Scotland Outdoors

Helen Needham discusses The Book of Birds with illustrator and artist Jackie Morris

Mark catches up with another of the finalists in BBC Scotland’s Make a Difference Award environmental category. Midlothian Wildflowers started as a small group of people from the Bonnyrigg and Rosewell community carrying out some guerilla gardening. Julia Pennycuik from the group tells Mark how it grew from there and why it’s been nominated for the award.

This weekend Grantown on Spey in the Cairngorm National Park becomes Greentown on Spey as an environmental awareness festival is held in the town. Rachel spends some time with one of the groups involved, Wild Tribe Highlands who take children on outdoor adventures in the hope they can build a life-long connection with nature.

Culbin Forest on the Moray Firth was one of the locations used recently in Christopher Nolan’s epic film adaptation of The Odyssey. Phil Sime went along to find out that it’s not just a dramatic film location, but also an important home to rare lichens and plants.

The recent wildfires in the Cairngorms had a huge impact on the people living in the Glenmore area with initial evacuations and many businesses closed for the duration. The fires also obviously had a huge impact on the flora and fauna, and it will take some time for parts of it to recover. Earlier this week Mark went to meet Dr Sarah Henshall, Head of Conservation with the Cairngorms National Park to hear about how things look now.

Balgone Estate in East Lothian grows a rather striking crop at this time of year, sunflowers. But as Rachel hears from general manager Alex Humphreys, they can be quite tricky to get right in our Scottish climate.

We chat live to Duncan Orr-Ewing, Head of Species and Land Management with RSPB Scotland about a recent project to satellite tag Sea Eagles in Western Scotland to investigate how the eagles interact with livestock.

Our Scotland Outdoors podcast this week features Mark’s trip inside the Tay Road Bridge as it marks its 60th anniversary. We hear an excerpt of him exploring the engineering of the impressive structure.

And Rachel meets up with a group of Aberdeen surfers. Wavy Quines is a female only surfing group who tell Rachel about how they got started and try to show her the art of surfing on Aberdeen beach!

Mark Stephen climbs inside the Tay Road Bridge to mark its 60th Birthday

Mark visits Greenhead Moss Community Nature Park in Wishaw. The 100-hectare site contains many different habitats including ponds, wildflower meadows and woodlands. He takes a tour with countryside ranger Derek.

Deveron Wildland is a newly established rewilding estate in Aberdeenshire. Rachel went for a visit to hear about what the plans are for the site as well as to try her hand at nature journalling.

When Mark visited Maud Railway Museum earlier in the summer, he was surprised to find that one of their exhibits is a fully restored Peterhead Prison convict carriage. He takes a look inside and hears about the interesting history of the prison wagon.

The Scottish National Sheepdog Trials are being held in Perthshire at the moment. These trials are a precursor to the World Sheepdog Trials coming to the Scottish Borders next month. Rachel went along to Glenfarg to chat to some of those involved and watch the impressive dogs at work.

Rachel meets another of the finalists in the Environmental category of BBC Scotland’s Make a Difference awards. Alex Watson is a litter picker and social media filmmaker based in Dundee, and he tells Rachel about why he got involved in clearing up his local community.

And as the Tay Road Bridge celebrates its 60th anniversary this week, Mark hears about the ferries which linked Dundee and Fife before the bridge was opened in 1966. He meets Mairi Shiels from the Newport History Group who tells him about the various boats that ran the different routes across the Tay.

And in this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Helen Needham digs into the BBC Archive back to the 1960s to explore Snowy Owls on Fetlar, Thatching in Aberdeenshire and a Tree Loving Tramp in the Highlands. We hear an excerpt.

Helen Needham digs into the BBC Archive to share some audio gems from the past

Mark visits Glasgow’s Queen’s Park Glasshouse which was threatened with closure earlier this summer. He speaks to some of those involved in the campaign to secure its future which seems to have been successful.

Rachel tries her hand at Nordic Walking which may look gentle but actually involves a full body workout! She went along to a group in Blair Atholl run by Eilidh Paterson who explained what’s involved and showed Rachel the best techniques.

Over the next few weeks on Out of Doors, we’ll be chatting to the finalists of the BBC Make a Difference Awards Scotland in the Environmental Category. The awards recognise people who give their time voluntarily to help others and make a difference in their communities. This week Mark met John Smillie who was nominated for his effort in clearing litter, supporting wildlife habitats and raising money for charity through recycling.

Earlier this week Mark donned his eye protection to gaze skywards and try and get a good view of the solar eclipse. We find out if the clouds parted for him and hear a bit about the science behind an eclipse.

The Scott Monument is one of Edinburgh’s most recognisable landmarks and this year it turns 180 years old. To mark the occasion, Edinburgh City Council are issuing 12 free tickets every day between 12th and 17th August for anyone wishing to climb the famous monument. Mark went along to scale the 221 steps to the top and hear about the monument’s history.

The Fowlsheugh Nature Reserve south of Stonehaven is the largest mainland seabird colony on the East Coast of Scotland. Most people visit the reserve by walking along the cliff tops, but recently for a Scotland Outdoors podcast, Helen Needham was lucky enough to experience it from the water on a skiff belonging to the Catterline Coastal Rowing Club. We hear part of her row to take a look at the kittiwakes.

Stonehaven Open Air Pool is the UK's only art deco Olympic sized sea water lido. It was opened in 1934 and is run by Aberdeenshire Council along with charity group, Friends of the Pool Stonehaven. Rachel went along to very popular ‘midnight swim’ and met Steve Harris from the Friends group to hear about what makes it such a popular attraction at 102 years old.

And Mark meets naturalist, conservationist and author Polly Pullar at her farm in Perthshire to chat about her upcoming book, In the Company of Sheep. Polly tells Mark what it is about sheep that has fascinated her since she was a child.

Mark Stephen meets naturalist and author Polly Pullar in the sheep shed of her farm in Perthshire. Polly's latest book In The Company of Sheep describes her fascination with them

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with a special programme from the Scottish Crannog Centre

Helen Needham visits the spectacular seabird colony on a skiff

A few weeks ago, Mark went along to a conference at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen. Under the banner of Living Labs, the institute brought together folk living in rural or island communities, and Mark chatted to Phyl Meyer from Tiree and Euan Maclachlan from Assynt to find out what sort of challenges they face in everyday life.

The island of Fetlar is known as The Garden of Shetland due it being a very fertile and green. This week’s presenter Rachel Bell took a trip there and visited the dilapidated Brough Lodge. It's a striking structure with a complicated past. But as Rachel hears, plans are in place to restore it to its former glory.

As North Berwick’s Fringe by the Sea festival kicks off this weekend, Mark got an early look at an immersive installation called the Nest. The project celebrates North Berwick and the northern gannet with new music composed by award-winning composer Erland Cooper and has been designed by artist Naomi McIntosh.

Work is underway to preserve one of Scotland's only hill figures. The white stag on the side of Mormond Hill near Strichen in Aberdeenshire lay hidden for years, until the area was cleared by volunteers. Rachel went along to join in with the group called the 'Strichen Staggers', who are undertaking back-breaking work to keep the stag in good condition.

In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Mark visits the island of Lismore with Iris Smith from Explore Lismore. We hear an excerpt where they chat about what life is like on the small island off the coast of Oban.

And this week’s presenter Rachel Bell packs up her whole family and takes a few ferries to visit the island of Fetlar. We hear a snapshot of their day adventure to explore the beaches of the island.