0:00:05 > 0:00:07For generations, the Firth of Clyde
0:00:07 > 0:00:11was the holiday destination of choice for millions of Scots,
0:00:11 > 0:00:13both rich and poor.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Here, you could enjoy healthy sea breezes,
0:00:16 > 0:00:18take a dunk in the briny,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21and have a glass or two of your favourite tipple.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23And, if you were rich enough,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26you could enjoy all of the above at the same time.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Bottoms up.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36In this series, I'm retracing the routes taken by some of
0:00:36 > 0:00:39the early tourists to Scotland.
0:00:39 > 0:00:44From as early as 1820, publishers began producing tourist guide books,
0:00:44 > 0:00:48and Black's Picturesque Guide to Scotland was one of the first.
0:00:50 > 0:00:57A copy of this wonderful volume has been in my family for generations.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00It was always kept in my father's car when we went on holiday.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Now, I'm letting its pages guide me again
0:01:03 > 0:01:05on my six Grand Tours of Scotland.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07On the road, I'll also be
0:01:07 > 0:01:09dipping in to the notes and jottings
0:01:09 > 0:01:12of some early travellers
0:01:12 > 0:01:14to hear about their experiences.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18This time, I'm on a voyage to discover
0:01:18 > 0:01:21how visitors from all walks of life
0:01:21 > 0:01:24enjoyed the islands, towns and sheltered bays
0:01:24 > 0:01:27of the mighty Firth of Clyde.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45My grand tour takes me down the Clyde Riviera,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48calling first at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51hops across to Cumbrae, and finally sails south
0:01:51 > 0:01:54to the great rock sentinel, Ailsa Craig.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59My journey starts here, where the River Clyde
0:01:59 > 0:02:03meets the sea and becomes the Firth of Clyde.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05This is somewhere that I know very well
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and I'm particularly fond of.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13I spent a huge amount of time as a child on this stretch of water,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16thanks to my father's obsession with sailing.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20He was once a member of the Clyde Cruising Club,
0:02:20 > 0:02:24and was the proud owner of an antique yacht built in 1890,
0:02:24 > 0:02:25called West Wind.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29Now, before West Wind dragged her anchor and was wrecked,
0:02:29 > 0:02:31she was my father's sailing craft of choice
0:02:31 > 0:02:35and, from time to time, he even took his sons with him.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40But West Wind was a much more modest craft
0:02:40 > 0:02:42than the one I'm sailing today.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49It was in Victorian times that the sport of yachting really took off,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53when yachts of up to 100 feet in length, with a full-time crew
0:02:53 > 0:02:55and every modern convenience,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58sailed these sheltered waters.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01In the early days, yachting on the Clyde was restricted
0:03:01 > 0:03:03to Scotland's super-rich,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07men who'd made an absolute fortune from the Industrial Revolution.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10And if you've got it, flaunt it, they say,
0:03:10 > 0:03:12and what better way of demonstrating
0:03:12 > 0:03:15your new-found wealth and social position
0:03:15 > 0:03:18than by owning and racing a beautiful yacht?
0:03:24 > 0:03:27The famous Scottish magnate Sir Thomas Lipton
0:03:27 > 0:03:30loved sailing in these waters
0:03:30 > 0:03:33and Prince Edward, the future King,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37sailed his yacht Britannia along this coast.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41By the end of the 19th century, the Clyde had become a playground
0:03:41 > 0:03:46for the rich, and its many coastal towns and villages flourished.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51My first destination is the Isle of Bute,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53and a small town that was transformed into
0:03:53 > 0:03:58one of the most exclusive holiday destinations on the west coast.
0:03:58 > 0:03:59Rothesay.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06According to Black's,
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Rothesay is "agreeably situated
0:04:08 > 0:04:10"at the head of a deep bay, which affords
0:04:10 > 0:04:13"a safe anchorage ground in any wind."
0:04:14 > 0:04:15Sounds ideal.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22To a large extent, Rothesay was considered
0:04:22 > 0:04:25a posh resort, and early tourist literature
0:04:25 > 0:04:30was keen to trumpet the town's royal connections.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36If there was one thing that early Victorian tourists loved,
0:04:36 > 0:04:37it was history,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41and Rothesay could boast a castle which had been a favourite
0:04:41 > 0:04:43with early Scottish kings.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51Re-enactments of scenes from the castle's famous history
0:04:51 > 0:04:53were a popular attraction for visitors.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Here, we see the marriage of Robert the Bruce's daughter,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00and the founding of the Stuart dynasty.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04But it wasn't only history that brought the well-to-do tourist.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07There was also miniature golf,
0:05:07 > 0:05:09which the Victorians deemed
0:05:09 > 0:05:12a much more appropriate game for women.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15Rothesay seemed to have it all.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Why bother travelling abroad
0:05:18 > 0:05:21when you've got all this on your doorstep?
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Look, palm trees!
0:05:28 > 0:05:30Rothesay's main selling point
0:05:30 > 0:05:32was its climate,
0:05:32 > 0:05:37which Black's enthusiastically describes as "mild and genial."
0:05:37 > 0:05:40It may seem hard to believe, but early visitors were encouraged
0:05:40 > 0:05:46to compare the weather of Rothesay with exotic and far-flung locations.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51Incredibly, the town promoted itself as the Madeira of Scotland.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57Not only was the climate of Rothesay thought to be subtropical,
0:05:57 > 0:06:01it was also considered to have extraordinary health benefits
0:06:01 > 0:06:03and, for this reason,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07was chosen as the location for Scotland's first ever hydro,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09the Victorian equivalent of a health farm.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20The Glenburn Hotel was once known as the Glenburn Hydropathic,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23opening its doors for business in 1843.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28The Glenburn is still a grand and impressive building
0:06:28 > 0:06:31and exudes a sort of stately calm,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35and douceness that appealed to respectable people.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40Hydropathy, otherwise known as the cold water cure,
0:06:40 > 0:06:44became hugely popular in Victorian Scotland.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Hydro treatments were based on a variety of bathing
0:06:47 > 0:06:49and dunking cures.
0:06:49 > 0:06:54This, combined with fresh air, exercise and strictly no alcohol,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58was meant to restore ailing patients to robust health.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03For middle-class Victorians, time was precious,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06and even leisure time had to be beneficial in some way.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09So what better way of justifying having a holiday
0:07:09 > 0:07:14than by going somewhere that would improve the health of your body,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16your mind and your morals?
0:07:16 > 0:07:18To find out more,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22I've come to meet historian Dr Alastair Durie.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Alastair, the Glenburn Hotel is
0:07:25 > 0:07:28a pretty impressive building, and it implies to me
0:07:28 > 0:07:30that in Victorian times,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33taking a hydro holiday was really a popular thing to do.
0:07:33 > 0:07:34It was.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38It was an idea that came in from Austria in the mid-19th century,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41and the Scots took to it like a duck to water.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44They built 15 to 18 very large hotels,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47whose main purpose is to cure people
0:07:47 > 0:07:50and treat them through hydropathy.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54It's a system of baths, it's a system of showers,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56it's a system of massage.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Your treatment is water and water only.
