Scotland Outdoors BBC Radio Scotland

Stanley Robertson was from the Travelling People and in the 1980's he published a book called 'Exodus to Alford' featuring stories associated with a particular road his people used to take each Summer when he was a boy. Former BBC Producer Doreen Wood went there with Stanley in 1988 and recorded an interview with him describing his memories of this special place. In this podcast, Mark Stephen and Helen Needham go in search of the Old Lumphanan Road with the archive of Stanley in their ears, offering a fascinating insight into the culture and beliefs of him and his people and a way of life that no longer exists in this part of the world.

Linda is in Pitlochry where a group of volunteers meet once a fortnight to help maintain the area’s much loved and well used path network. She hears why the group were founded and about the different kinds of work they carry out.
Mark is in Dunbar Harbour, marvelling at the kittiwakes and exploring a site that was once home to a fish hatchery.
And not far along the coast in North Berwick, Rachel meets artist and campaigner Julie Barnes, who created what is believed to be the largest mural in the UK made entirely from marine plastic.
Is spring finally here? After a very damp and dismal start to the season, Pennie Latin looks hopefully towards to the first glimpses of new life in Spring and thinks about they make us feel.
The results of the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch 2024 are out! The house sparrow has topped the list once again but what do the rest of the results tell us? We find out live.
Linda goes on a tour of Glasgow City Centre with Niall Murphy, director of the Glasgow City Heritage Trust. He shows her some of hidden architectural gems and tells her about how the city centre developed over the years.
Plants with Purpose is a five year year initiative set up by Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to research how we could use plants to combat extreme urban weather events. Mark finds out more as he visits the rain garden area of the RBGE in Edinburgh.
The fashion industry is notoriously unsustainable, and designers are working on how to improve that. Maud meets one such person, Emily Raemakers who has been experimenting with natural materials including mushrooms, algae and apple leather.
And Mugdock Country Park is a popular location just north of Glasgow with woods, trails and a 13th century castle. It not only attracts families and dog walkers but TV productions and Hollywood movies. Linda meets Pam Grieve, the park’s Development Officer to hear about what’s involved in hosting a blockbuster film crew.

In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Mark chats with Landward’s Cammy Wilson about his sheep-farming career. We hear an excerpt where Cammy is telling Mark the story of Fiona, the 'world’s loneliest sheep'.
Killiechassie Burial Ground near Aberfeldy holds just six graves, five of which are covered over with recumbent flat slabs. For years, it was allowed to become neglected but in the 1990s, the Breadalbane Heritage Society started to take an interest and discovered that it not only dates back hundreds of years but also has connections to King Robert the Bruce and the Wolf of Badenoch. Ian Stewart shows Rachel around.
On last week’s programme, a listener got in touch to ask how they could stop badgers from leaving droppings in their garden. Mark meets with Eddie Palmer, the chairman of Scottish Badgers, to learn about the ways that we can stop badgers from causing problems in our gardens.
A Scotland-wide test of the nation’s rivers for microplastics, pharmaceuticals and various other chemicals is underway. The study has started in the north east with sampling being carried out on the rivers Dee and Ugie, which takes in both rural and urban areas. Rachel met with Dr Jessica Gomez-Banderas on the riverbank near Peterhead to find out about how they take the samples and what they’re actually looking for.
In March, Queen Margaret University opened a new state of the art outdoor learning hub. The facility aims to improve understanding of outdoor learning amongst the teaching profession, whilst also enabling the community to connect to the natural world in new ways. Mark meets with Patrick Boxall, lecturer in Education, to find out more.
Over the last wee while, thousands of new trees have been planted on the nature reserve at Loch Ardinning near Glasgow as part of a project by the Scottish Wildlife Trust to create a new oak woodland at the site. To stop the grassland chocking out the saplings, staff have been laying mulch mats and recently they roped in some helpers who were on a corporate volunteering day. Rachel chats to Chris Thomson from the Scottish Wildlife Trust and his corporate volunteers from SPL Powerlines Lee, Cassandra and Lewis.
The Natural Trust for Scotland have built a new oak tree nursery as part of the long-term sustainability of the Old Wood of Drum. The wood dates back to Robert the Bruce, and the team there have been really busy planting and growing from acorns harvested from the wood. Mark meets NTS Woodland Ranger Bronwen Thomas to find out more.

Mark Stephen visits Youtuber and TV presenter Cammy Wilson on his farm in Ayrshire

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors

Mark revisits a series of programmes he made in the early 2000s called Mountain Tales. The programmes feature Scotland's iconic hills and mountains and what it means to those who live and work in the area nearby. Mark finds out what the mountain range, the Cuillins of Skye mean to a mountain guide, climber, musician, geologist and sailor