Edinburgh Outdoors

Easter and Wester Craiglockhart Hills are part of Edinburgh's Seven Hills.  In the south of the city, Easter Craiglockhart is a nature reserve and is teeming with wildlife, great views and a strong volunteer group.

Join me as I find out how the excellent volunteering team on Easter Craiglockhart Hill has been transforming the site with new trees, spring flowers and an island for the pond.  Listen to this first episode of Season 5 to hear about the work that's ongoing and to learn about the new island and the newly designated Iron Age hillfort.

Recorded last year, this episode brings you Spring just when you need it!  With birdsong, primoroses and ducklings the Hill was literally springing into life. 

The Hill can be accessed beside the pond on Lockarton Crescent HERE

You can find out more, see what wildlife has been spotted and learn about upcoming events, or join in with the team of volunteers here: https://www.eastercraiglockharthill.org/

The Friends have an active Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EasterCraiglockhartHill/

Princes Street Gardens right in the centre of Edinburgh beneath the Castle is a public park with a long history.  It was formerly a loch and was drained to remove the stench of the city's sewage and to create a park for residents.   It's now a popular spot, so I headed into the Gardens with Hetty Lancaster of Hetty's History Walks to find out more about the park's history.

A regular guest expert on the podcast, Hetty turned the tables in the second half of the recording and asked me about why I set up Edinburgh Outdoors - something a bit different!

We met in Princes Street Gardens by the Ross Fountain

We discussed the Robert Louise Stevenson monument

and the Floral Clock 

You can find old pictures of Edinburgh and Princes Street Gardens on Capital Collections

There's one of the Nor Loch

Find out about Hetty's History Walks: https://www.hettyshistorywalks.co.uk/

Find out more on my social media including Instagram, Facebook and Substack

Edinburgh Sketcher is part of the fabric of the city.  He captures the everyday moments, events and views that represent Edinburgh life.  I met him on Calton Hill and watched as he created a journal sketch of our conversation and the views we were enjoying while talking.   He gave a great insight into how he thinks through a drawing and talks about career change and gives brilliant top tips for capturing every day events on paper.

If you want to see Mark's picture you can find it on the links below. 

We met HERE 

Mark's website is here: https://www.edinburghsketcher.com/

You can view the sketch on Substack: https://substack.com/@edinburghoutdoors

It's also on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edinburghoutdoors_

And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edinburghoutdoors

Join me as I head off foraging in the Hermitage of Braid woodlands with the brilliant Hana Koen.  Find out all about the fascinating funghi we found, their medicinal properties and culinary flavours and discover how many are hiding in plain sight.  We wandered through the very cold and sunny November sunshine and talked about mushrooms, dealing with an autism diagnosis and Hanna gave a great explanation of queer mycology theory before sharing her beautiful sketchbook.   

A fascinating and education episode! 

We met in the Hermitage HERE

We walked on the higher path to the north and then back by the Braid Burn from the Scout Bridge HERE

You can find Hana on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foraging.gardener/

She is also on Substack: https://foraginggardener.substack.com/about

You can see photographs from our foraging on my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edinburghoutdoors_/

I also upload photography and background to Substack: https://substack.com/@edinburghoutdoors

Kinneil Estate in Bo'ness on the Forth Estuary is a brilliant place to discover history from Romans to the present day.  With a Roman fortlet, a grand old tower house, the location of James Watt's original workshop, ruined villages, birdlife on the loch and much more, it's a great place for a day out discovering the area.  

I met with Adrian Mahoney of the Bo'net group to find out all about the Estate and about it's tiny museum which is under threat.  Join me on a grand day out!

You can find the Estate HERE

It's worth checking in advance if you want to visit the museum as it's sometimes closed

The Roman fortlet is HERE

The nature reserve is HERE

Bo'net: https://bonet.org.uk/

Friends of Kinneil: https://kinneil.org.uk/friends/

For the audio trail of the estate visit Izzy Travel and/or download the app: https://izi.travel/en

The Historic Environment Scotland site for Kinneil House: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/kinneil-house/

Lauriston Farm is an inspiring local collective that is transforming a former traditional farm into a biodiverse space that includes community allotments, woodland spaces and a market garden producing food for communities.  I had a wander round with Grower, Dav Shand to find out about their food poverty programme, discover what agroecology is and to understand more about their  food production, partnerships and vision.  We saw the thousands of trees planted on the side of the Forth and the many initiatives introduced by the workers' cooperative.  You can visit the community spaces and woodland and also attend workshops and open days at the Farm itself.   It's a terrific example of an inspired community of people working together for good. 

