Episode 6 On the Road 2014


Episode 6

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2014 is an extraordinary year for Scotland.

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So much is happening across the length and breadth of the country.

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And it's not all about politics and sport.

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We're here with a brand-new series, a journey to discover the events

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worth celebrating.

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And the stories behind them.

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Everything from theatre to comedy.

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Great music and festivals!

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Activities we can all get involved in.

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Birdie.

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We're exploring what's happening inside our buildings

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and what's going on on your street.

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We'll tell you about the quirky...

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and the exciting.

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We'll delve into Scotland's tastiest food and drink.

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And meet the people creating these incredible experiences for all of us.

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So plan your summer with us. Join us as we head On The Road 2014.

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HORN BEEPS

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Our route tonight - I'm on the Moray Firth asking what

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this lighthouse, Egyptian design and the RAF have in common.

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The sight, the noise, it's wonderful. It's thunderous!

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Comedian Phill Jupitus reveals why his upcoming Edinburgh Fringe show

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isn't just for laughs.

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It's just...

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absolutely hypnotic.

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And Cat Cubie is chain-saw carving in Carrbridge.

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Try saying that three times faster!

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It's a good job you didn't give me the chain saw, I think.

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It's a very good job.

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But first...

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Let's talk about the biggest party to hit Scotland - possibly ever.

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The host for the Commonwealth Games

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will be Glasgow.

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CHEERING

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Yes, we've been building to it for seven years, and we've spent

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more than a billion pounds across the city, but finally

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the wait is over.

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Festival 2014 kicked off on the weekend

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and in just two days, the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony

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will be performed live, with an expected audience of 1.5 billion

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watching 3,000 performers in front of 40,000 people

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at Glasgow's Celtic Park.

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Rehearsals are currently taking place in a top secret location.

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And while I can't reveal where, I'm hoping to uncover

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some of the other hush-hush details.

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What do we actually know?

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There'll be athletes, singers, there'll be royalty,

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celebrity guests, the Queen's Baton Relay will complete

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its 190,000th kilometre on the night.

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There will also be thousands of volunteer performers,

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and a procession of 4,500 athletes from 71 countries and territories.

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And maybe a few invited politicians in attendance.

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Well, you've got to let a few in.

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But while you can expect a shedload of VIPS and famous faces,

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most of the dancers in the opening ceremony will actually

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be regular folk.

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3,000 were selected, we've got 500 of them here.

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ALL: One, two, three, four...

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Actually, make that 501.

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It's all about timing.

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And, yes, it's just as hard as I'm making it look.

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# When I grow up I wanna be famous

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# I wanna be a star I wanna be in movies

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# # When I grow up I wanna see the world

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# Drive nice cars... #

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To make sure the soundtrack is a surprise on the night,

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each performer must wear headphones.

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And it's also a good way of hearing what choreographer Simone Sault

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has to say.

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There's some heavy looking guys around here.

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Is it OK for me to see this? Should I be in here?

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-What, seeing what?

-Seeing what?

-Mum's the word. Mum's the word.

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There's great enthusiasm there. Mixed abilities,

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different age groups and I think that's a lovely thing.

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-But they have one focus. And that's to get the show on.

-Right.

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They all want to be here. They're 100% committed.

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My final question is, what is the costume?

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-I can't give things away like that.

-Oh, come on!

-No, no, not to you

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or anyone. You'll have to wait until the big night, my friend.

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-Is it tartan?

-I can't say anything. My lips are sealed.

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Oh, well - maybe I can prise a few secrets from the volunteers.

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And find out what's motivating them

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to perform for an audience of 1.5 billion.

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Well, we could tell you the overall, it's going to be great fun,

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it's going to be a great showcase for Glasgow in itself.

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-But the specifics...

-Details we'll have to keep to the day.

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The biggest challenge for me,

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because I'm in my 60s, is trying to remember it all.

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I think it's a good chance to represent Scotland,

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if you don't have much else going for you in life.

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If I fall over in the middle of Celtic Park, I'll just jazz up

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my hands and put a big smile on my face and jump back up.

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Just to add to the pressure, imagine seeing your dance moves

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on a 100-metre-wide screen filling the South Stand at Celtic Park,

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what the creators are calling a 'Window on the Commonwealth.'

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It's dual function,

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so when we have performances on stage it will create a fabulous backdrop.

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But it also allows us at certain moments in the ceremony,

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not everything is going to happen in Celtic Park,

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some parts of the show will happen in other bits of Glasgow,

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or other countries or territories around the world, so it gives us

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a broader stage to invite the world into our home and welcome them

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to our ceremony.

