Out of Doors

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Out of Doors: Allotments, Beat the Street and a Cycle round Stow

Allotments, Beat the Street and a Cycle round Stow

BBC Radio Scotland - Out of Doors, Allotments, Beat the Street and a Cycle round Stow

Mark Stephen and Euan McIlwraith with stories from the great outdoors.

Mark and Euan talk to the people behind a new e-cycle hub located at Stow railway station which is trying to encourage more visitors to explore the Scottish Borders.

Mark meets up with Dr Timothy Finnegan for a stroll round the ruins of Kinloss Abbey and hears about its fascinating history and the ongoing conservation work being carried out by the Kinloss Abbey Trust.

A couple of weeks ago we delved into the archives and played a clip from a programme from 1980 called Odyssey – Mountain Men which contained fascinating accounts of working class men from Glasgow who took to the Scottish mountains in the 1930s and 40s.  It got such a great response from the listeners that we decided to send Euan to track down former BBC producer Ishbel MacLean to hear about her own memories of making that programme over 40 years ago.

Stow community historian and archivist Mary Craig gives Mark and Euan a historical cycle tour of the village where they find out about the Bishop’s House, the execution of witches and the elaborate wedding feast of Robert the Bruce’s son.

A new game aimed at getting people of all ages involved in more exercise is being played in many communities up and down the country.  It’s called Beat The Street and Mark caught up with pupils from Uplawmoor Primary School, as well as one of the game’s organisers Margaret Dalziel to find out more.

Euan finds out about how the Radical Road in Edinburgh's Holyrood Park got its name. 

There are literally thousands of people up and down the country with their names on a waiting list for an allotment and, in some cases, people have been waiting for over 15 years for a growing space to become available.  Mark and Euan are joined live by Derek Livesey, President of the Scottish Allotment and Garden Society, to hear why there is such a growing demand for allotments.

Robert Macfarlane, one of our finest living nature writers, celebrates the writing – and climbing - of another fine writer, WH Murray, a pioneering climber in the 1930’s who wrote his first book ‘Mountaineering in Scotland’ whilst incarcerated in prisoner of war camps during World War II.  Robert shares some thoughts on him as he walks in to climb the Curved Ridge with Helen Needham.

And can you guess what Euan’s mystery bird is this week?

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