Scotland Outdoors - Findhorn Water Taxi, Roundabout Gardens and Elie Sand Portraits

Download Findhorn Water Taxi, Roundabout Gardens and Elie Sand Portraits

Rachel catches up with Nick Ray who previously kayaked around the coast of Scotland, sharing his journey and mental health challenges on social media throughout that year. He’s just completed another journey but walking this time, from far north to south via east and west. Rachel finds out why he decided to hang up his kayak for this challenge.

Mark’s in Aberdeenshire and hears from Jim Wilson from Soil Essentials .who tells him how a spot sprayer is going to change the world!

Bobby Motherwell, the poet in residence at RSPB Lochwinnoch has been keeping a close eye on the wildlife there. He shares a poem, inspired by his surroundings.

The Mounthooly Roundabout in Aberdeen is one of the city’s busiest roundabouts and it’s a spot where hundreds, if not thousands of people pass by every day – But this is no ordinary green oasis! Recently a community group have been transforming the roundabout into a food forest – Last week, I took a wander down to Mounthooly to meet up with Graham Donald, community development officer along with some of the other folk involved in the project to see their progress.

Mark and Rachel chat with Richard Reynolds, who, 21 years ago, was one of the UK’s first modern guerrilla gardeners, and ask how attitudes have changed over the years.

Tucked away on the Moray Coast lies Culbin Sands, a remote stretch of fragile shoreline where the golden sands meet the crystal clear waters of Findhorn bay. It's not the easiest place to reach, unless you're up for a three-hour hike through the Culbin Forest, or you could go for the slightly less strenuous option which is to go by water taxi. Morven Livingstone and Phil Sime, along with guide dog Striker met up with Jane Campbell Morrison from Findhorn Water-Sports who gave them a tour around the bay.

Sand in Your Eye are a sand sculpture group who depending on the tide are creating a sand sculpture of Beethoven on Elie Beach. Rachel pops along hoping to see the end result.

Scotland’s last remaining Timeball has just been restored and is back in place at the top of Edinburgh’s iconic Nelson Monument. Once a vital tool for sailors navigating the Firth of Forth and Port of Leith, this Timeball helped ships set their clocks precisely to 1pm Greenwich Mean Time 365 days of the year. Earlier this week, Mark caught up with Karl Chapman, Head of Heritage at Cultural Venues, Museums and Galleries, to learn all about the fascinating restoration project and why this historic timekeeper still matters today.

Published on Saturday, 14th June 2025.

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