Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Our Story

When their houses were condemned, homeowners in Deans South, Livingston, fought for a fair deal and ended up living in a ghost town. Mark Stephen speaks with Kerry Macintosh, Phil Cavan and Isabel Baxter, who after twenty years finally found a solution.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/

A disused Cold War military base near Durness becomes Scotland's first craft village. Mark Stephen meets people from around the world who made it their home.

When the Scottish Women's Rugby team heard that the 1994 World Cup in the Netherlands was being cancelled, they decided to host it in Scotland instead, with only 90 days' notice!

Mark Stephen meets a group of retired aviation enthusiasts who have built a World War One biplane in a shed in East Lothian. Now they want to see her fly.

Mark Stephen joins the Badenoch Ladies Shinty Club for a training night at the Dell to discover why so many women and girls are attracted to the game.

Mark Stephen meets the people who look after Aberdeenshire's most iconic hill. The Bailies preserve its paths, nature and rich human history out of love for Bennachie.

After the loss of her son John, Isabel McCue and her younger son Hugh set up Nemo Arts to support other families dealing with mental illness. Starting with five people on Sunday afternoons, 25 years later they offer classes in the community, hospitals and prisons with everything from drama to drumming, singing and painting. Mark Stephen hears how people are finding joy, friendship and a true sense of identity through coming to Nemo Arts.

Mark Stephen visits the General Store, a repair monger in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders where local people can get take their broken items to get fixed rather than throwing them away and buying new ones.

With an ethos of 'no fix, no fee', the handy in-house team of men and women will attempt to repair just about anything from electrical items, including laptops and tablets to clothes, toys, lamps and garden tools.

The Community Interest Company support their repair project by selling second-hand and hand-made goods in a retail shop in the town's market square. This helps pay costs and keep repair fees affordable, and since they opened in 2021, they have carried out almost 5,000 repairs, saving many of these items from landfill.

From the 1960s to the 1980s, the SS Uganda provided thousands of schoolchildren with their first foreign adventures on what were called educational cruises. Hundreds at a time would board for trips around Scandinavia, the Atlantic, and even behind the Iron Curtain in Leningrad. Sadly, the ship no longer exists, but Mark Stephen heads to Dundee Model Boat Club to see a replica of the Uganda, and hear tales from former passengers of disco nights, seasickness and roaming around foreign cities in school uniform.

Mark Stephen hears how Livingston or 'Livi' skatepark was built into the landscape of Scotland's new town and became fundamental to the rise of skateboarding worldwide.

Mark Stephen hears how Portobello residents decided to buy their local parish church and transform it into Bellfield community hub.

Mark Stephen visits the Fife Flyers in Kirkcaldy to meet the players, management and fans of the oldest ice hockey team.

With over 60 Scottish and British cups and titles to their name, the Flyers have a storied history of success that’s all the more impressive considering they’re based in a small market town. Despite facing financial challenges compared to their rivals in larger cities like Cardiff, Belfast and Sheffield, the Flyers have more than made up for it with unwavering team spirit and a relentless drive to win. This was exemplified 40 years ago, when the Flyers were crowned British champions at Wembley Arena in London.

The team plays at the historic Fife Ice Arena, which opened in 1938. From the outside, the arena resembles an old cinema, and its interior reflects its vintage charm. While it may not boast the modern, sleek design of newer venues, the Fife Ice Arena more than compensates with its rich character and decades of history.

Storm Arwen left thousands of people without power for up to week and destroyed millions of trees. Mark Stephen hears how communities in Aberdeenshire responded.

Mark Stephen meets retired Queens District nurses to hear about the life and duties of a district nurse in some of the most remote communities of Scotland.

'The Queen's Nurse didn't go to work, she didn't do a shift, she went on duty and it was a duty of care from the cradle to the grave and everything in between'.

Until 1969, the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland trained district nurses to look after people in their own homes. For years, they looked after entire communities, on call 24/7, one day off a month, no two days the same – delivering babies, end-of-life care, supporting the entire family in their districts.

Each year, the retired nurses come together at their annual gathering at Crieff Hydro. Mark joins these remarkable women to hear of their resilience, sacrifice and adventure.

People with experience of the care system march through the streets of Glasgow to celebrate their community and demand the right to love. Mark Stephen finds out why.

Mark Stephen is in Dumfries and Galloway near Lockerbie to hear the story of the Hallmuir POW Ukrainian Chapel.

In 1947, almost 500 Ukrainian POWs were interned and contracted to work in the local area in farming and forestry. Far from home and unable to return, the men created a chapel in one of the corrugated iron huts, and there have been regular services held there ever since.

75 years on, in an echo of history, the tiny chapel has become a focal point for Ukrainians and their families who have recently come to Scotland having been displaced following the Russian invasion of their homeland.

