St Andrew's Day, Central Belt Badgers and Temperature Blankets

Rachel is in Fife to meet a woman who is leading the charge on making the outdoors accessible to all. Jan Kerr set up a rambling group for those who rely on wheels, particularly mobility scooters. She tells Rachel how it came about.

Over the past few years, a group of badger enthusiasts has been surveying the Central Belt to track the number of setts they can find. Having completed the length of the River Clyde, the group are now surveying between Glasgow Green and Arthur’s Seat. Mark went along to meet them as they checked a site near the M8 motorway.

In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast Helen meets up with professional woodworker Callum Robinson. We hear an excerpt where he explains where his passion for wood came from.

Next week the winners of the BBC’s Food and Farming Awards will be unveiled at a ceremony in Glasgow. Out of Doors and Landward have our own category – the BBC Scotland Food Hero award. Over the past few weeks, Rachel has been visiting the three finalists, and this week we hear from Lisa Houston from the Lauriston Agroecology Farm near Edinburgh which concentrates on food growing, biodiversity and community.

Christmas is fast approaching and many people already have their decorations up, including their tree! But have you ever considered renting a living Christmas Tree? Laura visits a farm in Aberdeenshire where you can do just that.

November 30th is of course St Andrew’s Day. And while he is the patron saint of Scotland, his day is also celebrated in many countries around the world including Poland. We’re joined live by Grażyna Zuziak to tell us about the Polish traditions of St Andrew’s Day including future telling.

Helen visits Sue Laidlow who has been knitting a blanket, or rather blankets, throughout 2024 which track the changing temperatures. As temperatures change, so does the colour of the wool used which results in a rather impressive record charting a whole year of highs and lows in our temperatures.

Brothers Mike and Andy Truscott are artists who under the name Kinbrae, create soundscapes usually inspired by the landscapes and nature they love most. They’ve just released some new material and took Rachel to a park where they recorded some of the sounds.