Edinburgh Outdoors

Dr Neil's Garden is a secret space tucked beneath Arthurs Seat and beside a loch in Duddingston. Created on wild land by two doctors years ago, it's now a tranquil space with views, seating areas, meandering paths and a historic curling tower to discover. I met with head gardener, Alan Mitchell to find out about the garden's history and its volunteers. After a sneak peek into the curling tower and a wander round this beautiful space, Alan told me about his passion for spoon carving and how he teaches his craft. Listen in for some terrific background bird sounds and to find out more about this garden - once a local's secret, but now attracting thousands of visitors each year. The garden is signposted from the Duddingston Kirk car park or from the Causeway in the village. Find Dr Neil's Garden HERE For What3Words: https://w3w.co/blaze.gold.rapid The garden has a website: https://www.drneilsgarden.co.uk/ And is on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drneilsgarden/ Alan's Alien Spoon carving is here: https://alienspoons.co.uk/

In this episode we head out to find lost stones from a church built in the 1400s which are now scattered across the city. When the church was demolished to make way for Waverley Station, the Council left stones piled on Calton Hill for 30 years. During this time many disappeared and a project funded by the Old Edinburgh Club is now finding where they went. Join me with historians, Hetty Lancaster and Jill Harrison as I learn more about the church, the stones and we head out to see what we can find. The podcast starts at the church built with only a third of the original stones, The Trinity Apse (NB you cannot currently go inside): HERE. We also view stones in the courtyard of the Museum of Edinburgh: HERE And others in Greyfriars Kirkyard: HERE You can also see more at the National Museum of Scotland: HERE The Trinity Stones website: https://www.revivingthetrinitystones.co.uk/ The link to the crowdfunding: https://www.gofundme.com/f/revive-the-trinity-stones-a-precious-part-of-old-edinburgh The Old Edinburgh Club website: https://oldedinburghclub.org.uk/ Hetty's History Walks website: https://www.hettyshistorywalks.co.uk/ The Trinity Project: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/trinitynetwork/the-trinity-network-who-are-we/ Read more on my Substack: https://edinburghoutdoors.substack.com/p/edinburgh-outdoors-podcast

Midhope Castle on the Hopetoun Estate is an old tower house packed full of history. To many people it is better known as Lallybroch, the beautiful and atmospheric ancestral home of Jamie Fraser in the Outlander TV series. Once a bin store and farmyard, the Midhope has become incredibly popular with Outlander fans and people keen to seek out filming locations. The team at Hopetoun has been working to enhance the visitor experience and welcome the many thousands who make the pilgrimage to Jamie's home. I went behind the scenes of Lallybroch to hear some filming secrets, get a special peek inside the building and to discover many of the filming locations around the site. I met the team responsible for creating a visitor experience and I enjoyed the romance and mystery of this really special and historic building. You can visit Midhope / Lallybroch HERE There is a website with more information: https://www.midhopecastle.com/ Hopetoun Estate has a section about Outlander filming locations and a map to help you find them HERE The woodland walk with Jamie's cave and other locations is HERE Abercorn Church can be found HERE You can enjoy a beautiful walk from Blackness Castle (another Outlander location) to Abercorn and Midhope along the John Muir Way, starting HERE

Binning Wood is in East Lothian beyond North Berwick and is a historic wood. Once used to build warplanes and then replanted after the war, it's packed full of different trees and was an ideal location for my walk with Jean Nairn. Binning is home to wide walkways through native trees, a beautiful green burial site and little hidden spaces. Jean worked in forestry and while she still works with trees, it's now in a very different - and fascinating - way. We headed out into Binning to enjoy nature sights and sounds and to find out more about Jean and her love of trees. You can find Binning Wood HERE Jean's Woodlands Breathing site can be found here: https://www.woodlandsbreathing.co.uk/ Find out more about green burials at Binning: https://www.binningwood.co.uk/

Easter and Wester Craiglockhart Hills are part of Edinburgh's Seven Hills. In the south of the city, Easter Craiglockhart is a nature reserve and is teeming with wildlife, great views and a strong volunteer group. Join me as I find out how the excellent volunteering team on Easter Craiglockhart Hill has been transforming the site with new trees, spring flowers and an island for the pond. Listen to this first episode of Season 5 to hear about the work that's ongoing and to learn about the new island and the newly designated Iron Age hillfort. Recorded last year, this episode brings you Spring just when you need it! With birdsong, primoroses and ducklings the Hill was literally springing into life. The Hill can be accessed beside the pond on Lockarton Crescent HERE You can find out more, see what wildlife has been spotted and learn about upcoming events, or join in with the team of volunteers here: https://www.eastercraiglockharthill.org/ The Friends have an active Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EasterCraiglockhartHill/

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

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/

How often when walking round Edinburgh do you look up? Podcast regular, Hetty Lancaster of Hetty's History Walks, took me on a walk around Stockbridge in the north of the city, to look at historic gems hidden in plain sight. From the original Stockbridge Market and the history of market gardening to the ornate and bizarre gateposts around the original Inverleith Estate, we discovered things you may walk past every day, but never notice. We started out at Duncansland HERE We walked down the Water of Leith from HERE The Falshaw Bridge is HERE You can find the picture we discuss on the Capital Collections website HERE The gateposts with the strange lions are HERE Plant Alley and the boating pond is HERE The Sundial Garden is HERE The final gateposts are opposite the John Hope Gateway HERE Hetty's History Walks organises group and private walks around the city: https://www.hettyshistorywalks.co.uk/

