BBC Radio Scotland
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A topical guide to life in the Scottish outdoors.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Field reporting, practical questions and warm studio exchanges make Scotland's landscapes, wildlife and rural work unusually tangible.
Scotland Outdoors moves between studio conversation and reporting from farms, hills, coastlines and community projects. Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart bring a lively curiosity to the material, asking practical questions and allowing the answers to retain their local detail.
A J-shaped tree root gets cross-examined, and suddenly you care which saplings survive the wind.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded case for winter climbing as a place-specific kind of freedom and challenge.
The piece treats winter climbing as a hard, honest kind of freedom, and Guy Robertson makes that case well. Working with Hamish Frost on The Great Mixed Climbs of Scotland, the discussion moves through route names like White Magic, Trail of Tears, Gully of the Gods, Messiah, and…
A place-led listen that keeps salt marsh restoration clear, grounded, and worth the time.
This BBC outing opens with wild Aberdeen weather, then settles into a practical look at restoring salt marsh. It explains the habitat in plain terms: a place between land and sea, shaped by fresh water, mud, and salt water coming in twice a day.
A seasonal ramble that finds character in fields, memory, and the weather above them.
Scotland Outdoors turns to autumn with a light, wandering pace, moving from the moon to tattie harvesting and the daily rhythms of farm work. The questions stay plain and curious, asking who did the work, what has changed, and what survives now that machinery does most of the…
A loose, place-led outdoor episode that finds substance in Scotland's UNESCO trail.
This Scotland Outdoors episode starts with a frank discussion of responsible dog walking, then broadens into Scotland's UNESCO trail and the places it is meant to connect.
Cairngorm wind and plainspoken outreach talk keep this outing grounded.
This Scotland Outdoors outing opens in fast-moving cloud on Cairngorm, with 50 mile an hour winds setting the tone before it settles into a plainspoken discussion of access, responsibility, and outdoor behaviour.
A grounded outdoor hour that moves from dogs and gardening to louping ill with lived-in charm.
Scotland Outdoors folds a canine-themed week into a broader look at outdoor life, community space, and animal health. Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart move from a chaotic snowy recording session to Eva Burrows First Stop, where Rosie Q shows how allotments and raised beds give…
A hill-level conversation about deer, stalking, and what provenance means when food is traced back to the land.
This Scotland Outdoors episode follows the hills around Fingan in Aberdeenshire with a clear focus: red deer, land management, stalking, and cooking.
A beaver battle told from the edge of a farm, where conservation meets practical reality.
Tom Bowser's beaver fight reads as a land-use story as much as a wildlife one. From Argety near Doon, the episode follows the first private landowner in Scotland to legally relocate beavers, after a long and difficult battle over what to do once they began causing serious…
This episode of Scotland Outdoors explores autumn in the Scottish outdoors, covering topics like the threat to larch trees from disease, pumpkin growing varieties, Glasgow's historical air pollution, the tradition of tatty howking, and conservation efforts for capercaillie using Highland cows.
Climber Guy Robertson discusses his new book on Scotland's great mixed climbs, sharing personal stories about the thrill and risk of winter climbing, its historical context, and how climate change is affecting the sport.
Tom Bowser discusses his book about relocating beavers to his farm in Scotland, detailing the bureaucratic hurdles, ecological benefits, and personal costs.
Jonathan Carey shares his upbringing in the Findhorn Foundation, a spiritual and ecological community in Scotland, describing his childhood in a caravan, his mother's inner guidance, and the community's evolution through challenges like fire.
This episode marks the 20th anniversary of Scotland's world-leading Outdoor Access Code, featuring interviews with rangers, landowners, and campaigners.
Host Mark Stephen visits Fingan Estate in Aberdeenshire to interview gamekeeper Hedge Shand and chef Sanjay Bhattacharya, exploring their collaboration in deer stalking and venison production.
This episode explores Scotland's outdoors through topics like wildfire recovery on Dava Moor, the revival of traditional knitting in Sanka, rewilding efforts in Aberdeenshire, and the importance of fungi.
This episode explores diverse Scottish outdoor topics, including the £100,000 effort to repair the eroded path up Bennachie, Tom Bowser's pioneering beaver relocation project, and a new exhibition on shinty's history.
This episode of Scotland Outdoors explores diverse outdoor adventures and conservation efforts in Scotland, featuring interviews with a daredevil photographer, a winter climber, and an Atlantic rower.
This episode of Scotland Outdoors covers seasonal outdoor topics in Scotland, including wildlife conservation efforts like native woodland expansion and peregrine falcon decline, innovative forestry technology, historical cattle droving, and community stories from the Fyndhorn Foundation.
This episode explores various aspects of Scotland's outdoors, focusing on canine companions.
Hosts discuss the rainy weather and a wildlife sighting in the Scottish outdoors.
This episode celebrates the 50th anniversary of BBC Scotland's Landward program, featuring an interview with presenter Arlene Stewart about her experience joining the show.
Hosts discuss cycling challenges and outdoor life in Scotland, with casual banter about a car park and past swimming adventures.
A tour of a former Cold War radar station in Scotland, now being restored by an architectural historian.
A podcast exploring life in the Scottish outdoors, with hosts discussing seasonal changes and local experiences.
Host Helen Needham meets author Rob at the Water of Leith to discuss river conservation and hope for Scotland's waterways.
A podcast exploring life in the Scottish outdoors, featuring a story about a woman and her horse walking slowly through the hills.
Host meets forager Mo Wild to discuss her wild food experiments and new book on foraging in Scotland.
The host explores the Scottish outdoors, meeting an expert to identify birds by their dawn chorus.
An interview with author Kerry Andrews about her book on walking, motherhood, and freedom, exploring the challenges and societal expectations of postpartum walking.