Scotland Outdoors

Helen visits a mobile laboratory in St Andrews as it travels around various European coastlines to explore coastal habitats and collect samples from the soil, water and air to assess things like pollution.Mark chats to John Fletcher, the first person to set up a commercial deer farm in Scotland back in the 1970s. As well as being a farmer, John is a vet and an author and he tells Mark what it was that first interested him in red deer.Helen heads to Glen Dee to meet a group of archaeologists. For the past couple of years, Graham Warren, Professor of Archaeology at University College Dublin has spent a fortnight each summer carefully scraping away and sieving the soil in search of evidence of prehistoric hunter gatherers.There has been a Mill of Benholm in some form on the site in Aberdeenshire for hundreds of years. The current Mill was open to the public until 2014 and now a group has applied for a community asset transfer to take over the site from Aberdeenshire Council. Mark went for a visit to find out about the work they are doing and what their plans are for the future.We chat live to Linsay Chalmers from Community Land Scotland as they celebrate Community Land Week. There are now more than 700 projects and over half a million acres under community control in Scotland. We hear about some of the successes and events that are happening to mark them.Last year we heard from walking artist, Claudia Zeiske, as she travelled through Aberdeenshire collecting memories of the Covid lockdown and stitching them onto a pink tablecloth. A few weeks ago Maud Start caught up with her and a new tablecloth on a new journey called the Slow Coast 500.The Scottish Coastal Rowing Project was started in 2010, the idea behind it is for communities to build their own skiffs and get people out onto the water. There are now over 70 clubs across the county and Helen went to meet members of one of the newest based at Forfar Loch.

Helen Needham meets Graeme Warren and others during a dig in Glen Dee

Out of Doors celebrates 100 years of BBC Aberdeen. This week we have a special programme looking back at what life was like in rural communities in 1923, how people enjoyed the outdoors and the early forms of conservation.We’re joined by author and broadcaster Graham Stewart who tells us about the origins of broadcasting in Aberdeen.Paula Williams from the National Library of Scotland tells us about how people used the outdoors for recreation in the 1920s and the growth of mountaineering.Stuart Brooks, director of conservation and policy at the National Trust for Scotland explains the origins of the Trust and the conservation movement.And Dr Tom McKean from the Elphinstone Institute at Aberdeen University tells us about who was listening to the radio from across rural Scotland and the North East in particular, and what their lives were like.We also delve into the Aberdeen archives to get a flavour of what things sounded like in the 1930s and hear what conditions were like working in the early studios.Rachel visits the Highland Folk Museum to see what life was like in the 1920s bothy and how people lived and worked in a ‘farm toun’.And we hear from Professor Marjory Harper about the wave of emigration from the North East to places like Canada in the 1920s and the impact that made on rural communities.

Mark Stephen chats with deer farmer and author John Fletcher on his farm in Fife

Throughout the programme we hear from Dr Kevin Frediani, curator of Dundee Botanic Garden. Kevin is very much in favour of letting nature do its own thing and Mark hears how he has managed to put that into practice in the garden. He also tells Mark about his drive to find a net zero path for the upkeep of the gardens and grounds while looking after a huge array of plants from all around the world. Rachel visits the Ness of Brodgar in Orkney, one of the most significant neolithic settlements in the world. The site has been excavated for nearly 20 years but as Rachel finds out, next year will be the last dig for the foreseeable future. Archaeologists Anne Mitchell and Nick Card explain why.Renita Boyle is a storyteller who is fascinated by nature. As part of last week’s Wigtown Book Festival, she was holding poetry, story and art sessions which usually happen outside. However, as the weather put paid to that, Rachel found her indoors with a great view of the countryside.And with potatoes in our minds as schools head off on their tattie holidays, we hear about the importance of this crop to Scottish farming and culture.As the days get shorter, we’ll all be spending a bit more time in the dark. But how switched on are you to your local landscape at night? Ranger Elizabeth Tindall and writer Dan Richards were holding night walks at the Wigtown Book Festival to encourage people to explore more in the dark. They told Rachel about what sights and sounds you can encounter.

Rachel Stewart presents Scotland Outdoors

Helen heads to Inchgarth Reservoir on the outskirts of Aberdeen to meet Ian Broadbent, Local Bird Reporter for the North East, who tells her why recent bad weather in the USA has meant some new arrivals on our shores. He also tells her about the work that has been carried out at Inchgarth to improve the habitat for Snipe and Jack Snipe.Earlier this week Rachel visited the Wigtown Book Festival. Established in 1999, the festival has gone from strength to strength and now offers a ten day programme featuring hundreds of events and activities for all ages, including music, theatre, food and visual arts.Rachel chats to two women who have recently taken the plunge into writing books, endurance cyclist Jenny Graham and Helen Rebanks. Jenny tells her all about the different challenges writing brought compared to her round the world cycle. And Helen Rebanks explains how her and husband James manage their fell farm as well as a busy family life.In our midweek podcast Mark chats to mountaineer and former planner Bob Reid. We hear an excerpt where he explains to Mark how National Scenic Areas came to be created and what they actually are.Continuing our literary theme we chat live to Christina Riley, founder of the Nature Library. The pop up library tours the country and aims to connect people to the world around us.Long before it was fashionable environmentalist Roger Deakin was at the forefront of wild swimming. Rachel hears about his fascinating life from author Patrick Barkham who has written a new biography of Roger.Helen meets musician and composer Mhairi Hall at Loch Garten as she gathers sounds for the Underwater Cairngorm Project.And Rachel explores a secret garden that has opened its doors as part of the Wigtown Book Festival.

Mark Stephen chats with Planner and Mountaineer Bob Reid

Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets which are used to make many everyday items. However, tonnes of them end up being washed up on our beaches posing a threat to wildlife. Rachel finds out about the Great Nurdle Hunt, a campaign to highlight the issues microplastics cause.Mark visits Pitmedden Garden in Aberdeenshire and has a nosey around their orchards as they gear up to celebrate Apple Day this weekend.Avian Flu has caused the deaths of thousands of seabirds along our coastline. Last summer there was significant concern over the future of the world’s largest colony of northern gannets on the Bass Rock. Rachel visits the Scottish Seabird Centre which looks out at the Bass Rock, to find out what the picture is now.Rachel meets two sisters involved in a project which finally hopes to shed new light on Equine grass sickness and what causes it.To tie in with World Rivers Day, The Rivers Trust is asking the public to record observations of rivers in the first Big River Watch. We chat live to James Hunt from the Tweed Foundation to hear how people can get involved and what information they are hoping to gather.As part of the Tall Ships Races earlier this summer, Maud Start spoke to the Peterson family onboard the Christiania, their retired rescue ship. We hear an excerpt from the Scotland Outdoors podcast where they tell her the history of the ship.Wind is not usually a good thing for outdoor activities however, land yachting is definitely the exception to that rule. Mark tries his hand at the speedy beach activity in St Andrews.Earlier this month the Edinburgh Riding of the Marches returned after an absence of three years. The event traces its roots to the historic riding of the boundaries of the city, which dates back to 1579. Stuart McFarlane went along to meet some of those taking part and capture some of the atmosphere.And Rachel is in Strathkinness in Fife visiting an iconic red phone box that has been given a new lease of life.

Maud Start meets the Peterson Family onboard the Christiania, their retired rescue ship.