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Glasgow 2014 promises to deliver an unforgettable opening ceremony,

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plus the BBC will be awash with wide coverage.

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So, wherever you are on Wednesday night from 8pm,

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this is an event not to be missed.

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Or at least it will be, once I master these dance moves.

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HE BREAKS WIND

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Sorry about that.

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'Awkward!'

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Throughout August, Edinburgh is the epicentre for all things

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cultural, hosting six flagship festivals from arts to books

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to the Military Tattoo.

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All of which collectively involve over 60,000 performers.

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Festival stalwart Phill Jupitus is better known as a comedian.

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LAUGHTER

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I'd only go up a pyramid if I thought it was a Toblerone.

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But his real love has always been art.

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And at this year's Fringe Festival, he will be hosting Sketch Comic,

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a very special event that will see him armed with his tablet

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and sketching some of the Scottish National Gallery's

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most iconic artwork, inviting his audience to sketch along with him.

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I've been coming to Edinburgh

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for the Fringe Festival

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for nearly 25 years, and it's a place that I love.

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I started coming here off-piste, as it were.

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But to me it's about more than gigs.

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One of my favourite places is here at the Scottish National Gallery.

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I can spend hours and hours in galleries.

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There is so much detail in these pieces.

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There's so many different things you can look at

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in these works.

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The walls of the National Gallery are home to everyone

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from Cezanne to Rembrandt.

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But today what's caught my eye is this Titian -

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Venus Rising from the Sea.

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Not a big piece but it's just...

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absolutely hypnotic.

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She's almost like iridescent, there's almost a light coming out

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of Venus herself.

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I've drawn since I was kid, and before comedy I even made

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my living as an illustrator, so sketching comes as second nature

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to me. Except now I use a tablet with a drawing app instead of paper.

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I started sketching at galleries the way that

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I am now a couple of years ago.

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I went to a gallery and somebody got very, very cross with me,

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taking photos,

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and so almost as an act of defiance,

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I started drawing.

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And then through the drawing you just look at the art differently.

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Gallery attendants like Amanda Wright will have to get used to me

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hanging about the place sketching paintings like Titian's Venus.

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It's an almost incomprehensible level of beauty.

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-There's a sort of perfection in that somewhere.

-Yeah.

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And that's what it is.

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You see it in some things and it might be the colour, it might

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be the shape, it might be how somebody has framed the shape

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-of a hand.

-Mm, yeah.

-But there's something perfect in there.

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It's just been in various galleries, she's been there

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ringing her hair out for hundreds and hundreds of years.

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It's not got any drier.

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-It has not.

-I'll let you concentrate.

-Thank you. Cheers.

-Bye.

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All right, my version

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of Titian's Venus Rising from the Sea is done.

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It's in the ballpark, but I've got the spirit of her face better

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than I thought I would, so I'm quite happy with that.

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But it's fun to do,

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and certainly a good way to spend an afternoon with the painting.

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And that's basically it.

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For a month, I'm going to be coming to one of the best art galleries

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in the world and copying some of the most beautiful paintings.

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Come and join me if you want.

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Just bring yourself, one of these and your imagination.

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So, why not join Phill with a tablet or a pencil and paper?

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He'll be sketching every weekday from the 4th of August for three weeks

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at Scotland's National Galleries in Edinburgh.

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He'll also give a talk every Thursday about the paintings he's sketching.

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For more information,

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go to our website...

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Stay with us,

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as author and broadcaster Muriel Gray discovers

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the children's book being transformed

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into ground-breaking theatre.

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Aagh! That's fantastic!

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And at Thunder in the Glens, I unearth the Scottish ancestry

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of what's probably the world's most iconic motorbike.

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The streets are lined, crowds are cheering, flags are out waving.

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It's just a marvellous event.

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Though right now...

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..at the foot of the Cairngorm mountains,

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in one sleepy village,

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things are about to get real.

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ROAR OF CHAIN SAWS

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Every August, Carrbridge and its population of around 700

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welcome 3,000 people to their annual wood-carving competition.

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It's called Carve Carrbridge,

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and we sent Cat Cubie to find out why this event

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really is a cut above.

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It's a test of skill and artistry on a massive scale.

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And thousands of folk will come here to witness it

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as Carrbridge goes carve crazy.

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Now in its 12th year, it attracts competitors

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and spectators from across the globe.

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Not bad for something that started as a simple fundraiser

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and today, according to organiser Carol Ritchie, supports a wide range

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of local charities.

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It's not your normal show.

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It's loud.

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CHAIN SAW BUZZING

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It's something different, it's got a huge buzz.

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Wielding chain saws is pretty exciting, I have to say.

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Great entertainment and get some beautiful art out of it.

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Exactly.

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Over the last decade,

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the likes of chain-saw art has gone from being a novelty...

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..to something many artists are making a living from.

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Even so, Carve Carrbridge is a tough competition to crack.

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It has strict rules and regulations

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and the competitors have to battle against the clock to finish in time.

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Yes, four hours is all you get to turn a eight-foot-high block

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of wood into a striking piece of art.

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Your only tools - a set of chain saws and a blowtorch,

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though you will also require a chain-saw licence.

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And while this contest sounds testosterone-fuelled,

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actually, it's one for the girls as well.

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At last year's event, Alice Buttress was the only female competitor.

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And at 62, she was also the eldest.

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-So how did you get into it?

-Ten years ago

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they were having a one-day workshop,

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the competition was much smaller then.

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We all got to have a go and I thought this was really quite

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good fun. I've sculpted for years with clay

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and so using a chain saw was just another method to sculpt with.

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And while Alice is modest about her chain-saw prowess,

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even in the early days it was easy to see her potential.

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I won the Novice Cup the first year, I was quite delighted,

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I even beat my husband.

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-And ten years later, you're still going strong.

-Still going strong!

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One trick of the trade is to have a few trial runs before the big event,

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so that's what Alice is doing today.

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Her mission - to transform this block of wood

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into an owl.

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Requiring up to five different chain saws to get the detail just so.

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Oh, my goodness, look at this guy. He's incredible.

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That's as much as you can do with the chain saw.

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But we are allowed to burn it, so you can put some

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highlights in for me.

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You'll need to show me exactly what I need to do.

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It's a good job you didn't give me the chain saw, I think.

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A very good job.

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'This year's Carve Carrbridge is taking place

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'Saturday 30th of August.'

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Oh, I don't want to do it too long.

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'As well as wood carving, there's also a fete

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'and a range of activities to get involved in.

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'Everything from crockery smashing to axe-throwing.'

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That's excellent.

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Meanwhile, the finished pieces will be up for auction at the end of

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the competition, so you might even get your hands on an original.

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The Moray Firth was once one of the most treacherous parts

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of Scotland's coastline.

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It was here many a sailor met his demise.

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In fact, in November 1826 a series of violent storms sunk

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a staggering 16 vessels.

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Which is why soon after, the locals of Lossiemouth

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petitioned for a lighthouse,

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so I'm here to discover both its fascinating history

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and its exciting future.

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After all, it was designed by a member of Scotland's

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lighthouse building dynasty - Alan Stevenson.

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It's striking, it's majestic

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and it was clearly built to withstand the harsh Scottish elements.

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But without the determination of the local people

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here in Lossiemouth, it would never have been built.

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Though, after almost two centuries of making this a safe harbour,

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ultimately it was the lighthouse that needed saving.

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The Covesea Skerries Lighthouse has stood empty since the last keeper

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left 30 years ago, but it's about to take on a new lease of life.

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Their first move was saving this decommissioned lighthouse

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from the developers, and they achieved that

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by setting up a charitable company.

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The people of Lossiemouth are very special.

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If they want to achieve something, they will do that.

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And proof of the pudding is, we have the lighthouse.

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And they've raised over £300,000 in government funding,

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allowing them to open the lighthouse to the public for the first time.

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Project manager Robert Forbes is giving me a sneaky peek.

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So what makes this a classic Alan Stevenson lighthouse?

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Alan Stevenson was fascinated by all things Egyptian.

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And in this case, you've got the full spectrum of what

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he was trying to produce at the time.

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There are stylised arches and chimneys designed to look

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like the pillars of a temple.

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And this lighthouse is literally topped off with design flourishes

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such as this.

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But wait - there's more.

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You can see here we have just an air vent,

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but on top of the air vent

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we've got a brass plaque

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of the god Isis, who was the god of lighthouses.

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It allowed them to be a little bit individual.

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His father Robert built lighthouses and he followed in the family

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tradition, but by doing things like this

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he just set himself apart from the normal lighthouse builder.

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This was the third lighthouse that Alan Stevenson built in Scotland,

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and he went on to design 13 in total.

