Out of Doors

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Out of Doors: The River Tay Part Two

The River Tay Part Two

BBC Radio Scotland - Out of Doors, The River Tay Part Two

Mark Stephen and Euan McIlwraith continue their journey following the River Tay.

We continue our journey along the River Tay, this time travelling from Caputh to Dundee.

We start off chatting to Dr David Summers, fisheries director with the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board at Caputh bridge. He tells us the story of Georgina Ballantine, the woman who still holds the record for catching the largest recorded salmon in a British river with rod and line back in 1922.

From there we follow the river to Luncarty to walk a stretch of the River Tay Way, “linking the crannog to the V&A”.  

Then it’s on to Perth and a visit to the harbour. While Perth might not automatically spring to mind as a harbour city, trade along the river has been important for hundreds of years for the area and continues to be so today. 

And something else the area is famous for is its soft fruit. Euan heads to Stewarts of Tayside to find out what makes the land around the river and its climate so good for growing strawberries.

Then it’s onto Moncrieffe Island, a bit of a haven in Perth city centre - home to allotments and an 18-hole golf course! Mark explores what’s so appealing about an island allotment while Euan heads to the 19th hole to hear about the King James VI golf club.

We leave Perth behind as we head towards Dundee by canoe. And while Mark visits Lindores Abbey to find out about the ancient history of the area, Euan is learning about William Topaz McGonagall. Was he really a bad poet and what is his legacy to Dundee?

Mark continues along to Wormit where a squadron of Norwegian Catalina seaplanes was based during the Second World War.

And we head out on a boat to finish our journey along the Scotland’s longest river in style. Paul from David Anderson Marine skippers us to where the Tay meets the North Sea and hydrologist Andrew Black tells us more about what makes the Tay an important and unique river.

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