0:00:04 > 0:00:09In the days before rail and road opened Scotland up to mass tourism,
0:00:09 > 0:00:13getting around could be uncomfortable and time-consuming.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18But there was a place where early visitors could enjoy the full range
0:00:18 > 0:00:22of awe-inspiring landscapes without ever having to endure
0:00:22 > 0:00:26the inconvenience of travelling huge distances.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29So I've packed my old guidebook,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32and I'm off on a Grand Tour of Arran,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36an island that claims to be Scotland in miniature.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42First published in 1846,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Black's Picturesque Guide To Scotland is a lavishly illustrated
0:00:46 > 0:00:51encyclopaedia of where to go, what to see, and how to get there.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56It was the Lonely Planet Guide of its day,
0:00:56 > 0:00:59packed full of useful hints on everything
0:00:59 > 0:01:03from native customs, tipping, and the etiquette of wearing a kilt.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09It once guided my own family when we went on holiday,
0:01:09 > 0:01:13and 40 years on, I'm dusting it down and setting off to explore
0:01:13 > 0:01:18the highways and byways of 21st century Scotland,
0:01:18 > 0:01:22using Black's as both an inspiration and a reference.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26For my first Grand Tour, I'm heading for the island that claims
0:01:26 > 0:01:29to have a little bit of everything.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46Arran is just 56 miles in circumference
0:01:46 > 0:01:51but according to my guide, it's a microcosm of Scotland.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55Black's says, "From the rugged mountain to the swelling hill,
0:01:55 > 0:02:01"the open valley, or the contracted glen, there is that diversity
0:02:01 > 0:02:05"of surface that is rarely found condensed into so small a compass."
0:02:08 > 0:02:12For Victorian travellers, this was the ideal destination,
0:02:12 > 0:02:17a place with stunning scenery, ancient history
0:02:17 > 0:02:19and beautiful beaches.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23A place that's a distillation of all that's best in Scotland.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27A place tourists can explore without too much tedious travel.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35I'm making a trip around Arran's rugged coastline,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38scaling the magnificent Goatfell,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41searching for the island's wildlife
0:02:41 > 0:02:44and hanging out at Scotland's only nudist beach.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52But my journey begins on the western shore, here at Drumadoon Bay
0:02:52 > 0:02:55and the scene of a famous encounter.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07The King's Cave is one of several large caves along this coastline.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10And according to local legend, as they say,
0:03:10 > 0:03:12none other than King Robert the Bruce
0:03:12 > 0:03:17found inspiration here to overcome the oppression of the English.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21In a cave just up there, Bruce saw the spider.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Every school kid knows the story.
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Outlawed and on the run after countless defeats,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35Robert the Bruce shelters in a cave.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37His situation seems beyond hope.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Wow, this is a huge space in here.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Depressed, he watches a spider spin a web.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51But the wind breaks it.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Undaunted, the spider tries again.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Again, the web breaks.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06This keeps on happening, and the spider keeps on trying
0:04:06 > 0:04:08until it's successful.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Robert the Bruce is impressed.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12He'll be like the spider.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16He'll try and try again until he defeats the English.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23Now it's a great story, but unfortunately it's entirely made up.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26And even if there had been a cave, it wouldn't have been here,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30but on Rathlin Island off the coast of Ulster.
0:04:30 > 0:04:31And as for the spider...
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Well, history is entirely silent on the subject,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38until Sir Walter Scott picks up the story
0:04:38 > 0:04:42and weaves an altogether different kind of web.
0:04:42 > 0:04:43Pure fiction.
0:04:46 > 0:04:52There is evidence in these caves of a long history of human occupation.