0:07:58 > 0:08:04Your diet is meat and fish, but no drink whatsoever.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05Right.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08And some very significant figures
0:08:08 > 0:08:11in the Victorian world underwent hydropathy.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14For instance, Charles Darwin, Tennyson,
0:08:14 > 0:08:17Florence Nightingale when she comes back from the Crimea.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21These are important people and they're saying it's good for them.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Why shouldn't it be good for you?
0:08:23 > 0:08:25So it's got a Victorian celebrity endorsement?
0:08:25 > 0:08:26Absolutely.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29Well, I think I'm in need of some remedial care.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31I can see you are.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35So, to try and understand just why
0:08:35 > 0:08:38the Victorians were so keen on hydropathy,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40I volunteered to experience
0:08:40 > 0:08:44one of the most popular treatments first-hand.
0:08:44 > 0:08:45The wet sheet.
0:08:47 > 0:08:48Lucky me!
0:08:48 > 0:08:52This is the centrepiece of hydropathy.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Wrapping you in cold, wet sheets...
0:08:56 > 0:08:58Oh! That's ghastly.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01..like a mummy. And Jane will now do that.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Aargh! This is hideous. What's the point?
0:09:04 > 0:09:07The point is that it's going to get you to perspire,
0:09:07 > 0:09:11and the perspiration will bring the badness out of your system
0:09:11 > 0:09:15and open your pores for fresh air.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17This is doing you good.
0:09:17 > 0:09:18No, it's not! It's not.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20You may feel it's unpleasant,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23but our objective is to get you to perspire.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27At the moment, you're shivering, your body is reacting,
0:09:27 > 0:09:29but this is your first experience of the process.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Have you tried this, Alastair?
0:09:31 > 0:09:35I believe it's far better for the invalid to experience these things...
0:09:35 > 0:09:36Right. Right.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40..than the doctor. But we will wait and watch and see.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42I can't imagine it'll do me any good whatsoever.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44You can only trust in the experience of
0:09:44 > 0:09:48the many thousands of people who have experienced this treatment
0:09:48 > 0:09:52to their benefit and, I may say, with much less complaint than you.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Ah, but they're all dead! Let's face it.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57You're hastening me on my way, I'm sure.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59It's freezing!
0:10:01 > 0:10:03We will return in an hour or so.
0:10:03 > 0:10:04An hour?!
0:10:04 > 0:10:07I think my core body temperature has dropped dangerously.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11'The Victorians may have lapped this up,
0:10:11 > 0:10:15'but paying for the privilege of being wrapped in soggy towels
0:10:15 > 0:10:17'is not my idea of fun.'
0:10:20 > 0:10:24'And one early hydropathy patient agreed.'
0:10:24 > 0:10:28"I have been stewed like a juice, beat on like a drum,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30"battered like a pancake,
0:10:30 > 0:10:33"and wrapped like a mummy in wet sheets and blankets.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36"My belief is that I am in a lunatic asylum!"
0:10:38 > 0:10:39'I can only agree.'
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Brrrrr!
0:10:43 > 0:10:45So while the good doctor is out of the room,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48I quickly slip away in search of
0:10:48 > 0:10:50one of Rothesay's more curious attractions,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54tucked away where you'd least expect it.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04Now, you wouldn't normally take a camera into a public toilet,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07unless you wanted to get arrested, which I don't.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11So, before I go any further, I'm just going to check behind this door
0:11:11 > 0:11:14to make sure there isn't anyone inside
0:11:14 > 0:11:16about to be seriously embarrassed.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20Hello?
0:11:21 > 0:11:22I think we're OK.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29I can now reveal all in its quite,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32well, exceptional magnificence.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35It's a veritable porcelain palace.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38A shrine to the urinal.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45These splendid toilets were built in 1899
0:11:45 > 0:11:47and are really quite something -
0:11:47 > 0:11:5014 urinals,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52each crowned with marble.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Walls and floors entirely clad
0:11:55 > 0:11:59in decorative ceramic tiles...
0:11:59 > 0:12:02and glass-sided cisterns feeding water
0:12:02 > 0:12:05through shining copper pipes.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10What all this opulence says to me
0:12:10 > 0:12:12is, "Wow!"
0:12:12 > 0:12:13Now, just imagine coming here
0:12:13 > 0:12:15100 years ago for the first time
0:12:15 > 0:12:18as a tourist, perhaps from overseas.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20What would you think?
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Well, you might think if the society that built this
0:12:24 > 0:12:27was so technologically advanced that it could create
0:12:27 > 0:12:30a palace, really, to meet a very basic human need,
0:12:30 > 0:12:33then what would its real palaces be like?
0:12:33 > 0:12:39Its great civic buildings, its battleships, its engines of war?
0:12:39 > 0:12:43And that's a really awe-inspiring thought to have in... In a loo.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Indeed, such grand designs were not confined
0:12:52 > 0:12:55to humble buildings like public conveniences.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59And just outside the town is the ultimate example
0:12:59 > 0:13:04of Victorian ambition and ingenuity.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07This is Mount Stuart House.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Built in 1877, it's a distillation
0:13:12 > 0:13:16of the Victorian obsession for an imagined past,
0:13:16 > 0:13:19combined with all the mod cons of the age.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24It was the first house in Scotland to have electricity,
0:13:24 > 0:13:29and the first house in the world to have a heated swimming pool.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34This was an era of great technological changes,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37and one particular advance taking place at this time
0:13:37 > 0:13:39would have a huge impact
0:13:39 > 0:13:42on seaside resorts like Rothesay.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Just like modern visitors, Victorian tourists
0:13:45 > 0:13:48coming to a spectacular location like this
0:13:48 > 0:13:52wanted to take home a souvenir to show their cultured friends
0:13:52 > 0:13:54just where they'd been.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Now, we do this all the time whenever we take a photograph,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00but back then, cameras were very rare.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03Despite this, Victorian tourists were still able to enjoy
0:14:03 > 0:14:06the delights and magic of photography.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Magic lantern shows, which projected
0:14:11 > 0:14:15glass photographic slides, were extremely popular,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18and they provide an amazing insight into a lost world.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24Mark Butterworth,
0:14:24 > 0:14:26who has a vast library of Victorian photography,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29is going to show me a selection of images
0:14:29 > 0:14:32that would have delighted a 19th-century audience.
0:14:34 > 0:14:35Now, Mark, I recognise that view.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38This is Rothesay.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41Probably in the early 1890s.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43They didn't buy postcards in those days.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47There was no postcard industry whatsoever in the UK,
0:14:47 > 0:14:49so prints and magic lantern slides
0:14:49 > 0:14:52were the principle photographic souvenirs that people would buy.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56So back in Victorian times, if you came into Rothesay,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59got off at the pier, you'd be confronted with lots of stalls
0:14:59 > 0:15:01selling souvenirs and photographic memorabilia
0:15:01 > 0:15:03and you could buy a slide.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05That's right.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09So this is an interesting slide.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11On the left of the image there, you can see
0:15:11 > 0:15:14there's a carriage with a man standing next to it.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16That's actually the photographer's dark room.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18Uh-huh.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20The photographer actually made the plate
0:15:20 > 0:15:22moments before he took the photograph.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25And it had to be developed as soon as he'd taken the photograph,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27and one of the great skills
0:15:27 > 0:15:30was being able to consistently make your plates
0:15:30 > 0:15:32to give you the same quality every time,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34and that was really quite a challenge.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37You're working in quite difficult conditions.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41It's amazing, cos at that time, this was cutting-edge technology.
