Afleveringen
-
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 the founders of the Balnakeil Craft Village near Durness. Mark takes a wander around her Sculpture Croft on the shores of Loch Eriboll.
Every year, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust publishes a watchlist which gives an indication of how our native breeds are faring. Rachel meets up with some farmers who keep rare native sheep at the Highland Show, Denise Playfair and Johnathan James, as well as Steve McMinn from RBST in Scotland.
It seems that we have been aware of less insects in our gardens and in the wild this June, but why is this? Craig Macadam of Buglife joins us live to discuss the reasons for the decline of insects in Scotland and what we can do about it.
Every year, more and more people are signing up to the Shorewatch scheme, a citizen science project run by the marine charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation. Rachel joins Shorewatch Coordinator Katie Dyke and two seasoned spotters Gary Fahey and Ronnie Mackie at the top of the Burghead visitor centre to learn about the scheme while also watching out for dolphins.
Producer Helen Needham’s series for BBC Radio 3, Dig Where You Stand, has been on this week. The series involves five musicians from the Celtic Nations unearthing old tunes and songs from specific places. We hear from Allan Henderson, a multi instrumentalist originally from Mallaig, as he shares a story and a tune called Dalshangie that he learnt from his fiddle teacher, Aonghas Grant.
Mark visits Blackthorn Salt in Ayrshire to visit the impressive Salt Evaporation Tower. He meets Master Salter Gregorie to find out more about the business and the process behind making the salt.
-
Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
-
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 through to its role in mining in the 1950s. Billy Cooper showed Mark around.
In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast Helen Needham headed out for a walk with author Linda Cracknell. It’s ten years since she published her first book about walks she’d done around the world, and to mark that anniversary she’s added a new chapter about the Flow Country. She tells Helen about her experience of that remote part of Scotland.
Last year, competitors from around the world attended the Golden Shears sheep shearing world championships at the Royal Highland Show. This year, a ladies competition is being held at the Highland for the first time. Rachel went along to meet one of those taking part and shearing steward Bruce Lang.
The National Museum of Scotland is curating an exhibition which will open in July looking at Scotland’s important role during the Cold War. Our location and geography meant the country played both a visible and invisible role. Mark meets curator Dr Meredith Greiling at the National Museum of Flight to hear more.
Back at the Royal Highland Show Rachel visits agricultural charity RSABI’s health hut. The hut offers basic checks of things like blood pressure and nurse Irene Scott tells Rachel about its important role in reaching those who might be reluctant to visit their GP.
Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority is introducing a bus pilot. The bus will run between Aberfoyle and Callander during the peak summer months and will stop at several popular visitor locations on the route, including Loch Katrine, Ben A’an and Ben Venue. We’re joined live by park Chief Executive Gordon Watson to tell us more about the new buses and sustainability across the park.
And we end the programme on a musical note as Rachel meets members of the Farmers Choir at the Royal Highland Show. The group enjoy getting together for a sing song while raising money for good causes and they give Rachel a taste of their
-
Helen Needham goes for a walk in Aberfeldy with writer Linda Cracknell to discuss the new edition of her book 'Doubling Back'.
-
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 along with the Festival Theatre are staging a play all about naturalist and poet Nan Shepherd: Naked and Unashamed. She hears about how the play came together and the extraordinary legacy of Nan.
Wigtown is now well known across Scotland and the wider literary world as Scotland’s Book Town. It’s a title it has held since 1998 and since the first festival in 1999, the town has seen its prospects transformed. Mark met up with Anne Barclay from the festival company to hear about the positive changes in the town over the past 25 years.
Rachel heads out on a coastal foraging walk as part of the 2024 Moray Walking and Outdoor Festival which kicks off this weekend. Forager Daniel shows her some of the things that can be found along the coastline from plants to seaweeds, foods and medicine.
By the time Out of Doors is broadcast, Scotland will have played Germany in the opening match of Euro 2024. For the past few days Scotland fans have been arriving in Munich and the town is covered in tartan and saltires. But what is the origin of the white cross on a blue background? Mark visits the Scottish Flag Trust at Athelstaneford in East Lothian to find out more.