To visit you can go HERE

The farm and community have a website: https://www.lauristonfarm.scot/

To find out more about open days: https://www.lauristonfarm.scot/events/

They are on Instagram too: https://www.instagram.com/eaclauristonfarm

How often when walking round Edinburgh do you look up?  Podcast regular, Hetty Lancaster of Hetty's History Walks, took me on a walk around Stockbridge in the north of the city, to look at historic gems hidden in plain sight. 

From the original Stockbridge Market and the history of market gardening to the ornate and bizarre gateposts around the original Inverleith Estate, we discovered things you may walk past every day, but never notice.

We started out at Duncansland HERE

We walked down the Water of Leith from HERE

The Falshaw Bridge is HERE

You can find the picture we discuss on the Capital Collections website HERE

The gateposts with the strange lions are HERE

Plant Alley and the boating pond is HERE

The Sundial Garden is HERE

The final gateposts are opposite the John Hope Gateway HERE

Hetty's History Walks organises group and private walks around the city: https://www.hettyshistorywalks.co.uk/

Find out about the brilliant Friends of Montgomery Street Park who have brought real joy to  volunteering.  I went along to see how a Council owned park between Leith Walk and Easter Road has been transformed into a wildlife spot and a haven for local residents.  A former bowling green, the site now has fruit trees, a wildflower meadow, spring bulbs and a rejuvenated playpark.  The team has also created a groundbreaking community magazine, Parklife, working with local artists, journalists, writers and designers to produce a stunning publication.

My visit began finding out about Parklife and volunteering, then ended with a great conversation about "Ecotherapy", getting married on Calton Hill and as always, some favourite spots across the city. 

Montgomery Street Park is HERE

The artist who has transformed the helter skelter into artworks is Paul Meikle: https://paulypocket.com/about/

Follow or find out more about the Friends of Montgomery Street Park HERE

They are also on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/montgomerystreetpark

Siccar Point near Cockburnspath is a stunning viewpoint where Father of Geology James Hutton, found evidence to support his theories which influenced modern day geology.  It's a great walk with superb views and is going to be transformed through a project spearheaded by the Edinburgh Geological Society.    The project will bring improved access and interpretation for visitors and its launch will coincide with the James Hutton Tercentenary in 2026.

I stepped out along the cliffs with podcast regular, geologist Angus Miller, to find out why Siccar Point is so significant and to learn more about the crowdfunding campaign for this important project. 

To find out more about James Hutton, his influence and the Tercentenary, visit: https://james-hutton.org/

To read about the project, the crowdfunder, the Dynamic Earth event and how you can get hold of some of the 'rewards': https://edinburghgeolsoc.org/support-the-deep-time-trail/

The crowdfunder, including a film about the site, is HERE

To learn about the James Hutton Insititute: https://www.hutton.ac.uk/

The Scottish Geology Trust is here: https://www.scottishgeologytrust.org/

Angus and I met HERE

And the viewpoint is HERE

The Treecreepers is a fairly new birdwatching and nature group for 18-35 year olds organised by conservationist and bird expert, El.  I headed up Corstorphine Hill with El to see if we could spot any birds and listen to their sounds.  While there she told me about the group, why she set it up and its popularity.  We also talked about roles for young people in conservation, her love of the outdoors and why Corstorphine Hill is a great place to visit. The birds we heard/saw: buzzard; nuthatch; long tailed tit; blue tit; goldcrest; chiffchaff; chaffinch; goldfinch.

We met at the entrance on Corstorphine Road: HERE 

The Treecreepers on Instagram: @the_treecreepers

The Treecreepers on Substack: https://thetreecreepers.substack.com/

Please email El if you have any secondhand binoculars you are happy to gift to her groups: mailto:[email protected]

You can read my occasional Substack thoughts and view pictures of the recordings here: https://edinburghoutdoors.substack.com/

Edinburgh Outdoors is also on Instagram and Facebook