0:04:52 > 0:04:53The first people to use them
0:04:53 > 0:04:57were probably hunters who moved here thousands of years ago
0:04:57 > 0:05:01as glaciers melted at the end of the last Ice Age.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06But it was Scott's fanciful interpretation of history
0:05:06 > 0:05:09that prompted Arran hoteliers to peddle the myth
0:05:09 > 0:05:11of Bruce and the spider,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15and to refer to this cave as the King's Cave,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18making it a convenient location where Victorian tourists
0:05:18 > 0:05:22could encounter a critical moment in Scotland's history.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28The thing that does strike me is all the graffiti.
0:05:28 > 0:05:29The walls are covered with it.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31And this isn't just modern graffiti.
0:05:31 > 0:05:37It dates back to the beginnings of tourism in Scotland.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40There's one there from 1879. It's outrageous!
0:05:44 > 0:05:48These Victorian visitors came to the island in their thousands
0:05:48 > 0:05:49in the summer season.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Many of them would have arrived at my next destination,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55Lochranza, the northern gateway to the island.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03These seekers of summer fun transformed Arran
0:06:03 > 0:06:08into one of Scotland's best-loved holiday destinations.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10But it wasn't seekers of summer fun
0:06:10 > 0:06:13who blazed the holiday trail on Arran.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15The first visitors weren't interested
0:06:15 > 0:06:17in frolicking on the beach.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19They wanted to bang rocks.
0:06:20 > 0:06:26Geology was the great scientific obsession of the 18th century,
0:06:26 > 0:06:30and Arran's ancient rock formations would provide vital clues
0:06:30 > 0:06:33to the most pressing scientific question of the time,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35the age of the Earth.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39One of the best ways to see Arran's coastal rock formations
0:06:39 > 0:06:44is from the sea, so I'm taking to the waves with my guide,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48Calum McNicol, who knows every inch of this beautiful coastline.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51So, Calum, I understand the first tourists to come to Arran
0:06:51 > 0:06:55were interested in rocks and not beaches, is that right?
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Aye, that's right. This section of coastline here
0:06:57 > 0:07:01really started the industry of tourism back in the 1800s.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04The first visitors to the islands were geologists.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08There was a Scottish farmer turned scientist called James Hutton
0:07:08 > 0:07:10and some would say he was the forefather of geology.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13He was quite a radical thinker, you know,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16and the age of the Earth was really an unknown.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19Hutton came up with a theory that the rocks
0:07:19 > 0:07:21had been lain down on the ocean bed
0:07:21 > 0:07:25over the course of tens or hundreds of millions of years.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30In 1787, he visited the island
0:07:30 > 0:07:33and he used this stretch of coastline here to back up his theory.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Now, I've read that the thing that really put Arran on the map
0:07:38 > 0:07:42was this exquisitely-named Hutton's Unconformity.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Now, what on earth is that?
0:07:45 > 0:07:50Well, Hutton's Unconformity is an area of coastline
0:07:50 > 0:07:54which shows us two distinct, different rock formations.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56This was really quite a significant moment.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59In scientific history, it was incredibly important.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03Well, I can't wait to see this Unconformity.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05I can see some sandstone up there.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Other sorts of stone covered in seaweed.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Hello!
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Have you seen Hutton's Unconformity?
0:08:13 > 0:08:15It's up here somewhere.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17It's unmistakable.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Yeah, this is it here.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21This is what turned the world on its head in the 1800s.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25I'm not really convinced I can see what you're talking about, Calum.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28To the untrained eye, it's nothing more than a bunch of rocks,
0:08:28 > 0:08:30but to a geologist, it's an incredible sight.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33The rocks on the right are folding in one direction
0:08:33 > 0:08:35and the rocks on the left are folding in a completely
0:08:35 > 0:08:39different direction. And that contradiction of the folds
0:08:39 > 0:08:42suggested to Hutton, back in the day,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46that they came from a different era in geological time.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Must admit I'm a bit underwhelmed, Calum.
0:08:52 > 0:08:57In 1785, Hutton first published his Theory Of The Earth,
0:08:57 > 0:09:02which challenged conventional ideas on how our planet was formed.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06He controversially asserted that the world was much older
0:09:06 > 0:09:09than previously thought and concluded,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13"We find no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end."
