Beneath the Surface

Paul’s loch-hopping journey starts on the west coast on a wild and windswept stretch of Loch Hourn. Travelling inland, Paul reaches sheltered Loch Quoich, where he hears tales of Scotland’s last outlaw. On the shores of Loch Lochy, he meets a couple who had a memorable encounter with a monster from the deep called Lizzie. A detour south leads to a ruined bridge where the first shots were fired of the ’45. Paul then walks an old railway line above the Great Glen and inhales diesel smoke from a reeking shunter at a station undergoing restoration. A canal journey takes him to Fort Augustus, where he searches for the original fort. On Loch Ness, Paul meets a man who, when still a schoolboy, met the fastest man on water, John Cobb aka the Gentle Giant.