Paul Murton with Jean Maskell and Ann Galliard (local historians)

On Saturday 31 March, a large group of local people came to the Burgh Hall to hear a talk by TV presenter and filmmaker Paul Murton.

Around 90 people enjoyed hearing Paul’s humorous and entertaining story about how his programmes about Scottish places, people and history are made, focussing on Grand Tours and Clans . What seems like a straightforward half hour documentary takes a whole week to film, and involves many hours of travelling around the country, sometimes in inclement weather. Always keen to find out what it actually felt like to live in days gone by, and to experience using transport, clothing and sports enjoyed in the past, Paul is game to “have a go” and throw himself into activities most of us would rather just watch. Riding a strange and torturous Victorian tricycle, climbing mountain peaks and rowing canoes and ancient galleys were just some of the missions that Paul undertook for the sake of authenticity. The audience were particularly sympathetic on hearing a description of Paul’s arduous participation on horseback in the Border Ridings when the programme about the Armstrongs was being made for the Clans series.

It was clear that all the historical programmes made by Paul Murton and his company are made with a great love for Scotland and an ambition to engage the public in their heritage. Anyone lucky enough to be there on Saturday is now looking forward to the forthcoming new series and will certainly now be aware of the effort made in producing each programme.

Argyll Mausoleum Ltd are grateful to Paul for helping support their fundraising efforts, and for the money raised by the talk.