River Don focus for first episode of new TV series
Grand Tours of Scotland’s Rivers returns to TV screens on Monday, January 8 on BBC One Scotland at 8.30pm and sees host Paul Murton head off on a new adventure.
This new series follows five rivers from their source to the coast.
In the first episode, the focus is on the Don.
The River Don rises in wild land, high on the moors of the Grampian mountains.
Paul follows its easterly flow from famous Cock Bridge, where he encounters the Lonach Highlanders and a clan chief with two feathers in his cap carrying relics of the Battle of Culloden.
Close to Strathdon, Paul meets an artist and sculptor who creates lifelike creatures from scrap metal, and then learns how the Aberdeen Angus became a world-beating cattle breed.
At Alford, he explores the Grampian Transport Museum and hears about an eccentric and brilliant postman who invented a steam automobile.
A trip in a vintage Rolls Royce takes Paul further along the course of the river.
At Kemnay, he visits the huge quarry that once provided granite for prestigious buildings across the UK.
As the river nears the sea, Paul meets a woman who wove overcoats for the Red Army.
He then helps a Bulgarian couple harvest honey from their black Scottish bees before reaching the mouth of the river on the North Sea coast.
In episodes 2 and 3, he is following the course of the Tay. Paul first explores the upper reaches of the mighty River Tay, beginning with a flight in a microlight over the river’s source, high above Ben Lui, then in episode 3 follows the river to the coast.
In episode 4 he is following the River Irvine in Ayrshire, and then the Forth and the Oykel in Sutherland in the latter episodes.
All six episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer on Monday 8.
