Scotland Outdoors

We celebrate Burns Day on Out of Doors on the 265th anniversary of his birth. Mark chats to Professor Fiona Stafford from University of Oxford who writes about Burns ‘the bard of nature’. They chat about his understanding of ecology and how that comes through in his poetry. Rachel hears the good news story about Goldeneye Ducks in the Cairngorms. Goldeneyes are a protected species that have suffer...

Helen Needham walks up Morven in Aberdeenshire with Morven Stewart

Rachel is in Lochaber where one of the biggest nature restoration projects in the country is underway. The Nevis Nature Network Project covers 22 thousand acres which includes fragments of Scottish rainforest and rare montane scrub. She met project manager Ellie Corsie for a walk to hear about their restoration vision. Mark is on Calton Hill in Edinburgh hearing about the challenges of repairing o...

Mark Stephen chooses some Burns favourites including his rendition of Tam O' Shanter

The weather has certainly been a big talking point for a lot of us this week. And it’s also the theme of a new exhibition at the McManus Art Gallery and Museum in Dundee. Rachel went to take a look at A Weather Eye along with curator Kirsty Matheson. We hear from Paul Hetherington of charity Buglife about the impact the mild weather before Christmas, and now the very cold weather, is having on our...

Rachel Stewart speaks to photographer and Landward presenter Shahbaz Majeed

Helen Needham meets musician and composer Cosmo Sheldrake

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart spend a day on the island of Jura to get a sense of life on the Ardlussa Estate where the Fletcher family have lived for five generations. Mark also visits Barnhill, the house where George Orwell wrote 1984 which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year

Mark Stephen gets a tour of the Palace with Curators Deborah Clarke and Emma Stead

Mark and Rachel are joined by the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Professor Catherine Heymans who can tell us what’s actually happening to earth to make the days so short. Mark finds out whether our garden birds are impacted by the short days, and he also visits the Nature Scot Forvie National Nature Reserve where despite the dark and cold, new life is arriving as seal pups are being born. While we...

Mark Stephen follows the route from Balquhidder to Corstorphine in Edinburgh

Mark meets builder and artist Becky Little whose work is being displayed as part of an exhibition called A Fragile Correspondence at the V&A in Dundee. Her work involves using soil from different areas in Orkney made into cubes. A WWF Scotland scheme which is aiming to create seagrass meadows and restore oysters to the Forth has reached a major milestone. Rachel visits the Restoration Forth pr...

Helen Needham presents some audio gems from BBC Scotland's archive

Last week Rachel was in Aberfoyle where the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association was celebrating their 50th anniversary. The organisation brings rangers together to share ideas and highlight potential challenges facing the sector. She chatted to some of those who’ve recently retired, and those who are still working, about the history of the association and the importance of rangers across the...

Mark follows the route through Glencoe, Kinlochleven and Rannoch Moor.

Rachel is in Fife to meet a woman who is leading the charge on making the outdoors accessible to all. Jan Kerr set up a rambling group for those who rely on wheels, particularly mobility scooters. She tells Rachel how it came about. Over the past few years, a group of badger enthusiasts has been surveying the Central Belt to track the number of setts they can find. Having completed the length of t...

Helen Needham meets woodworker and author Callum Robinson

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...

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 a...

Helen Needham speaks with climate activist and writer Matt Sowerby

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors

We've dug into our archive to bring you a programme originally broadcast in 2012 when Mark Stephen followed the route taken by protagonist David Balfour in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, 'Kidnapped'. In this first section, it's a brief visit to the Hawes Inn in South Queensferry before taking a boat to the Island of Erraid - which sits off Mull - and the magnificent beach where Davey found himsel...

A recent report showed that almost a quarter of all ancient pinewoods are at risk of disappearing altogether. Earlier this week, Mark attended Scotland’s Pinewood Conference in Fort William to find out what’s being done to preserve these woodlands It’s prime cider making time. Rachel visits Digby Lamotte at his cider making business in Perth to follow the process of producing this increasingly pop...

Mark is back at the Scottish Wildlife Trust's Montrose Basin site, but this time it isn’t geese he’s looking for, it’s mosquitos. Mark hears about the monitoring programme that the Basin is part of and why it’s important to track mosquitos for human health and also bird health. Back in 2021 Storm Arwen wreaked havoc on the North East causing lots of damage including to some of the buildings at the...