0:15:41 > 0:15:42Oh, absolutely, yeah.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54People didn't have cameras in those days, so magic lanterns
0:15:54 > 0:15:57were a way of showing people the views they'd experienced.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01But you didn't actually have to own a magic lantern slide
0:16:01 > 0:16:02or a projector to have a show.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04That's right. There were several firms,
0:16:04 > 0:16:06some of them very big companies,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09that hired out slides, or even hired out lanterns.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13They'd come with a set of lecture notes, and that was very common.
0:16:13 > 0:16:14That's amazing.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16It's like ordering a DVD online now.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Exactly the same process, but, er, 130, 140 years ago.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24Now, how popular were magic lantern shows like this,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27to show slides like the ones you're showing me?
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Very popular. This was a very common form of entertainment.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Towards the end of the 19th century, you either went to the theatre,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36you went to the music hall, or you went to a magic lantern...
0:16:36 > 0:16:37Uh-huh.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41..performance. Seeing slides like this might encourage you to visit.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45And visit, they did.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48By the turn of the century, the Clyde was no longer
0:16:48 > 0:16:50the preserve of wealthy tourists.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52The age of mass tourism had begun.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58I'm continuing my journey to the Isle of Cumbrae
0:16:58 > 0:17:02to find out how coastal towns and villages were transformed
0:17:02 > 0:17:05by another technological advance.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07The steamer.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Joining me for this leg of my grand tour is
0:17:13 > 0:17:15steaming enthusiast Iain Quinn.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19Iain, as I understand it, steaming really started here on the Clyde.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24It certainly did, and it was down to one man, Henry Bell,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27and the little paddle steamer, the Comet.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29Europe's first commercial steam ship.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31What was the inspiration behind the Comet?
0:17:31 > 0:17:34Bell was a hotel owner in Helensburgh
0:17:34 > 0:17:36and he saw this wonderful estuary and said,
0:17:36 > 0:17:41"The best way to take people down is by steam ship."
0:17:41 > 0:17:44The Comet was launched on 10th of August, 1812.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48The sound of the paddle was heard down the Clyde for the first time.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51So, really, the whole business of pleasure steaming
0:17:51 > 0:17:52began on the Clyde.
0:17:52 > 0:17:53It did.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57The 1850s, 1860s, it had really started to take off.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59Steamers were getting a bit bigger.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Speed was getting a bit more powerful,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04so you could then travel a bit further in a day.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07How many steamers would have been plying their trade here?
0:18:07 > 0:18:10By the 1880s, you would have had about 40, maybe more.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13This was cutting edge. This was new. This was the future.
0:18:13 > 0:18:14Oh, yes. This was the future,
0:18:14 > 0:18:17and by the 1920s and the 1930s,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20you could travel the whole Clyde and back in a day.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24It would have been lovely to have got away from the dirty, smelly city
0:18:24 > 0:18:26to the fresh air of the Firth of Clyde.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35With the steamers came the workers, who took full advantage
0:18:35 > 0:18:38of the chance to escape from the cities
0:18:38 > 0:18:42and factories where they lived and toiled.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44With a regular steamer service,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Millport, here on the Isle of Cumbrae, rapidly became
0:18:47 > 0:18:52a favourite destination for Victorian day trippers.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56My guide book, Black's, describes Millport as
0:18:56 > 0:19:00"one of the great summer resorts of the inhabitants of Glasgow,"
0:19:00 > 0:19:04and advises travellers that the town's population is
0:19:04 > 0:19:08"trebled by visitors in the summer".
0:19:08 > 0:19:10They came looking for a bit of fun
0:19:10 > 0:19:13and a break from their hard-working lives,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16but with only one day off a week,
0:19:16 > 0:19:18they tried to pack in as much as possible.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22So, perhaps predictably, some Clyde resorts began to acquire
0:19:22 > 0:19:27a rather colourful reputation for being full of drunken revellers.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35Of course, the antics of working-class drunken revellers
0:19:35 > 0:19:39was bound to upset the sensibilities of more respectable tourists.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Especially the sort who enjoyed hydros
0:19:42 > 0:19:45and who read The Scotsman newspaper.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50A letter printed in this esteemed journal
0:19:50 > 0:19:53airs the concerns of all right-thinking people.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56"We lament to say that very many Scotch people
0:19:56 > 0:20:01"of the working class seem incapable of enjoying a holiday
0:20:01 > 0:20:02"without getting drunk.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06"Once or twice, we have found ourselves crowded with
0:20:06 > 0:20:10"a most disagreeable mob of intoxicated persons,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12"including women."
0:20:13 > 0:20:16Respectable citizens were getting upset at the sight
0:20:16 > 0:20:19of working people having fun.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23Demanding an end to rowdy and lewd behaviour, they put pressure
0:20:23 > 0:20:28on the authorities to curb what they saw as a dangerous moral slide.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Can I have a pint of best, please?
0:20:33 > 0:20:35This led to the infamous Forbes McKenzie Act,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37which closed pubs on Sundays.
0:20:37 > 0:20:38Thanks very much.
0:20:38 > 0:20:40The only day off in the week.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Perversely, attempts to limit the sale of alcohol
0:20:46 > 0:20:49to the working classes resulted in the exploitation
0:20:49 > 0:20:52of a loophole in the law.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55The result - the launch of the booze cruise.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Although the new law made it illegal to sell alcohol on Sundays,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08it made a concession for bona-fide travellers,
0:21:08 > 0:21:10who were allowed to buy a drink.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Crafty businessmen and steamer owners were quick
0:21:16 > 0:21:18to see this as an opportunity
0:21:18 > 0:21:21to sell booze to anyone sailing on a Sunday.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Oh, happy day.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Suddenly, steamers were offering Sunday specials for the workers,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32and soon, everyone was steamin'.
0:21:36 > 0:21:41Not only did these day trips give rise to the expression "steaming"
0:21:41 > 0:21:43to describe someone who's drunk,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47it actually made the Clyde coast even more desirable.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54Perhaps the most vivid record of the massive social change
0:21:54 > 0:21:58that was taking place is the seaside postcard.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00I'm meeting historian
0:22:00 > 0:22:02and postcard collector
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Eric Simpson to find out more.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09You've got a wonderful collection of cards. They're unique,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12because they provide a fascinating window on the past.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15This is all social comment, really, and particularly
0:22:15 > 0:22:18the habits of some of the more enthusiastic tourists.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22Some chaps looking as if they're really enjoying themselves.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24Yes, "The dry weather has its effects,"
0:22:24 > 0:22:29so it was not unknown for fairly substantial numbers
0:22:29 > 0:22:33to give the doon-the-water holiday a bad reputation
0:22:33 > 0:22:34at certain times of the year.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36The impression I get
0:22:36 > 0:22:38is that generally speaking,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41people were having a good time. They were having fun.
0:22:41 > 0:22:42- Yes, yes.- It's lively.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45So working-class people would buy these and send them
0:22:45 > 0:22:47- to their friends back home.- Yes.
