Scotland Outdoors

The Forth Bridges Trail is a five-mile circular route which brings together various points of interest in North and South Queensferry and crosses the Forth Road Bridge. New stops were added onto the route earlier this year, so Mark took a wander along part of it to hear about the area’s fascinating history.When you think of Beaver reintroduction sites you probably imagine the Cairngorms, Knapdale or rural Tayside but certainly not the heart of London. A few weeks ago, Rachel went to visit The Ealing Beaver Project where beavers are making their home right beside a retail park! Dr Sean McCormack gave her a tour and explained how they hope the beavers, who have been relocated from Scotland, might help with flooding in the area.At the end of the summer Mark visited Loch Katrine, home to the Steamship Sir Walter Scott. But the Loch is also home to other boats and Mark went to speak to one man who’s been restoring his very own steamship.We're joined live by Dr Cat Barlow, project manager with the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project who tells us about their plans to expand and re-introduce the species to England and Wales following their success in Scotland.Next month, the winners of the BBC’s Food and Farming Awards will be unveiled at a ceremony in Glasgow. Out of Doors and Landward have our own category – the BBC Scotland Food Hero award. Over the past few weeks Rachel has been visiting the three finalists, and this week we hear from the Cosaig Growers. Back in 2016, Kate Wieteska and Jake Butcher bought a challenging piece of land on a hill in the north west Highlands and since then they’ve completely transformed it in order to grow fruit and vegetables. Rachel paid them a visit while they were getting on with some scything.We hear a short Islay folktale recorded on our recent trip to the island which is home to lots of fantastic myths and stories.In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast we feature the latest instalment of Mark’s journey along the Stevenson Way which is based on the novel Kidnapped. We hear an extract where Mark hears about a real event, the Appin Murder of 1752 which is one of the most notorious of its kind in Scottish history.

In this section, Mark leaves Mull and crosses over to Morven before heading to the site of the famous Appin Murder and the monument to mark this bloody event near Ballachulish Bridge.

Moray Ocean Community is a group of citizen scientists aiming to raise awareness of the importance of marine habitats and species. A couple of weeks ago, Mark joined members as they conducted seagrass surveys in Findhorn Bay and learned all about the range of work they carry out.Rachel is in Leven in Fife where a multi-million pound project is underway to refurbish a former flax mill. She hears about the plans including a visitor centre, a community hub and an area to show off the mill’s history.Scotland's first Alpine Coaster has opened at the Midlothian Snowsports Centre at Hillend near Edinburgh. We sent our rollercoaster expert Paul English along to experience the new way to enjoy the rolling Midlothian hills.Next month the winners of the BBC’s Food and Farming Awards will be unveiled at a ceremony in Glasgow. Out of Doors and Landward have our own category – the BBC Scotland Food Hero award. Over the past few weeks Rachel has been visiting the three finalists and this week we hear her trip to the Stranraer Oyster Festival. She headed out on a boat on Loch Ryan harvesting oysters ahead of the 2024 festival kicking off.We chat live to the Glasgow Poet Laureate, Jim Carruth. Much of Jim’s writing is inspired by the rural landscape and those who live and work in it and next week he’s organised an event to raise money for the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution or the RSABI. We chat to Jim about where the idea for the event came from and why he finds raising money for the RSABI so important.Portmoak Moss is one of the few remaining raised bogs in central Scotland. The Woodland Trust site near Glenrothes holds a special place in the heart of the community as St Andrews University student Natasha Currie discovered when she set out to make a soundscape about it. She met up with Mark to tell him what’s so special about Portmoak and we hear excerpts of her recordings.Matt Sowerby is a climate activist, writer and performer who was visiting Aberdeen recently. For this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Helen Needham met up with him on Aberdeen Beach where he explained what climate anxiety means for him and how he finds a sense of hope in what appears to be a crisis.And Rachel heads along to a moonlit dip at Monikie Country Park in Angus. The ‘Dook n Chat’ under a (nearly) full moon was part of the Angus Outdoor Adventure Winter Festival which comes to a close this weekend.

Helen Needham speaks with climate activist and writer Matt Sowerby