Scotland Outdoors

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

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 River Findhorn, known as Bailiffs, about the type of people they catch poaching and the impact it can have on fish stocks.Helen Needham meets up with one of the Paperboats collective, Environmental Scientist and writer Sandy Winterbottom. The group are made up of Scotland based writers, artists and activists focussed on nature and environment and they are preparing to campaign outside the Scottish Parliament with a flotilla of paperboats.Mark is in Birnam as the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s first folio is celebrated. He chats to Dr Toria Johnson from Birmingham University about the true connections between Macbeth and the Birnam Oak.And Mark visits a community garden in Huntly where Deveron Projects have brought together artist Susie Dalton and the Huntly TOADS outdoor education group to build a shelter for the garden.

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

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 challenge and what’s on the cards for the future.A few weeks ago, a team of volunteers, including staff from the British Trust for Ornithology, headed up Schiehallion under the cover of darkness to try and ring ptarmigan. We’re joined live by Anthony Wetherhill who was part of the team to tell us more about these elusive birds.In 2021, Alex Moran and Mike Coppock completed the first ever non-stop Island Munros Triathlon. Rachel met up with Alex to find out what was involved in the challenge and how long it took them to complete.Rachels meets the Wobbly Cyclist, Karen Cox, who has been able to once again enjoy cycling after getting an e-bike. She tells Rachel about the importance of e-bikes in making the outdoors accessible to those with mobility issues.And following on from the recent storms, Mark heads to the coast to investigate the strange phenomenon of sea foam.

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

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 which is being considered by the Scottish Parliament just nowJoining Mark and Dr Kat Jones on their greenbelt walk was Ann Glen who tells Mark a bit about the history of the Monkland Canal and the importance of looking after these areas.And Rachel is in North Berwick where she hears the tragic story of a young artist, Catherine Watson who drowned after rescuing three children from the sea. Her story was almost forgotten until some of her artwork popped up in an unusual place.

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 climbs aboard the world’s largest seagoing paddle steamer, The Waverley, to hear about how this summer has seen record breaking passenger numbers in its almost 50 years of sailing.

Rachel Stewart presents Scotland Outdoors

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. For the past couple of years, Graham Warren, Professor of Archaeology at University College Dublin has spent a fortnight each summer carefully scraping away and sieving the soil in search of evidence of prehistoric hunter gatherers.There has been a Mill of Benholm in some form on the site in Aberdeenshire for hundreds of years. The current Mill was open to the public until 2014 and now a group has applied for a community asset transfer to take over the site from Aberdeenshire Council. Mark went for a visit to find out about the work they are doing and what their plans are for the future.We chat live to Linsay Chalmers from Community Land Scotland as they celebrate Community Land Week. There are now more than 700 projects and over half a million acres under community control in Scotland. We hear about some of the successes and events that are happening to mark them.Last year we heard from walking artist, Claudia Zeiske, as she travelled through Aberdeenshire collecting memories of the Covid lockdown and stitching them onto a pink tablecloth. A few weeks ago Maud Start caught up with her and a new tablecloth on a new journey called the Slow Coast 500.The Scottish Coastal Rowing Project was started in 2010, the idea behind it is for communities to build their own skiffs and get people out onto the water. There are now over 70 clubs across the county and Helen went to meet members of one of the newest based at Forfar Loch.

Helen Needham meets Graeme Warren and others during a dig in Glen Dee

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.Stuart Brooks, director of conservation and policy at the National Trust for Scotland explains the origins of the Trust and the conservation movement.And Dr Tom McKean from the Elphinstone Institute at Aberdeen University tells us about who was listening to the radio from across rural Scotland and the North East in particular, and what their lives were like.We also delve into the Aberdeen archives to get a flavour of what things sounded like in the 1930s and hear what conditions were like working in the early studios.Rachel visits the Highland Folk Museum to see what life was like in the 1920s bothy and how people lived and worked in a ‘farm toun’.And we hear from Professor Marjory Harper about the wave of emigration from the North East to places like Canada in the 1920s and the impact that made on rural communities.

Mark Stephen chats with deer farmer and author John Fletcher on his farm in Fife

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 the world. The site has been excavated for nearly 20 years but as Rachel finds out, next year will be the last dig for the foreseeable future. Archaeologists Anne Mitchell and Nick Card explain why.Renita Boyle is a storyteller who is fascinated by nature. As part of last week’s Wigtown Book Festival, she was holding poetry, story and art sessions which usually happen outside. However, as the weather put paid to that, Rachel found her indoors with a great view of the countryside.And with potatoes in our minds as schools head off on their tattie holidays, we hear about the importance of this crop to Scottish farming and culture.As the days get shorter, we’ll all be spending a bit more time in the dark. But how switched on are you to your local landscape at night? Ranger Elizabeth Tindall and writer Dan Richards were holding night walks at the Wigtown Book Festival to encourage people to explore more in the dark. They told Rachel about what sights and sounds you can encounter.

