We’vesomany andenjoyright

See Neil on his UK tour

TV HISTORIAN Neil Oliver lives in the shadow of a castle that dominates a vast volcanic rock above the river Forth, at the meeting point between Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland.

At least that’s how the archaeologist views it. To the rest of us, he lives in Stirling with his wife Trudi and three children.

But the TV presenter and writer has done more than anyone to open our eyes to the historical treasures on our doorsteps and, on the September weekend and with the October holidays around the corner, he’s urging us all to start exploring.

Neil, president of the National Trust for Scotland, says: “I absolutely love the landscape here and I think it is the best place in the world to live and bring up children.”

When he’s not touring or filming, Neil, 52, is happiest at home with wife Trudi and their three children, Evie, 15, Archie, 13, and 11-year-old Teddy, and their Irish Wolfhound Gracie.

It’s a busy home and time with his family is precious because he spends so much working away – he has just finished filming the second series about Scotland’s clans – Blood Of The Clans.

But when it comes to holidays, it’s staycations all the way and the Oliver children have grown up being taken around Scotland.

“We drag the kids round all of it,” he laughs.

“We’re a very tight-knit little group of five and although Evie’s like any teenage girl and would rather be in Ibiza, they do love it here.

“Evie still says, ‘What will we do this weekend?’ She’s not broken away from that yet, and not that long ago Archie and I went up to mark the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Glen Shiel, where wreaths were laid to mark the date.

“To be honest, I genuinely love having holidays in Britain. I tend to write about Britain all the time and I’d genuinely rather than be here than abroad.

“I feel very strongly about how fantastic, beautiful, historic and important the British Isles are.”

Neil was born in Renfrew but grew up in Dumfries and Galloway and says his favourite location now is Elie in Fife.

“The East Neuk is my personal bit of coast heaven, with its picture-perfect seaside fishing villages,” he says. “But it’s been an endless fascination to me that within an area as small as Scotland you’ve only got to travel 20 miles and you’re in a different place, where the characteristics of the people are different.”

And he thinks people can play a part in protecting special places by starting close to home.

“You can make a difference about where you live. If everyone was focussed on their own local area, the world would be a better place, with people making sure it was tidy, well maintained and looked after.”

Which, of course, is exactly what the National Trust for Scotland does.

The conservation charity safeguards many of our treasures, from coastlines to castles, art to architecture, wildlife to wilderness.

And Neil would love more people to take the time to seek out some of the extraordinary locations right here in Scotland.

He adds: “You can’t make a difference to how other people in other parts of the world are looking after their landscape but you can make a meaningful contribution to the landscape where you live day by day.

“People don’t know anything about where they live any more. I’ve often thought to myself you could spend a lifetime finding out about the square mile where you live.”

Here are Neil’s five favourite locations that he visits with his family.

Neil will be touring the UK from November for his latest book, The Story Of The British Isles In 100 Places. Go to www.ents24.com to buy tickets