Show Notes
Next week, communities in Lochaber will be asked to share their views on beavers being reintroduced to the area. Kirsten Brewster from rewilding charity Scotland: The Big Picture tells Mark about the consultation process and why Lochaber might be a good area for beavers. Rachel meets an Aberdeen lecturer who has won an award from the Mammal Society for his innovative camera trap box designed specifically for small mammals. Nick Littlewood shows Rachel the Littlewood Box, which he developed alongside his wife. The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is widely regarded as one of the toughest endurance challenges on the planet. It brings together people from all walks of life to take on an extraordinary 11-month adventure, racing across the world's oceans aboard 70-foot yachts. This weekend, the Clippers arrive in Oban, and earlier this week, Mark went to hear about the town’s preparations for them and what else is going on as part of the Festival of the Sea. This week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast features artist and sculptor Helen Denerley. She met Rachel in her Aberdeenshire studio to tell her where it all began and reflect on her near 50 years of work. We chat live to one of the Scottish crew members who have been taking part in this year’s Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. The race is arriving in Oban this weekend before heading to Portsmouth on the last leg of the challenge. We hear about what life has been like at sea for the teams taking part. Rachel is back with Colin Bartholomew at RSPB Mersehead on the Solway Coast, trying to spot the rare Marsh Harrier which make their home on the reserve. We catch up with another endurance challenge team on the high seas. GB Row Challenge is working with the University of Portsmouth on real-world research to preserve marine environments and wildlife. We catch up with the team to hear how their journey is going and what they’ve observed so far. And producer Phil and his trusted colleague Morven Livingstone head to Hopeman on the Moray coast to try their hand at snorkelling. The two-day event, run by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and a number of partner organisations called Snorkel for All, aims to make snorkelling more accessible for people like Phil, who is registered blind.
More from Scotland Outdoors
Mark is in Aberdeen where hair from a grey squirrel has been in found in feeder boxes. That might not sound very unusual, but the city was close to eradicating the non-native species which spread disease which kills the native red squirrels. James Kennedy from Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels shows Mark the area the greys are thought to be. Anne McAlpine is in the village of Tomatin in the Highlands to find out about a development which is aiming to tackle issues around rural housing. She hears how local groups have worked together with the Scottish Government to make the project happen. In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Mark visits Stobs Military Camp near Hawick to discover its history from a training camp in the early 1900s to a resettlement camp after the second world war. Andrew Jepson of Archaeology Scotland is his guide, and we hear an excerpt of Andrew showing him around. Hopetoun House near South Queensferry is closed to visitors at the moment however, there is one annual event which always goes ahead in autumn, a fungi walk. Mark meets ranger Emma Parker who shows him the rather spectacular array of waxcaps on the lawn and tells him more about what makes Hopetoun such a great place for them to grow. At this time of year boat owners are busying themselves to ready their boats for winter. Making sure everything is ship shape for potential bad weather ahead. Anne McAlpine is at Dunstaffnage marina near Oban and hears about the different jobs that owners and the marina carry out. It’s the season for pumpkin patches and they seem to have grown massively in popularity over the last few years. Laura Guthrie visits Ethiebeaton farm in South Angus where the McDonald family enjoy opening up their field to the public once a year to show them how pumpkins grow.
Mark Stephen visits Stobs Military Camp near Hawick to discover the importance of this site from a training camp in the early 1900s to a resettlement camp after the second world war. Andrew Jepson of Archaeology Scotland is his guide
The Arbroath Signal Tower Museum is set to benefit from more than £300,000 of funding to develop its outdoor space. Mark went for a visit to hear about their plans to transform the garden into an accessible, multi-functional public space for education, community activities and events. Rachel Bell and her family try their hand at orienteering in Hazlehead Park in Aberdeen. They see if they can follow the map to complete the course and have fun at the same time. Ardestie Earth House is a souterrain, an ancient underground structure, near Monifieth. Mark goes along to explore and try to solve the puzzle of what it might have been used for. When Mark was in Glasgow a few weeks ago, something interesting caught his eye. The Cameron Fountain in Charing Cross is rather unique, as it sits on something of a lean. Glasgow sculpture historian Gary Nisbet tells Mark about this intriguing piece of Glasgow’s past. And they also visit the Doulton Fountain outside the People’s Palace and discover that it hasn’t always been in the same place in the city. Rachel Bell takes some time to slow down and immerse herself in the outdoors at a forest therapy session led by Sarah Stevens. Sarah guides her through the forest at Birsemore near Aboyne and tells her about the different ways we can connect with nature. We hear live from Finland, where Hiljaa Fest, the world's first nature listening festival, is happening right now. Hiljaa Fest, which translates as ‘Quietly Fest’, is happening in Valkmusa National Park and showcases things like black grouse, the wind and the bog moss as performers. In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Rachel Stewart meets poet and storyteller Tony Bonning. Tony, known as the Man with the Horse, undertakes treks across the country with his horse Chief to collect folklore and tales along the way. He tells Rachel a bit about his life and a wee tale or two as well. And Rachel Bell meets Shetland fiddler and Fetlar resident Maurice Henderson, who tells her about his love of traditional straw crafting and how it ties into the island’s local folklore.
Rachel Stewart meets poet and story teller, Tony Bonning. Tony, known as the Man with the Horse, undertakes treks across the country with his horse Chief to collect folklore and tales along the way
It’s the time of year when we celebrate leaves as Autumn unfolds. Mark meets up with leaf expert Professor Jonathan Silvertown who’s written a book about them called Nature’s Magicians. Did you know that way back when there were no leaves on trees at all? Rachel’s been to the Carse of Gowrie to find out about the ancient pear orchards of the area, and the attempt to bring back Scottish pear varieties that have largely been forgotten. Neil Clapperton of Buglife is her guide Mark meets some of those taking part in a recent international translocation conference on a field day in the Cairngorms. He hears from delegates from Australia, Kenya and UK about translocating everything from mosses to rhinos Mark visits the St Cyrus National Nature Reserve near Montrose where he finds out about their brand new bird hide. Corncrakes were once common in Western Europe. Now their populations are mostly confined to the Western Isles and Skye. Shelagh Parlane of the RSPB describes how they've been advising crofters on how to adapt their land management techniques to encourage these rare birds to nest. Phil Sime and Morven Livingstone visit a youth club with a difference. In Alness, the club sits in the middle of two acre field. Jannette Douglas is the club coordinator And most people who have livestock will have their own unique way of calling them in. In Finland it is an art known as kuhning. Rachel finds out more from Finnish storyteller and Highland cow breeder Riika Palonen ahead of the Scottish Storytelling Festival.