0:22:47 > 0:22:48This is not for posh people,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51who'd presumably send different sorts of postcard.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53They'd send, for example,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55the public park at West Bay in Millport.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58- Extremely dull photograph! - They'd send a photograph.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00Now, in stark contrast, I have to say,
0:23:00 > 0:23:02these are really quite amusing.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Very colourful Edwardian risque, er, seaside cards.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08And what have we got here?
0:23:08 > 0:23:11"The water is right up to my expectations."
0:23:11 > 0:23:12I've no idea what that means.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14No, no. Neither have I.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17But there's so much life in these pictures, it's fantastic.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22What it says to me is these are ordinary folk,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24working folk having a good time.
0:23:24 > 0:23:25Yes. Yes.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28And that's what the Clyde was famous for.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33But it wasn't just the fun and frolics
0:23:33 > 0:23:37of the busy seaside resorts that brought visitors here
0:23:37 > 0:23:39to the Firth of Clyde.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43There were still some who sought the peace and tranquillity
0:23:43 > 0:23:46that had first attracted tourists to these waters.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55Those early yachtsmen on the Firth of Clyde
0:23:55 > 0:23:57may have been industrial magnates
0:23:57 > 0:24:00showing off their wealth, but gradually,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03sailing became much more accessible, with more
0:24:03 > 0:24:06affordable boats being built, and sailing clubs
0:24:06 > 0:24:08springing up along the coast.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13I've been invited aboard the vintage yacht Camilla
0:24:13 > 0:24:16by Bill Inglis to travel in style
0:24:16 > 0:24:18to my final destination.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Bill, Camilla, she's a beautiful boat.
0:24:22 > 0:24:28She must be one of the oldest craft sailing on the Clyde.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Er, so I'm led to believe.
0:24:30 > 0:24:36Camilla was commissioned for a Mr Charles Millar of Tighnabruiach
0:24:36 > 0:24:37and built in 1894.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40At 117, she's not doing badly.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41Mmm.
0:24:41 > 0:24:47But like any old lady of 117, she's marginally incontinent.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48Oh, no!
0:24:48 > 0:24:49She does leak.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Cos the story of yachting on the Clyde really begins with
0:24:53 > 0:24:57men of tremendous wealth from the Industrial Revolution
0:24:57 > 0:24:58- showing off.- Yes.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01In huge boats. That was for the elite.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03This is something quite different.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05What kind of person would have been able
0:25:05 > 0:25:07to afford a boat like this?
0:25:07 > 0:25:11A successful shopkeeper, businessman, tradesman.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14I mean, she's not like the big Victorian yachts,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17with a paid crew of 20 hands constantly kept available.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20- It's not showing off, it's not ostentatious.- No.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24Do you think this is the beginning of perhaps the idea of
0:25:24 > 0:25:28yachting for a man of more modest income, do you think?
0:25:28 > 0:25:29Yes. Oh, very much so.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31Very much so!
0:25:32 > 0:25:34For me, this is the best way
0:25:34 > 0:25:36to enjoy the Firth of Clyde.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39And I have to say that sailing on this little yacht
0:25:39 > 0:25:42takes me back to the many trips I had as a child
0:25:42 > 0:25:44on board my father's boat.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52There's something about sailing, is there not,
0:25:52 > 0:25:54that a person's not really at peace
0:25:54 > 0:25:55unless they're at sea?
0:25:55 > 0:25:57- Do you agree with that?- Yes, I do.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01A day like today, er, sunshine, blue skies
0:26:01 > 0:26:04and a gentle breeze.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06Contemplating nature and the sea.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10It's a wonderful place. It's Scotland, isn't it?
0:26:14 > 0:26:19The last leg of my grand tour takes me to a place that's literally
0:26:19 > 0:26:23been on my horizon for years, but where I've never been before.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26The mysterious island rock of Ailsa Craig.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31As a schoolboy in Dunoon, I could see Ailsa Craig
0:26:31 > 0:26:33through the window of my French class.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36It's a place I've always wanted to explore,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40so landing here today will be really special.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Known as Paddy's Milestone
0:26:43 > 0:26:45because it sits directly in the main sea route
0:26:45 > 0:26:50from Ireland to Scotland, it's a place that many have passed,
0:26:50 > 0:26:51but few have visited.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56But I must confess that the last thing I expected to find
0:26:56 > 0:26:59was this scene of industrial decay.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01This railway line
0:27:01 > 0:27:04once carried granite from a quarry to the harbour.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08The rock was used to make curling stones.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10The quarry closed long ago,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14and the last inhabitants left the island in the 1990s,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17when the lighthouse became automated.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23This ruined castle, perched precariously
0:27:23 > 0:27:26on the steep slopes above the lighthouse,
0:27:26 > 0:27:29was once a stronghold of the Kennedy Clan,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32who have owned the island since the 16th century.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36As I climb more than 1,000 feet
0:27:36 > 0:27:37above the Firth of Clyde,
0:27:37 > 0:27:39and the end of my journey,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41it strikes me that here is perhaps
0:27:41 > 0:27:45one of the few places untouched by the mass tourism
0:27:45 > 0:27:48of the industrial age.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51What an absolutely superb view.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54From up here, you can almost see the entire course of my route.
0:27:54 > 0:28:00It was the chance for rich and poor alike to escape the city
0:28:00 > 0:28:05that made the seaside resorts along this coast so popular.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08And looking out from the summit of Ailsa Craig,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11I can understand just what it was they came for.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16You know, standing here is like being on top of
0:28:16 > 0:28:18the very last outpost of Scotland.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21Now, that's a fitting and somewhat sobering thought
0:28:21 > 0:28:24to end my Grand Tour doon the water.
0:28:24 > 0:28:25Now, where's the pub?
0:28:27 > 0:28:28For my next Grand Tour,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31I'm pedalling my way through the Central Highlands
0:28:31 > 0:28:33on a vintage bike,
0:28:33 > 0:28:37where the Grampian Mountains, the granite heart of the Highlands,
0:28:37 > 0:28:41present a picture-postcard landscape of magnificent summits,
0:28:41 > 0:28:46clear running rivers, dark forests, and sheltered lochs.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Everything that defines the holiday image of Scotland
0:28:49 > 0:28:52can be found amongst these hills and glens.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56For over 250 years, tourists have been coming to the Highlands
0:28:56 > 0:29:02to enjoy this spectacular scenery. But on beating a path north,
0:29:02 > 0:29:04these same tourists have helped change for ever
0:29:04 > 0:29:07the very things they came to admire -
0:29:07 > 0:29:12the culture, the landscape and, above all, the charms of nature.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22My journey starts in a sequestered glen,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25discovers the delights of two-wheel travel,
0:29:25 > 0:29:31and uncovers the wildlife riches of Scotland's biggest national park.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34All compelling reasons for tourists to flock to the Highlands.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38To the admirer of nature, says Black's,
0:29:38 > 0:29:42"No part of Europe affords more varied landscape than Scotland,
0:29:42 > 0:29:48"whose incomparable scenery induces vast numbers of foreigners
0:29:48 > 0:29:52"to visit the land of gleaming lakes and healthy mountains."
