0:00:07 > 0:00:10- That's Upper Glendessary? - That's right, yes.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13How on Earth do you pronounce that thing there?
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Sgurr Cos na Breach-laoidh.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19# MUSIC: "She's A River" by Simple Minds
0:00:21 > 0:00:24There's nothing that encapsulates Scotland's pride
0:00:24 > 0:00:28in its history and traditions quite like the Highland Games.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33# Shadow, let go, there's something you should know... #
0:00:33 > 0:00:39It's quite amazing the people you find wandering around the top of Ben Nevis at any hour of any day.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42# Like the air that led me to it
0:00:42 > 0:00:44# She's the wind that sucked me through it
0:00:44 > 0:00:50# She's a river and she's turning there in front of me
0:00:50 > 0:00:54# And I go blind Wasting my time
0:00:54 > 0:00:57# The river's in front of me... #
0:00:57 > 0:00:59Isn't it grand this stuff's made in Scotland?
0:00:59 > 0:01:02# That's where I'm going to be... #
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Are you listening? Loch Ness. The monster!
0:01:05 > 0:01:07# Shine on, get on... #
0:01:07 > 0:01:12I would like to see more people come to the Highlands for their holidays
0:01:12 > 0:01:15to appreciate the beauty that we live in all the year round.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30The Highlands - uninhabitable.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32Anyone who doesn't have to live here is lucky.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37That's what I was taught, and in a Scottish school too, but it's a lie.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Mind you, if you select your evidence, like these rocks -
0:01:40 > 0:01:45the oldest in the world and the hardest - you can make out a case.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50You wouldn't last long here on the scarred slopes of chilled volcanoes
0:01:50 > 0:01:53with the eagles and wildcats for company.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56And what more glorious setting
0:01:56 > 0:02:00than the wild and solemn grandeur of the Highlands of Scotland?
0:02:00 > 0:02:04The country of wooded valleys and hills and lovely mountain lochs.
0:02:04 > 0:02:09It's here that nature rules in all her majesty.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35All over the Highlands, it's the same story.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39The eternal whiteness covers all. Scotland in the grip of winter.
0:02:52 > 0:02:58Thomas Cook began to organise tourist trips to Scotland in the mid-1800s
0:02:58 > 0:03:02and by the 20th century, a winter tourist boom was born.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Winter sports enthusiasts now flock to Scotland,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09and if skiing or tobogganing isn't in their line,
0:03:09 > 0:03:13they can always enjoy something particularly Scottish in flavour - curling.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Brushing, or sooping, the ice to allow the stone to slide more easily,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19is an integral part of the game
0:03:19 > 0:03:23and an expert sooper is a definite asset to any rink -
0:03:23 > 0:03:26rink being the playing area and the members of a side.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28The object of the game, like bowls,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30is to slide your stone as near as possible
0:03:30 > 0:03:32to the tee at the other end of the rink.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35A word of advice though - if you're in Scotland,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37don't liken the game to bowls.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39A mere Sassenach imitation!
0:03:39 > 0:03:41This morning, for the first time ever,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45we managed to get live pictures from the top of Ben Nevis.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48I think we can probably go over there now,
0:03:48 > 0:03:53because Ian McNaught-Davis is in the Arctic conditions up there on the summit.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Mac, can you hear me?
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Well, if you've often wondered what the summit of Ben Nevis
0:03:58 > 0:04:01looks like in the middle of winter, this is it.
