Out of Doors

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Out of Doors: Nan Shepherd, the Saltire and Whaling Memories

Nan Shepherd, the Saltire and Whaling Memories

BBC Radio Scotland - Out of Doors, Nan Shepherd, the Saltire and Whaling Memories

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors.

Open Seas is a Scottish charity that focuses on protecting our marine environment and the things that live in it. A few weeks ago, Mark joined them in Skye where they were carrying out seabed surveys. While the weather didn’t play ball and they didn’t get out on their planned boat trip, the team did manage to show him the kind of footage they record and why it’s important in influencing the kinds of protection marine areas can get. 

Rachel is in Pitlochry, where the Firebrand Theatre Company along with the Festival Theatre are staging a play all about naturalist and poet Nan Shepherd: Naked and Unashamed. She hears about how the play came together and the extraordinary legacy of Nan. 

Wigtown is now well known across Scotland and the wider literary world as Scotland’s Book Town. It’s a title it has held since 1998 and since the first festival in 1999, the town has seen its prospects transformed. Mark met up with Anne Barclay from the festival company to hear about the positive changes in the town over the past 25 years. 

Rachel heads out on a coastal foraging walk as part of the 2024 Moray Walking and Outdoor Festival, which kicks off this weekend. Forager Daniel shows her some of the things that can be found along the coastline from plants to seaweeds, foods and medicine.

By the time Out of Doors is broadcast, Scotland will have played Germany in the opening match of Euro 2024. For the past few days Scotland fans have been arriving in Munich and the town is covered in tartan and saltires. But what is the origin of the white cross on a blue background? Mark visits the Scottish Flag Trust at Athelstaneford in East Lothian to find out more.  

The story of modern whaling in the Southern Hemisphere is a controversial one. Many British companies played a key role in the industry, and they had a largely Scottish workforce. A project is underway to collect the memories of those who worked in the industry and their families before it’s too late. We chat live to Helen Balfour from the Whalers’ Memory Bank to find out more about the project.

A couple of weeks ago, the last seagoing paddle steamer in the world, The Waverley, made its first ever visit to Ullapool. Our news colleague in Inverness, Stephen Macleod, went along to experience the excitement. 

In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Rachel speaks to Artist in Residence at the Rahoy Nature Reserve, Liz Myhill. Her role is to raise awareness of the huge reserve and encourage people to visit and explore. We hear an excerpt. 

More than 130 years ago two men began a years' long adventure to discover, climb and map Skye's famous Black Cuillin. Professor Norman Collie was a scientist and John Mackenzie was a local mountain guide. The unlikely pair are considered among the greatest pioneering mountaineers of their time, and in 2020, after several years of fundraising, a statue was erected in their memory. Mark went to visit it in Sligachan and hear Collie and Mackenzie’s story.

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