0:29:52 > 0:29:54Sounds to me as if the hills
0:29:54 > 0:29:58were alive to the sound of tourists even then.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05Now, what was true in the 19th century is even truer today.
0:30:05 > 0:30:10In fact, in some places, tourism has almost reached saturation point
0:30:10 > 0:30:12and tourists are in danger
0:30:12 > 0:30:15of damaging the very thing they came to see -
0:30:15 > 0:30:18nature in all its charming beauty.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24This is Glen Lyon, which is described by my guide
0:30:24 > 0:30:28as one of the loveliest glens in the Highlands.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32To keep my impact on the environment to an absolute minimum,
0:30:32 > 0:30:36I've opted for an appropriately green form of transport -
0:30:36 > 0:30:41- this magnificent old Humber bicycle, complete with a bell. - BELL RINGS
0:30:41 > 0:30:45How about that? Now I'm off.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51With bicycle clips and bonnet firmly in place,
0:30:51 > 0:30:54I'm all set to enjoy the charms of Glen Lyon,
0:30:54 > 0:30:56which Black's guide book
0:30:56 > 0:31:00dubiously claims to be located at the centre of Scotland.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03But I have to agree with Black's description of the road I'm taking.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07"This new road opens up the beauties of the ravine.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09"As we proceed up the glen,
0:31:09 > 0:31:13"we catch glimpses through the tree-clad banks of the stream,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17"now leaping sportfully from crag to crag,
0:31:17 > 0:31:20"now smoothed in clear black pools."
0:31:20 > 0:31:25I can see why Black's was inspired to verse. It's lovely.
0:31:27 > 0:31:31Cycling down glorious Glen Lyon,
0:31:31 > 0:31:33I come to the picturesque village of Fortingall.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37The thatched roofs strike an odd note of bucolic Englishness
0:31:37 > 0:31:39in the heart of the Scottish Highlands,
0:31:39 > 0:31:43but there's been a long history of incomers
0:31:43 > 0:31:46in this part of rural Perthshire.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50In fact, the name Fortingall is derived from an old Gaelic word
0:31:50 > 0:31:54meaning "the fort of the strangers". Accordingly to local legend,
0:31:54 > 0:31:58the strangers were once soldiers from the legions of Rome.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02If this tale is true, then it would suggest that Fortingall
0:32:02 > 0:32:07has been on the map for at least 2,500 years or so,
0:32:07 > 0:32:11and incredible as it may seem, there's living proof to back up the story,
0:32:11 > 0:32:14and you can find it right here in this graveyard.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20'Forester Mike Strachan leads me to a special enclosure,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23'where I'm given privileged access
0:32:23 > 0:32:27'to a yew tree so ancient that it's in all the record books.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30'Beneath its venerable branches, Mike tells me more.'
0:32:31 > 0:32:34Mike, how old is this amazing tree?
0:32:34 > 0:32:39Well, estimates vary from 3,000 to 4,000 to 5,000...
0:32:39 > 0:32:416,000 7,000, 8,000.
0:32:41 > 0:32:43But I think the conservative approach
0:32:43 > 0:32:45is to give it 5,000 years anyway.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48There's a lot of archaeological information locally
0:32:48 > 0:32:49that would support that.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52So this tree would have been here if the Romans were here?
0:32:52 > 0:32:54It was definitely here when the Romans were.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58We know that people were living here at least 4,500 years ago,
0:32:58 > 0:33:01and the Romans were here 2,000 years ago.
0:33:02 > 0:33:07Long before monks built the first church here 1,200 years ago,
0:33:07 > 0:33:09the yew tree was scared to pagan Celts,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12who helped ensure its protection.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14They used it for medicinal purposes.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16You needed it for your longbows and arrows,
0:33:16 > 0:33:19and the oldest piece of longbow that we know from Scotland
0:33:19 > 0:33:21is about 6,000 years old.
0:33:21 > 0:33:22- Found in a bog in Dumfries.- Oh.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25So yew has been a very, very important tree.
0:33:25 > 0:33:26I know there's a legend
0:33:26 > 0:33:30that connects this tree and the story of Christ.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32Well, yes, that's correct.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36The Romans sent an emperor here to visit the Scottish king -
0:33:36 > 0:33:38Metallanus, at the time.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40And the envoy, the Roman envoy, that came
0:33:40 > 0:33:43was a bit friendly with some of the local women.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47They had a child. The child was allegedly born under this tree.
0:33:47 > 0:33:48And then they went back to Rome,
0:33:48 > 0:33:51and that child is allegedly Pontius Pilate.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58So Pontius Pilate, who infamously ordered the crucifixion of Christ,
0:33:58 > 0:34:02once played in the branches of this yew tree.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06But Mike is rightly sceptical of the story.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10Jesus died 13 years before the Romans even arrived in Britain.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13But one thing is true.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17For millennia, countless visitors have taken their toll.
0:34:17 > 0:34:23Today's tourist sees only a shell of this once mighty sacred tree.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26There are stories that over the last 300 years,
0:34:26 > 0:34:30people have collected souvenirs from the tree and cut bits down,
0:34:30 > 0:34:31made bits of furniture.
0:34:31 > 0:34:33There are talks of Hallowe'en fires
0:34:33 > 0:34:36and people driving through in coaches and horses.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40In some ways, I suppose, you could argue that this tree
0:34:40 > 0:34:45is an early example of the impact of tourism on the environment.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50Well, it is, yes, you're quite right. But in terms of tourism...
0:34:50 > 0:34:53I mean, this tree has been visited by people
0:34:53 > 0:34:55for 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 years.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57Is this perhaps the most visited
0:34:57 > 0:35:00and longest visited attraction in Scotland?
0:35:04 > 0:35:08Back in the saddle, it's downhill all the way to Aberfeldy,
0:35:08 > 0:35:13a town whose proud boast it is to be the very centre of Scotland.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18According to some tourist literature that I've read,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21Aberfeldy's claim to be at the geographic centre of Scotland
0:35:21 > 0:35:23can be demonstrated using this -
0:35:23 > 0:35:26a cut-out map of Scotland - and a pen.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30Now, the idea is that you balance the map on the tip of the pen,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33and the point at which you get a perfect balance
0:35:33 > 0:35:38is the exact geographic centre of Scotland,
0:35:38 > 0:35:41which I reckon could be anywhere
0:35:41 > 0:35:45within a 50-mile radius of Aberfeldy. So who knows?
0:35:48 > 0:35:52But Aberfeldy's fame doesn't merely rest on the dubious claim
0:35:52 > 0:35:56to be the most perfectly balanced town in Scotland.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59It was a visit by the poet Robert Burns that brought the town
0:35:59 > 0:36:01to public attention.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03Burns was captivated,
0:36:03 > 0:36:07not as he usually was by the charms of some young lady,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10but by the woods and waterfalls lying above the town.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14And he immortalises this in his poem The Birks O' Aberfeldy.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18And ever since, tourists have been making a pilgrimage here
0:36:18 > 0:36:21to see the source of his poetical inspiration.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28"The braes ascend like lofty wa's,
0:36:28 > 0:36:31"The foaming stream, deep-roaring fa's,
0:36:31 > 0:36:35"O'er-hung wi' fragrant spreading shaws,
0:36:35 > 0:36:37"The Birks of Aberfeldy."