0:09:14 > 0:09:18So he sat here and he mused upon nature, these rocks,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20and came up with a revolutionary theory
0:09:20 > 0:09:23that people have been in awe of ever since.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26And to this day, we get geologists from all over the world
0:09:26 > 0:09:29who ply back and forward along this stretch of the coastline
0:09:29 > 0:09:33looking at the rocks and getting excited about his theory.
0:09:33 > 0:09:38And after Hutton, and after the Victorian scientific tourists,
0:09:38 > 0:09:42came tourists in search of nothing more than pleasure,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45and they still come. And I guess,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48doing what we're doing is a perfect way of combining
0:09:48 > 0:09:51a little bit of history, little bit of geology
0:09:51 > 0:09:53and a lot of fantastic scenery.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01For many visitors, a trip to Arran is not complete
0:10:01 > 0:10:04without climbing the mountain which dominates its landscape -
0:10:04 > 0:10:06Goatfell.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08I'm about to do just that.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13For the intrepid Victorian tourist,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16an ascent of this summit was de rigueur.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20And my copy of Black's urges its reader upwards.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27"The spectator finds himself surrounded by a sea
0:10:27 > 0:10:30"of jagged peaks and massive boulders.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36"His eye may wander down into
0:10:36 > 0:10:38"the vast hollows beneath his feet.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48"The view on a clear day amply repays the labour."
0:10:55 > 0:10:58Goatfell is a fascinating mountain.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01It's part of a range of jagged peaks that once formed
0:11:01 > 0:11:05the rim of a gigantic, collapsed volcano.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08And to do all the peaks in this mountain range,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12it's quite a challenge, especially when the cloud is coming down,
0:11:12 > 0:11:16cos it's very easy to get lost on these narrow, twisting ridges.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Now I think that the weather is beginning to deteriorate,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23so I'm going to play it safe, and head back down the hill.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27Like all Scottish mountains,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Goatfell is not to be under-estimated
0:11:30 > 0:11:33and has claimed the lives of several walkers
0:11:33 > 0:11:37since visitors first began scaling its heights for pleasure.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40But not all the fatalities were accidents.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Back in Victorian times, one tourist met a grisly end
0:11:45 > 0:11:48in these dramatic surroundings.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54Descending to the appropriately bleak Glen Sannox,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56I meet up with local historian, Stuart Gough,
0:11:56 > 0:12:03who is well-versed in the secrets of Goatfell's sometimes bloody past.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Now, Stuart, there was a very infamous death
0:12:05 > 0:12:09took place up on Goatfell. What happened and who was involved?
0:12:09 > 0:12:16It was in July 1889 when two men - a Scotsman, John Watson Laurie,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20and Englishman, Edwin Robert Rose,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24walked together up Goatfell, but only one came back down.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27- Only one came... Who came back down? - Laurie came back.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30- Laurie the Scotsman came back down. - The Scotsman came back.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32And what happened to Rose?
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Well, his body was discovered two weeks later
0:12:35 > 0:12:37in Glen Sannox there, behind us.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39In a bad state.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Decomposed, and head smashed in.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Hidden under a huge boulder.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47- So the suspicion was that Laurie had wielded a boulder...- Yes.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50- ..and smashed in Rose's head.- Correct.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53- And then tried to hide the corpse. - Hide the body, hide the corpse.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58What I think's curious, though, Stuart, is the fact that
0:12:58 > 0:13:02- both these men were tourists. - Yes, indeed.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06They were both on holiday and met up on a pleasure cruise.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08It wasn't such a pleasurable cruise, was it?
0:13:08 > 0:13:10- One did the other one to death. - Indeed.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Two men went up and only one came back.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19And here lies the body of poor Rose
0:13:19 > 0:13:21who died up on the hill and it's...
0:13:21 > 0:13:23- Absolutely.- ..strangely poetic, really, because...- Yeah.
