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Behind the scenes as Robson Green and Carol Smillie trial ancient paddle boats on Loch Earn for BBC series

Robson Green and Carol Smillie were introduced to ancient coracles for BBC Two series Robson Green's Weekend Escapes.

Robson Green and Carol Smillie on the coracles. Image: Piotr Gudan
Robson Green and Carol Smillie on the coracles. Image: Piotr Gudan

Actor Robson Green and presenter Carol Smillie trialled ancient paddle boards on Loch Earn in Perthshire for Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes.

Piotr Gudan, who runs Blairgowrie-based Outdoor Explore, introduced the pair to coracles for the third season of the BBC Two show.

The unusual round-shaped boats were historically used for fishing and ferrying people and goods in Speyside.

Coracles are traditional round-shaped paddle boats. Image: Piotr Gudan

Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes sees the English actor, 60, “find wellbeing and adventure in wonderful places” with “famous friends”.

Previous episodes have seen Robson take on an assault course in North Yorkshire with Olympic champion boxer Nicola Adams, explore the Lake District with TV presenter Helen Skelton and go kayaking with former Strictly Come Dancing star Janette Manrara.

Last month, Green was joined by presenter and Invictus Games medallist JJ Chalmers at Perth restaurant Brown & Blacks.

The Soldier Soldier actor also visited Broughty Ferry for the show alongside Dundee-based Gladiators star Sheli McCoy.

Piotr showed the stars around Loch Earn. Image: Piotr Gudan

Piotr said he was approached by the production company looking for something “rare and exciting” to do in rural Perthshire.

He told The Courier: “My favourite part was being able to take two lovely people out on the water, in crafts they would normally not come across.

“Passing on my love of the great outdoors, Scottish heritage, and the Perthshire countryside.

“He (Robson Green) is such a lovely person.

“It was a very relaxed atmosphere created by the whole amazing crew.

“It was fantastic to hear that Robson was already quite well familiar with Perthshire from his previous projects and visits.

“This place is amazing.”

Robson Green and Carol Smillie film Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes at Loch Earn

The TV stars explored Loch Earn and St Fillans with Piotr, who says he hopes to have passed on some of his knowledge of the area and ancient coracles.

The boats he uses are built in Perthshire using willow framework in a round or pear shape.

He said: “Heritage crafts have always been something I have had a passion for.

“My storage is packed with some amazing gems.

“Coracles, however, have taken a special place amongst all those.

“I am sure the first one I sat on brought a huge smile to my face, testing my balancing and canoe paddling techniques.

The coracles. Image: Piotr Gudan

“Now, introducing these crafts to many more folk over the years, I am pretty sure the coracles brought smiles to all faces of those who tried them.”

Piotr added: “Over the years, Outdoor Explore has had the pleasure of working with various production companies, for daytime TV shows, regional and national promotional filming and documentaries.

“All were always focused on the amazing countryside of Perthshire, Tayside and the east of Scotland.

“It’s a privilege to become an ambassador for this lovely part of the world, which we help to look after and inspire others to explore with us.”

The Courier has rounded up TV shows recently shot in Tayside, Fife and Stirling set to be broadcast in the near future.

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