0:36:37 > 0:36:39It's a curious thing,
0:36:39 > 0:36:43but the birch trees of the poem have almost all gone,
0:36:43 > 0:36:45as they had in Black's day,
0:36:45 > 0:36:50which says that they had been superseded almost entirely by rowan.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54It seems the environment was changing even then.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00The waterfall at the Birks o' Aberfeldy
0:37:00 > 0:37:05is just one of literally dozens of cascades mentioned by Black's,
0:37:05 > 0:37:09and it's a striking feature of early tourism
0:37:09 > 0:37:13that waterfalls generally exercised a powerful influence
0:37:13 > 0:37:14over the Victorian imagination.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18Early tourists loved waterfalls.
0:37:18 > 0:37:20They simply couldn't get enough of them,
0:37:20 > 0:37:23and the bigger and more powerful they were, the better.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28There was an irresistible appeal in the sight of a river in spate
0:37:28 > 0:37:29crashing over the rocks.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36My own favourite early tourist, Sarah Murray,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38was a waterfall addict.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42Writing in 1796, she seemed to find something more than just excitement
0:37:42 > 0:37:46in watching the foaming power of water.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49"The noise was beyond belief,
0:37:49 > 0:37:53"and the spray deprived me of my sight and breath.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56"Every now, I was by intervals enabled to look
0:37:56 > 0:38:02"and to breathe, to admire and, I might say, almost adore."
0:38:02 > 0:38:06Post Sigmund Freud and his weird world of psychic sexual symbolism,
0:38:06 > 0:38:10I think most of us would feel too self-conscious
0:38:10 > 0:38:13to describe our relationship with water quite like this.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17But white, foaming cascades still have a power to thrill
0:38:17 > 0:38:21and in ways that Sarah Murray could never have conceived.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26Just downstream from Aberfeldy, the beautiful River Tay
0:38:26 > 0:38:31changes from a languidly flowing river into a series of rapids
0:38:31 > 0:38:35where I've come to experience the modern challenge
0:38:35 > 0:38:37of white-water rafting.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42Now first positions.
0:38:44 > 0:38:45And paddle forward.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57'This is a breath-taking experience,
0:38:57 > 0:39:01'and for a moment, I become almost like Sarah Murray,
0:39:01 > 0:39:05'gasping in moist adoration of my watery surroundings.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13'Fortunately, I pull myself together before I get too carried away.'
0:39:16 > 0:39:18Paddles up in the air!
0:39:18 > 0:39:20'Once we've got the rapids behind us,
0:39:20 > 0:39:23'I have a chance to catch my breath
0:39:23 > 0:39:25'and to chat to rafting guide Dee MacDermott
0:39:25 > 0:39:28'about the benefits of an outdoor lifestyle.'
0:39:28 > 0:39:32- What is the thrill, really? - It's just adrenalin.
0:39:32 > 0:39:33All adrenalin sports...
0:39:33 > 0:39:35I think, if you're into that kind of thing anyway,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38if you're into an outdoor lifestyle
0:39:38 > 0:39:41and lots of activities, lots of sports, it's just great fun.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Like, it's so nice going down the river every day. It's a lovely job.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48- It's exciting. I'll give you that. - Yeah.- It's very exciting.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50Do you have to be a special kind of person
0:39:50 > 0:39:53- to enjoy white-water rafting, do you think?- Maybe, maybe.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55On our course, we did loads of white-water swimming.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57So you come down these rapids
0:39:57 > 0:40:00just swimming in quite high water over and over again, all day long.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04It was great fun, so sometimes me and the guides go out afterwards
0:40:04 > 0:40:07and just swim down the rapids a few times just for the craic.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10So maybe you do have to be that kind of person.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12I suppose it gives you an opportunity as well
0:40:12 > 0:40:14to experience the charms of nature
0:40:14 > 0:40:17- as you're floating down a quieter bit of the river.- Yeah, definitely.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20There's a bit called Church Pool that you see.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24- That tends to be where you see the most amount of birds.- Uh-huh.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26So you get buzzards quite a lot of the time.
0:40:26 > 0:40:28It always seems to be on the same corner.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30You get herons flying around in pairs.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33- I saw dippers as well. - Dippers, yeah.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36One of my friends got hit in the face by a dipper
0:40:36 > 0:40:37when he was doing a raft trip.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40- He must have done something to deserve that.- Shifty eyes!
0:40:44 > 0:40:46Six miles downstream
0:40:46 > 0:40:48is the once-important village of Logierait.
0:40:50 > 0:40:55For many years, Logierait was served by ferries crossing the River Tay.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58Travellers would often break their journey here
0:40:58 > 0:41:01before heading north to Inverness or south to Perth.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05Perhaps the most prestigious guest to visit Logierait
0:41:05 > 0:41:06was Queen Victoria.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10Her royal tour to admire the charms of nature
0:41:10 > 0:41:13was interrupted when the great monarch herself
0:41:13 > 0:41:15was forced to answer a call of nature.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18Caught short, the imperial personage
0:41:18 > 0:41:21popped in to use the loos of Logierait.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25History doesn't record what she left by way of a tip.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28Luckily for the Queen,
0:41:28 > 0:41:30porcelain facilities were available at Logierait.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33But quite often they weren't,
0:41:33 > 0:41:36and travellers were forced to use other means,
0:41:36 > 0:41:40which often caused discomfort, embarrassment or both.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44Thanks to the ever-resourceful Victorians,
0:41:44 > 0:41:46help, or should I say relief, was soon at hand
0:41:46 > 0:41:51in the form of this extraordinary and rather disturbing-looking device
0:41:51 > 0:41:53known as the patent India Rubber Urinal.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57Now, long before trains were equipped with on-board loos,
0:41:57 > 0:42:00this contraption was considered to a solution
0:42:00 > 0:42:02to the problem of a full bladder.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06The idea was to strap it around your waist like that,
0:42:06 > 0:42:10so that it would hang discretely and invisibly
0:42:10 > 0:42:12beneath your outer garments.
0:42:12 > 0:42:14According to the inventor,
0:42:14 > 0:42:18the key and unique feature of this device was the valve,
0:42:18 > 0:42:22which ensured a one-way flow of liquids through the system.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24No wash-back, then.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Back on my bike, I pedal north.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33Following the route suggested by Black's,
0:42:33 > 0:42:37I enter the picturesque village of Pitlochry,
0:42:37 > 0:42:43which I note with dismay also claims to be the centre of Scotland.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46Queen Victoria made Pitlochry famous.
0:42:46 > 0:42:48After the railway was built,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51it developed into a fashionable Highland resort.
0:42:51 > 0:42:56But when the caravanning pioneer William Gordon Stables
0:42:56 > 0:42:57arrived in 1886,
0:42:57 > 0:43:02he found the village too over-developed for his tastes.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04"The little town is almost too civilised
0:43:04 > 0:43:06"for my gypsy ideas of comfort.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10"There are loudly-dressed females and male mashers,
0:43:10 > 0:43:13"so I felt inclined to fly through."
