Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors

Ravenscraig, Mud Snails and Beach School

A topical guide to life in the Scottish outdoors.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

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Helen Needham visits Nikki Yoxall and her herd of pasture fed cattle in Aberdeenshire

Mob Grazing Cattle in the Hills of Aberdeenshire with Nikki Yoxall

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

The River Tweed - Kelso to Berwick Upon Tweed

Helen Needham learns about the We Feed the UK project

Connecting Poetry, Photography and Regenerative Farming with Sophie Gerrard and Iona Lee

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.

Dawn Chorus, Dipping Luggers and Moray Marsupials

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.

Ravenscraig, Mud Snails and Beach School

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