Scotland’s rivers are back in focus on our TV screens tonight.
This Grand Tour begins in the hills above Glen Clova, on a mountainous plateau known as The Mounth. Following the South Esk downstream, Paul Murton enters picturesque Corrie Fee where he scrambles on the cliffs with two lady botanists, searching for Scotland’s rarest plant.
Back on the South Esk, he goes electro-fishing to discover more about the ecology and general health of the whole river system. Running out of riverside paths, Paul takes to the road for a few miles and rides a motorbike to the ancestral home of Harley Davidson.
Later he discovers how social distancing in the 17th century enabled traders to ply their wares during the plague in the Brechin – Scotland’s smallest city. Where the river enters the salt-water Montrose basin, Paul learns how plans to transform the tidal basin into a Dutch-style polder for agriculture were scuppered by supposedly by a storm witch.
During the Second World War, the Norwegian Navy was stationed in Montrose. Their mascot – a huge St Bernard dog called Bamse – became a war hero and national celebrity. Paul pays homage to the giant dog with a visit to his statue before ending his journey down the South Esk at the river mouth, where a lighthouse stands guard over the rocks of Scurdie Ness.
Grand Tours of Scotland’s Rivers continues tonight, Wednesday 8 December, on BBC One Scotland, from 7.30-8.00pm.
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