The story of modern whaling in the Southern Hemisphere is a controversial one. Many British companies played a key role in the industry, and they had a largely Scottish workforce. A project is underway to collect the memories of those who worked in the industry and their families before it’s too late. We chat live to Helen Balfour from the Whalers’ Memory Bank to find out more about the project.
A couple of weeks ago the last seagoing paddle steamer in the world, The Waverley, made its first ever visit to Ullapool. Our news colleague in Inverness Stephen Macleod went along to experience the excitement.
In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Rachel speaks to Artist in Residence at the Rahoy Nature Reserve, Liz Myhill. Her role is to raise awareness of the huge reserve and encourage people to visit and explore. We hear an excerpt.
More than 130 years ago two men began a years' long adventure to discover, climb and map Skye's famous Black Cuillin. Professor Norman Collie was a scientist and John Mackenzie was a local mountain guide. The unlikely pair are considered among the greatest pioneering mountaineers of their time and in 2020 after several years of fundraising, a statue was erected in their memory. Mark went to visit it in Sligachan and hear Collie and Mackenzie’s story.
-
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 rich diversity of plant and animal life which can be found there. During her residency, she has been assisted by Steve Hardy who has been the ranger at the site for more than twenty years. His recordings of nature captured at Rahoy feature in the podcast.
-
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 nature themes in his music.
Last week on Out of Doors we heard about how busy the island of Skye is all year round with tourists. While Mark was visiting, he took time to seek out a quieter style of tour with Mark Purrett from Skye Geography Tours. He took Mark to a less popular location and told him about the geography of the island.
It’s osprey watching season and as always, there have been highs and lows at the various nesting sites around the country. Rachel visits the RSPB’s Loch Garten where they have had no shortage of drama this year. Ranger Jess Tomes tells her more.
You might remember a few months, ago Mark went for a walk with Dr Kat Jones, Director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland, who had undertaken a challenge to walk Glasgow’s Greenbelt. Well she’s just completed her walks, so Mark went back to catch up with her to find out how it had gone.
Later this year the BBC Food and Farming Awards will be held in Scotland. And here on Out of Doors alongside our TV colleagues at Landward, we are launching The BBC Scotland Local Food Hero award. Joining us to tell us more is presenter of Radio 4’s Food Programme, Sheila Dillon.
Rachel is back at the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Rahoy Nature Reserve where ranger Steve Hardy lets her listen to some of the recordings he’s made of the amazing wildlife that makes its home in Rahoy.
We catch up with the incredible Ethan Walker, who just nine months after suffering horrific injuries when he was hit by a car, is cycling to Munich for Euro 2024. We chat to Ethan live to see how far he’s managed to travel in a week.
And as the country marks the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings, Mark is in Garlieston in Dumfries and Galloway where crucial parts of the invasion infrastructure were tested.
-
Rachel visits the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Montrose Basin reserve in Angus where a group of nursery children were out exploring the mudflats to see what beasties they could find. She speaks to nursery and reserve staff about the importance of getting young kids involved in nature.
Isle Martin is a small island just three miles off the coast of Ullapool. It’s had many uses over the years including a herring station, a flour mill and a bird reserve. It’s now in community ownership and recently Mark went for a visit for the Scotland Outdoors podcast. One of the community trust directors Lesley Strachan took him for a tour and told him about their plans.
It started as a lockdown project and has since become a big hit on social media. Aberdeenshire walks is a site promoting good routes and attractions for those eager to explore the area. Rachel went out for a walk with one half of the couple behind it, Anna Gill, to hear about how it all started and about their recent singles walks!
The Fairy Pools on Skye have become a bucket list destination for tourists from right across the globe. However, that popularity had begun to cause issues with overcrowding. Recently as part of the Skye Iconic Sites Project, work was carried out to create car parking and toilet facilities at the fairy pools. Mark went to see the changes and hear from those involved in the project about the difference it has made, as well as chatting to some of the visitors from places as far away as Dubai and India.
And sticking with tourist hotspots, we’re joined live by Dr Guillem Colom-Montero from Glasgow University who has carried out research into the parallels between Skye and the Scottish Highlands, and the Spanish island of Majorca. We chat to him about how tourism can be managed to benefit both visitors and those who live and work in popular destinations.
