0:00:02 > 0:00:06Today's tourists, heading north to the rugged grandeur of the Highlands,
0:00:06 > 0:00:10sometimes overlook the south-west of Scotland.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Here the landscape has a very different character
0:00:13 > 0:00:16and the big skies, rolling hills
0:00:16 > 0:00:21and spectacular coastline were much admired by early travellers.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24Two hundred years ago,
0:00:24 > 0:00:28this was considered to be a challenging landscape
0:00:28 > 0:00:32and very much a man's world, full of unseen perils
0:00:32 > 0:00:38to be faced down by the brave and definitely not a place for women.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40At least, that's what men thought!
0:00:41 > 0:00:44But the ladies came anyway.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49They were just as eager to explore the highways and byways of Scotland
0:00:49 > 0:00:54as their men-folk and soon tourist guidebooks began to appear,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57catering for feminine tastes and sensibilities.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00Black's Picturesque Guide to Scotland
0:01:00 > 0:01:03was one of the first to address a female readership.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08Published in 1846 by Charles and Adam Black,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11it became the Victorian tourists' bible.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15A copy of this fascinating guide inspired my parents
0:01:15 > 0:01:17to explore Scotland.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20Four decades on, I'm retracing some of the routes
0:01:20 > 0:01:22we followed as a family.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Heading to the south-west,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27I'm on a journey with a decidedly feminine touch.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43Starting at the border village of Gretna Green,
0:01:43 > 0:01:47I'm heading west to Dumfries, taking a detour to Leadhills,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50travelling to the Solway coast before finishing up
0:01:50 > 0:01:53within sight of Ireland at Portpatrick.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58This is Gretna Green,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02just a few metres from the English border.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04According to Black's, Gretna Green is,
0:02:04 > 0:02:08"A hamlet long-famous for clandestine marriages."
0:02:09 > 0:02:13I suppose you could argue that among the first female tourists
0:02:13 > 0:02:16to come to Scotland were young brides
0:02:16 > 0:02:18who had eloped across the border.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Now they came because under Scots law,
0:02:21 > 0:02:24it was possible to get married at the age of 16
0:02:24 > 0:02:28without your parents' consent and being the first village in Scotland,
0:02:28 > 0:02:34Gretna Green quickly became a haven for young lovers on the run.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41And this is where they came - the now world-famous blacksmiths' workshop
0:02:41 > 0:02:46and it was in these plain, and at first glance decidedly unromantic,
0:02:46 > 0:02:50surroundings that the bonds of matrimony were once forged.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55In Scotland, lovers didn't need a priest to marry them
0:02:55 > 0:02:58because the law recognised any marriage made by
0:02:58 > 0:03:02"A respectable member of the community," and traditionally,
0:03:02 > 0:03:06this was the blacksmith and here at Gretna Green,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09anvil priests, as they were called, made a fortune
0:03:09 > 0:03:12forging quickie weddings, right here.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19The first anvil priest to cater for love tourists from England
0:03:19 > 0:03:24was Joseph Paisley, who made a fortune marrying girl brides
0:03:24 > 0:03:26by striking a hammer on his anvil.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30But Paisley didn't cope well with success
0:03:30 > 0:03:34and seems to have over-indulged. In later life he was described as,
0:03:34 > 0:03:39"Grossly ignorant and insufferably coarse. An overgrown mass of fat,
0:03:39 > 0:03:43"weighing at least 25 stone, who drank a good deal more
0:03:43 > 0:03:45"than was necessary to his thirst".
0:03:47 > 0:03:52The tradition of the anvil priest continued up until the 1940s
0:03:52 > 0:03:57when a change in the law forced them to hang up their hammers.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00But lovers continued to make their way here
0:04:00 > 0:04:03and Gretna Green is still a big place for weddings.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Amazingly, one in eight of all Scottish weddings
0:04:07 > 0:04:10take place in the village.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12Why did you choose Gretna Green, why come to Scotland?
0:04:12 > 0:04:14- Because we've run away!- You ran away?
0:04:14 > 0:04:15Seriously, yeah! No-one knows!
0:04:15 > 0:04:17- No-one knows?- No!
0:04:17 > 0:04:18It's the famous place to come!