0:13:23 > 0:13:28..he was found under a boulder and he remains under a boulder here.
0:13:28 > 0:13:29It's very poetic, as you say.
0:13:29 > 0:13:34When Rose's body was discovered, Laurie went on the run.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37But after a nationwide manhunt, he was captured.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41There was a trial, what happened to him?
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Well, the verdict was guilty.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46The sentence was death by hanging.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50And two days before he was due to be hanged in Greenock Jail,
0:13:50 > 0:13:55Queen Victoria commuted his sentence to life imprisonment.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00He ended up going to jail for 41 years, dying in Perth Prison.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04He was Britain's longest-serving prisoner.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07There's a grisly twist to this story.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09The murder victim's boots were missing.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13During the trial, the local police admitted to removing them
0:14:13 > 0:14:15and burying them on the beach.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19There's an old tradition on Arran
0:14:19 > 0:14:21that if a murdered man's boots
0:14:21 > 0:14:23are not given this ritualistic treatment,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27then his ghost will walk the hills until judgment day.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Back on the shoreline,
0:14:35 > 0:14:39I'm indulging in an altogether more innocent pursuit.
0:14:43 > 0:14:49A favourite Victorian family pastime was rock pooling,
0:14:49 > 0:14:54a simple pleasure involving a shrimp net and a bucket.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Now, of course, you had to remove your shoes and socks,
0:14:57 > 0:15:01expose bare flesh and dip a toe in water.
0:15:02 > 0:15:03Very daring!
0:15:06 > 0:15:11Of course, we're not put on this Earth to enjoy ourselves,
0:15:11 > 0:15:16and in the 1800s, a lot of people had difficulty in accepting
0:15:16 > 0:15:18pleasure for pleasure's sake.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22So they tried to dress it up as being educational,
0:15:22 > 0:15:24or morally beneficial.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29Rock pooling was a classic example of this
0:15:29 > 0:15:34and it was a brilliant way of justifying a trip to the seaside
0:15:34 > 0:15:38because it chimed in perfectly with good old Victorian values.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41What on earth's that?
0:15:41 > 0:15:42How strange.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50Writers of the day were keen to endorse rock pooling.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52The Reverend Charles Kingsley,
0:15:52 > 0:15:56who penned the best-selling moral fable, The Water Babies,
0:15:56 > 0:16:01wrote in glowing terms about the noble hobby.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04"Let no-one think that this is a pursuit fitted
0:16:04 > 0:16:07"only for effeminate or pedantic men.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11"Rather, that the qualifications required
0:16:11 > 0:16:13"are as many and as lofty as those
0:16:13 > 0:16:17"for the perfect knight-errant of the Middle Ages."
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Heroic stuff indeed!
0:16:22 > 0:16:23Now, in days gone by,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27rock-poolers like Kingsley would have taken the specimens
0:16:27 > 0:16:30they found on the shore home with them at the end of their holiday.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Now today, this isn't encouraged.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36Instead, looking and learning and leaving behind is the best policy.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41Anyway, let's face it, wee crabs like this make rubbish pets.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Ouch! Get off!
0:16:45 > 0:16:47By the early 1900s,
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Arran had become THE place for the in crowd.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55Wealthy families would rent houses for the whole summer.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59And one of the most influential Scottish families
0:16:59 > 0:17:01holidayed here at Brodick Castle,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04where I'm headed next.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08I've been invited to the Castle, to drop in on Lady Jean Fforde,
0:17:08 > 0:17:12who's a direct descendent of the powerful Dukes of Hamilton,
0:17:12 > 0:17:17who once owned the entire island and a good deal more besides.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Brodick Castle dates back to 1510, when the Hamiltons
0:17:26 > 0:17:30were closely connected to the Scottish Royal Family.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Today, it's owned by the National Trust,
0:17:33 > 0:17:37but back in the 1930s, this was where the young Lady Jean
0:17:37 > 0:17:39spent her holidays.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Lady Jean, this is an absolutely wonderful house.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44And you spent every summer here?