0:04:01 > 0:04:07A howling wind, thick mist, howling snow and altogether unpleasant.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11It almost makes Scott's last camp in the Antarctic look like home.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16If you're young enough to feel the exhilaration of winging down snowy slopes,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19then start from the Cairngorm peak of Scotland's Grampian mountains
0:04:19 > 0:04:21and ski to your heart's content.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27The chairlift has been designed to carry 500 people an hour
0:04:27 > 0:04:29in double-seated chairs.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31Quite a feat when you consider that in 1947,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35only one hotelier in the area was prepared to accommodate skiers.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40The rest laughed at the idea of Scotland becoming a centre for winter sports.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47So, now in Scotland, where winter once meant hardship,
0:04:47 > 0:04:51sportsmen can easily ascend to the level of their Swiss counterparts.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54If there isn't the appeal associated with Switzerland,
0:04:54 > 0:05:00you at least don't have to yodel for a nice fat glass of Highland whisky at the end of the day.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11It's an alpine-style school at Glencoe
0:05:11 > 0:05:16for training Alsatians in mountain and moorland rescue.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20It combines rescue techniques with methods pioneered by the Red Cross during the war,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23when dogs were used to locate the wounded on a battlefield.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28Until recently, only the RAF could provide fully-trained rescue units.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Now, civilians are being trained to form voluntary teams
0:05:31 > 0:05:33and these dogs will provide invaluable support.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42Isn't it grand that this stuff's made in Scotland?
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Aye, but that's gey true.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Yes, Scotch whisky is the true product of Scotland.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55If your steps take you into the Speyside district of the Highlands,
0:05:55 > 0:05:57you'll come across distillery after distillery
0:05:57 > 0:06:02in which the first stages of turning barley into whisky are performed.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05Now, here's the place for the connoisseur - the warehouse.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Hundreds of casks, stacked and mellowing.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10A tap on the cask tells the expert ear
0:06:10 > 0:06:12whether it's still sound or not.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16That is the reason for the tapping - to make sure the casks are sound.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18Awfu' good stuff.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22The secret is in the water
0:06:22 > 0:06:25and there's plenty of it about in Scotland.
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Little springs that become clear, clean streams
0:06:28 > 0:06:31darting and flickering over the granite
0:06:31 > 0:06:34until they reach the dark peat of the moors.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39To guard it, they use geese, not dogs.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41Though from the gait of them,
0:06:41 > 0:06:45it seems they might well have had a tot or two before coming on duty.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Dewar's biggest advertising hit was this.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53What you are watching is a priceless cinematic artefact -
0:06:53 > 0:06:57the first ever movie commercial to be screened.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00It was shot in 1898 at enormous expense.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Watch the methods of the experienced old blender
0:07:13 > 0:07:16who carries out the tests in his sample room.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23Believe it or not, it's nose as does it.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Thank you, Maureen. That's absolutely wonderful.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35HE CHOKES
0:07:36 > 0:07:39It's got me in the back of the throat.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44There are a few articles in this civilised existence which stand out as perfect examples of their kind.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47And Scotch whisky is one of them.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04My heart's in the Highlands My heart is not here
0:08:04 > 0:08:07My heart's in the Highlands A-hunting the deer.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11And a-hunting the deer is one of the few energetic occupations
0:08:11 > 0:08:13open to a gentleman in the Highlands.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16But the gentlemen are decidedly not Highlanders.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Queen Victoria started it when she bought Balmoral
0:08:19 > 0:08:21and set up as a laird.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27If the wee German lady could be a laird,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29what was to stop a Glasgow bottle-maker
0:08:29 > 0:08:31or a soap merchant from Lancashire?
0:08:31 > 0:08:33The Highlands had become fashionable.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Fine new hunting lodges,
0:08:35 > 0:08:40filled with hairless white knees and public-school accents.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43This stalker, an hotelier from Glasgow,
0:08:43 > 0:08:47has paid £150 for a day's shooting on this deer farm.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58The whole secret in deer stalking is you're out to deceive the deer,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02so that you can get close enough to them to get a shot which is sure -
0:09:02 > 0:09:05or as reasonably sure as you can get it -
0:09:05 > 0:09:07to kill them without them having any suspicion
0:09:07 > 0:09:09there's a human been anywhere near them.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12You must always come with the wind blowing towards you,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16away from the deer, because otherwise the deer will scent you
0:09:16 > 0:09:17up to a good mile in the hill.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20And as soon as they scent you, that's it. They're up and away.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22I cannae hold it steady enough.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Ground can be quite difficult.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29Flat ground, you've got to go very often on your belly and that's it.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31You crawl across a big wet flat.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34You use a drain or a burn if it's available.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37WHISPERS: That's approaching now.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Somebody once called it a sort of assassination.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48The deer is dead and that's it.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51There is really no stress in deer stalking.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56- Even the sound of a shot to the other deer - it's just a loud noise. - Congratulations, well done!