0:04:18 > 0:04:21We wanted a quiet ceremony just for us
0:04:21 > 0:04:23and we wanted to go somewhere that was traditional
0:04:23 > 0:04:25and obviously special.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Leaving Gretna Green in a blizzard of confetti,
0:04:30 > 0:04:32I'm travelling further across the border
0:04:32 > 0:04:35in a suitably period conveyance.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Much favoured by ladies as a way of getting about,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43the pony and trap recalls the days of early tourism,
0:04:43 > 0:04:48and a time when females seldom, if ever, travelled alone.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52It says everything about the social position of women in those days,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55that they needed to be chaperoned.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59You see, the fair sex were considered to be too weak to cope by themselves
0:04:59 > 0:05:03and needed a man's chivalrous helping hand.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10To discover why women were considered to be so useless
0:05:10 > 0:05:14and how they fought back, I'm giving a lift to writer and historian,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17Betty Hagglund, on the road to Dumfries.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20Betty, back in the 18th and 19th centuries,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23women weren't exactly encouraged to be adventurous travellers.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26I think that's true, I think there were fears that for some women
0:05:26 > 0:05:29the sublimity of the landscape would be too much,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32that they would be overwhelmed by it, that they would be frightened by it.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34And get the vapours and faint?
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Yes. They were expected to defer to their husbands.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42They, of course, had no independent money. Many women, of course, as well
0:05:42 > 0:05:44were pregnant almost constantly
0:05:44 > 0:05:46throughout their married lives.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48It was not uncommon for women
0:05:48 > 0:05:51to have 18 to 20 pregnancies.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53That limits how much you can travel.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58But some women did escape the domestic realm.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03In 1803, Dorothy Wordsworth, sister of the poet William,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06embarked on a celebrated tour of Scotland.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11Dorothy Wordsworth was travelling initially with her brother
0:06:11 > 0:06:13and with Samuel Coleridge who was, of course,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16a great friend of Dorothy and William Wordsworth.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Now how did that work out for Dorothy, travelling with two poets?
0:06:19 > 0:06:22My feeling is that the two poets probably wouldn't have got past
0:06:22 > 0:06:26- Gretna Green if Dorothy hadn't been with them.- Right.
0:06:26 > 0:06:27She was the practical one.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36The capable Dorothy led the poets on a literary pilgrimage
0:06:36 > 0:06:41through the south-west, searching for the legacy of another poet,
0:06:41 > 0:06:42Robert Burns.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49This is Dumfries, the town where Scotland's national Bard
0:06:49 > 0:06:51lived for three years until his death.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57You can imagine Burns as a sort of early Elvis Presley
0:06:57 > 0:07:02and just as Presley's home, Graceland, became hallowed ground,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05so too did the humble home of Robert Burns
0:07:05 > 0:07:09when he died here in Dumfries in 1796.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17The Wordsworths, like other fans of the Bard, came here in the hope
0:07:17 > 0:07:21of finding Burns' widow at home, or perhaps glimpsing the children.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26But Jean Armour wasn't in that day.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Instead, the Wordsworths paid their respects at the poet's grave.
0:07:30 > 0:07:36But reverence for greatness can sometimes show itself in unexpected ways.
0:07:36 > 0:07:42Three decades after Dorothy's visit, Burns' grave was broken into.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47It seems almost unimaginable to us now, but in 1834,
0:07:47 > 0:07:51under cover of darkness, four respectable men of the town,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55including the newspaper editor and a surgeon,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59broke into Burns' tomb and removed his skull.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05But this seemingly macabre act of desecration
0:08:05 > 0:08:11was done with the highest motives - to further our understanding of human genius.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16Megan Coyer tells me about the link between Burns and phrenology,
0:08:16 > 0:08:20an early science that tried to map the organs of the intellect
0:08:20 > 0:08:23by measuring the contours of the skull.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Well, this is called "An Introduction To Phrenology"
0:08:26 > 0:08:28and the front plate is actually really useful
0:08:28 > 0:08:30for illustrating the science
0:08:30 > 0:08:33and there you can see there is the skull here
0:08:33 > 0:08:35and there is a map with little numbers on it
0:08:35 > 0:08:38and each of the numbers correspond to an individual organ.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Do you think the men who came here that night
0:08:40 > 0:08:44were trying to further Burns' reputation,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47to somehow bolster it and put him on a pedestal
0:08:47 > 0:08:49and say, "Here is this man
0:08:49 > 0:08:51"and we've discovered the seat of his poetic genius?"