The Rahoy reserve in the Morvern Peninsula is run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and as well as being one of their largest reserves, it’s also one of the most biodiverse in the country. Rachel headed out for a walk with ranger Steve Hardy to see what they could spot.
Why are the Fairy Pools on Skye so popular? Where does the legend of fairies come from and are they really a magical place? Catherine MacPhee is an archivist at the Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre, and she busts some myths on the history of the picturesque location.
18-year-old Ethan Walker from Auchnagatt is about to embark on an incredible bike trip from Hampden Park to Munich for the Euros. It’s over 1,000 kilometres in total which is a big achievement for anyone, but even more so for Ethan who was run over in an horrific accident in New York State whilst over there on a football scholarship. Earlier this week Mark caught up with him and his mum, Jaclyn ahead of his trip and heard all about his incredible recovery journey
-
Mark Stephen visits Isle Martin which forms part of the Summer Isles lying north of Ullapool in Wester Ross. The island is owned by a community trust and one of it's directors, Lesley Strachan shows Mark round the island
-
Rachel visits Fairhill Rise, an education centre in East Lothian which is part of the Ruskin Mill Trust. The centre provides outdoor learning and activities for those with autism and additional needs. Rachel meets the manager and hears about their work.
Ahead of World Otter Day this coming Wednesday, Mark visits International Otter Survival Fund in Broadford on Skye to hear about the work they carry out across the world and meet some of the otters they have in their care.
Over the past couple of weeks folk singer Kirsty Law has been walking along the route of the River Tweed. Her Meander tour has seen her meet other musicians along the way and stop to perform gigs as she goes. Maud Start went to catch up with her near Innerleithen.
Mark joins a bike bus in Edinburgh- a safe way for kids to cycle to school. He hears from the organiser Jarlath Flynn about where the idea comes from and sees first hand how they work. He also chats to some of the children and their parents about the benefits of cycling to school.
Soil Association Scotland and other groups have been carrying out crop trials to see which varieties of flax might grow best in Scotland. Rachel visits Lauriston Farm near Edinburgh who are part of the project to see the process of sowing the flax. And she meets Rosie Bristow from Fantasy Fibre Mill who has been using flax to make yarn and then linen.
There seem to be a lot of dandelions on the go at the moment, with many gardeners cursing their presence in their lawns. However, the humble dandelion actually has many great properties so perhaps we shouldn’t be quite so quick to pull it out. We chat live to M.T. O’Donnell, founder and editor of Scotland Grows Magazine about the benefits of the dandelion.
And in our latest Scotland Outdoors podcast Mark spent some time at the Chippendale International School of Furniture near Haddington. We hear an excerpt of him chatting to some of those at work making some unique pieces of furniture.
-
Mark Stephen visits the Chippendale International School of Furniture near Haddington in East Lothian. He meets the principal and students from home and abroad taking part in the courses run by the school
-
In our latest Scotland Outdoors podcast Helen Needham meets regenerative farmer Nikki Yoxall in the hills of Aberdeenshire. Nikki’s cattle are outside all year round, moving from field to field as part of a system called mob grazing. She tells Helen about the benefits it has for the cattle and the land.
In the last few years, there’s been an explosion in the number of community run gardens across the country. These bring huge positives to those who look after and visit them. However, new research from Aberdeen University suggests that sometimes the pressures of running such a project can mount up. Rachel went to speak to Professor David Burslem to hear more.
The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week has been movement, and on Out of Doors, we love nothing better to help clear our heads than heading out for a walk. Mark went along to join a group doing just that with Moray based charity Nature 4 Health. They aim to connect people with nature, each other and themselves, and Mark hears from some of those taking part about the benefits they feel of being part of the group.
A new project linking up poets with farmers to shine a light on growing food has been launched by the Gaia Foundation. It involves 10 poets around the UK who each spent time on farms in order to produce a new poem. For the Scotland Outdoors podcast, Helen Needham went to meet Edinburgh-based poet Iona Lee who was paired with Lauriston Agroecology Farm in the city. They went for a wander on a very wet day to chat about Iona’s relationship with the natural world.
Mark visits the National Trust for Scotland's St Abb's Head National Nature Reserve to see how the seabird colony there is faring.
