Hello and welcome to Stories of Scotland,

a podcast where we weighed out into the deep bog of Scottish history, nature and mythology,

in the hopes of spotting a rare or endangered story.

I'm Jenny, a piece of sphagnum moss.

And I'm Annie, a lovely little bog pool, thriving with wetland life.

In this episode, we're exploring one of my favourite places in the highlands, the flow country.

This low, flat and boggy area often gets overlooked in favour of the mountainous west coast.

But today we're going to learn that this bog has so much to offer if you just embrace the squelching.

Yes, I have to admit that when I first moved up to the Highlands,

I blasted right past the flow country while chasing mountains.

But oh my, Annie, how glad I am that I have slowed down in my old age.

Ah, yes, Jenny, the wise old age of 30,

where you swap your hiking boots for some wellies

and listen to the whispering call of the precious and unique bog ecosystem.

I swapped to Crocs, actually.

I like feeling the landscape flow between my toes.

I wouldn't trust the landscape not to betray you and suck the crocs off your very feet, Jenny.

Well, luckily for me, this landscape isn't home to any crocs. In fact, some would have you believe it isn't home to much at all.

This is a very common misconception that riles me from head to waterlogged toes.

It's actually an incredibly important and ecologically rich environment,

filled with history and folklore.

So get your crocs on and let's journey into the flow country.

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