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Donkey Driving, Chalk Drawings and a Digital Ellisland

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

Mark heads to Heriot to visit Claire Arnett, donkey driver, and ambassador for the Donkey Breed Society. She explains a little about what makes donkeys so delightful, and uncovers the breed's tendency towards overeating in these cold climates.

Rachel meets runner and artist Clyde Williamson in front of the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design building on Perth Road, where is staging his final exhibition as a student, after reaching notoriety for his chalk drawings.

Producer Phil Sime may be completely blind, but when skipper Sarah Smith from Eco-Ventures invites him aboard the twin engine rib at Cromarty harbour for some wildlife spotting on the Moray Firth, he jumps at the opportunity.

Marine Scotland are appealing to anglers fishing in Scottish rivers to humanely kill an invasive species of salmon. Mark caught up with Brian Shaw, Director of Ness District Salmon Fishery Board on the banks of the River Ness to find out more.

Also threatening the future of our Salmon population, is an fungus-like infection called Saprolegnia. It’s been around for centuries, but we chat with the world’s leading expert on these matters, Professor Peiter Van West, from the University of Aberdeen, about how the disease is becoming more aggressive.

Dr Tim Peacock, co-founder and co-director of the Games and Gaming Lab at the University of Glasgow has been involved in the creation of a Minecraft project that allows gamers to virtually explore Robert Burn’s Ellisland Farm. We hear a slice of this chat with Dr Peacock from our Scotland Outdoors podcast.

NHS Grampian’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, known as CAMHS, has recruited a garden designer to transform the space outside the Links Unit in Aberdeen. Rachel met up with Project Manager Siobhan Cowie and gardener Heather Dale as she began planting on site.

A new exhibition telling the story of a hundred years of shipbuilding in Burntisland and Kinghorn in Fife has opened to the public. Volunteers say as time goes on, fewer people are now aware of just how important the industry was in the local area. Rachel met George McLauchlan at the Burntisland Heritage Trust museum to learn more.

1 hour, 31 minutes

Last on

Sat 8 Jul 2023 06:30

Broadcast

  • Sat 8 Jul 2023 06:30

Landward

Landward

Scotland's farming and countryside programme