Edinburgh Outdoors

Midhope Castle: Behind the Scenes at Lallybroch

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

Nature and discovery in Astley Ainsley

The Astley Ainsley hospital site is a large area of green space in the south of the city.  With wild areas, protected buildings and teeming with wildlife, it's a surprisingly special space.  The Astley Ainsley Community Trust is working to protect the area as the NHS is moving out of some of it and parts of the site will be sold.  There are plans for retaining its wildness, creating community greenspace and ensuring it remains available for recuperation and recreation, in line with its original purpose.
Join me on a wander around the site, discovering its long history, its unique spaces and listening to some incredible bird sounds.
You can access the site from Morningside or Grange HERE
The Astley Ainsley Community Trust website is here: https://www.aact.scot/
 

Talking trees in Binning Wood

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/
 

Breathing new life into Gorgie Community Farm

Gorgie City Farm is remembered fondly by everyone.  Now remerged as Gorgie Community Farm, the location is being revitalised by a new team.  As trustees, gardeners and volunteers breathe life into the space, focusing initially on the community garden, it's packed full of potential to bring back an essential green space for the area. 
I went along to meet the people transforming it, to find out what they've been doing and to talk about the future.  As volunteers return and we head towards Spring, it was a great time to find out what's planned. 
The site is HERE
To find out more: https://gorgiecommunityfarm.co.uk/
The team has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GorgieCommunityFarm/
And an Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gorgiecommunityfarm/
And if you are interested in gardener Johanna's journey through the garden, she has an Instagram too: https://www.instagram.com/gorgiefarmgarden
 

Spring on Craiglockhart Hill

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/
 
 

Princes Street Gardens with Hetty Lancaster

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

Sketching Calton Hill with Edinburgh Sketcher

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
 

Late Autumn foraging in the Hermitage

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: from Romans to racing drivers

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 Agroecology Farm and community

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