0:08:51 > 0:08:54There was a great deal of interest in Burns
0:08:54 > 0:08:58because of the fact that he is a class-transcendent genius,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02the "heaven-taught ploughman." The phrenologists were very much
0:09:02 > 0:09:05on the side of nature over nurture
0:09:05 > 0:09:10and if we could show by reading Burns' brain
0:09:10 > 0:09:13that he was naturally poetic,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15that would be a big triumph for phrenology.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19One organ that they particularly fixated on was his organ of benevolence,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22which was particularly large, and the poem To A Mouse
0:09:22 > 0:09:26was one that they said illustrated that very nicely.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28One that they were quite surprised about
0:09:28 > 0:09:31was that he had a very small organ of amativeness.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33- Of what?- Amativeness.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36- Amativeness?- Amativeness. It's the organ of sexual passion.
0:09:36 > 0:09:37Well, that's not what I heard,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40I thought he was quite well-endowed in that department!
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Well, according to his biography and poetry,
0:09:42 > 0:09:45one would think that he would have a large organ of amativeness
0:09:45 > 0:09:49but the phrenologists, and this is one of the things that they're a little bit crafty with,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52if one organ was a bit small and didn't match up with the character,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55they could find another one that would counter-balance it,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57in this case they went to adhesiveness.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00- Right, does that compensate? - Yes, that compensated.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02- It's nice to know...- For the small amativeness!
0:10:02 > 0:10:05It's nice to know that size doesn't always matter, I suppose!
0:10:07 > 0:10:10After they had finished taking their measurements,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14the literary gents took a plaster cast of Burns' skull,
0:10:14 > 0:10:18all to back up the claims of a highly dubious science,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22but if poetic genius can't be found so easily in the head,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25then perhaps it's in the heart after all,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28which is what I'm going to discover on the next leg of my journey.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34Just a few miles south of Dumfries is a picturesque ruin
0:10:34 > 0:10:39with a delightfully feminine name, and feminine atmosphere.
0:10:43 > 0:10:50Sweetheart Abbey is a testament in stone to a woman's enduring love.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Black's Guide Book sets the scene, describing how Devo Giller,
0:10:54 > 0:11:00the wife of John Balliol, erected the abbey in 1275 as a tribute
0:11:00 > 0:11:03to the memory of her husband.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Devo Giller's story is straight out of high romance.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11She was a Gaelic-speaking princess and was just 13 years of age
0:11:11 > 0:11:15when she married the Anglo-Norman knight, John Balliol
0:11:15 > 0:11:19and when Balliol died she had his heart removed
0:11:19 > 0:11:22and placed in a special, ornate casket
0:11:22 > 0:11:26which she carried around with her for the rest of her life.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Devoting herself to good works,
0:11:31 > 0:11:36Devo Giller funded the construction of this magnificent abbey
0:11:36 > 0:11:39and founded the famous Balliol College in Oxford.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44When it was time for her to depart this life,
0:11:44 > 0:11:49she was buried here with her husband's heart placed over her own
0:11:49 > 0:11:53and ever since, this place has been known as Sweetheart Abbey.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Now this is exactly the sort of romantic story
0:11:56 > 0:11:59that Black's considered to be appropriate fayre
0:11:59 > 0:12:01for a Victorian lady tourist.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07But for a more serious-minded and independent lady traveller
0:12:07 > 0:12:11like Dorothy Wordsworth, interest lay elsewhere.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18Leaving Sweetheart Abbey, I'm following Dorothy Wordsworth north
0:12:18 > 0:12:22and into the hills to a village that claims to be the highest in Scotland.
