TV star Paul drops into youth hostel beside loch

ONE of Britain’s best-loved comedians and broadcasters Paul Merton recently visited Scotland’s Loch Ossian Youth Hostel on Rannoch Moor as part of his current television series on Channel 4, which aired on Sunday evening.

Paul Merton’s Secret Stations explores the world of request stop railway stations in Britain.

More than 150 of Britain’s railway stations are request stops, where passengers have to put their arm out at the station, to get the train to stop at the platform.

He visited Loch Ossian as part of his travelogue, in which he looks into the history of the stations, and meets the people who live and work around them to learn more about the unusual, and often overlooked, stations.

In the final part of the programme, Mr Merton requested a stop at Corrour Station on the West Highland, Glasgow to Fort William, line.

From there he took a 20-minute walk to Loch Ossian where he talked to Jan Robinson, the hostel manager, who runs the 20-bed youth hostel all year round.

The cosy hostel is eco-friendly too, with wind turbines, solar panels, composting toilets and a reed bed grey water drainage system.

Ms Robinson said: ‘We had a very lucky day for Paul’s visit - the weather was amazing, sunny, blue sky, calm and no midges.

‘Paul definitely appreciated the remoteness of the location, as well as asking all about the youth hostel and Scottish Youth Hostel Association.

‘He was also very interested in the youth hostel’s environmentally-friendly and energy- efficient systems.’

The three-part series is available through catch-up on Channel 4.