As Mental Health Awareness Week comes to an end, on Saturday we celebrate World Therapeutic Horticultural Day. One of the organisations involved is Trellis, who are based in Perth. We chat live to Fiona Thackeray, their chief executive officer, about what therapeutic gardening is and the different people they work with.
If you’re interested in climbing, you might want to check out a new BBC podcast. It’s part of a series called Amazing Sports Stories and it’s called Chasing Mountains. Rachel spoke to the presenters Joanna Jolly and Kathy Karlo who told her more about making the series and let her hear some clips.
Have you ever heard of the term Everesting? The idea is simple, but the activity is incredibly tough. Cyclists pick a hill and ride repeats of it in a single activity until they climb the height of Mount Everest - 8,848m. It’s something that musician Mark Bruce has become passionate about after struggling with his mental health. He told our Travelling Folk colleagues about his challenges, and we hear an excerpt where he talks about how extreme exercise saved him.
And to round off Mental Health Awareness week, we take a moment to be mindful with a soundscape.
-
Helen Needham visits Nikki Yoxall and her herd of pasture fed cattle in Aberdeenshire
-
Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart follow the river Tweed from Kelso to Berwick Upon Tweed.
In Kelso, they visit Floor Castle and Gardens in the company of Matt Thomson and Simon McManus. Jonathan Garrett shows Mark round the town's racecourse
In Coldstream, John Elliot of the local historical society tells the story of one of the earliest bridges built across the Tweed into England, Mark delves into the history of the Coldstream Guards and Rachel hears about a marriage house with a past to rival Gretna Green
The Battle of Flodden took place in 1513 close to the Tweed. In Branxton, Rachel discovers the so called smallest visitor centre in the world which commemorates the battle whilst Mark visits the battlefield with Clive Hallam Baker to find out why the Scots suffered such a loss
The Union Chain Bridge is a suspension bridge which has linked Scotland and England for over 200 years making it the oldest vehicle suspension bridge in the world. Martha Andrews of the Friends of the Union Chain Bridge tells of its recent restoration
Willie Robson and his family have been producing honey from the Chain Bridge Honey Farm for over 75 years. Rachel meets Willie and his daughter Frances to find out why they are both so enthusiastic about bees
Linda Bankier is the Bewick Upon Tweed Archivist. She takes Mark and Rachel on a tour of the historic burgh including the walls surrounding the town and the town hall where a jail for debtors and criminals was situated
Mark and Rachel go aboard the Border Belle with David Thomson at the helm for a boat trip to view Berwick Upon Tweed from a different perspective. They go under the three iconic bridges of the town - the Berwick Bridge, the Royal Tweed Bridge and the Royal Border Bridge
-
On Thursday this week campaigners gathered outside the Scottish Parliament to protest the proposed plans for a new powerline between Kintore and Tealing. SSEN Transmission says the upgrade is needed to meet net zero targets, while protestors say they haven’t been properly consulted and the scheme will blight the countryside. Mark went along to speak to Thomas Nicoll from SSEN Transmission and some of the protestors from Angus Action Against Pylons and Save Our Mearns.
TV Nature series Wild Isles was a big hit for the BBC last year. Much of it was filmed in Scotland and recently Rachel chatted to producer Alastair Fothergill for the Scotland Outdoors podcast. We hear an excerpt where he chats about how they filmed Orca hunting whales in Shetland.
Later this month Ullapool is hosting Lugger Fest ’24. It’s the village’s inaugural maritime festival of traditional boats and will feature talks, food, music plus the chance to get aboard the Luggers- small fishing boats that use a particular kind of sail. Dan Holland went along to find out more about what will be going on and explore one the luggers.
Nikki and Ollie Lake are familiar faces to those who watch the BBC series This Farming Life. They farm near Dallas in Moray and have a rather interesting mix of animals including water buffalo and wallabies! Rachel went along to meet the couple and their marsupials to hear how they got started.
Sunday 5th May is International Dawn Chorus Day so to mark the occasion we’re joined live by renowned sound recordist Chris Watson. Chris tells us what makes the dawn chorus so special to record and we hear an excerpt of a recording he did in Glen Affric.
A community owned woodland in Aberdeenshire with links to a famous Doric poet has become part of a major European study. It’s being used as an example of how people can use what’s on their doorstep to tackle big issues like climate change. Rachel went to visit while they were planting some trees.
