Edinburgh Outdoors

Princes Street Gardens right in the centre of Edinburgh beneath the Castle is a public park with a long history.  It was formerly a loch and was drained to remove the stench of the city's sewage and to create a park for residents.   It's now a popular spot, so I headed into the Gardens with Hetty Lancaster of Hetty's History Walks to find out more about the park's history. A regular guest expert on the podcast, Hetty turned the tables in the second half of the recording and asked me about why I set up Edinburgh Outdoors - something a bit different! We met in Princes Street Gardens by the Ross Fountain We discussed the Robert Louise Stevenson monument and the Floral Clock  You can find old pictures of Edinburgh and Princes Street Gardens on Capital Collections There's one of the Nor Loch Find out about Hetty's History Walks: https://www.hettyshistorywalks.co.uk/ Find out more on my social media including Instagram, Facebook and Substack

Edinburgh Sketcher is part of the fabric of the city.  He captures the everyday moments, events and views that represent Edinburgh life.  I met him on Calton Hill and watched as he created a journal sketch of our conversation and the views we were enjoying while talking.   He gave a great insight into how he thinks through a drawing and talks about career change and gives brilliant top tips for capturing every day events on paper. If you want to see Mark's picture you can find it on the links below.  We met HERE  Mark's website is here: https://www.edinburghsketcher.com/ You can view the sketch on Substack: https://substack.com/@edinburghoutdoors It's also on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edinburghoutdoors_ And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edinburghoutdoors  

Join me as I head off foraging in the Hermitage of Braid woodlands with the brilliant Hana Koen.  Find out all about the fascinating funghi we found, their medicinal properties and culinary flavours and discover how many are hiding in plain sight.  We wandered through the very cold and sunny November sunshine and talked about mushrooms, dealing with an autism diagnosis and Hanna gave a great explanation of queer mycology theory before sharing her beautiful sketchbook.    A fascinating and education episode!  We met in the Hermitage HERE We walked on the higher path to the north and then back by the Braid Burn from the Scout Bridge HERE You can find Hana on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foraging.gardener/ She is also on Substack: https://foraginggardener.substack.com/about You can see photographs from our foraging on my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edinburghoutdoors_/ I also upload photography and background to Substack: https://substack.com/@edinburghoutdoors  

Kinneil Estate in Bo'ness on the Forth Estuary is a brilliant place to discover history from Romans to the present day.  With a Roman fortlet, a grand old tower house, the location of James Watt's original workshop, ruined villages, birdlife on the loch and much more, it's a great place for a day out discovering the area.   I met with Adrian Mahoney of the Bo'net group to find out all about the Estate and about it's tiny museum which is under threat.  Join me on a grand day out! You can find the Estate HERE It's worth checking in advance if you want to visit the museum as it's sometimes closed The Roman fortlet is HERE The nature reserve is HERE Bo'net: https://bonet.org.uk/ Friends of Kinneil: https://kinneil.org.uk/friends/ For the audio trail of the estate visit Izzy Travel and/or download the app: https://izi.travel/en The Historic Environment Scotland site for Kinneil House: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/kinneil-house/    

Lauriston Farm is an inspiring local collective that is transforming a former traditional farm into a biodiverse space that includes community allotments, woodland spaces and a market garden producing food for communities.  I had a wander round with Grower, Dav Shand to find out about their food poverty programme, discover what agroecology is and to understand more about their  food production, partnerships and vision.  We saw the thousands of trees planted on the side of the Forth and the many initiatives introduced by the workers' cooperative.  You can visit the community spaces and woodland and also attend workshops and open days at the Farm itself.   It's a terrific example of an inspired community of people working together for good.  To visit you can go HERE The farm and community have a website: https://www.lauristonfarm.scot/ To find out more about open days: https://www.lauristonfarm.scot/events/ They are on Instagram too: https://www.instagram.com/eaclauristonfarm