0:09:56 > 0:10:00- Morning, John.- Good morning, Jimmy. - How are you?- Very well indeed.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03This is some spectacle here. How many beasts are here?
0:10:03 > 0:10:05There's exactly 100 stags' heads here.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08- That's our season's kill. - Just one season? That's our season.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11Is there one here that you'd call a really good head?
0:10:11 > 0:10:13Not really, because the state policy is
0:10:13 > 0:10:16that we don't really shoot any good heads at all.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19- I see.- We leave the good heads to breed with the hinds
0:10:19 > 0:10:22and, once they get old, that's when we shoot them.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25We try to shoot the weak, old and poor, like I've got on the fence.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29This one here is what they call an Imperial, isn't it? It's 14 points.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32- That's correct.- I would have taken that for a good head.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35You see, this head here is what we would call a very ugly head,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39a very goat-like head, very upright and very, very narrow.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43This is the type of stag that we try to preserve - some width, some beauty about it.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45So that's the reason for shooting that stag there.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49- And that's the reason he was allowed to get so old?- Absolutely.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56There was something addictive about the killing.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00As one sportsman said of another, he had blood.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04Whenever a person kills a deer, it's like a dog killing a sheep.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07They can never keep away from it again.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12Whereas a traditional clansman might kill one for the pot
0:11:12 > 0:11:14and make use of the entire animal, these kills
0:11:14 > 0:11:17are only for the trophy.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22All they're interested in is the head. A natural coat rack.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Which makes this place probably the biggest cloakroom in the world.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Highland dancing is second nature to Duncan Maclean.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50After all, he learnt the finer points from his mother in Scotland
0:11:50 > 0:11:53a matter of 85 years ago. Now 88 himself,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55he regularly has a Highland fling in the front room,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58to remind himself of his days on the music hall
0:11:58 > 0:12:00and to entertain his wife, Elsie.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07Danced here by champions, this is by tradition a solo dance for men.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11An expression of sheer pride and exhilaration of race.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13It is a dance of fierce imagination,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16a medley of spring and lightness of foot.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21A fine and precise movement, robust and at the same time graceful.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23The credit for its birth
0:12:23 > 0:12:26was given to the antics of a courting stag on a Scottish hillside.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30An old shepherd was teaching his grandson to play the chanter
0:12:30 > 0:12:32when they spotted the stag.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34The old man asked if the boy could imitate it.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Raising his hands above his head to simulate antlers,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41the boy danced about, copying the love dance of the great deer.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07These are animals the locals live in fear of.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13They approach silently and they hunt in packs.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15Once they've attacked,
0:13:15 > 0:13:19they return relentlessly in the pursuit of blood.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21Escape is impossible.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23They are...
0:13:32 > 0:13:35We tend to do a bit of fishing, so they just make it a misery.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41This is midge heaven, or, for the people who live here,
0:13:41 > 0:13:42midge hell.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46You spend the whole day blowing them away from your face and scratching.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52If I mush them around, there are midges all over my face and hands.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Arrrgh!
0:13:54 > 0:13:59Right, that's it! I've had enough. These things are driving me mad!
0:13:59 > 0:14:04I'm afraid it's time for the net, the head net.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06The number one reason, sadly,
0:14:06 > 0:14:09that people don't come back to Scotland for a holiday - midges.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25The scene's near Braemar in the Deeside Highlands.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29And, in spite of rather miserable weather,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32the park was packed in readiness for the Royal arrivals.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37Princess Alexandra, wearing an Inverness cape.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39The Queen with a feather in her cap.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Princess Anne and Prince Philip.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47The Queen Mother was also there,
0:14:47 > 0:14:51and, in salute to the Royal Family on holiday in Scotland, the skirl of the pipes.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57I now declare these games open!
