Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands

In this first episode, historian Paul Murton goes in search of "The Romantic ideal" and discovers how the famous writer Sir Walter Scott played a key role in re-inventing Scotland.

In the spirit of Victorian manliness, historian Paul Murton continues his journey on an original 1870's Tricycle.

For centuries, outsiders had seldom visited the beautiful landscape of the west coast of Scotland, but then the power of steam changed everything.

Historian Paul Murton goes in search of the stunning landscape of the highlands that has attracted visitors for the last two hundred years with the promise of improving "mind, body and spirit".

Keen to escape the noise and pressures of their overcrowded world, more adventurous tourists braved the rough seas to travel to Orkney and Shetland, hoping to restore themselves in the peace and quiet of the far north.

In Victorian times, most tourists came from a tiny social elite - the rich - for the great mass of the population a holiday was just a dream.