0:17:44 > 0:17:45Every summer.
0:17:45 > 0:17:491st of May until the 30th of September.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51It must have been wonderful as a child.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Yes, but it was strict manners.
0:17:54 > 0:17:55- Really?- Oh, yes.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58A child doesn't know what grandeur is...
0:17:58 > 0:18:00It's home.
0:18:00 > 0:18:06There were enamel and gold swans over here...
0:18:06 > 0:18:10and ducks, which were very exotic.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14And we'd come running in here and she'd say, "Mind the ducks!"
0:18:14 > 0:18:17That has passed on in the family. If you're about to put your foot in it,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20the other members said, "Mind the ducks."
0:18:20 > 0:18:23And you have no idea how frightening it is to go through that door
0:18:23 > 0:18:27to go to bed, and the whole of the wall of the staircase
0:18:27 > 0:18:30is covered with stags' heads
0:18:30 > 0:18:34and they all had glass eyes.
0:18:34 > 0:18:35And the light caught the glass eyes
0:18:35 > 0:18:39and you ran up those stairs at the rate of knots...
0:18:39 > 0:18:43- Pretty scary stags. - ..with these animals looking at you.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45What was it like here in the 1930s?
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Well, it was great fun, really,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51because there were a lot of friends round about, you know,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54a lot of tennis parties and then riding.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57You're riding side saddle, look at that.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00We had a boat, we went out,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03netting fish and lobster potting.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06So, would it be right to say that at that time, in the 1930s,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- there was such a thing as an Arran set?- Oh, yes.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Yes, you certainly could.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16People came down for a month and stayed.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18And the same people took the same house year in, year out.
0:19:18 > 0:19:23And you had some fairly illustrious people staying here as well.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25Yes. Prince Rainier.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28This is the European royalty we're talking about here.
0:19:28 > 0:19:29Yes, absolutely.
0:19:31 > 0:19:32On several occasions,
0:19:32 > 0:19:36Lady Jean's cousin, Prince Rainier of Monaco,
0:19:36 > 0:19:38came to Arran on holiday.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40Here, he's wearing a kilt.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44A kilt with, it looks like, a leopard-skin sporran
0:19:44 > 0:19:48- which I think...- It does look like. - ..wouldn't be allowed today .
0:19:48 > 0:19:49No, it wouldn't.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53What did Prince Rainier and his family make of Scotland?
0:19:53 > 0:19:55Oh, they loved it.
0:19:56 > 0:20:01It was so different to what they were accustomed to.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05This is on Arran. That's Prince Rainier.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Princess Antoinette, known as Tiny. And me.
0:20:10 > 0:20:16In 1956, Prince Rainier married movie star Grace Kelly,
0:20:16 > 0:20:20although Arran was not their honeymoon destination.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23But she was the most adorable person.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26I mean, film star, nothing, or princess, nothing,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30as a person to meet, she was very nice.
0:20:30 > 0:20:31Really nice.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36As Lady Jean grew up, Arran remained close to her heart,
0:20:36 > 0:20:40and the summers spent here as a child and a young woman
0:20:40 > 0:20:44have provided her with countless precious memories.
0:20:46 > 0:20:47Well it sounds to me,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Lady Jean, as if you had very happy times here as a child.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Oh, yes. Oh, very.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Very happy.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04Leaving the genteel surroundings of the Castle behind,
0:21:04 > 0:21:05I take to the water again,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09to head down to the southern tip of the island at Kildonan.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Now, being in a kayak is a brilliant way of spotting wildlife,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20but there's one beautiful creature I'm desperate to see,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23and that's the elusive otter.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Now I'm paddling ashore to meet a woman who can help me find one.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31This coastline is one of the best places to see the otter,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34but you have to know where to look.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37This is a fantastic stretch of coastline.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40We usually see seals and other sea birds, gannets,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43golden eagles, and hen harriers and red deer.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46It's just a brilliant place for watching wildlife.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48'Lucy Wallace lives here and runs tours
0:21:48 > 0:21:50'for keen wildlife enthusiasts.'
