Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs

Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs episode 8

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 8

Travel / 3 minutes of reading / / By

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 8: Paul travelling hopefully from the shores of Loch Hope to the glorious and lonely expanse of Sandwood Bay on the far north west of Scotland. Along the way he encounters a Pictish king and an ancient broch, discovers wartime secrets in Loch Eriboll and a hidden monument to a naval disaster.     The single-track road around Loch Eriboll still uses passing places to allow overtaking. It was on this very same road in the 1960s that John Lennon of the Beatles crashed his car. Reaching the north coast of Scotland, Paul plunges […]

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Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs episode 7

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 7

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Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 7: Paul sails along a much-loved route through the Kyles of Bute to Dunoon, discovering a secret history of WW2 bouncing bombs along the way.     From Dunoon and its connections with international singing star Harry Lauder, Paul gets nostalgic about nuclear submarines in the Holy Loch. Here he meets a man with an impressive water-powered organ. Crossing the loch, Paul beats hot steel with a blacksmith whose ancestors have been working Vulcan’s forge for six generations. Their work includes the Golden Gates at Benmore gardens, where Paul learns about a sugar daddy

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Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs episode 6

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 6

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Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 6: Paul explores the magical Argyll coast, travelling from the sacred sands of Kilmory Bay on Loch Sween.     On the beautiful Lilly Loch in Knapdale forest he gets a glimpse of beaver, before joining a group of steam enthusiasts restoring an old puffer on the Crinan Canal. Stone Age rock art leads him north to Loch Awe, where he drives a herd of Highland cows towards his final destination – the mountainous heights of Ben Cruachan.   Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 6   Argyll Argyll sometimes called Argyllshire, is a

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Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs episode 5

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 5

Travel / 2 minutes of reading / / By

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 5: 1.2 billion years ago, the far north of Sutherland was struck by a meteorite.     The wreckage of this cataclysmic event has been almost completely worn away by time, but the rocks in the landscape still bear some traces, which Paul unpicks as he embarks on a grand tour from Lairg on Loch Shin to Lochinver and, finally, to the summit of Suilven – the sugarloaf mountain.   Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 5   Loch Shin Loch Shin is a loch in the Scottish North West Highlands. To the south

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Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs episode 4

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 4

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Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 4: Paul travels into the secret heart of the Rough Bounds of Knoydart by way of Loch nan Umbh, Loch Morar, Loch Nevis and Loch Arkaig.     He lifts the lid on the area’s secret connection with the celebrated SOE (Special Operations Executive) which Churchill hoped would set Europe ablaze. On the shores of several lochs, agents were trained in the dark arts of sabotage. On Loch Morar, Paul meets a man who claims to have seen the legendary monster Morag (pronounced Voorag), before getting a ferry to Inverie in the heart of

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Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs episode 3

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 3

Travel, Nature / 2 minutes of reading / / By

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 3: Paul Murton begins his Grand Tour with a chilly swim across Loch Ba, high on Rannoch Moor, struggles against the elements while trainspotting and meets some veteran Tunnel Tigers – men who tunnelled deep inside the Grampians, diverting water to hydroelectric schemes.     Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 3   Loch Ba Loch Bà is a shallow irregular shaped freshwater loch on Rannoch Moor, Argyll and Bute, in the Scottish West Highlands, within the Highland council area of Scotland. It is about 25 km east-south-east of Glen Coe, and 20 km

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Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs episode 2

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 2

Travel, Nature / 3 minutes of reading / / By

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 2: Paul travels from Loch Gairloch to Loch Maree, a grand tour that includes meeting the king and queen of Islonia, matching a medieval feat of archery, diving on a wartime wreck in Loch Ewe and finding himself short-changed at the money tree on an island in Loch Maree.     Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 2   Loch Gairloch Loch Gairloch is a sea loch on the North West coast of Highland, Scotland. In Scottish Gaelic it is an Geàrr Loch meaning ‘the short loch’. Around 6 miles (9.7 km) long by

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Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs episode 1

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 1

Travel / 3 minutes of reading / / By

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 1 : Paul Murton takes a tour of Scotland’s lochs. In this edition, he explores the wilds of Loch Etive, from the Falls of Lora to Buchaille Etive.     Paul Murton explores the wilds of Loch Etive, from the spectacular tidal race of the Falls of Lora, where kayakers revel in the overfalls and ride a three-metre standing wave, to high-altitude camping on a hill opposite Buchaille Etive More, watching the sunset, and lights up the hundreds of lochans across Rannoch Moor   Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs episode 1   Paul Murton

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