A Highland Halloween, a Seal Safari and a Clock Tower in Moray

In this week’s Scotland’s Outdoors podcast Mark meets loch bagger Claire Young. Claire came up with the idea of loch bagging after vertigo put a halt to her Munro bagging. We hear an excerpt where Mark chats to her about how the idea developed.

A new podcast series recorded in Aberdeen explores how nature has been shaping and changing people’s lives. Rachel meets producer Dave Black and some of those who feature in the series at Seaton Park which was recently designated as a Local Nature Conservation site.

We couldn’t let the fact that it’s Halloween slip by un-mentioned. Mark is in Rothiemurchus near Aviemore visiting the cursed grave of Seath Mor Sgorfhiaclach. Lift the stones that protect him at your peril…

Rachel visits the historic clock tower in Dufftown in Moray which is now owned by the community who have plans to revamp it. She hears about the history of the site and what the community hope to use it for.

Mark explores the impressive sandstone cliffs around Arbroath with geologist Morag Smith. Morag tells him about the striking red colour of sandstone that is common in that area and what we can tell about the cliffs and caves from their geology.

Calum Mackenzie runs seal watching boat trips from Plockton on Loch Carron and is something of a local character. His trips are hugely popular, and he even promises your money back if you don’t spot any seals! Rachel went along to test his promise and see what other wildlife they could spot.

We delve into the archives to hear some of the Halloween traditions of years gone by. And author Rosie Steer tells us about the connection of the festival to the changing seasons.

And to prepare you for a spooky Halloween evening of TV viewing, we chat live to Zara Gladman, one of the hosts of the new BBC Scotland series Mythland. Accompanied by parapsychologist Evelyn Hollow, Zara explores some of Scotland’s myths and spooky tales in the series. She tells us what it was like to investigate with Evelyn and what she learnt during the series.