0:43:15 > 0:43:19Curiously, my Victorian guide book is rather sensitive
0:43:19 > 0:43:23about what it considers to be appropriate Highland attire
0:43:23 > 0:43:26and politely asks tourists to refrain from excess.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31"It is too evident that many of our southern brethren
0:43:31 > 0:43:34"consider the plaid a passport through the Highlands.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36"And while it is a fact
0:43:36 > 0:43:40"that the Scottish Lowlander is seldom seem in such a costume,
0:43:40 > 0:43:44"the English too frequently adopt this dress."
0:43:44 > 0:43:47From the evidence, I don't think they were shy
0:43:47 > 0:43:49in coming out with the kilt.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53"The English seem to love the sheer theatricality
0:43:53 > 0:43:56"of swirling kilts aboon their knees."
0:43:59 > 0:44:02From the tweed and tartan of Pitlochry,
0:44:02 > 0:44:05Blair Atholl is my next destination.
0:44:05 > 0:44:10Described by Black's as "a Highland hamlet noted for the wild scenery
0:44:10 > 0:44:13"amid which it is situated".
0:44:15 > 0:44:20This is Blair Castle, just outside the village of Blair Atholl.
0:44:21 > 0:44:27'Every May, the grounds of Blair Castle provide the spectacular venue
0:44:27 > 0:44:30'for the Atholl Gathering and Highland Games,
0:44:30 > 0:44:33'where I've come to meet Bruce Robb, who, amongst other things,
0:44:33 > 0:44:37'has been tossing the caber here for years.'
0:44:37 > 0:44:41I've read that the whole thing was really cooked up in Victorian times
0:44:41 > 0:44:44to kind of impress people with their physical prowess of the Highlanders,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47and before that, there wasn't really a Highland Games at all.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50- Is that right?- It goes back hundreds, if not thousands of years,
0:44:50 > 0:44:53where you had clans competing to see who is the best athlete
0:44:53 > 0:44:55and put them forward as their best warrior
0:44:55 > 0:44:57when they went into battle and stuff,
0:44:57 > 0:44:58so I think it goes back a long, long way.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01- So it's quite a proving ground, was it?- Yeah, I think so.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04Just to find who was the biggest, the strongest and fastest and so on,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07so I think there's definitely a history that says it goes back a very long way.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10Which sports are you involved in? Which things do you throw?
0:45:10 > 0:45:14Well, today I'll be doing the Scots hammer, the caber,
0:45:14 > 0:45:18weight over the bar, the sheaf, which you do over a bar as well,
0:45:18 > 0:45:21and the shot put, and weight for distance as well.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24- Are you quite good with caber? - Yeah, not too bad.
0:45:24 > 0:45:25It takes a bit of practice,
0:45:25 > 0:45:27bit of a knack, so, yeah, I'm not too bad.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29What's the origins of that,
0:45:29 > 0:45:32cos it seems a bizarrely exotic thing to do, to throw a tree?
0:45:32 > 0:45:36Och, there's various... Various myths,
0:45:36 > 0:45:38but I think one of them is that it was to do with the loggers.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40They used to toss them into the river
0:45:40 > 0:45:43so they could float them downstream to the harbour to take away on boats.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47In their spare time, they couldn't think of anything better to do than show off?
0:45:47 > 0:45:49I think, aye. "Look what I can do with a tree", yeah.
0:45:49 > 0:45:54I have to admit, I do have a soft spot for Highland Games,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57especially the beer tent.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00But not all tourists were so well disposed towards the colour,
0:46:00 > 0:46:02the pageantry, or the music.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05When the patriotic Scot and caravan pioneer
0:46:05 > 0:46:08William Gordon Stables came here,
0:46:08 > 0:46:11even his enthusiasm was challenged.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14"Half a dozen pipers are strutting about in full Highland dress
0:46:14 > 0:46:17"with gay ribbons floating above their chanters.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21"Every piper is playing a tune that pleases himself best,
0:46:21 > 0:46:27"so that, upon the whole, the music is of a somewhat mixed character."
0:46:28 > 0:46:33Leaving the sound of skirling pipes for connoisseurs to enjoy,
0:46:33 > 0:46:34I continue north
0:46:34 > 0:46:38along a section of a National Cycle Network called Route 7,
0:46:38 > 0:46:42which connects Glasgow to Thurso, in the far north of Scotland.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46I think these cycle routes are a brilliant initiative.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49They encourage modern cyclists out into the countryside
0:46:49 > 0:46:52on routes that are either traffic-free
0:46:52 > 0:46:54or, like this one, traffic-light.
0:46:56 > 0:47:01My old Humber bike is designed more for contemplation than speed,
0:47:01 > 0:47:03which is fine by me.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07Why work up a sweat when there's so much scenery to enjoy?
0:47:08 > 0:47:09Back in Victorian times,
0:47:09 > 0:47:14only the wealthy could afford the pleasures of cycling.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18But after mass production, bikes became increasingly affordable,
0:47:18 > 0:47:22and soon, ordinary working people were taking to the open road.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26Today, the bikes may have changed, but the passion is the same.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31Cycle guide Scot Tares caters for modern tourists
0:47:31 > 0:47:34who want to explore the Highlands on two wheels.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37A lot of folk have all said that...
0:47:37 > 0:47:41the bike's one of the greatest inventions that mankind's ever made.
0:47:41 > 0:47:43- Do you reckon? - Yeah. Oh, definitely, yeah.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47All the different uses it's been put to,
0:47:47 > 0:47:51it's been just a fantastic form of transport. When you...
0:47:51 > 0:47:56you're riding along on your bike, you experience the smells and the...
0:47:56 > 0:48:00you see a lot more than you would shut up in a big metal box.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04And, Scot, can you tell me why people come from all over the world
0:48:04 > 0:48:06to go cycling here in Scotland?
0:48:06 > 0:48:07What's the attraction?
0:48:07 > 0:48:12I think Scotland's got just some fantastic scenery.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16A really varied scenery and a lot different to the rest of Europe.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19We've got an absolutely wonderful network of roads,
0:48:19 > 0:48:22particularly around Highland Perthshire.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25Do you see yourself as a guide to the scenery as well?
0:48:25 > 0:48:26Definitely.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30I've been cycling all over the world and all over Europe,
0:48:30 > 0:48:32and every time I came back to Scotland, I thought, "You know what?
0:48:32 > 0:48:34"We've got it all here.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37"Why go elsewhere when everything's here on our doorstep?"
0:48:37 > 0:48:39It is stunning, but I also wonder, you know,
0:48:39 > 0:48:43are you not in danger of bringing lots of people onto the road,
0:48:43 > 0:48:46and maybe, in a generation from now,
0:48:46 > 0:48:47you won't be able to move
0:48:47 > 0:48:50with the number of bikes on the highways and byways.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53I think that would be fantastic.
0:48:53 > 0:48:58I think, just in a generation where everyone's getting bigger
0:48:58 > 0:49:02and heavier, it's a fantastic way to keep fit,
0:49:02 > 0:49:05see the scenery, be green and just...
0:49:05 > 0:49:06Just enjoy yourself.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09Well, I'm shedding a few pounds, I can tell you.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15'Scot tells me that his tours offer the pedalling enthusiast
0:49:15 > 0:49:18'yoga classes, spa treatments,
0:49:18 > 0:49:21'massages and bike maintenance classes
0:49:21 > 0:49:23'as part of a day's tour.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25'At the pace they're going,
0:49:25 > 0:49:29'I'm not surprised that cyclists and their machines
0:49:29 > 0:49:30'need a little TLC.'
