Scotland Outdoors
558 episodes - English - Latest episode: 21 days ago - ★★★★★ - 211 ratingsA topical guide to life in the Scottish outdoors.
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Episodes
Rain, Lambing, Badgers and more Rain
April 06, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 77.7 MBIn this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Mark chats with Landward’s Cammy Wilson about his sheep-farming career. We hear an excerpt where Cammy is telling Mark the story of Fiona, the 'world’s loneliest sheep'. Killiechassie Burial Ground near Aberfeldy holds just six graves, five of which are covered over with recumbent flat slabs. For years, it was allowed to become neglected but in the 1990s, the Breadalbane Heritage Society started to take an interest and discovered that it not only da...
Ayrshire Farmer Cammy Wilson shares his Passion for Sheep
April 03, 2024 11:00 - 20 minutes - 18.6 MBMark Stephen visits Youtuber and TV presenter Cammy Wilson on his farm in Ayrshire
Kelpies, Cold Water Dooking and Seaweed Pressing
March 30, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 76.9 MBMark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors
Mountain Tales - The Cuillins of Skye
March 27, 2024 12:00 - 27 minutes - 24.8 MBMark 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
March 23, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 75.3 MBRachel 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 l...
Music for Our Planet with Laura-Beth Salter and Ali Hutton
March 20, 2024 14:00 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBHelen 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
March 16, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 76.9 MBMark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors
A new era at Mountaineering Scotland
March 13, 2024 12:00 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBRachel 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
March 09, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 74.8 MBIn 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 ...
Creating Abundance at Lauriston Agroecology Farm in Edinburgh
March 06, 2024 12:00 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBMark Stephen gets a tour of the UK's biggest urban farm from Lisa Houston
Shetland Sparrowhawks, Feral Pigs and an Art Deco Pavilion
March 02, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 76.6 MBRachel 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 ...
Rising from the Ashes - Transforming Dead Wood from Ash Dieback into Furniture
February 28, 2024 12:00 - 23 minutes - 22 MBMark 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
February 24, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 76.8 MBMark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors
Mountain Tales - Schiehallion
February 21, 2024 12:00 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBMark 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
February 17, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 76 MBMark 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 ...
Galloway Scots Scriever
February 14, 2024 12:00 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MBRachel 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 y...
Flamingos, Fedges and Newfoundland Rescue Dogs
February 10, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 76.3 MBIf 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 Ro...
Imbolc, Natural Burial and Swimming in Cellardyke
February 03, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 77.7 MBMark 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 i...
Stories and Music About People and Trees with Cellist Jessica Kerr
January 31, 2024 12:00 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBHelen Needham hears about some special trees from musician Jessica Kerr
Wildcats, Caves and a Honey Sommelier
January 27, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 76.6 MBRachel 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 ...
Honey tasting in Edinburgh
January 24, 2024 12:00 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MBRachel 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
January 20, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 75 MBPerthshire 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, starti...
Down on the Farm with Perthshire Farmer Martin Kennedy
January 17, 2024 12:00 - 29 minutes - 27 MBMark 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
January 13, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 77.6 MBMark 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
January 10, 2024 12:00 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBHelen Needham visits the Physic Garden at the RBGE with Catherine Conway-Payne
Squirrels, Crannogs and the Taj Mahal of Arbroath
January 06, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 74.1 MBMark 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 ...
Charlie Allan - A Tribute to a North East Man O' Pairts - Broadcaster, Writer, Farmer, Singer and Sportsman
January 03, 2024 12:00 - 32 minutes - 30 MBHelen Needham with archive recordings from Charlie Allan
Bothy Culture - A Celebration of 70 Years of the Secret Howff
December 27, 2023 12:00 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MBMark Stephen hears tales of bothying including some very special cookery
Bothies, Dark Skies at Braemar and a Festive Tractor Parade
December 23, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 74.7 MBMark 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
December 20, 2023 12:00 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBThe 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 du...
Earth, Wind and Water
December 16, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 73.6 MBMark 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 care...
Connecting With and Writing about Nature through Chronic Illness and Disability with Louise Kenward
December 13, 2023 12:00 - 26 minutes - 24.7 MBHelen Needham speaks with writer Louise Kenward about the anthology 'Moving Mountains'
New National Parks, Green Cumbernauld and Meikle or Muckle...or even Puckle?
December 09, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 77.2 MBMark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors
Cider Making in the North East of Scotland
December 06, 2023 12:00 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBMark Stephen meets Christian Stolte of the Wee Scottish Cider Company
Shining Guest Ants, Mushrooms and Coco Chanel
December 02, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 73.8 MBRachel 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 ...
Living Off Grid in a Family Hut in Argyll with Peter MacQueen the Highland Hutter
November 29, 2023 12:00 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBMark Stephen visits the family hut of Peter and Graham MacQueen in Argyll
Trees, Permaculture and Hutting
November 25, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 76.3 MBEarlier 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 ...
Creating a Food Forest on the Side of a Hill in Aberdeenshire
November 22, 2023 12:00 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBHelen 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
November 18, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 76.3 MBRachel 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 walki...
River Dee Damsels
November 15, 2023 13:00 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBRachel 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
November 11, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 75.8 MBOn 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 photo...
How to Winter Well
November 08, 2023 12:00 - 21 minutes - 19.2 MBMark 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
November 04, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 77.8 MBMark 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...
Clyde Valley Orchards, Pumpkins and the Paddle Steamer, The Waverley
October 28, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 77.2 MBMark 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 nu...
Cairngorms Connect Deer Project
October 25, 2023 11:00 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MBRachel Stewart presents Scotland Outdoors
A 12th Century Flour Mill, Forfar Loch Skiffs and Hunter Gatherer Archaeology
October 21, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 77 MBHelen 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 archaeologi...
An Adventure in Archaeology in the Cairngorms Unearthing 10,000 Years of Human Activity in the Mountains
October 18, 2023 11:00 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBHelen Needham meets Graeme Warren and others during a dig in Glen Dee
100 Years of BBC Aberdeen
October 14, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 78.2 MBOut 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...
A Life with Deer, Rewilding and Donating a Kidney with John Fletcher
October 11, 2023 11:00 - 23 minutes - 21.7 MBMark 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
October 07, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 69.5 MBThroughout 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 settlement...