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Out of Doors

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Out of Doors: 25/03/2017

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25/03/2017

BBC Radio Scotland - Out of Doors, 25/03/2017

Mark Stephen and Helen Needham present a special Out of Doors.

Mark Stephen and Helen Needham present a special Out of Doors. In part one they speak to skier Myrtle Simpson, and in part two they revisit some of their favourite places.

In part one of this week's Out of Doors Mark and Helen meet a truly inspirational lady.
Myrtle Simpson, who is originally from Aldershot and now lives in the Cairngorms, became the first woman to ski across Greenland with four others on an unsupported expedition in the 1960s.

Myrtle worked at Belford Hospital in Fort William after qualifying as a radiographer. She attempted to ski to the North Pole in 1969, getting further than any other woman had previously.

Now in her 80s, Myrtle still skis regularly and was recently awarded the Polar Medal. She tells Mark all about her expeditions and juggling life as a mother of four, with her incredible life.

In part two...
We get lots of emails and letters from people from all around the world asking us about the best places to visit in Scotland. So we decided to have a look back through our archive and let you hear a few of our favourites from over the years. 

Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven is the location we chose to record the programme and is our first not to be missed visit. Castle custodian Jim Wands showed Mark around.

Mark and Euan take a ride on the Jacobite Steam Train along the West Highland line between Fort William and Mallaig. It's possibly one of the best train journeys in the world starting near Ben Nevis, stopping at Britain's most westerly mainland railway station and of course crossing the Glenfinnan viaduct made famous by the Harry Potter films. 
Of all the places Out of Doors has visited St Kilda stands out as a favourite. It's the most remote part of the British Isles lying 41 miles west of Benbecula and is owned by The National Trust for Scotland. We hear a flavour of Mark and Euan's trip there back in 2011.

Loch an Eilein near Aviemore is one of the 'most Scottish' scenes you can imagine. The Loch with its ruined castle sits in Rothiemurchus Estate among pine trees and in the summer, lots of midges. Ranger Alph MacGregor took Mark out and showed him around.

Back in 2014 we made a programme with the aim of answering one supposedly simple question: where is the heart of Scotland? That proved quite tricky to locate but Euan did succeed in finding one heart overlooking Loch Fyne. The Tinkers Heart is a very important place for the travelling community in Scotland as Euan heard from storyteller Jess Smith.

We explore Assynt through the poetry of one of Scotland's greatest 20th Century poets, Norman MacCaig. MacCaig spent many years coming to his favourite corner of Scotland, and wrote extensively about it. Mark took a trip a few miles north of Lochinver at Achmelvich and was joined by poet and author, Andrew Grieg.

And Mark tests out whether there really is an echo at Loch An Eilein.

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