Reindeer, Huskies and the Bells of St Machar's Cathedral
Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart with stories from the great outdoors.
In the spirit of Christmas, Mark has been prancing about picking Christmas Trees with Jennifer McNicol at the Easter Rattray Farm near Blairgowrie.
Annie Macdonald of the Stories of Scotland podcast shares a yuletide tale from Inverness, about the Clachan Groat, and a rather flamboyant retelling of a Christmas Drag Race.
Rachel’s merrily on high as she climbs to the top of the bell tower at St Machar’s Cathedral in Aberdeen to see the church bells, and speak to bell ringers Ian Tolboys and Elinor Farquharson.
Mark’s away to visit some birds, with pigeon fancier Scott Gibson. With Avian Influenza on the rise, they discuss the future of pigeon racing in Scotland.
Stonehaven is alive with Mushing, as Mark visits Wattie MacDonald’s Husky Haven in Aberdeenshire. He meets the team of Siberian huskies, and gets a shot on the sleigh.
Rachel heads to the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre to see the UK’s only free-ranging herd of reindeer ahead of Christmas.
We chat with Nick Ray, of Life Afloat, who is midway through a year long kayaking adventure through Scotland’s sea lochs. We find out where Nick Ray is resting his head, and his paddles, this Christmas.