0:21:50 > 0:21:52So is that quite a new development,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54do you think, in tourism,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57people coming to a place like Arran to enjoy the wildlife?
0:21:57 > 0:22:00I think people have always come to Arran to enjoy the wildlife,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03but I think that perhaps the tourism industry
0:22:03 > 0:22:07is learning to value its wildlife a little bit better,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09and starting to understand and appreciate
0:22:09 > 0:22:12what our wildlife means to our visitors,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16and make the most of that.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19- Well, let's hope we can see an otter.- Fingers crossed.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26- It's a heron.- A heron.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31Now, Lucy, I've always wanted to know the answer to this question.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Are sea otters, the ones that live in the sea,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38are they the same or different from the otters you find in rivers?
0:22:38 > 0:22:41In the UK, the only otter species we have
0:22:41 > 0:22:43is the Eurasian Otter, Lutra lutra.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45- Lutra lutra!- Lutra lutra.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48And they are found both in the rivers and along the coastline.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51- Right, so they are the same animal. - They are the same animal, yeah.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Members of the weasel family, so Mustelas.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Are they really? Are they weasels?
0:22:55 > 0:22:57- They are, they're big aquatic weasels.- Right.
0:22:57 > 0:22:58A large aquatic weasel.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02Well, I still haven't seen this large aquatic weasel yet.
0:23:02 > 0:23:03I know. Starting to worry me.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Along the coast we go.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09'As the light begins to fade,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12'it looks like we might be out of luck, and then...'
0:23:12 > 0:23:15- Ooh! I've got an otter. - Got an otter?
0:23:15 > 0:23:17I've got an otter. Just there on the rock.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19- Where?- Er, flat-top rock...
0:23:19 > 0:23:21- Yeah.- Just at the back there, yeah.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23- Oh, I see it.- Yeah.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Very well camouflaged, though. Almost the same colour as the rock.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28Yeah, they're...
0:23:28 > 0:23:31That chocolate-brown colour makes them quite hard to spot.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34They dive down for, ooh, maybe 20 seconds or so.
0:23:34 > 0:23:3720 seconds, well, that must be about 20 seconds now.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40- So...- Oh, there he is! Well done.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43- And he's disappeared again. Just a tail.- Up and down.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45Diving straight down.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48- We see it for a second and it disappears.- Yes.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52You do have to kind of keep your wits about you and...
0:23:53 > 0:23:55..it can be very, very fleeting.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58- Wait a minute. There's another one. - So that's lovely.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00It's absolutely brilliant, isn't it?
0:24:00 > 0:24:04These wild animals are swimming around just so close to our shore
0:24:04 > 0:24:07and they're really not aware of it.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09They're not bothered by us, are they?
0:24:09 > 0:24:13- No.- They're just getting on with wild, natural behaviour,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16as it should be. It's just lovely to see.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Well it's a great privilege, it really is.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Very often when people come out with me, and I can really sympathise,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24cos it was the same for me before I moved to Arran,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27- they've, they've never seen an otter before.- Ah-ha.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30So to be able to stand and watch one for a few minutes like this is...
0:24:30 > 0:24:32- Well, that's an indulgence. - ..really fantastic.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35It is an indulgence, isn't it? We're really lucky.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38I once saw an otter wrestling with a lobster
0:24:38 > 0:24:40- that was bigger than it.- Really?
0:24:40 > 0:24:41- Mmm.- Who came off best?
0:24:41 > 0:24:42- The otter.- Really?
0:24:42 > 0:24:43Oh, yes.
0:24:45 > 0:24:46Fantastic.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52And how are the otter numbers doing, then?
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Well, anecdotally we think their numbers are growing, so...