-
Producer Alastair Fothergill has spent decades making nature documentaries around the world, often working closely with Sir David Attenborough. His work includes Blue Planet and Planet Earth. In this podcast, Alastair discusses why he felt the time was right to make a series concentrating on the nature and wildlife that can be found in the British Isles. He talks about the challenges of securing the footage in some remote locations in Scotland as well as his highlights from the series which took three years to make.
-
Back in 2020, some of farmer Steve Barron’s cattle fell ill and died. Initially he had no idea what had caused their sudden deaths until lead poisoning was found to be the reason. He tells Mark about what happened and the impact it had on him.
Steve’s cattle died so had no chance of entering the food chain, but Food Standards Scotland take incidents of livestock poisoning very seriously. They are raising awareness of the risks that farmers face as we hear from their head of incidents, Stuart McAdam.
In our latest Scotland Outdoors podcast Helen Needham talks to musician and composer Anne Wood about how her own heritage led her to write music inspired by the mountains of Pakistan and Assynt. We hear an excerpt where they discuss the idea of home.
Earlier this week a film documentary premiered in Edinburgh made by director Tom Opre called The Last Keeper. The film explores the land-use conflicts of Scotland and features interviews with a range of people who live in, work in and manage the countryside. Rachel went to interview Tom and find out what was involved in making the film.
Mark takes a wander round the darker side of Edinburgh’s medical history with a tour guide from the Surgeons’ Hall Museum. He hears about the grizzly business of barber surgeons and the advancements made in medical science in the city.
This weekend the British Divers Marine Life Rescue charity which helps rescue stranded and entangled cetaceans and seals are holding a big training exercise off the Ayrshire coast. We hear live from one of those coordinating the exercise to find out what and who is involved.
An obscure fungus which had until recently been relatively rare in Scotland appears to be at the centre of an outbreak in Scots Pine trees across the country. Dr Sarah Green from Forest Research tells Rachel more about it.
Mark visits an area of woodland in the centre of Haddington that a group are keen to take charge of via a community asset transfer. They tell him about the history of the site and what they hope to happen to it.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been discussing the changing seasons and what feels like the late arrival of spring. While Rachel was visiting the Montrose Basin Reserve, she chatted to Joanna from the Scottish Wildlife Trust about which species are heading off and which are arriving
-
Helen Needham hears from musician and composer Anne Wood
-
American Mink are an invasive non-native species which have become widespread in parts of Scotland after their release from fur farms. Rachel meets Karen Muller from the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative on the River Spey to hear why it’s important to catch the mink. They also scope out a potential site to set a mink trap.
In his day job, George Sherriffs is an acquisitions librarian with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. But in the coming week, George is going to be running an incredible 356 miles between all the RBGE sites in Scotland to raise awareness and funds for the work they do. Mark went to meet him and hear how the challenge came about.
Mark is in Dunbar Harbour with Alex Williams who discovered a passion for kayak fishing four years ago. He takes Mark for a paddle in the harbour and tells him how he got hooked on the hobby and what’s involved in fishing from a kayak.
Our BBC Aberdeen colleague Donnie Mackay heads home to Lewis every April to help with the lambing on his family croft. This year he took along a recorder and made a lambing diary for Out of Doors during what was one of the wettest and coldest seasons he could remember.
And it’s not just sheep farmers that have been having a hard time this spring. It’s been nearly impossible to get anything sown and the challenging conditions take a toll on farmers mentally as well as practically. We hear what the picture is like across Scotland from Katrina Macarthur, farming columnist with the Press and Journal.
Stanley Robertson was a traveller and storyteller from Aberdeen and in 1988 he recorded an interview with former BBC Producer Doreen Wood on the Old Lumphanan Road. Recently Mark and Helen and went to seek it out for the Scotland Outdoors podcast. We hear an excerpt of them looking for one of Stanley’s favourite oak trees.
If you’re from a farming background, you may be familiar with brose – a very traditional and simple oatmeal-based dish. In fact, it’s not too far removed from the much trendier oat milk that is a popular dairy alternative. Rachel visits a producer in East Lothian who is making Brose and show her the process.
- Laat meer zien