0:49:34 > 0:49:37North of Blair Atholl, the road begins to climb
0:49:37 > 0:49:39towards the Drumochter Pass.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45Early tourists were struck by the grandeur of the scenery.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49It seemed a pristine environment, undisturbed by human hands.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53Travelling through the Highlands in 1796,
0:49:53 > 0:49:56Sarah Murray was moved by what she saw.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59"Even this extensive wild pleased me
0:49:59 > 0:50:02"and gave me scope to boundless reflection.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06"My senses were lost to everything but admiration."
0:50:09 > 0:50:14The summit of the Drumochter Pass is 1,300 feet above sea level.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16From up here, my route north takes me
0:50:16 > 0:50:19through the ancient district of Badenoch.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26This is the Highland village of Newtonmore,
0:50:26 > 0:50:30which also competes at being the very centre of Scotland.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34Newtonmore may be famous for many things, but this claim
0:50:34 > 0:50:37to be at the geographic centre of Scotland is new to me.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40However, I've been reliably informed
0:50:40 > 0:50:43that convincing evidence lies just outside the town.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46I've got a map, I've got the co-ordinates,
0:50:46 > 0:50:50so I think I'll just have to go and see for myself.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54Finding it proves very tricky.
0:50:54 > 0:50:56I've been told to look out for a stone with cross on it,
0:50:56 > 0:50:59but there's nothing remarkable to be seen.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03It's supposed to be around here somewhere.
0:51:03 > 0:51:09The geographic centre of Scotland. The beating heart of old Caledonia.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14It's supposed to be on a stone somewhere around here.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Finally, I find it.
0:51:17 > 0:51:22A simple mason's mark on a stone in this drystane dyke,
0:51:22 > 0:51:25indicating the very epicentre of Scottishness.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29You know, for such a significant spot, you'd somehow expect
0:51:29 > 0:51:31a big monument to be here.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35But out of respect for the nation, I've brought my own flag,
0:51:35 > 0:51:40which I'll plant. The very brave heart of Scotland.
0:51:40 > 0:51:41Brilliant.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48From the centre of Scotland, an easy cycle ride brings me
0:51:48 > 0:51:51into the heart of the Cairngorm National Park.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54When Sarah Murray came here,
0:51:54 > 0:51:58she too was stuck by the beauty of this land of mountain and forest.
0:51:58 > 0:52:03"The crags are covered with wood, and the verdant meads
0:52:03 > 0:52:05"are ornamented with fine trees
0:52:05 > 0:52:09"and within sight of the Cairngorm Mountains, whose hollow cliffs
0:52:09 > 0:52:13"are filled with never-melting snow."
0:52:13 > 0:52:18The Cairngorm area has only been a National Park since 1999.
0:52:18 > 0:52:22But long before its treasures were enshrined in legislation,
0:52:22 > 0:52:27people were coming here to enjoy the abundant charms of nature.
0:52:29 > 0:52:34The area is still rich in wildlife and is famously home to the osprey,
0:52:34 > 0:52:39a bird that has come to symbolise the fortunes of the Cairngorms.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42I've joined Rob Lambert on the shores of Loch an Eilein
0:52:42 > 0:52:45to find out why this became a favourite haunt
0:52:45 > 0:52:47of Victorian tourists.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50They were coming here to see this wonderful landscape.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53The interplay of the mountains and the forest.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57As more and more of the decades went by in the 19th century,
0:52:57 > 0:53:01birds and, in particular, ospreys became a hugely important part
0:53:01 > 0:53:05of that Highland vista and that experience.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09And you start to get the first written observations about ospreys
0:53:09 > 0:53:12by the tourists in the 1870s and 1880s and 1890s,
0:53:12 > 0:53:16and that builds into a genuine concern for the fate of the ospreys.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23Early eco-tourists could watch nesting ospreys
0:53:23 > 0:53:26on Loch an Eilein, which Black's describes
0:53:26 > 0:53:30as the last remaining haunt of the osprey in Scotland.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34By 1899, they were down to a single nesting pair.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37We're standing here looking at this castle
0:53:37 > 0:53:39and we're looking at a monument,
0:53:39 > 0:53:42if you like, to the history of nature conservation in Britain.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46And the Grants of Rothiemurchus, who own this estate,
0:53:46 > 0:53:48were pioneers in that conservation effort.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52So much so, that in 1893, the Zoological Society of London
0:53:52 > 0:53:57awarded them a medal for their sort of osprey conservation efforts.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01Such enlightened estate management was to no avail.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04By 1916, the osprey in Britain was extinct -
0:54:04 > 0:54:09shot by sportsmen and persecuted by gamekeepers -
0:54:09 > 0:54:12but then something amazing happened.
0:54:12 > 0:54:17The big return occurred in 1954, when ospreys did come back.
0:54:17 > 0:54:19And immediately, the RSPB in Scotland,
0:54:19 > 0:54:22along with the Grants of Rothiemurchus,
0:54:22 > 0:54:25who were involved, and other organisations in nature conservancy,
0:54:25 > 0:54:27set up a watch.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30But even then, the nests were disturbed and robbed
0:54:30 > 0:54:32on a number of occasions. And then George Waterston,
0:54:32 > 0:54:35who was Director of the RSPB in Scotland,
0:54:35 > 0:54:39made what some see as one of the most visionary decisions
0:54:39 > 0:54:42in the history of British nature conservation.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45And he decided to open up the nest to public scrutiny,
0:54:45 > 0:54:47to bring people in to show them ospreys,
0:54:47 > 0:54:49to get them enthused by ospreys,
0:54:49 > 0:54:51to drive forward, if you like,
0:54:51 > 0:54:53a change in attitudes towards birds of prey.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57The gamble paid off.
0:54:57 > 0:55:01There are now over 200 nesting pairs across the country.
0:55:01 > 0:55:06Every year, over 300,000 visitors come to watch the ospreys,
0:55:06 > 0:55:10pumping £3.5 million into the Highland economy.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17The story of the osprey's remarkable return from extinction
0:55:17 > 0:55:20leads me to reflect on the impact of tourism.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22It doesn't always have to be negative.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27From the edge of the Cairngorm plateau, there are stunning views
0:55:27 > 0:55:30back along the course of my journey
0:55:30 > 0:55:33and across a landscape that has changed enormously
0:55:33 > 0:55:37since the first tourists followed Black's guide book.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39Roads now thread their way through the glens,
0:55:39 > 0:55:42bringing holiday-makers to towns
0:55:42 > 0:55:45that have doubled in size to serve their needs.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49But if you get high enough,
0:55:49 > 0:55:52it's still possible to find peace and quiet,
0:55:52 > 0:55:55to be restored by the magnificence of the landscape.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02If it's the solitude of the high summits you're after,
0:56:02 > 0:56:07then this is the perfect place to contemplate the charms of nature.
0:56:09 > 0:56:11Join me on my next Grand Tour,
0:56:11 > 0:56:13when I'll be paddling my own canoe
0:56:13 > 0:56:17in a bid to find Scotland's sunniest spot.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd