River Oykel features in new series of Grand Tours of Scotland's Rivers

A SUTHERLAND river features in the new six-part series of Grand Tours of Scotland's Rivers which starts tonight on BBC One Scotland.

Veteran traveller Paul Murton sets off downstream to explore five rivers from source to sea in six programmes with the River Oykel the focus of episode four.

All episodes of series three are available on iPlayer from today, Monday January 8.

Paul explores the River Oykel from its source in Assynt to the Dornoch Firth and the sea.

The presenter learns about the loneliest and highest war grave in Scotland, fishes for trout in a lochan over 1000ft above sea level, and then hears tell of the riotous events of the Year of the Sheep.

Downstream, he discovers the legacy of the Duke's giant toothpick when the wealthy Duke of Sutherland spent a fortune in the 19th century trying to turn a peat bog into farmland.

In a remote glen, Paul meets the owner of Alladale Wilderness Reserve, Paul Lister, who controversially hopes to one day bring back wild wolves to the Highlands.

The journey ends is on the shores of the Dornoch Firth where Paul learns of an ambitious project to restore a vast native oyster bed.

To watch the episode on iplayer, click here.

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