Siccar Point near Cockburnspath is a stunning viewpoint where Father of Geology James Hutton, found evidence to support his theories which influenced modern day geology. It's a great walk with superb views and is going to be transformed through a project spearheaded by the Edinburgh Geological Society. The project will bring improved access and interpretation for visitors and its launch will coincide with the James Hutton Tercentenary in 2026. I stepped out along the cliffs with podcast regular, geologist Angus Miller, to find out why Siccar Point is so significant and to learn more about the crowdfunding campaign for this important project. To find out more about James Hutton, his influence and the Tercentenary, visit: https://james-hutton.org/ To read about the project, the crowdfunder, the Dynamic Earth event and how you can get hold of some of the 'rewards': https://edinburghgeolsoc.org/support-the-deep-time-trail/ The crowdfunder, including a film about the site, is HERE To learn about the James Hutton Insititute: https://www.hutton.ac.uk/ The Scottish Geology Trust is here: https://www.scottishgeologytrust.org/ Angus and I met HERE And the viewpoint is HERE

Join me for an interesting afternoon with Tamsin Grainger discovering all about Granton's history. As I become more fascinated by the area and it's special character, it was good to find out more about its past. Join us as we head out to walk along the shore seeing seals, brick beaches and quirky statues while we delve into stories of the area and what draws Tamsin to the outdoors. And find the history behind 'walking like a tortoise'. We met at Wardie Bay HERE We visited the Pianodrome HERE The sailor statues are HERE The 'brick beach' is HERE The Pitt and sauna is HERE You can read Tamsin's material on the links below: www.tamsingrainger.com and walkingwithoutadonkey.com She was winner of the Walk•Listen•Create Marŝarto Award 2024 LINK And Tamsin is author of 'Working with Death and Loss in Shiatsu Practice, a guide to holistic bodywork in palliative care' (Singing Dragon, 2020). LINK Bluesky: @walknodonkey.bsky.social Instagram: tamsinshiatsu

Edinburgh is a beautiful city and of course, many of its views make great photographs. I headed up Salisbury Crags in Holyrood Park with photographer Jason Baxter to find out how to get that killer shot of my home town. We talked careers, the beauty of Holyrood Park and Arthurs Seat and the frustration of an easterly wind which brings Edinburgh's haar. Jason has photographed Edinburgh and Scotland for many years and his pictures grace the walls of the Airport, so take a look next time you're there. To find out more about Jason: https://www.jasonbaxter.media/ We were photographing up the Crags: HERE And then after a circuit of the Crags we walked back to the Palace via Hunters Bog which is HERE

Many people don't know that Edinburgh was once a walled city, so we set off to find traces of the old walls that still remain. In the times when the extent of the city covered the area we now call the 'old town' it was enclosed to protect its residents from attack and also to control commercial activity. Remnants of the wall remain today, some dating back to the fourteenth century, and many people walk past them unaware of these ancient relics. There are also indications of walls dating as far back as the twelfth century. Many of our road names are indicators of the location of the walls and gates - known as 'ports' - in and out of the city. I headed out with podcast regular, Hetty Lancaster of Hetty's History Walks, to discover some bits of the wall and its history. It was one of the most interesting podcasts I have recorded. Listen in to join Hetty and me as we disappear into the closes of the Royal Mile to find original sections of the wall and learn when and why they were built. There is a lot more of the original walls remaining than you might realise! A useful map of Edinburgh city walls which is discussed on the podcast, can be found here: https://www.trove.scot/image/1323636 Places we found parts of the wall include: Tweedale Court, location of the oldest, King's Wall: here John Knox House, probable original site of the Netherbow Port: here Wall based image of the original Netherbow Port (look up!): here Brass markings on the roadway showing the later site of the Netherbow Port: here Long section of the Flodden Wall: here You can find sections of the walls in Greyfriar's Kirkyard: here Further sections of the Flodden and Telfer wall are in the Vennel: here And to find out more, the Book of the Old Edinburgh Club has been publishing scholarly articles about Edinburgh's history since 1908. Enter what you are looking for (e.g. city walls) in the pages 'search' function: https://oldedinburghclub.org.uk/boec/ Details of Hetty's History Walks can be found here: https://www.hettyshistorywalks.co.uk

Over 12 miles long, the Water of Leith snakes through Edinburgh from Balerno to the Forth Estuary. Formerly a working river and home to over 70 mills, it is now a nature reserve with a walkway along its length, which makes for a great walk. I met with Senior Ranger, Johnny Wells, to find out how the Water of Leith Conservation Trust manages the space and all its challenges. Johnny was a terrific interviewee and entertained me thoughout my visit with tales of his past, his current role and how volunteers support the work of the Trust. Johnny is a tree hugger and has had a surprising and fascinating career. We met at the Water of Leith visitor centre in Slateford and then walked towards Colinton. The Water of Leith visitor centre: here The Water of Leith Conservation Trust website: https://www.waterofleith.org.uk/