Perthshire - Rebuilding an Ancient Settlement

In this episode, the experts lend their skills to a community project, hear the story behind a new treasure to be repaired, and visit a local crafting hero. 

Will and Dom are in Aberfeldy's Crannog Centre, where visitors experience recreations of 5,000-year-old traditional dwellings. After a devastating fire three years ago put the project in jeopardy, thatcher Scott is looking to the future and building a new cookhouse, using traditional techniques and local materials. It could mean big business for the centre and increased opportunities to work with the local community, but creating Iron Age dwellings in the modern age is anything but simple. 

Will then heads off to Scone Palace, crowning place of Scottish kings, to meet a couple with a family heirloom in need of rescue. It's a handwritten Gaelic piping music book, handed down from Ian's great-grandfather Donald, known as the Hero of Alma after his actions in the Crimean War. Now severely damaged, the music in its brittle pages might be lost forever if bookbinder Chris Shaw cannot bring it back from the brink. Ian will never play the songs it contains, as he has been battling motor neurone disease for the past decade, but he hopes if Chris Shaw is successful, the book can be passed down to his own son, also named Donald in honour of his ancestor. 

Always in search of a new challenge, Dom joins a Perth-based family business whose handmade sporrans are the perfect accessory to Scotland's famous kilts. It's a critically endangered heritage craft that dates back to the 12th century, and the family is turning to technology to keep up with the challenge faced by cheaper, mass-produced versions made abroad. Dom is always eager to get on the tools, so what will his hosts make of his attempts at leatherworking?