Thomas Weir MBE (29 December 1914 – 6 July 2006) was a Scottish climber, author and broadcaster. He was best known for his long-running television series ''Weir's Way''.

Early life and career

Weir was born in Springburn, Glasgow, and the younger brother of the actress Molly Weir. After service in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

during World War II, he worked as a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ...

for the

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

, before commencing a full-time career as a climber, writer and photographer. In 1950 he was a member of the first post-war Himalayan expedition and, in 1952, was one of the first to explore the previously closed mountain ranges of

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

, east of

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Media career and later life

Tom Weir statue- detail (geograph 4538480)

Weir became a pioneering campaigner for the protection of the Scottish environment, and wrote a column for '' The Scots Magazine'' for over 50 years. From 1976–1987, he hosted the

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...

series ''Weir's Way'', meeting the people of Scotland, exploring the landscape and its natural history. When STV repeated the series during the late night slot from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s it managed to achieve 30% audience share. The series is now available on DVD in the UK. Weir won the Scottish Television 'Personality of the Year Award' in 1976. He was appointed MBE in 1976. He lived in Gartocharn and in 2000 he was awarded the inaugural John Muir Lifetime Achievement Award by the John Muir Trust in recognition of his environmental work. He is also celebrated in the song "Tom Weir" written by Edinburgh musician Sandy Wright and performed by the band Aberfeldy. And in 2007, L. Pierre wrote an ambient instrumental song, "Weir's Way", featured on his album, "Dip". Weir was buried on 17 July 2006 in Kilmaronock Parish Church, near Drymen. He was buried in the same plot as the ashes of his sister Molly.

DVD release

A collection of some of Weir's best walks was released on DVD in 2006. Both series of Weir's Way are available on DVD, distributed by

Acorn Media UK RLJE International Ltd, d/b/a Acorn DVD, a British company that publishes and distributes DVDs, as well as selling home-video products and streaming videos with a particular focus on British television. History Launched in 1997, Acorn Media U. ...

References

External links

* * ( STV Player) * ( STV Player)
Tom Weir in the Gazetteer for Scotland

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, Tom 1914 births 2006 deaths Scottish mountain climbers Scottish non-fiction writers Walkers of the United Kingdom Members of the Order of the British Empire Scottish television presenters People from Springburn