With the wind in his hair and the biggest smile on his face, Mark Stephen gets the ride of his life when he visits Aviemore to meet the bikers involved in one of Europe’s largest Harley Davidson motorbike conventions, Thunder in the Glens. Mark discovers why bikers travel from all over the world to be part of the famous ride-out, which sees thousands of bikers roar through the hills of the Highlands.

Mark Stephen visits Scotland’s first purpose-built Gurdwara. Located on Albert Drive, Glasgow, this beautiful religious temple opened its doors ten years ago and is very much at the heart of the Sikh community.

Mark hears how the Gurdwara is not just a place to worship, but it’s also where people go to study, take part in leisure activities and socialise. Mark is also given a behind-the-scenes tour at the langar to hear about the central role that food plays within the Sikh faith.

It took 200 community members 500 hours each to stitch the Battle of Prestonpans Tapestry, in 2010 the longest in the world. Mark meets the people who made it and displayed it.

Mark Stephen visits Scotland’s first purpose-built Gurdwara

In 1979, thousands gathered on the frozen Lake of Menteith for an epic curling match between the north and south of Scotland. Mark Stephen hears memories of the last Bonspiel.

Mark Stephen celebrates 40 years of the Kessock Bridge

Mark Stephen takes to the skies as he heads to North Uist in a light aircraft to meet the organisers of the Sollas Beach Fly-In, a special annual event where pilots get to challenge themselves by landing on a public beach.

First established in the early 2000s by John Angus Macleod, the fly-in has grown from a few pilots landing on Sollas beach to an event that now attracts light-aircraft enthusiasts from all over the UK as well as further afield in Europe.

Mark Stephen meets those behind Glasgow Women's Library, the only museum in the UK celebrating women's lives, history and achievements.

Mark Stephen meets the caddies who work on St Andrews Old Course - the Home of Golf

Mark Stephen finds out about Scotland’s first disabled theatre company.

Mark Stephen finds out about life in one of Scotland’s most remote communities.

Mark Stephen hears how a Scottish family have welcomed a Ukrainian family into their home

Mark Stephen climbs aboard Concorde to hear about its fascinating Scottish history.

Mark Stephen meets the people who have investigated and sometimes capitalised on Scotland's great myth - the Loch Ness Monster, affectionately known as Nessie.

Scotland’s stunning rotating boat lift and the people who love it.

Civic defiance that went global; Mark Stephen revisits Glasgow's Kenmure Street protest.

Mark Stephen hears how Dame Judi Dench and Clive Anderson helped a community in Oban save their local cinema from permanent closure.

Mark Stephen takes a paddle on the Union Canal with Scotland’s only cancer survivors' dragon boat group, the Port Edgar Dragons. He also learns about the origins of the Pink Dragon movement in Canada, a dragon boat team formed by cancer survivors. The initiative was founded by Dr Don McKenzie, a professor of sports medicine and exercise physiologist, who sought to challenge the prevailing medical belief at the time that women treated for breast cancer should avoid rigorous upper-body exercise due to the risk of lymphedema - a chronic and debilitating side effect of treatment.

Mark Stephen meets Jim Breen and Angus Mathieson who took part in an expedition to the Arctic Circle, traversing the world's largest whirlpool in kayaks.

From 1966 to 1977, Aberdeen Zoo housed lions, bears, seals, otters and the zoo favourites Heather and Humphrey the chimpanzees. Mark Stephen meets the keepers who worked there.

Mark Stephen travels to Inverness to uncover the story behind one of the greatest sporting headlines ever written, 'Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic are atrocious'

Mark Stephen visits Hawick for the Common-Riding. For decades it was males only but now women can take part in all the events. Will it end years of controversy or open old wounds?

Mark Stephen profiles the protest camp against the M77 motorway in Glasgow's Pollok Park.

Mark Stephen visits the peace camp and naval base at Faslane.

Mark Stephen recalls the 1989 murder of a young Somali man in Edinburgh's Cowgate.

Mark Stephen meets the stall holders and customers at the Victorian Market in Inverness.

Mark Stephen explores the history of the iconic Scottish roadside cafe, The Horn.

Mark Stephen hears about the campaign to save the Tinker's Heart in Argyll.

Barlinnie's prison radio station broadcasts into every cell, offering music request shows and vital information to support rehabilitation. Mark meets Barry Richardson, the prison officer who set up the station and learned how to operate it alongside the prisoners. Inmates including DJ Geo tell Mark how they've learned valuable life skills like teamwork and responsibility. Victoria Byrne from Citizens Advice uses the radio station to help prepare prisoners for their release, and for former inmate Jordan Robertson, working at Barbed Wireless led to a career in the media.

Mark Stephen explores the history and culture of the Carbeth Hutters community.

Mark Stephen and guests remember the excitement of the Glasgow Garden Festival

Mark Stephen takes a trip down memory lane with former Butlin's Redcoats in Ayr.

Mark Stephen is in Tannochside to meet some of the men and women who campaigned for 103 days against the closure of the Caterpillar factory.