0:00:02 > 0:00:04Welcome to The One Show: Best of Britain. With Alison Craig.
0:00:04 > 0:00:05And Mike Dilger.
0:00:05 > 0:00:10With another chance to see some of our favourite One Show films.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Today, we are in the place that claims to be both the sunniest
0:00:24 > 0:00:26and driest in the whole of the UK.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Hence waterproofs head to toe.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31- We're not in Torquay.- No, we're not.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35It's a university town, whose seat of learning is 600 years old.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38- It's not Oxford and it's not Cambridge.- It certainly isn't.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42It also has the oldest golf course in the world.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45We are in St Andrews, one of my favourite places in Scotland,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48where, frankly, everything's ancient!
0:00:48 > 0:00:50- No offence, Mike!- None taken!
0:00:50 > 0:00:53On tonight's show, we go back to prehistoric times,
0:00:53 > 0:00:58with Ruth Goodman, who unearthed a lost civilisation in Orkney!
0:00:58 > 0:01:02There is a burial of two ladies under that bed.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Not only that, but the door here can be controlled from the outside.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10So, you could actually be closed in this house.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11This might be some form of cult house
0:01:11 > 0:01:14or a place where dangerous things happen.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16And Miranda heads to the Cairngorms,
0:01:16 > 0:01:20on the trail of the majestic Golden Eagle.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23- He looks like he's claimed your eyrie.- I think he has! - He looks comfortable there.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28And don't miss Londoner Danny Baker's moving and hilarious journey
0:01:28 > 0:01:31back to his childhood home. As long as someone lets him in!
0:01:31 > 0:01:34There you go. My very first flat.
0:01:34 > 0:01:3711 Debnams Road, right next to the stairs and the rubbish chute.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41When we used to play football in this actual square, all the neighbours,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44when it got dark, would turn on their bathroom lights to give us flood lights.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48But first, John Sergeant remembers a remarkable family business
0:01:48 > 0:01:51who have kept the light shining in the dark
0:01:51 > 0:01:53for the last 200 years.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00The rugged Scottish coastline has inspired countless
0:02:00 > 0:02:02tales of high drama.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Many dreamt up by the author of Treasure Island,
0:02:05 > 0:02:06Robert Louis Stevenson.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08But members of Stevenson's family,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10including his father,
0:02:10 > 0:02:12did more than dream of this coastline.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14They transformed it,
0:02:14 > 0:02:16building more than 200 lighthouses.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21"When I smell saltwater", he wrote,
0:02:21 > 0:02:23"I know that I am not far
0:02:23 > 0:02:25"from one of the works of my ancestors.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27"When the lights come out at sundown
0:02:27 > 0:02:30"along the shores of Scotland, I am proud to think
0:02:30 > 0:02:32"they burn more brightly
0:02:32 > 0:02:34"for the genius of my father."
0:02:34 > 0:02:38They were an extraordinarily ingenious family.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40No matter how inaccessible a site was,
0:02:40 > 0:02:42if a lighthouse was needed,
0:02:42 > 0:02:43they built it.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46I'm on my way to see one of their earliest lighthouses,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49on Isle of May in the Firth of Forth.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53With me is Dr Robert Prescott from St Andrews University.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55He has charted the introduction of lighthouses
0:02:55 > 0:02:57along this treacherous coast.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59So, how many wrecks do we know that there were
0:02:59 > 0:03:01around the Scottish coast?
0:03:01 > 0:03:03Around the Scottish coast, it would be many thousands.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05So, lighthouses were brought in,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08was that to save life, or was it to save cargo?
0:03:08 > 0:03:12I think it's always a question of lives and property.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16It's the two things together. A vessel that has a crew of 30, maybe,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18would have hundreds of pounds of cargo on board.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25Lighthouse building really took off in 1808,
0:03:25 > 0:03:29when Robert Louis Stevenson's grandfather, also called Robert,
0:03:29 > 0:03:34became engineer and chief executive of the Northern Lighthouse Board.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37The Isle of May lighthouse is one of his earliest
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and it's a masterpiece.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43He had space, most rock towers are built on very skimpy pieces of rock
0:03:43 > 0:03:45that are perhaps covered by the high tide,
0:03:45 > 0:03:49but here he had the room and the space to spread himself.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53I don't think there's another lighthouse like this anywhere in Britain.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Not quite so grand. It's like a country house, really, isn't it?
0:03:56 > 0:03:58How much of a pioneer was Robert Stevenson?
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Well, he was a very considerable pioneer.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03No-one prior to him would have dreamed
0:04:03 > 0:04:06of trying to put a light tower on the Bell Rock.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10A rock that is submerged most of the time
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and just appears for an hour or two at low tide
0:04:13 > 0:04:15and is in the fiercest and most exposed locations.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17So, the ability to build a tower
0:04:17 > 0:04:20that's strong enough to cope with those situations, he perfected it.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23Robert Stevenson retired in 1842.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27Then, there were three more generations of Stevensons
0:04:27 > 0:04:29working in the Scottish lighthouse industry.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32It wasn't until 1938
0:04:32 > 0:04:36that the last Stevenson finally retired as chief engineer.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38It's an amazing record.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Wherever you go round the Scottish coast,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46you're not far from a Stevenson lighthouse.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50Bob McIntosh has visited most of them.
0:04:50 > 0:04:55He built 200 lighthouses around the coast of Scotland, 100 like Scurdie Ness here
0:04:55 > 0:04:57and 100 smaller lights.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00It's something which the mariners around the coast of Scotland
0:05:00 > 0:05:01have been very grateful for.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04These lighthouses have stood the test of time.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08Most are still in use, but with modern technology.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12- When was this built? - This lighthouse was built in 1870.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15And no lift, so we've got to go all the way up, haven't we, on the stairs?
0:05:15 > 0:05:20- Yes, there's 170 steps right to the top.- 170?- Mm.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24The Stevenson lighthouses are impressive structures.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28They've endured decades of storms, fierce winds and heavy seas,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31and remarkably, they're all still standing.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34It's a real tribute to the men who built them.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Right, well, here we are at the top of the lighthouse,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38and this is the light, isn't it?
0:05:38 > 0:05:43Yeah, this is the modern technology, with the car headlight-type lenses.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47We have three levels, which gives us the equivalent of three flashes.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52We've used the original structure with some minor modification inside
0:05:52 > 0:05:55and the modern technology gives us a better, brighter light.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59But otherwise, the structure of the lighthouse is exactly the same
0:05:59 > 0:06:02- as it was at the end of the 19th century.- Exactly, yes.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06The lighthouse Stevenson's were remarkable men.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10Their ideas spread worldwide and they became legendary figures.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14These Stevenson lighthouses are not just marvels of the Victorian age.
0:06:14 > 0:06:20Here in the 21st-century, they still stand looking magnificent and proud
0:06:20 > 0:06:23and long may they do so.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Well, St Andrews doesn't have a lighthouse,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31but at 108 feet, Saint Rule's tower is still a pretty steep climb.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34It is. It's part of St Andrews' Cathedral,
0:06:34 > 0:06:37and from the very top you get a panoramic view of what's beyond.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39It's lovely - we've got the North Sea down here.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Across here we've got St Andrews itself and then,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45follow us over here, we've got the hills and countryside and beyond,
0:06:45 > 0:06:47and by my reckoning,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50you could see the Cairngorms National Park from up here.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Well, if we had the Hubble telescope that is,
0:06:52 > 0:06:56but that's exactly where we're heading next with Miranda,
0:06:56 > 0:06:58who went to meet a conservation hero
0:06:58 > 0:07:01who is keeping tabs on our precious golden eagles.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04The golden eagle is Britain's most iconic raptor.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08But our relationship with this majestic bird
0:07:08 > 0:07:10has been a rocky one in the past.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Persecuted for taking livestock,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15the population collapsed in the mid-19th century
0:07:15 > 0:07:18and they were entirely wiped out in England and Wales.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Nowadays we're very good at protecting adult nest sites,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25but how do we safeguard the young birds
0:07:25 > 0:07:27when they have no fixed territories of their own?
0:07:27 > 0:07:31Until couple of years ago, we had no idea of where
0:07:31 > 0:07:34or how far they ranged, but all that's begun to change.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Roy Dennis has been working with Scotland's
0:07:37 > 0:07:42400-plus breeding pairs of golden eagles since the 1980s.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45He started tagging birds on the Glen Feshie estate
0:07:45 > 0:07:47in the Cairngorms two years ago.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49The first chick he tagged was Alma.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54Last year he also tagged a chick on the eastern side of the Cairngorms called Tom.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56So this is the heart of the project, basically.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59This is the satellite tag that goes on the back of the eagle.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01- It's incredibly light, isn't it?- Mm.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05They're 70g and every hour it works out where the eagle is,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08if it's flying, how fast it's flying,
0:08:08 > 0:08:10the direction it's flying and the altitude.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13From this, we know where Tom was last night.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Yeah, I can be certain that I can show you the wood where Tom is
0:08:16 > 0:08:20and we could probably... We may even find the tree he was sitting in.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- OK, let's go.- OK.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28Many Highland estates are overgrazed by red deer,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31but at Glen Feshie their numbers have been kept low
0:08:31 > 0:08:33so heather, trees and shrubs are flourishing.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36So, too, are mountain hare and grouse,
0:08:36 > 0:08:39which attract young eagles looking for food.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42See on the hilltop there, that, kind of, patchwork of heather?
0:08:42 > 0:08:46That's where John and his colleagues are burning heather.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Some of the heather is old heather where the grouse nest,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52and some is new where the grouse feeds.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55We've gone as far as we can in the Land Rover,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58so now we have to head to the bottom of the wood on foot
0:08:58 > 0:09:00trying to find any sign of Tom.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04We are looking for a bare branch or a broken tree.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08- They like a nice vantage point, do they?- Yes.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Right, we've just seen some bird poo so we've stopped to have a look.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16The bird that does do droppings like that is a bird called the goshawk.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18But that's projected quite a long way!
0:09:18 > 0:09:22- It's not your average pigeon, is it? - No, no, no. That's a bird of prey.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27Right on target, Roy spots a bare branch.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30It's an eagle roost and one he hasn't seen before.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35So that's where he was? That's where Tom was last night, roosting?
0:09:35 > 0:09:38We can see the marks on the tree where his talons have...
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Hang on, Roy has found something over there. Let's join him.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44I reckon this is a grouse that's been eaten by an eagle.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47And what on earth is that?
0:09:48 > 0:09:52That is the gizzard of the grouse where it chews up the vegetation.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54So, you've got the grouse's last meal there
0:09:54 > 0:09:57and then the eagle's last meal here.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Tom's next satellite readings
0:09:59 > 0:10:02would show us he was only two miles to the south
0:10:02 > 0:10:04while we were picking over his leftovers.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Day by day, eagle satellite data is building up the evidence needed
0:10:09 > 0:10:11to show landowners they can manage their estates
0:10:11 > 0:10:14for wildlife as well as game.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17And in a neighbouring valley, children at the Alvie primary school
0:10:17 > 0:10:21have also been using Roy's satellite data
0:10:21 > 0:10:23to follow Tom and Alma on a website.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26We've been learning what its habits are.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29We've gone on field trips to find stuff.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31It's, like, amazing to see a real golden eagle.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35The children have built a golden eagle nest, or eyrie,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38with Roy Dennis and Highland Council Ranger Duncan McDonald
0:10:38 > 0:10:42who's given them the very rare chance to come face-to-face with an adult bird.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45- Quince looks like he's claimed your eyrie then.- I think he has.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47He looks very comfortable there.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50These kids have obviously got very passionate
0:10:50 > 0:10:52about the two eagles, Tom and Alma.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Having Roy's website there to be able to track them
0:10:55 > 0:10:59on a day-to-day basis has really brought these eagles alive
0:10:59 > 0:11:02to the children and they've thoroughly engaged with that.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05It's been hugely successful.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Roy's satellite tagging project
0:11:07 > 0:11:12has found a way to help connect the landowners and communities
0:11:12 > 0:11:17with a magnificent animal that is normally so shy of human contact.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22Well, that was back in 2009 and since that film was made
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Alma, the two-year-old golden eagle, was tragically found dead.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30She had been deliberately poisoned and to date, no arrests have been made.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33Tom, the other golden eagle, went missing last year
0:11:33 > 0:11:36and unfortunately there has been no sign of him since,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40but the good news is there are now 11 eagles with satellite tags
0:11:40 > 0:11:44and Roy has been amazed by the huge distances some of these birds are covering.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46Roy is also optimistic that the project
0:11:46 > 0:11:50is helping people to understand how this magnificent bird lives
0:11:50 > 0:11:53and he believes this is helping the battle to protect them.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Now, although St Andrews Castle is a ruin,
0:11:59 > 0:12:03there is still a place here fit for a king, albeit a future one.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Yes, this is the street and indeed the house
0:12:05 > 0:12:08where Prince William and Kate shacked up together
0:12:08 > 0:12:10whilst they were at university.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13It's surprisingly low-key and understated, isn't it?
0:12:13 > 0:12:15Which is precisely why I bought this.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18- I think we should mark the spot. - Go for it.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Somewhere else that deserves a blue plaque is the childhood home
0:12:22 > 0:12:24of the legendary broadcaster Danny Baker,
0:12:24 > 0:12:26although they'll have to be quick
0:12:26 > 0:12:29because by all accounts it's not going to be there much longer.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36I'm Danny Baker and I'm going back to the street where I used to live.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44It's been abandoned, sealed off and boarded up for years now.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48But today I've been allowed special access.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54There you go. Very first flat. 11 Debnams Road.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56Right next to the stairs and the rubbish chute.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59When we used to play football in this actual square,
0:12:59 > 0:13:01all the neighbours, when it got dark,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04would turn on their bathroom lights to give us floodlights.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Yeah, I've still got it. I've still got it.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25Incredibly, I left school at 14 and I went to work in a record shop.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28You know, I was pretty liberal with the stock
0:13:28 > 0:13:31and there was a stack of them in my bedroom,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33but my albums started to make the front room ceiling
0:13:33 > 0:13:38actually bend a bit like this. It was a sturdy old flat, so it shows you how many records I had.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42The kids who lived on the higher floors,
0:13:42 > 0:13:44if the ice cream man came round or anything else
0:13:44 > 0:13:47this is what they would yell, "Mu-u-um. Mu-u-um."
0:13:47 > 0:13:49And suppose it's, I don't know, Jimmy Knight,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52"Jimmy Knight's mu-u-um," to identify them from all the other mums,
0:13:52 > 0:13:55and she used to come out, "What do you want?" Looking down.
0:13:55 > 0:13:56"Ice cream man's here," "Wait there,"
0:13:56 > 0:13:59go in, get money, put it in paper, a bit of newspaper,
0:13:59 > 0:14:01and drop it over the balcony - donk - into the square.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03And then you'd pick that up and go and get the thing,
0:14:03 > 0:14:08but you had to identify, "Mu-u-m! "Eddie Gregory's mu-u-um!"
0:14:08 > 0:14:10I didn't have to. We lived on the ground floor.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21There was no numbers 1 to 10 Debnams Road. It started at 11.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Odd numbers all the way through, and we were the very first one
0:14:24 > 0:14:26and we backed on to the railway.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29I don't remember hearing it. You just simply filtered it out.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31It's like coming down here today -
0:14:31 > 0:14:34there's a load of noise, but I can't hear it.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36I come round here and I just can't hear it.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47We had a dog. He was a black mongrel called, imaginatively, Blackie.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49We used to come, open the letterbox and say, "Come on, boy,"
0:14:49 > 0:14:51and he used to walk up, put his paw on the thing
0:14:51 > 0:14:53and then walk backwards and let us in the house.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56He'd run around the estate and when he came back,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59he would knock at the door. Knock. Knock, knock.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Sit with his paws up, just knocking the letterbox with his nose.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03We thought nothing of this at the time.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Nobody believes us now, but our dog was a genius.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12My dad was a docker. He used to bring home quite a lot of stuff out the docks, actually.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14One of the things they exported was shoes.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16And so much stuff was disappearing that eventually
0:15:16 > 0:15:18they decided to export left shoes out of London
0:15:18 > 0:15:21and the right shoes out of Liverpool so they couldn't get pairs.
0:15:21 > 0:15:22That's absolutely true!
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Whatever moderate level of fame I reached, it will never reach my old man.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29We used to go down the road and somebody would go, honk, honk, "Oi, oi!"
0:15:29 > 0:15:33It wouldn't be for me - it would always be my old man. They called him Spud.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37He was an extraordinary, very funny, very, very larger-than-life,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39and very physical, my old man.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43My mum worked in a chocolate factory like Willy Wonka.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45And I remember - and this sounds like a fetish -
0:15:45 > 0:15:48I used to get her Doctor Scholl sandal and smell the sole of it
0:15:48 > 0:15:51because it smelled so terrific of all this chocolate,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54and I can remember sitting smelling this and, "What are you...?
0:15:54 > 0:15:57"Don't do that with my bleeding shoe. Give us it back."
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Can you notice this slight reddening in my cheeks?
0:16:03 > 0:16:07The stairs were popular for courting couples.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10And, uh, I did OK.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15I'm not nostalgic about it at all.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18I think we had the best of it, they should knock it down.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22It's an old ruin, but while it's physically here
0:16:22 > 0:16:24it wouldn't surprise me to hear someone come bursting out
0:16:24 > 0:16:27from these steel shutters going, "Mu-u-um! Mu-u-um!"
0:16:32 > 0:16:34# You haven't looked at me
0:16:34 > 0:16:39# That way in years
0:16:39 > 0:16:47# But I'm still here. #
0:16:48 > 0:16:52Danny Baker, a man who certainly has a way with words.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55Now, Alison, it's only rained a little bit today,
0:16:55 > 0:16:57but we haven't exactly seen a lot of sun either.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59Stop moaning, Mike.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01Do you not realise you're on the West Sands beach,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04iconic for the opening scenes of Chariots Of Fire?
0:17:04 > 0:17:09Ah, yes. Team GB training for the 1924 Paris Olympics
0:17:09 > 0:17:13running barefoot on the sand to the sounds of Vangelis.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15MUSIC: "Chariots Of Fire" by Vangelis
0:17:20 > 0:17:22Yes, it's all coming back now.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Well, speaking of the Olympics, you know the Olympic torch
0:17:25 > 0:17:29is in the middle of its epic journey right through every nook and cranny in the country
0:17:29 > 0:17:32and it's already been through St Andrews.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35But as British Para-Olympian Ade Adepitan reports,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38the last time the Olympics were held here the message of peace and unity
0:17:38 > 0:17:40had an extra special meaning.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49In 1948, as the torch arrived in Britain,
0:17:49 > 0:17:51it marked the unification of European nations
0:17:51 > 0:17:53after the turmoil of World War II.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58All through the night the flame was carried by relays of Englishmen,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01and by Thursday morning, still accompanied by television newsreel,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04it had reached the outskirts of London.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09The 178 British athletes that completed the 364-mile torch relay race
0:18:09 > 0:18:12from Dover to Wembley for the opening ceremony
0:18:12 > 0:18:15and then down to Torquay for the sailing regatta
0:18:15 > 0:18:19were everyday village men. In fact, they were just a fortunate few
0:18:19 > 0:18:21that were picked from local athletics clubs.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26'One of those men was Frank Verge.'
0:18:26 > 0:18:29The committee decided to put on an eight-mile race
0:18:29 > 0:18:31and the winner was to carry this.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33So where are we exactly, Frank?
0:18:33 > 0:18:37This is where my leg started and it went for two miles
0:18:37 > 0:18:40through Borough Green to the Cob Tree in Ightham.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42We were allowed six minutes for a mile.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46It was 4.05 in the morning
0:18:46 > 0:18:50and the flame appeared in the distance
0:18:50 > 0:18:53and it came towards us and we exchanged the flame
0:18:53 > 0:18:56and then I was on my way.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00We've got 12 minutes to do this in, Frank. Are you ready?
0:19:00 > 0:19:04- Yeah, I'm ready. You'll beat me in that. - THEY LAUGH
0:19:04 > 0:19:06How did you feel when you got to the end?
0:19:06 > 0:19:08I was right on top of the world.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12And then I handed the flame over, which was quite happy,
0:19:12 > 0:19:17and I must confess I felt almost lonely for a little while.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21But after that, I never saw any of them again.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23Never heard of them again.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30Austin Playfoot ran the Surrey leg from Merrow to Guildford.
0:19:30 > 0:19:31When I carried this,
0:19:31 > 0:19:35the course into Guildford was absolutely lined with people
0:19:35 > 0:19:40on both sides with cars parked, and people even were standing on their cars cheering
0:19:40 > 0:19:43and it was terrific. And people were asking me to sign autographs.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47"Crikey, they want my name?"
0:19:47 > 0:19:49Where did you start your run from...?
0:19:49 > 0:19:51- Right under the sign of the Horse And Groom.- Superb.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Well, shall we get going? We've got 30 seconds to make up, haven't we?
0:19:54 > 0:19:58- Well, 1.9 miles. We better get going now, yeah. - THEY LAUGH
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Now, the guy you passed the torch on to.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05Did you get to talk to him at all?
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Not really, because there were so many people
0:20:07 > 0:20:10jostling and pushing and shoving
0:20:10 > 0:20:13and the moment he lit his torch, he was away.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17How important was carrying the Olympic torch for you in your life?
0:20:17 > 0:20:23Yeah, I think that stands as a highlight for my career, yeah. For my life, yeah.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27It seems both Austin and Frank's experience was common.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30Many of the runners had never met each other...
0:20:30 > 0:20:32until now.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36- Hello there.- Hello. - My name's Frank. Frank Verge.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38My name's Austin Playfoot.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Ah, hello.
0:20:41 > 0:20:42Touche.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Good afternoon. I'm John Barrett from Deal in Kent.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48- Oh, here's another one. - Good heavens.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52I was running on the leg from Wembley to Torquay.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Why don't we put all our torches in the middle
0:20:54 > 0:20:57and simulate relighting them again?
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Yes, why not?
0:20:59 > 0:21:01Yeah, it's a great feeling.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04It's a unique situation. Absolutely fabulous.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06And we'll never be able to do it again.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Well, I'm hoping next year. Come on.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11THEY LAUGH
0:21:11 > 0:21:13I can't quite believe I'm playing here
0:21:13 > 0:21:16and walking over the Swilcan Bridge.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18This is the old course at St Andrews and, Alison,
0:21:18 > 0:21:22probably the world's most famous 18th hole.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25I would think so, and actually it's a public course.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28There are seven links courses in St Andrews and you don't need to be a member to play.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31You do need to be organised - you can't just pitch up and play.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34- You have to book quite well in advance.- Oh, of course you do.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36And that's because of an ancient charter that dictated
0:21:36 > 0:21:39the townsfolk could play golf on the links
0:21:39 > 0:21:43and it proved so popular that James II in 1457
0:21:43 > 0:21:47had to ban the game because it was diverting
0:21:47 > 0:21:50too much attention away from archery.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Good shot, sir.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Well, we're joined by Alasdair McDougall who's 15 years of age
0:21:55 > 0:21:58and is a member of St Andrews here, and he plays with a handicap of two.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Now, for those of you that don't know golf, that, frankly,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04is absolutely astonishing. What's it like being a member here?
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Oh, to play in St Andrews is just phenomenal.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08We've got great facilities here,
0:22:08 > 0:22:10the opportunity we have is just unreal.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14The support we get from the coaches is just amazing.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18It's a great opportunity to become the best golfer you can, just to have fun.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21- Best score?- Best score here? One over, I think.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24- 73?- Phenomenal.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27So, looking at the golf stars of today, who's your icon?
0:22:27 > 0:22:29- Who do you want to be? - Well, I'd like to say Tiger Woods.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32I think he's a great guy, but my parents, my grandparents,
0:22:32 > 0:22:37really just don't like him, so I have to say Luke Donald.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39- Keep everybody happy. - Keep everybody happy.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42I'm more of a Rory McIlroy man myself.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45One thing I've always wanted to know is why there are 18 holes in golf.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Well, around St Andrews there used to be 22 holes -
0:22:49 > 0:22:5311 out and 11 in - and the first four holes, they were too short,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55so they decided to cut them down to two holes
0:22:55 > 0:22:58and then it had to be equal front nine, equal back nine,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02so they decided to cut the last four holes to two
0:23:02 > 0:23:04so that takes four off of 22 for 18 holes.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07And there we go, and, of course, where Saint Andrew's leads,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09every other golf club in the world follows.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Absolutely, and from the Royal And Ancient,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14we're going to head up to Orkney where Ruth Goodman
0:23:14 > 0:23:19has found a settlement that's six centuries older than Stonehenge.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25The idea of lost civilisations conjures up images
0:23:25 > 0:23:30of abandoned ruins like the Valley Of The Kings or Pompeii.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34But what many people don't realise is that we have one of our own
0:23:34 > 0:23:36that could rival anything in the world,
0:23:36 > 0:23:38here off the tip of mainland Britain.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44Hidden on the Orkney Islands for almost 5,000 years
0:23:44 > 0:23:48it was dramatically brought to light during a violent storm in 1850,
0:23:48 > 0:23:50which ripped open the hill it had lain buried in.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53Very little is known about the people who built it
0:23:53 > 0:23:58six centuries before Stonehenge was erected,
0:23:58 > 0:24:03but we do know Skara Brae is Europe's most intact Stone Age village
0:24:03 > 0:24:07and an invaluable insight into a long-lost Britain.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Because of the lack of timber on the islands,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11everything had to be built from stone,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14which is why so much survives today.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19But Stone Age most certainly does not mean "caveman".
0:24:19 > 0:24:23This was a sophisticated society, with the village built over
0:24:23 > 0:24:26a system of drains more than 3,000 years before the Romans
0:24:26 > 0:24:29were supposed to have brought plumbing to Britain,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32and all the houses are built to the same plan.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35The focus of the house is the hearth that sits in the centre.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38There's the dresser, which is the most prominent feature, really,
0:24:38 > 0:24:40that you see as soon as you come in the door.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42And then these beds, possibly?
0:24:42 > 0:24:45That's right, you could get quite a lot of people, actually,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47in this space, couldn't you?
0:24:47 > 0:24:50This sort of space is actually much better
0:24:50 > 0:24:53than many of the Victorian working-class houses I've been in.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55How many of these houses were there in the village?
0:24:55 > 0:24:58There's probably about half a dozen contemporary
0:24:58 > 0:25:00in the village that we have excavated.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03The Skara Brae village is actually bigger out towards the back
0:25:03 > 0:25:08and we don't know how much we've lost to the sea at the front.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11House seven is the most intact.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13It's normally off-limits to the public,
0:25:13 > 0:25:18but we've been granted special permission by Historic Scotland to film inside.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21But this is no ordinary house.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25There is a burial of two ladies under that bed.
0:25:25 > 0:25:31Not only that, but the door here can be controlled from the outside
0:25:31 > 0:25:33so you could actually be closed in this house.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37And we've no real idea quite what this house was used for?
0:25:37 > 0:25:39This might be some form of cult house
0:25:39 > 0:25:41or a place where dangerous things happened.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43Perhaps it is a house for menstruation
0:25:43 > 0:25:46or for women to come after childbirth.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50So it's real proof that this is a really complicated culture.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54You do get the feeling that you wouldn't be wanting to step out of line in this society.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57The Orkney Islands may seem remote to southerners,
0:25:57 > 0:26:02but in Neolithic times this was a major hub for sea traffic.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Also, the soil here is very fertile
0:26:05 > 0:26:08and is still highly valued for its lush cattle grazing today.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13But rising sea levels and increased coastal erosion
0:26:13 > 0:26:15is threatening Orkney's archaeological treasures.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21When it was first built, Skara Brae was over a mile from the sea
0:26:21 > 0:26:24and all this we can see in front of us was fields
0:26:24 > 0:26:27and then reed beds and marshes going out to the loch.
0:26:27 > 0:26:33But in the 1920s, half of this house here fell into the sea
0:26:33 > 0:26:34and this seawall had to be put up
0:26:34 > 0:26:37to try and protect the rest of the village.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41But erosion beyond the wall continues unabated.
0:26:41 > 0:26:42Every site is unique.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46It's a permanent loss, you can't recreate it.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49A quarter of tourists that come say they come because of the archaeology.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52This is a support for a rural economy
0:26:52 > 0:26:54and we have to look after it.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58There's a saying that if you scratch Orkney it bleeds archaeology.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00On the nearby island of Rousay,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Steve Dockrill and his team are desperately recording
0:27:03 > 0:27:08what's left of yet another recently revealed settlement.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11It dates to the Iron Age, and we know from a sample that we took,
0:27:11 > 0:27:15we've got a date from round about 0 to 100 AD.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17And right over on the other side
0:27:17 > 0:27:21we've got the remains of a Norse hall
0:27:21 > 0:27:24so that gives us a date round about 1100.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28So we've got about 1,000 years of history all, sort of, stacked up?
0:27:28 > 0:27:30And the sea, presumably, is taking it away?
0:27:30 > 0:27:33The sea's taken an enormous amount of the site away.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35Possibly next year, this may not be here.
0:27:35 > 0:27:37The Orkney Islands are home
0:27:37 > 0:27:41to some of the world's greatest ancient monuments,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45yet every year more and more is being lost to the sea,
0:27:45 > 0:27:48much without ever being officially recorded.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52And should it carry on unchecked... For more reasons than one,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55that'll be a price that the Orcadian's can't afford to pay.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Thanks, Ruth. And part of St Andrews has also ended up in the sea
0:28:02 > 0:28:05and the pier behind was built out of the ruins of the cathedral
0:28:05 > 0:28:07just on top of the hill.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Well, the pier walk is one of the oldest traditions here
0:28:10 > 0:28:13and on a Sunday it's a sea of red as the university students
0:28:13 > 0:28:17put on their scarlet gowns and walk up and down the pier.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19And they say no-one leaves St Andrews without doing
0:28:19 > 0:28:23the pier walk at least once. So, Alison, I think we've got time.
0:28:23 > 0:28:29- Shall we?- Why not? Until next time. Bye-bye.- Cheerio.