0:15:17 > 0:15:21This is the hammer - another one of the heavy events.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35There's one other event, which also takes a great deal of technique.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39It's perhaps the most famous event in any Highland Games - tossing the caber.
0:15:39 > 0:15:45Unlike golf, this is a Scottish sport that has never found much favour south of the border.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48But in Glenfinnan a successful caber tosser
0:15:48 > 0:15:50is rated very highly indeed.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54Although the day Highland man first tossed the caber isn't recorded,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57it happened, legend assures, many hundreds of years ago
0:15:57 > 0:16:00when woodmen developed the technique of catapulting trees
0:16:00 > 0:16:03into the river for their journey to the sawmills.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07It has to land on its nose and pitch right forward.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09Otherwise, no go.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Strength and perfect timing are two of the main essentials.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Plus a certain amount of agility if things should not go the right way.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21It's yours.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24- It's mine if I want it. It is! - Go on!
0:16:28 > 0:16:29Unlucky.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31That was dreadful.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33I don't know how many Highland dancers
0:16:33 > 0:16:36get killed by flying hammers in a year,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39or tug-of-war teams decimated by shot putters,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42or spectators squashed by freshly tossed cabers.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49With half the village of Newtonmore watching,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52I was determined not to be beaten by Purves.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55But something was about to happen that did make me drop the caber,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58even though it was only a small one.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00SQUEALING AND LAUGHTER
0:17:08 > 0:17:13Yes, there's room for more children and more people in the Highlands.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17It's terrible to think that little more than a century ago
0:17:17 > 0:17:20thousands of crofters were driven from their homes in the glens
0:17:20 > 0:17:24to make room for sheep farmers and sportsmen from the south.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28The sigh of tragedy still lies heavy on the land.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Oh, I'll not deny things are better now
0:17:33 > 0:17:36than when Geordie Mackay was a boy.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39But, for all that, crofting is very much what it always has been.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42We have our three or four acres,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46and we have to work hard to grow our few potatoes,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49some vegetables for the house,
0:17:49 > 0:17:51a patch of oats, some hay
0:17:51 > 0:17:54and a few turnips for the beasts in the winter.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59And above the crofts, on the slopes of the hills,
0:17:59 > 0:18:04we have our common ground where the sheep and the cattle are grazed.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09Highlanders are often visualised as just purveyors of good fishing,
0:18:09 > 0:18:11shooting and glorious scenery.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Yet the crofters are very different beings.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18With small farms and ancient implements, they toil for their livelihood.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20On the moors, the top layer of soil is removed
0:18:20 > 0:18:25to disclose the peat beds from which the precious fuel is dug.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34It takes several weeks before the peat is dry enough to use,
0:18:34 > 0:18:36and it's quite a common sight in the Highlands
0:18:36 > 0:18:40to see the dug peat hanging under the cottage eaves.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Time seems to have stayed its hand in many parts of the Highlands
0:18:45 > 0:18:49and spinning and weaving is still the work of nimble fingers
0:18:49 > 0:18:50and inherited skill.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53But the whole world knows the wonderful cloth
0:18:53 > 0:18:55that these industrious folk produce.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01This is Ian, a boy with a question mark over him.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03He is growing up in the Highlands of Scotland,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06on a small farm above Loch Ness and the monster.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08What does the future hold for Ian
0:19:08 > 0:19:11and thousands of youngsters like him in this remote corner of Britain?
