91Èȱ¬

This Grand Tour begins high on Scotland’s mountainous watershed and follows the turbulent River Garry through the central highlands. On the way, Paul hears tales of the clan chief Struan Robertson, who fought in all three Jacobite risings. He then discovers the geology of deep time, before restaging the Battle of Killiecrankie with just two men, a musket and a broadsword.

After surviving a highland charge, Paul falls off a bridge and climbs the beautiful Ben Vrackie - aka the ‘speckled hill’. Picking up the course of the little-known River Nith, Paul unearths the story of the Knockshinnoch mining disaster, where 116 men were saved from entombment after a massive earth collapse.

At Sanquhar - once famous for its unique and distinctive knitting pattern - Paul tries hard to knit a glove, before it all unravels. Kirkpatrick Macmillan was the man first credited with making a bicycle with pedals, and Paul wobbles in his wake aboard a replica at Drumlanrig Castle, before heading south to Ellisland, once the riverside home of the poet Robert Burns.

In Dumfries, Paul learns how astronaut Neil Armstrong might not have walked on the surface of the moon without the optical skills of a local man. Paul's journey ends at Caerlaverock Castle, overlooking the shining sands of the Solway Firth.