Outdoor Saunas, Walking with Goats and A Library of Things

Photographer, filmmaker and researcher Jill de Fresnes has encapsulated the experiences of twelve Scottish women who worked as herring gutters from the 1920s to the 1960s in a new exhibition at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh. Mark meets Jill there to chat about Silver, Salt and Stories – Images and Memories of the Scots Herring Women.

Two friends in Fife set up the Wild Scottish Sauna during lockdown after seeing the popularity of wild swimming. In this week’s podcast excerpt, Rachel visits one of their sites at Kingsbarns beach near St Andrews to speak to some of the regulars and co-founder Jayne McGhie.

A groundbreaking soil survey in Glen Prosen, Cairngorms National Park, has unearthed a staggering number of species living beneath the ground. Mark is in the Glen with Plant Ecologist Dr Andrea Britton, Molecular Fungal Ecologist Dr Andy Taylor and Forestry and Land Scotland Programme Manager Christine Reid to discover how the findings will inform the rebuilding of native woodlands in the area.

Phil Sime and Morven Livingstone take a trip to the Black Isle Library of Things which encourages people to borrow and not buy. The pair join Martin Sherring and Allan Tailor to dig into what’s available to hire, including lawn-mowers, welding helmets, cots and even a polar bear suit.

Rachel meets Rose Benoy for a goat walk at Rose’s small holding near Forfar in Angus to discover the benefits of taking a stroll with these four legged companions.

Mark admires a big raft of Eider ducks at Forvie Nature Reserve with Reserve Manager Catriona Reid.

Project One Wave aims to unite Scotland’s ocean conservation groups, businesses, creatives, and policymakers to collaborate on marine debris cleanup efforts. Mark and Rachel are joined by co-founder David Brown to discuss the Project One Wave summit that took place in Glasgow this week and the importance of gathering data on the health of our coastlines.

In 2024, Jude Harper closed their business, sold their house and moved to Aberdeenshire to try to live as self-sufficiently as possible on an acre of land. Jude posts on YouTube under Rewilding Jude and Rachel visits him and some rescue hens he’s just adopted to find out more.