Grand Tours of Scotland's Rivers

The River Irvine in Ayrshire is the hidden gem explored on this Grand Tour. From its source close to Loudoun Hill, Paul follows the river to the town of Irvine and the sea.
The River Irvine in Ayrshire is the hidden gem explored on this Grand Tour. From its source close to Loudoun Hill, Paul follows the river through ancient battle fields and discovers a legacy of lacemaking and a treasure trove of gemstones along its banks. At Kilmarnock, he salutes the memory of whisky giant Johnnie Walker – but is shocked to learn how the national poet Robert Burns once contemplated emigrating to Jamaica to work on a slave plantation. In Irvine, Paul visits the Scottish Maritime Museum and pulls at the oars as he joins a team of rowers heading out to sea.

The River Forth is a quintessentially Scottish river, flowing from highlands to lowlands. Paul follows its meandering and history-filled course to the sea.
This Grand Tour follows the River Forth from the eastern slopes of Ben Lomond in the southern highlands, through the picturesque Trossachs, to the Firth of Forth. On the way, Paul walks in the footsteps of outlaw and folk hero Rob Roy, discovers the secrets of Flanders Moss – the biggest lowland raised bog in the UK – and takes part in the victory over an English army at Bannockburn. In the city of Stirling, he is uplifted by the musical story of Big Noise, a movement that originated in Venezuela, and which champions musical skills for young people from less privileged backgrounds. Heading downstream, Paul arrives at the riverside town of Alloa, where he discovers the story of a teenage backing group. In 1960, they played a gig here with the heartthrob and crooner of the day, Johnny Gentle. The backing group called themselves the Silver Beetles. A few years later, they went on to conquer the world of music as The Beatles.

Paul explores the River Oykel in Sutherland from its source in Assynt, to the Dornoch Firth and the sea. He learns about the loneliest and highest war grave in Scotland, tries for trout in a lochan over 1000ft above sea level, and then hears tell of the riotous events of the Year of the Sheep.
Downstream, he discovers the legacy of the Duke's giant toothpick when, in the 19th century, the fabulously wealthy Duke of Sutherland spent a fortune trying to create agricultural land out of a peat bog. In a remote glen, Paul meets a man who controversially hopes one day to bring back wild wolves to the highlands. Journey's end is on the Dornoch Firth where Paul learns about an ambitious project to re-create a huge native oyster bed.