0:12:27 > 0:12:28This is Wanlockhead,
0:12:28 > 0:12:32a place not mentioned by my edition of Black's at all.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39Most lady tourists were drawn to rose gardens or big country houses
0:12:39 > 0:12:43but not Dorothy Wordsworth. She was more interested
0:12:43 > 0:12:46in the lives of the ordinary people she met on her travels.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52For centuries, miners worked these mineral-rich hills.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56In the middle ages, gold was extracted here
0:12:56 > 0:13:01and when Dorothy visited in 1803, there were extensive silver and lead mines.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Although the last mine here closed long ago,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08it's still possible for tourists to explore them.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12Guide Annie Gough takes me underground.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14Mind your head, there.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Like Dorothy, tourists today are amazed by the dangerous
0:13:18 > 0:13:22and difficult conditions that so many working people,
0:13:22 > 0:13:27men and young boys, once had to endure.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29They only got paid once a year
0:13:29 > 0:13:31because it wasn't just mining the lead,
0:13:31 > 0:13:34it was smelting it and selling it overseas.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37They didn't get any money until that was done,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40so they would have to wait usually a year for their money,
0:13:40 > 0:13:41sometimes even two years.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Two years without being paid?
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Up to two years sometimes, so everything they needed
0:13:46 > 0:13:48they had to go on credit from the company store.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51- Amazing.- And then when they got paid at the end of the year or two years,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54they would have to pay back everything they owed.
0:13:54 > 0:13:55They were debt slaves really.
0:13:55 > 0:14:01Basically, yeah, and once you were in debt, you had to keep working
0:14:01 > 0:14:04until hopefully eventually you could pay everything back.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09It is hard for us to comprehend the lives that were lived down here
0:14:09 > 0:14:14in the cold and the dark and definitely not the sort of thing
0:14:14 > 0:14:18you would expect an 18th century lady to be interested in,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21but Dorothy Wordsworth had broken the mould,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24becoming a pioneering industrial tourist.
0:14:27 > 0:14:28Back in the open air,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31I reflect on the grim conditions
0:14:31 > 0:14:34underground and on the equally grim
0:14:34 > 0:14:37challenge faced by many early tourists to Scotland...
0:14:37 > 0:14:40The traditional Scotch menu.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44When Dorothy Wordsworth came to Scotland in 1803,
0:14:44 > 0:14:46the country wasn't really geared up to cater
0:14:46 > 0:14:51for the tastes of southern tourists. Hotels were few and far between
0:14:51 > 0:14:56and the food presented something of a challenge for more sophisticated palates.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00In other words, it was hard to stomach.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04But Dorothy Wordsworth was made of sterner stuff.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08When male stomachs turned, she tucked in.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12"The first dish was too Scottish - a boiled sheep's head
0:15:12 > 0:15:15"with the hair singed off and I ate heartily of it."
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Yum, yum!
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Fortunately, the Scottish tourist menu has changed a good deal
0:15:21 > 0:15:26since Dorothy's day and to recapture the flavour of our collective past,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29I am in the kitchen of cookery writer Sue Lawrence.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32Now Sue, a cod's head is not particularly appetising.
0:15:32 > 0:15:33What's going on here?
0:15:33 > 0:15:35Well, it's for a dish called "Crappit Heid,"
0:15:35 > 0:15:38a very old traditional dish, basically stuffed head
0:15:38 > 0:15:42- and we're using a cod.- Crappit? - "Crappit" means to stuff.- Right.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Crappit Heid is a waste-not, want-not sort of dish
0:15:45 > 0:15:48that even makes use of the eyes of the fish.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50They are edible and you can actually poach them in the liquor
0:15:50 > 0:15:53and they are supposed to be like soft boiled eggs.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Now why would anyone want to eat a cod's head?
0:15:56 > 0:15:58It's not the first thing that comes to mind!
0:15:58 > 0:16:00I know, I know! Well, I mean a couple of things.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02First of all, it's sort of called a piscatorial haggis,
0:16:02 > 0:16:06- so it's a fishy haggis, so it was through necessity.- Right.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09People were hungry, what would you do? We would just fling it out now, probably.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13They wouldn't have done in the olden days and what did they have nearby? They had oatmeal.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18And you mixed the liver, either from the cod or preferably haddock,
0:16:18 > 0:16:20cos cod's liver tends to be full of horrible little worms,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23which is fine, but you've just got to get rid of them,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26and you mix that with equal quantities of oatmeal,
0:16:26 > 0:16:28season it, and just stuff it in the head.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34This recipe is not for the faint-hearted
0:16:34 > 0:16:37and just combining the ingredients requires a strong constitution.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39You're meant to go with your hands.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42I will have to do that later! But at this stage...
