Grand Tours of Scotland’s Rivers

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Grand Tours of Scotland's Rivers

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Factual: Travel

Paul Murton explores five rivers over six programmes from source to sea.

Seasoned traveller Paul Murton sets off downstream to explore five rivers over six programmes from source to sea.

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Paul Murton

Harry Bell

Grand Tours of Scotland's Rivers: Series 1: Salt of the Earth

Salt of the Earth

Series 1

BBC One - Grand Tours of Scotland's Rivers, Series 1, Salt of the Earth

The River Ayr is the destination for this Grand Tour, which ends on the Clyde coast.

Paul heads to the River Ayr for this Grand Tour. Starting on Hareshaw Hill, he uncovers a legacy of mineral wealth and religious conflict before reaching the Clyde coast.

Paul follows the River Ayr as it flows from Loch Glenbuck towards the sea and the Clyde coast. The old mining village of Glenbuck was demolished long ago, but its memory is kept alive by former resident Barbara Alexander whose uncle, the famous Liverpool football manager Bill Shankly, was a Glenbuck man. From Glenbuck, Paul follows the river through a landscape pockmarked by the scars of old mineral extraction and industry. 

At Muirkirk he discovers how a local man illuminated the cities of the world with gas lighting, and how a certain Mr McAdam invented tarmac for the roads of the world. The course of the river Ayr flows through land rich in covenanting history when religious conflict cost many lives. In the Ayr gorge, Paul encounters the extraordinary tale of the radical preacher Alexander Peden, whose life on the run forced him to hide in caves while still preaching hellfire sermons to the people. 

Finally reaching the coast, Paul visits the only working salt evaporation tower in the world. Here, with a pinch of salt, he learns how sea water is evaporated by wind and sun to make brine, from which sea salt is made.


Grand Tours of Scotland's Rivers: Series 1

Paul Murton sets off downstream to explore five rivers from source to sea.

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Grand Tours of Scotland's Rivers

Series 1

Salt of the Earth

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