Tom Weir 1914-2006

Tom Weir has died. He was a national institution for his countryside travel programme Weir’s Way.

Weir’s Way was one of those odd programmes that you’d never set out to watch, but would inevitably find yourself glued to. Well maybe not glued to exactly, but it was interesting if you stopped to watch it.

This from STV’s website (though I had to correct the spelling and grammar).

Tom Weir was a climber, a naturalist, an explorer, a writer but most of all he was one of the first ever TV presenters to bring the beauty of Scotland's great outdoors to a worldwide audience. In his woolly bunnet and Fair Isle jumper, Tom Weir was an unmistakable figure roaming across the Scottish landscape.

He was born in Glasgow's Springburn in 1914 and grew up without his father who was killed in the First World War. After his own war time service, he was employed as a surveyor for Ordinance Survey but soon established a full time career as a writer, climber and photographer.

He travelled widely and was of the first mountaineers to explore Nepal. In Scotland he was best known for being presenter of Weir’s Way which recently found popularity with a younger audience. An icon in Scottish life, he will be remembered for bringing natural beauty of Scotland to thousand of viewers.