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Though this one is perhaps his most inspiring, standing at 36m,

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its outlook over the Moray Firth is absolutely breathtaking.

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The views here are incredible. That coastline is just stunning.

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On a fine day,

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you can see bottlenose dolphins in the sea beyond us.

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But that's not even the main attraction, as the locals are also

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promoting their lighthouse as being the perfect vantage point

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for plane spotters - yep, RAF Lossiemouth is just next door.

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I've just seen an aircraft taxiing down, so you are going to see

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one as it climbs away off to the north.

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JET ENGINE ROARS

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Wow, the noise is loud - the sight, the noise, it's wonderful.

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-It's thunderous.

-Yes, it is.

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If you're an air enthusiast, you're not going to get a better place

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than this, and this viewing gallery from the top of the lighthouse.

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You will see Typhoon aircraft, Tornado aircraft,

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then we've also got the search-and-rescue helicopters

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on the far side of the airfield.

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What's more, the locals have been campaigning once again,

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this time to build a heritage centre next to the lighthouse

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that will make RAF Lossiemouth's history available to the public.

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Hopefully by March 2015.

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Meanwhile, the Covesea Skerries Lighthouse is planning to open

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its doors from August this year.

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With the Commonwealth Games just two sleeps away,

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there's also much excitement over the £13 million

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that's been invested in companion arts programmes.

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So we sent author and broadcaster Muriel Gray to explore

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one of the highlights.

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A festival of storytelling taking place across Glasgow

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that culminates in a ground-breaking performance

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from the National Theatre of Scotland

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inspired by a children's story called The Tin Forest.

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MURIEL READS

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"..near nowhere and close to forgotten

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"there was a small house, with small windows,

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"that looked out on other people's rubbish and bad weather."

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If that sounds familiar,

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then that's probably why this resonated with the National Theatre,

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seeing it is a metaphor for Glasgow,

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for its transformation from industrial powerhouse,

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through its decline to its subsequent regeneration.

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And given they're the people who brought us the multi-award

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winning Black Watch, it's a sure bet Tin Forest will also be a must see.

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It's the story of an old man who transforms the ugly world around him

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into a beautiful forest.

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We've come to where the set is being built

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to meet one of the designers, Gavin Glover.

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-Hi.

-Gavin. Hi, Muriel.

-Mrs Gray.

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'It won't be your typical play either,

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'as audience members will immerse themselves within it

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'by walking around different parts of the set.'

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It is The Tin Forest show.

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But it's going to be a slightly different version of The Tin Forest.

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So we're in this 1920s David Lynch-y kind of hotel lobby.

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-And what happens?

-I'm not sure if I can tell you.

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Oh!

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It's completely interactive, with characters like the old man himself

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ready to take on the pluckiest of spectators.

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Aagh!

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That's fantastic.

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-It's always risky, interactive theatre, because...

-It's live.

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..you'll get children, they might want to come in here and touch...

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That's great. Every performance will be different.

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-Can I touch him?

-"Eh...

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"Get out!"

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The National Theatre is also famous for staging their productions

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in unusual spaces,

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and the location for Tin Forest is a perfect example.

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The South Rotunda on the Clyde, once part of a Victorian

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under-river tunnel system, it's lain derelict for years.

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But now it's being transformed,

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and it reflects the regeneration theme at the heart of the festival.

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And there's some added surprises too.

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This is not just interactive theatre, this version of The Tin Forest,

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it's also multimedia.

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The Glasgow School of Art's Digital Design Studio is digitally

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mapping the interior, bringing to life The Tin Forest itself

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with dazzling projected images.

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What we do is we use

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a laser scanner and the laser scanner fires a laser at the wall

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and computers can generate a model of this wall.

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If you've got a horse galloping across the wall,

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it'll literally be as though there's a horse galloping across the wall

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-and shouldn't distort based on the shape.

-Cool!

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The Tin Forest Festival begins today, July 21st, and runs for two weeks

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with live events and shows by over 300 performers

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at various venues around Glasgow.

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And if you want to get along to the Puppet Experience itself,

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it runs at the South Rotunda from Thursday the 24th July

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until the 3rd of August.

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The sheer volume of work that has gone into it, the unique ideas,

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the amount of creativity is absolutely staggering.

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Only one word for it, really - and that's unmissable.

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The Cairngorms are Britain's highest and biggest mountain range.

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55 summits over 900m, surrounded by beautiful forest.

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It's no wonder this national park attracts over a million skiers,

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climbers and walkers every year.

