Ealing Beavers, Cosaig Growers and a Wonderful Steam Ship

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.