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BBC Radio Scotland


A topical guide to life in the Scottish outdoors.


Scotland Outdoors

The Bessie Ellen is a unique sailing ship which has been lovingly restored by Nikki Alford. Originally from the South West of England, she spends most of her time sailing in Scottish waters. Writer Linda Cracknell has a personal association with the ship after she started looking into her family history and discovered that she comes from a long line of sea farers. Helen Needham gets a tour of this beautiful ship whilst she was moored up in Inverness and hears about Linda's book 'Sea Marked'.

An Historic Sailing Ship - The Bessie Ellen

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

A Kitchen Garden, The Trossachs Explorer and 200 Years of the Modern Railway

'Upsetting content warning' - Juliet talks very openly about her terminal illness which some people may find upsetting.

Life, Death and the Outdoors with Juliet Robertson

Leslie Heritage Group in Fife came up with an ambitious project designed to unearth more information about the ancient village’s history and raised money for an archaeological dig. Rachel went along to day one of the excavation to learn more from Group members Bill Carr and Bill Fiet and archaeologist Philip Karsgaard.

Woodland Trust Scotland has developed a database which maps social depravation against canopy cover and gives each neighbourhood a ‘tree equity score.’ Kevin Keane meets the Trust’s Anna Perks to talk about the scores and how many trees need to be planted to create urban equality.

In this week’s midweek podcast excerpt Mark is in Dundee to hear how a consignment of teak salvaged from a sunken steamer is being used in the RRS Discovery restoration project.

Hedgehogs are currently searching for food before their winter hibernation. It’s a busy time for rescue centres and Rachel visits Ballumbie Hedgehog Rescue in Dundee, a centre Dawn Airlie has created at her own home.

The Keith and Dufftown Railway maintains an eleven mile line linking Dufftown with the historic town of Keith. The Railway celebrates its 25th anniversary this week. Mark joins volunteers to discover how the railway has been restored and continues to run today.

Chris Cathrine is an expert in all things spiders. Chris joins Mark and Rachel to explain why we see more spiders at this time of year and why we shouldn’t pop them outside.

Nature artist Jane Smith has written a new book – ‘Community: People and Wildlife on the West Coast of Scotland’. Starting from her own garden in Argyll, Jane travels to ten locations in the west of Scotland to explore the interaction between people and wildlife. Mark chats to Jane in Argyll about some of the stories she uncovered.

Trees, Trains and Spiders

Mark Stephen visits Dundee to hear how a consignment of teak which was salvaged from a sunken steamer ship in the Irish Sea is now being used as part of the RRS Discovery restoration project

RRS Discovery

The North East Open Studios allows people to meet artists and makers, often in their own workspaces. Rachel is welcomed by Marguerite Fleming from Westfield Croft in Aberdeenshire who has a rare breed fibre flock which she uses to create hand woven rugs and yarns.

Around this time last year, Mark visited Scott Campbell on his farm at Kinellar in Aberdeenshire when the rain that had played havoc with his crops. Mark catches up with Scott to find out how the barley has fared this year.

The results of this year’s Big Butterfly Count are out and Rachel and Mark are joined by Apithanny Bourne, Species-rich Grassland Project Officer at Butterfly Conservation Scotland, to find out why butterfly numbers are average despite our sunny summer.

In this week’s midweek podcast extract, Mark heads to RSPB Insh Marshes near Aviemore to meet moth experts Mick Acourt and Pete Moore and to discover the contents of the moth trap they set the night before.

This year marks 50 years of Carriage Driving for the Riding for the Disabled Association. Phil Sime takes a trip to Castle Fraser, near Inverurie to hear from the coaches, volunteers and participants involved in their 50th anniversary event.

A 12-week public consultation on Edinburgh's proposed North-South tramline has begun. One proposed route would see one of the city’s green spaces, the Roseburn Path, turned into a tramway. Mark takes a walk with Save The Roseburn Path’s Euan Baxter to learn about the campaign to protect the path.

Set in a spectacular location in the Highlands, Moniack Mhor is Scotland’s Creative Writing Centre. Rachel joins the Centre’s nature writing course and chats to two published authors Mark Cocker and Karen Lloyd and some of those on the course hoping to learn more about the genre.

