Scotland Outdoors

Mark Stephen visits the poetry path at Corbenic with its founder Jon Plunkett

The Elsick Mounth is an ancient trackway, linking the River Dee to the Mearns, and is one of the routes featured in the new Scotsways guide on hill tracks. Mark and Rachel both met up with Colin Young, a Scotsways volunteer, who guided them along part of the route to point out some of the important historical and archaeological sites that can be seen from the track.

Scotland’s peatlands are an iconic part of the landscape, and have been undergoing targeted restoration across the country for the last fifteen years. Rachel visited Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, and met with their Peatland Action Project Officer, Tasha Craven, to find out more about the importance of this habitat.

Edinburgh’s New Town is full of important buildings and some exemplary stonework. Andrew McMillan is a member of the Edinburgh Geological Society, and has recently put together a guided tour of the area around St Andrew’s Square, and Mark met with him to hear more about the area’s impressive geoheritage.

Lorraine McCall has an impressive list of mountain achievements to her name, having completed all the Corbetts and Munros, and being the first known woman to summit all the Grahams in a single journey – all while overcoming three separate cancer diagnoses. Rachel joined her on the Moray Coast to find out more about how she fared during these challenges.

Mark and Rachel are joined by Iain Hepburn from Bright Spark Burning Techniques, to share his expertise on muirburn and it's use in fighting wild fires.

Hedgehogs are beginning to emerge again in Scotland after their long hibernation, and the ‘Pledgehog’ project, based in Dunbar, are gearing up for another year of helping to raise awareness of the little garden mammals. Rachel went along to meet up with Jen Walker, to find out how they are utilising trail cameras as part of local conservation efforts.

Lorraine McCall from the Highlands has overcome cancer three times in recent years. She has previously climbed all of Scotland's 221 Corbetts and 282 Munros.

1Long The Scottish Crannog Centre on the banks of Loch Tay is a bustling model Iron Age village, filled with various craftspeople to demonstrate ancient crafts and technologies. Mark went along to find out how the site has grown over the past few years, and how the construction of the crannog over the water is coming along.

Jenny Graham follows the Postie’s Path – a route once taken by “Big John MacKenzie”, a post runner in the early 19th century, which runs along Strathconon Glen in the West Highlands, finishing at Achnasheen. The route used to take several days for the postman to complete on foot, but Jenny has opted to trace the route – or what remains of it – on her bike.

Helen Needham has been out and about in the early morning to catch the best of the spring dawn chorus. Joining her is Ian Broadbent, the North East of Scotland’s specialist bird recorder from the British Trust for Ornithology.

Passing through West Lothian, it is hard to miss the huge angular mounds dotted across the landscape. However, the history of these mounds, or bings – and the shale oil industry that created them – may be lesser known. Mark met up with Nicola Donaldson from the Shale Museum to find out more about the historic industry, and how it created these man made landmarks.

The Torridon Mountain Rescue Team that has been operating in the West Highlands since 1972. Jenny Graham has herself been a member of the group for 10 years, and she met up with some of the other team members to find out about the history of the team, and how mountain rescue has changed in the past 50 years.

The Inchindown Oil Tanks are a relic of WWII, located near Invergordon, and are the site of the world’s longest echo. Phil Sime went along to the vast underground space, to experience this echo for himself.

Mark has been along to the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, to have a look at their huge collection of pressed and preserved plants. The Herbarium is home to over three million species, and Mark meets up with Amy Porteous to find out how the collection is used.

Helen Needham meets with bird recorder Ian Broadbent to capture the April dawn chorus