Grand tour comes to Sutherland

TV presenter Paul Murton makes his way to north Sutherland in next week’s edition of his current series, Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs.

During the course of the half-hour programme Paul heads to one of Britain’s remotest railway stations, Altnabreac. Miles from any road, Altnabreac was built to service several grand sporting lodges in the days when the rich and fashionable came to shoot game and fish the lochs of the Flow Country.

Heading into the wilderness, Paul discovers a legacy of habitation before the Clearances, and how early industrial plans to exploit the vast reserves of peat would have destroyed an ecosystem which is now valued internationally for its wild beauty.

Paul then pans for gold in the chilly waters of Kildonan Burn with Yvonne Creedy before heading for a miracle cure at the "Lourdes of the North" – the tiny and deserted Loch ma Naire.

Journey’s end is on the sands of the Kyle of Tongue where Paul learns about a consignment of Jacobite gold that might have changed history.

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Lochs – the fourth programme in a series of six – will be broadcast on Monday, October 1, on BBC One Scotland, starting at 7.30pm.

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