The Saint, The Sheep and The Sycamore

Mark recently visited the Solway Firth to find out more about some invasive species. Nic Coombey from the Solway Firth Partnership at Brighouse Bay, near Kirkcudbright explains how these species are being monitored. Rachel meets Fran Loots by the River Earn in Comrie to hear how a very special project called Nature Mingle is helping some housebound folk in the Strathearn area of Perthshire. In this week’s podcast excerpt Mark is joined by Professor Kate Britton to uncover the story behind a remarkable archaeological emergency on Lunan Bay in the northeast. A new bylaw has been approved for the Cairngorms National Park, coming into force in less than a week. Rachel finds out from Countryside Ranger Will George what this will mean for visitors to the area. Mark is in the East Lothian village of Aberlady to meet some of its newest residents known as the Aberlady Community Flock. Volunteers and co-founders John Harrison and David Fleetwood share how the sheep came to be there and how they’re bringing the community together. Curator at Benmore Botanic Gardens, Luke Senior joins Mark and Rachel to share the exciting news that saplings cloned from seeds and cuttings taken from the iconic sycamore gap tree were planted at Benmore Botanic Gardens on Thursday. Chris Lawlor has built a large social media following with short films capturing his travels and experiences. Ramblers Scotland have appointed him as their president. Rachel finds out how he feels about his new role Paul English is with Kayleigh McGuinness to hear how a collaboration between the Tron Theatre, Sharmanka Kinetic Gallery and Glasgow City Heritage trust is bringing St Mungo back to life.

You can listen to The Saint, The Sheep and The Sycamore online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The Saint, The Sheep and The Sycamore is an episode from Scotland Outdoors by BBC.

This episode is 81:56 long.

This episode was published on Mar 28, 2026.

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