Counting Butterflies, Carriage Driving and Nature Writing

Mark Stephen visits Insh Marshes near Aviemore in the early hours to meet a couple of moth enthusiasts and discover the contents of the moth trap they had set the night before

The Beauty of Moths

The University of St Andrews is using ancient rocks from Torridon to test instruments that will be used on the Mars Rover to look for evidence of life. Mark meets Dr Claire Cousins in the lab.

Rod and Niccy Angus opened the Scottish Owl Centre in West Lothian in 2012 and are now looking for new people to take over the attraction. It’s the largest collection of owls in the world and Rachel hears how the origins of the venture can be traced back to one species.

Phil Sime takes a trip to Inverness Botanic Gardens to catch up with artist Nigel Goldie, exploring the striking sculptures featured in his Out of the Ground exhibition.

Naturalist Mark Cocker has written a book Crow Country exploring the complex seasonal cycle of corvids. Rachel hears how rooks now start to roost in large numbers, creating quite a spectacle.

Disc Golf is a sport which is rapidly growing in popularity throughout Scotland so with discs in hand, Mark Stephen met up with some of the professionals involved in the Glasgow Disc Golf team.

Rosie Steer, author of Slow Seasons, shares her top tips for embracing the change of season into autumn with craft and cooking ideas inspired by mindful observation of nature.

Sea Change is a project running in Montrose where artists engage with the community to create awareness of how climate change is affecting the area. Mark Stephen met up with Resident artist, Eve Mosher.

Rachel joins a bat walk in Strathpeffer with High Life Highland Countryside Ranger Marcia O’Hara.

Wormit Boating Club in Newport-on-Tay is the first in the UK to take delivery of a fully electric training and rescue vessel. Mark goes on board with Evelyn Hardie and Andrew Lumsden and hears about the many benefits.

Rooks, Disc Golf and Autumnal Activities

Rachel Stewart meets the owners of the Scottish Owl Centre as they prepare for retirement

Scottish Owl Centre - End of an Era

The Bikery in Huntly, Aberdeenshire aims to repair and resell old bikes to stop them ending up in landfill. Rachel chats to team members Stuart Pow and Laura McNeil about the Bikery’s mission, before heading to the workshop to learn how the project teaches mechanical skills.

Josh Donaldson from Arbroath became an internet sensation after posting videos clearing up litter from his local forests, beaches and streets. In an excerpt from our midweek podcast, Mark joins Josh to find out how he is motivating others to do the same.

‘Beneath the Waves’ is a current exhibition at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine and includes the work of award winning underwater photographer Lawson Wood. Rachel meets him in Eyemouth to talk about his passion for marine life.

Mark catches up with Finavon Castle Water Estate Ghillie and Manager Iain MacMaster to chat about Sea Trout fishing and why it’s best done at night.

Phil Sime and Morven Livingstone take to the high seas in Findhorn with Chief Sailing Instructor Leon Ward.

Scientists at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh have been tapping into the expertise of young people across Edinburgh to find out their perspectives on nature and green space in the city. Mark visits the Gardens to chat to Dr Emma Bush about the ‘The Good City’ research project.

This month commemorates the 95th anniversary of the evacuation of St Kilda. Mark and Rachel are joined by the St Kilda Ranger to find out about life on St Kilda now

Mark is in Kelty, Fife discovering what it takes to train for the annual Scottish Coal Carrying Championships. Mark meets race Founder Michael Boyle to learn how the race started and its links to Kelty’s mining heritage.

Coal Carrying Championships, Life on St Kilda and Underwater Photography

Mark Stephen and Euan McIlwraith visit Dumfries and Galloway. They find out the history behind Belted Galloways, the cattle synonomous with the area; take a trip through Kirkcudbright on an electric bike, and meet a couple of Russian Orthodox priests who are restoring a castle in the area and running a printing press. They visit Scotland's first Dark Skies park and a willow sculptor whose work has featured in Outlander. Threave Garden is also on their itinerary, not just the garden itself but the bats and osprey who make a home there.

A trip to Galloway

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