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But it's also the place of pilgrimage

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for the Harley-Davidson obsessives who make up the riders

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and followers for the annual bike fest Thunder in the Glens.

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ENGINE PURRS

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This annual event began in 1997 with around 150 bikes

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but it has grown year on year.

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And this August promises to be the biggest yet, with Aviemore expecting

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around 1,500 bikes and 3,000 mad keen enthusiasts.

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So what I want to find out

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is why so many of us love that roar of the engine

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and the romance of the open road.

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And why an event like Thunder in the Glens might well be worth

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a visit even if you've never straddled a motorbike.

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It's basically just a group of people that want to

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get on the bikes and ride out and show the bikes off to the public.

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To ride up the street with crowds at the side of the street waving

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and shouting, it's just unbelievable.

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What do you get out of it?

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It's fun.

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# Born to be wild... #

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Bike or no bike, everyone's welcome.

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And this festival takes over the entire town with rock,

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pop and blues gigs across Aviemore.

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Though as far as the event's head road captain is concerned,

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the biggest highlight

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is the Saturday ride out to Grantown-on-Spey.

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You can see for miles all the bikes coming,

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you can hear them from miles away. Everybody loves it.

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The streets are lined, crowds are cheering,

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flags are out waving, it's a marvellous event.

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We've got maybe 200, 300 Harley-Davidsons

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with the loud pipes, that's when you get the "Thunder in the Glens".

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But today, ahead of August, I'm at a bike meet near Brechin in Angus,

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where 400 riders are hitting the road.

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And it's given me the chance to fulfil a lifelong dream.

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Because, for the first time ever, I'm going to get to ride

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a Harley-Davidson.

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MUSIC: "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC

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I'm joining the Dunedin Chapter,

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a group of bikers committed to the ride out -

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a phenomenon that became popular at bike rallies

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from as far back as 1917.

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These tours were devised to let riders discover

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the countryside around them.

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And I reckon riding out is still one the best ways

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to see Scotland.

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Today's route also has a strong connection to the history

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of motorbiking.

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Because here in Aberlemno by Brechin is the ancestral home

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of one of the families behind Harley-Davidson.

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And this is Davidsons' Cottage,

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once home to the Davidson family before they emigrated to

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escape poverty to America.

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And little did they know then that they would become

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one of the biggest families in motorcycling history.

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Mind you, it took a couple of generations.

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In 1901, the family fortunes changed when Sandy and Margaret Davidson's

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grandchildren began experimenting with the idea of motorised bikes.

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Teaming up with William S Harley to create what's arguably

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the most iconic motorbike brand in the world.

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-How do you do? Nice to meet you.

-Come on into the Davidson Cottage.

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Cheers.

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'Which is why fan Mike Sinclair

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'has restored the Davidsons' former home.'

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We get people from all over the world,

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our visitors book is...

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every page, you know, South Africa,

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Australia, Brazil even.

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We're always pleased to see them and they're always really excited

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to come here and be in the place where it kind of started off.

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And descendants of the Davidson family will also make their own

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pilgrimage from the USA to Thunder in the Glens this August,

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for the very first time,

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making a lot of the bikers here very happy indeed.

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Well, we've got Jean Davidson coming over this year, Fred,

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from the family. We've never really had that level of support.

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Yeah, we get a lot of visitors from the company

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in the States, which is fantastic, but to have that family connection

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because, when we ride our bikes, we are a big family.

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MUSIC: "Layla" Derek & the Dominos

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If you fancy getting to know some big and noisy motorbikes better,

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Thunder in the Glens is taking place in Aviemore

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August 22nd to the 25th, with live music and ride outs taking place

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across the festival.

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The open road beckons and I've got a new spirit of adventure,

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so I shall see you in the Cairngorms.

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ENGINE ROARS

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That's it for this series of On The Road.

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But summer's just beginning.

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There's so much we've featured you can still get involved in.

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Like Scotland's National Airshow.

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The Italian Chapel in Orkney - an historic gem with a touching story.

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-You're not going to cry.

-I might!

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There's the Pittenweem Arts Festival.

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Or why not head to Eilean Ban near Skye for some otter spotting?

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And then of course there's The Kelpies.

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Oh, my goodness, they are ENORMOUS!

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-Or...

-Hiya.

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..Scotland's secret nuclear bunker.

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This is Susan Calman speaking to you from the secure nuclear bunker

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that I've managed to get into somehow.

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And the Ryder Cup, with highlights on the BBC.

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So, what are you waiting for?

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For more information,

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go to our website...

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