0:24:56 > 0:24:59- That's a great thing, all right. - ..they seem to be doing really well.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01So many animals are actually in decline.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04- It's great to hear a good news story about otters.- That's right,
0:25:04 > 0:25:05and as you probably know,
0:25:05 > 0:25:09otters went into a drastic decline in the 20th century,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12but they seem to be bouncing back now,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16- and that's definitely associated with a decreasing pollution.- OK.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18And the Clyde, the Firth of Clyde is definitely
0:25:18 > 0:25:22a lot cleaner than it was, which is good news for otters.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Good news for otters and good news for Arran.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Oh, you...
0:25:32 > 0:25:35'But as any tourist to Scotland will tell you,
0:25:35 > 0:25:39'there's one Scottish creature you really want to avoid.'
0:25:39 > 0:25:40Urgh!
0:25:40 > 0:25:41Ah!
0:25:41 > 0:25:45Now it's often struck me as mysterious, to say the least,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47that the dreaded midge - phew! -
0:25:47 > 0:25:50never gets a mention in Black's
0:25:50 > 0:25:55or any of the other guidebooks and journals that I've read.
0:25:55 > 0:25:56Now, why is this?
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Were there fewer midges in those days?
0:25:58 > 0:26:03Are the ones that plague us today the result of global warming?
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Well, no-one can tell me,
0:26:05 > 0:26:09but personally, I suspect a conspiracy of silence.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Even modern tourist literature is silent
0:26:12 > 0:26:15on the subject of these horrible little beasts.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19And no wonder. We don't want to put off the tourists, do we?
0:26:19 > 0:26:22The Highland Midge has a reputation
0:26:22 > 0:26:25for being one of the most ferocious biting insects
0:26:25 > 0:26:28in Scotland, if not the world.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32I actually seem to have midges inside this net.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34And how did they get in there?
0:26:34 > 0:26:37'It's actually the female midge that does the biting -
0:26:37 > 0:26:39'no surprise there -
0:26:39 > 0:26:43'and they can make the summer months pretty unpleasant.'
0:26:44 > 0:26:48Not supposed to fly in wind. And these ones do.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52'The best way to avoid being bitten is simply to cover up,
0:26:52 > 0:26:56'which makes my final destination all the more surprising.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00'To finish off my tour of Arran,
0:27:00 > 0:27:02'I'm heading for Cleat's Shore,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05'a beach which attracts a very different type of holidaymaker,
0:27:05 > 0:27:10'and one who would certainly have been frowned upon in Black's day.
0:27:16 > 0:27:17'Believe it or not,
0:27:17 > 0:27:23'Arran is home to Scotland's only official nudist beach.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29'Europeans have been happily casting aside their clothing
0:27:29 > 0:27:32'in the name of healthy living and exercise
0:27:32 > 0:27:35'since the start of the 20th century.
0:27:38 > 0:27:43'But it wasn't until the 1920s that British naturism flourished,
0:27:43 > 0:27:46'complete with its own philosophy of life.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54'The first official nudist beach in Britain
0:27:54 > 0:27:59'opened on the south coast of England in 1978.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02'Although this was followed by several more,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05'there is only one in Scotland.
0:28:06 > 0:28:07'I wonder why.'
0:28:13 > 0:28:17This is most strange. It's very peculiar.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20I followed the track through a couple of fields,
0:28:20 > 0:28:21I've come down to the beach.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24But as you can see, the place is utterly deserted!
0:28:24 > 0:28:30There's no pink flesh on display at all, apart from my own.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Now, having come this far,
0:28:32 > 0:28:36I think it would be a mistake for me not to face the challenge
0:28:36 > 0:28:38and take the plunge.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Brace yourself! Here we go!
0:28:40 > 0:28:43Oh! Oh! Brrr!
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Join me on my next Grand Tour,
0:28:48 > 0:28:52when I'm heading to the south-west to discover my feminine side.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Right, OK...
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