0:19:11 > 0:19:14For more than a century, there's been a steady drain
0:19:14 > 0:19:16of people from the Highlands.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21But some do stay. Young Ian's father and mother, for instance.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24They saw the Highlands as a place of opportunity.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Mr and Mrs Jack gave up city life and secure positions,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33and bought themselves a tough job - a derelict croft,
0:19:33 > 0:19:37fields unfenced and choked with weeds.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Certainly, it's been very hard work.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49It is hard but, it's morning till night. Every day, seven days a week.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54No breaks, no holidays, but I think, in the end, it's worth it.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Worth it for the sake of Ian, to give him the heritage
0:19:57 > 0:20:00of a country upbringing in close touch with nature.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09The main idea, of course, is to get as much of this land as we can under grass.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13And with the grass we then can put cattle
0:20:13 > 0:20:17and I think it is in cattle and in young calves that is the future.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21At least our future lives, and the future of many small people.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS
0:21:09 > 0:21:12They call this the Skye Line, and it runs through
0:21:12 > 0:21:15some of the most gloomily beautiful country in the world.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Country which looks and sounds as if it's out of Tolkien,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21with names like the Valley of Drizzle,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23Raven Rock and the Black Water.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27The lochs and lonely crags and empty moors it passes through
0:21:27 > 0:21:30are thick with legends of giants and beasts,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34and one particularly fearsome witch known in the trade as Hairy Agnes.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Honestly, it says so in the British Rail brochure.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41This is without any exception the most magnificent railway journey
0:21:41 > 0:21:43in the British Isles.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47The Mallaig line, from Fort William to the sea.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50And the observation car lets you see it properly.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Rivers and mountains, birch trees,
0:21:53 > 0:21:58heather, bracken, and trout rings breaking on the lochs.
0:21:58 > 0:21:59Perfect.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05Many of these little crofting communities in the Western Highlands
0:22:05 > 0:22:08are 60 miles or more from the nearest railway station.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11Aye, and before they made the new road
0:22:11 > 0:22:16it was three days by horse or five on foot over the hills to Lairg.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18But now we have the mail car.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22Every day, the mail car from Lairg comes over to Achriesgill,
0:22:22 > 0:22:27bringing letters and parcels, news from the outside world and stores for the shop.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30A son home on leave maybe.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Hello, here's Andy Ross home on leave.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35By Jove, and he's looking well.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38It must be three years since he was home last.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42But the most devoted family must meet the outside world sometimes.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46So usually the farmer provides transport twice a week to the nearest village or town,
0:22:46 > 0:22:50so the wife can get her shopping done and her man meet his friends.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52Before the trains came,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55the 30-mile journey from Fort William to the coast had to be done
0:22:55 > 0:23:01in a horse-drawn coach, bumping crazily over rough cart tracks.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03It took 7½ hours to get there,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06so long that it could never get back the same day.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10The railway reduced this time to little over one hour,
0:23:10 > 0:23:13an improvement of something like 80%.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16It was almost as if balloons had been replaced overnight
0:23:16 > 0:23:19by Concorde, with nothing else at all in-between.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34Loch Ness, on which the eyes of the world are focused.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37The reputed haunt of a prehistoric monster, or monsters,
0:23:37 > 0:23:41and the newly found adventure ground of modern Gullivers.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Mr Weatherall, the game hunter and his party,
0:23:43 > 0:23:47who have been hot on the trail of the monster for some time,
0:23:47 > 0:23:49set out from Foyers to comb the lake.
0:23:49 > 0:23:52There is competition from local enthusiasts,
0:23:52 > 0:23:54with ambitions to earn eternal fame
0:23:54 > 0:23:57for the discovery of a species long thought fabulous.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00One optimist has conceived the idea of baling out the lake,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04and all along the lochside a well-fortified watch is being maintained by good Scotsmen.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07Can you take me rope?
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Lovely.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13- Are you local?- Yes. - Do you believe in this Loch Ness monster?
0:24:13 > 0:24:16Er... I've seen it.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18- You've seen it?- Yes.
0:24:18 > 0:24:19- Have you?- Yes.- What's it like?
0:24:19 > 0:24:23It had a long, thin black neck with a small head,
0:24:23 > 0:24:25and it was moving a lot.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27Whereabouts was it?
0:24:27 > 0:24:30It was about half-a-mile out from the shore.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32- Were you frightened?- Yes.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34- Were you?- Yes. - You were on shore, though?- Yes.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38# I'm the monster of Loch Ness
0:24:38 > 0:24:41# Och, aye, och, aye, oh, yes!
0:24:41 > 0:24:44# Folk get the needle all around the Isle of Wight
0:24:44 > 0:24:48# When they hear me growling in the middle of the night
0:24:48 > 0:24:50# I'm the monster of Loch Ness
0:24:50 > 0:24:53# I can beat the Scotch Express
0:24:53 > 0:24:57# I'm the terror of the north I could drink the Firth of Forth
0:24:57 > 0:24:59# I'm the monster of Loch Ness. #
0:24:59 > 0:25:02One man who firmly believes in the legend
0:25:02 > 0:25:05is a lowly Sassenach called Frank Searle.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12For seven years, Londoner Searle has scanned the loch
0:25:12 > 0:25:15for sight and sound of its elusive tenant.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22He's a firm believer that the monster, or monsters, exists,
0:25:22 > 0:25:27and his Lochside Museum sustains interest in Nessie herself.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35The Crusader, Britain's new jet speedboat,
0:25:35 > 0:25:40arrives at Loch Ness under the watchful eye of John Cobb, the man who is to drive her,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43and his manager, Captain George Eyston, another speed king.
0:25:43 > 0:25:48The Crusader is swung over the side for her first taste of the water.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50John Cobb's wife was up there at Loch Ness with him,
0:25:50 > 0:25:53watching his trial runs and, indeed, his last fatal run.
0:25:53 > 0:25:59It was just as he'd completed one run over the measured mile at the record speed of 206.8
0:25:59 > 0:26:00that the crash happened.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03This is the filmed story of the fatal run.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14Crusader has plunged to destruction.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17John Cobb, a gallant, reserved and truly modest man,
0:26:17 > 0:26:20who devoted his life to speed on land and water,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24lost his life in a daring attempt to win more laurels for his country.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Rising two-thirds of a mile into the sky,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38the West Highland mountain Ben Cruachan
0:26:38 > 0:26:40seems to be a magnet for people with big ideas.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46The Celts peopled it with mythical beings.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49In the '60s, engineers hollowed it out for a power station,
0:26:49 > 0:26:54and now there's a sculptor with a truly monumental ambition -
0:26:54 > 0:26:58to turn the mountain into the massive figure of a fallen Celtic hero,
0:26:58 > 0:27:02to celebrate the contribution of Gaelic culture to Scotland.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04The design of the figure, called Oscar,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06only exists as a drawing so far.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08But even this has led critics
0:27:08 > 0:27:11to rechristen the very obviously male form "Chilly Willy"
0:27:11 > 0:27:15and to accuse the driving force behind the plans, Sandy Stoddart,
0:27:15 > 0:27:17of trying to wage war on nature.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21The next job for the monument's backers is to see what it will cost,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24and that's only a tiny part of the mountain
0:27:24 > 0:27:27they will really have to climb to realise this vision.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32You are now looking at another ancient piece of Scottish history.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36And I don't mean me, I'm talking of course about Ben Nevis.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40The highest mountain in the British Isles. It's over 4,400 feet high.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Climbing it is quite a good sport, so we'll join the party at the hostel.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48The sturdy ponies are useful for carrying camera equipment and baggage.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50And they're so sure-footed they won't spill a drop.
0:27:50 > 0:27:55But the most amazing ascent, I think, took place as far back as 1911,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58when a man reached the summit, but in a motor car.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Mind you, I can understand their enthusiasm
0:28:01 > 0:28:03for it's really a wonderful view.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07It quite amazing the people you find
0:28:07 > 0:28:11wandering around the top of Ben Nevis at any hour of any day.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13This lady declined to be interviewed, quite rightly,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17on the grounds that what she was doing was nobody's business.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20To climb to the summit takes between two and three hours
0:28:20 > 0:28:21and from the top you can look down
0:28:21 > 0:28:24upon a view as gloriously wild as you could wish.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26The Hielans of bonnie Scotland.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:29:06 > 0:29:08E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk