week Out of Doors is live from the village of Cullen in Moray. The village is popular with holiday makers over the summer months but it’s home to a thriving community all year round. Mark went for a wander to hear more about what people are up to. And we’re joined live by David McCubbin from Discover Cullen who tells us about what attracts visitors to the area. Rachel finds out that the Cullen we know now, is not the original Cullen. Two hundred years ago the village was demolished and rebu...
Jul 06, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rachel Stewart visits Tricia Stephen of Phantassie Organics in East Lothian
Jul 03, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast The 29th of June marks the beginning of swift awareness week. Mark meets Cally Fleming of the Huntly Swift Group at the Bennachie Centre to chat about these amazing birds. The beautiful garden at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre celebrates the Scottish plant explorers of the past. In recent years, a major project has been underway to restore the Explorers garden. Head gardener Caroline Bavey gives Rachel a tour. In the latest edition of Our Story, Mark visits Danish ceramicist Lotte Glob, one of t...
Jun 29, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Stephen visits Lotte Glob and learns about her deep connection to landscape and rock
Jun 26, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week Rachel has been at the Royal Highland Show at Ingliston just outside Edinburgh. One of the first places she headed to when she arrived was the goat tent. She meets some of the keepers as they got their animals ready for judging and met some goats with an Outlander connection. Mark visits the village of Ochiltree in East Ayrshire where the local community has established a heritage walk to highlight its fascinating history from the Bronze Age, its connections with James Boswell right th...
Jun 22, 2024•1 hr 23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Helen Needham goes for a walk in Aberfeldy with writer Linda Cracknell to discuss the new edition of her book 'Doubling Back'.
Jun 19, 2024•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Open Seas is a Scottish charity that focusses on protecting our marine environment and the things that live in it. A few weeks ago, Mark joined them in Skye where they were carrying out seabed surveys. While the weather didn’t play ball and they didn’t get out on their planned boat trip, the team did manage to show him the kind of footage they record and why it’s important in influencing the kinds of protection marine areas can get. Rachel is in Pitlochry where the Firebrand Theatre Company alon...
Jun 15, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rachel Stewart speaks to Artist in Residence Liz Myhill. The landscape and wildlife artist has been creating pieces based on her time at the Rahoy Hills Reserve in the Morven peninsula. It is managed by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and is widely regarded as being a unique and wild place. Her role is to raise awareness of the huge reserve and encourage people to visit and explore. She has spent several weeks on location, experiencing the different seasons and hopes her artwork will reflect the ric...
Jun 12, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rachel meets Peter Livingstone who has spent a decade campaigning to save the Aspen tree. Thanks to his hard work, numbers of Aspen in Renfrewshire have grown from single digits to thousands. He shows Rachel his nursery near Bishopton. Andrew O'Donnell is a natural history film maker and musician who records under the moniker of Beluga Lagoon. In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Maud Start meets up with Andrew on a river bank. We hear an excerpt where they watch dippers and talk about the ...
Jun 08, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