Rachel Stewart presents Scotland Outdoors

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 programme featuring hundreds of events and activities for all ages, including music, theatre, food and visual arts.Rachel chats to two women who have recently taken the plunge into writing books, endurance cyclist Jenny Graham and Helen Rebanks. Jenny tells her all about the different challenges writing brought compared to her round the world cycle. And Helen Rebanks explains how her and husband James manage their fell farm as well as a busy family life.In our midweek podcast Mark chats to mountaineer and former planner Bob Reid. We hear an excerpt where he explains to Mark how National Scenic Areas came to be created and what they actually are.Continuing our literary theme we chat live to Christina Riley, founder of the Nature Library. The pop up library tours the country and aims to connect people to the world around us.Long before it was fashionable environmentalist Roger Deakin was at the forefront of wild swimming. Rachel hears about his fascinating life from author Patrick Barkham who has written a new biography of Roger.Helen meets musician and composer Mhairi Hall at Loch Garten as she gathers sounds for the Underwater Cairngorm Project.And Rachel explores a secret garden that has opened its doors as part of the Wigtown Book Festival.

Mark Stephen chats with Planner and Mountaineer Bob Reid

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 there was significant concern over the future of the world’s largest colony of northern gannets on the Bass Rock. Rachel visits the Scottish Seabird Centre which looks out at the Bass Rock, to find out what the picture is now.Rachel meets two sisters involved in a project which finally hopes to shed new light on Equine grass sickness and what causes it.To tie in with World Rivers Day, The Rivers Trust is asking the public to record observations of rivers in the first Big River Watch. We chat live to James Hunt from the Tweed Foundation to hear how people can get involved and what information they are hoping to gather.As part of the Tall Ships Races earlier this summer, Maud Start spoke to the Peterson family onboard the Christiania, their retired rescue ship. We hear an excerpt from the Scotland Outdoors podcast where they tell her the history of the ship.Wind is not usually a good thing for outdoor activities however, land yachting is definitely the exception to that rule. Mark tries his hand at the speedy beach activity in St Andrews.Earlier this month the Edinburgh Riding of the Marches returned after an absence of three years. The event traces its roots to the historic riding of the boundaries of the city, which dates back to 1579. Stuart McFarlane went along to meet some of those taking part and capture some of the atmosphere.And Rachel is in Strathkinness in Fife visiting an iconic red phone box that has been given a new lease of life.

Maud Start meets the Peterson Family onboard the Christiania, their retired rescue ship.

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 the East Neuk. We hear an excerpt from Helen Needham’s upcoming Radio 4 programme, Crossing the Cuillin Mountains. In this two part series, the writer and mountaineer Robert Macfarlane attempts to complete the Cuillin Ridge. The expedition marks twenty years since his first book 'Mountains of the Mind'.Naturalist and environmental educator Dan Puplett has seen a big increase in the number of people keen to learn more about mammal tracks. Rachel heads out with him to see what she can identify through footprints and poo! We chat live to Rick Taylor, from the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project about the recent successful translocation of Golden Eagle chicks to the area as well as the upcoming Moffat Eagle Festival.Mark visits the Sighthill Stone Circle in Glasgow along with podcast maker Matthew Magee. Matthew has been exploring some of Scotland’s fascinating neolithic sites on his bike for his series Stone Me. He explains what makes Sighthill unique.Skein Dial is a new art installation created by Hannah Imlach at RSPB Loch Lomond. It is a migration sundial carefully calibrated to mark the seasonal arrival and departure of Greenland White-fronted geese. Mark takes a look and finds out how Hannah created it.And after his chat with Hannah, Mark continues his musings on geese and what their arrival at this time of year means for us.

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 has been bidding to make it the planet's first peatland with world heritage status. BBC Scotland’s environment correspondent Kevin Keane visits the Flows to find out more about what a UNESCO status would mean.Lapwings Community Mill near Stonehaven works with local farmers to grow quality cereals and mill nutritious, tasty flour. As Mark finds out, their aim is to produce local sustainable food that’s available to everyone.Next weekend Scotland’s first ever 'climate-themed' film festival is taking place in Montrose. We chat live to Rachel Caplan, chair of the LandXSea film festival to find out all about their programme of events and the special guests they have attending.Lots of us have been heading to the beach during this recent spell of good weather. But if you have mobility issues, getting onto the sand can be tricky. Rachel heads to Balmedie in Aberdeenshire to find out about a beach wheelchair project which is helping people with disabilities experience the seaside.Phil Sime visits the Tain Air Weapons Range which as well as being a MOD training ground, is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest. He finds out how firing practice and conservation go hand in hand on the site.There’s a buzz around Holyrood, Rachel visits the Scottish Parliament’s bee hives and hears how their population has increased since they were introduced in 2014.

Mark Stephen presents Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart present Scotland Outdoors.

Rachel Stewart meets Stephen Corcoran of the British Dragonfly Society at Insh Marshes

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors.

Helen Needham climbs Schiehallion with Soil Scientist Andrea Britton

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart present Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen presents Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with an audience at the Edinburgh Festival

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart present Scotland Outdoors

Rachel Stewart hears from women in the Tayside Mountain Rescue Team

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart bring stories from the Tall Ships Race in Lerwick

Mark Stephen presents Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart present Scotland Outdoors

Maud Start presents Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart present Scotland Outdoors

Rachel Stewart presents Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart present Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen presents Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors

Helen Needham discusses the Cairngorms and Nan Shepherd with writer Merryn Glover

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart bring you stories from the annual Royal Highland Show.

Mark Stephen presents Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great Scottish outdoors.

Rachel Stewart presents Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart present Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen presents Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart present Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen presents Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the Scottish Outdoors

Rachel Stewart visits a cycling club for girls in Alford, Aberdeenshire.