0:16:42 > 0:16:45I mean you really are putting together some of the most unpleasant
0:16:45 > 0:16:47- and unlikely ingredients in this. - Exactly!
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Fish eyes and minging liver! Oh dear!
0:16:50 > 0:16:51HE LAUGHS
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- I think we'll get to the stuffing now!- You're very brave, Sue!
0:16:54 > 0:16:57- With my hands...- You're very brave!
0:16:57 > 0:17:00With my hands, and stuff it, and get it right in.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04I suppose, you know, I'm now thinking it's like the Christmas turkey, so it's fine.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06Right, uh-huh. After Sue has worked her magic,
0:17:06 > 0:17:10she boils the cod's head for 30 minutes and then lets it cool
0:17:10 > 0:17:15before presenting me with Crappit Heid in all its glory.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Which part would you recommend I sample first?
0:17:18 > 0:17:20I think probably this bit of the cheek would be lovely,
0:17:20 > 0:17:22and if you want to have a wee bit of that,
0:17:22 > 0:17:25maybe with some of the stuffing, that should be...
0:17:25 > 0:17:26Oh, really? Some of the stuffing as well?
0:17:26 > 0:17:30Yes. That should be utterly delicious, I would have thought.. maybe!
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Right. So there's a little bit there, pop it in the mouth.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36Yeah, yeah, it should be fine, it should be fine.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37I'll just join you in that.
0:17:40 > 0:17:41- That's all right.- Yeah.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43- It doesn't actually taste of anything at all.- No.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46- It's like cold fish.- So now it's the rather challenging stuffing
0:17:46 > 0:17:49- with the liver.- Right, OK. Do you really want me to try this?- Yes.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53From the stuffing that is protruding through the eye sockets?
0:17:53 > 0:17:55From the eye sockets, yes. I think that is..
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Scrummy, yummy, yummy it is! Here we go.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01One, two, three.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07It's not bad, is it? It's definitely liver-ish though, isn't it?
0:18:07 > 0:18:10- Mm-hm.- Are you OK?
0:18:10 > 0:18:12- I'm just remembering... - Drink of water?
0:18:12 > 0:18:14How we prepared it.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18- It's really quite strong, that liver taste, isn't it?- Mm-hm.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20Still, it could be worse, there could be worms in it!
0:18:20 > 0:18:22THEY LAUGH
0:18:22 > 0:18:25You shouldn't have said that, Sue! Oh, dear!
0:18:28 > 0:18:33To give my tastebuds a chance to recover from the shock of Crappit Heid,
0:18:33 > 0:18:38I head for the hills where I fill my lungs with fresh, clean air.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40It's great to be outside!
0:18:42 > 0:18:46In Victorian times, few women ventured into this landscape
0:18:46 > 0:18:50and although the mountains here are not as high as in the Highlands,
0:18:50 > 0:18:51they're still challenging,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54which is why the ladies were encouraged to stay at home.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59In Glentrool, high in the Galloway hills,
0:18:59 > 0:19:04I meet up with Fran Loots, who runs classes to encourage women
0:19:04 > 0:19:07to get more out of this beautiful countryside.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10- So, it's pretty detailed then, this map, isn't it?- Yeah it is, yeah.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14This scale shows a lot so it is shows a track going off which leads to the house over there that you can see.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16Having got our bearings,
0:19:16 > 0:19:20we set out on a hike through picture-perfect woods and hills.
0:19:20 > 0:19:26Fran, do you think that men and women really appreciate nature differently?
0:19:26 > 0:19:29I think there are differences,
0:19:29 > 0:19:33I think women enjoy just savouring that environment that they're in
0:19:33 > 0:19:37a little bit more. Often when I've gone out with my male friends
0:19:37 > 0:19:40it's a bit of a clock-watch job and we've got this destination,
0:19:40 > 0:19:45this goal that we are going to do today, we are going to go and conquer this hill
0:19:45 > 0:19:49and they just charge off. Not all of them, but quite a few,
0:19:49 > 0:19:52whereas women tend to savour it a bit more.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55Do you think a lot of women feel that they are missing out
0:19:55 > 0:19:58or do you think that a lot of women are possibly missing out on this experience?
0:19:58 > 0:20:03I think so. When I have taken women who have not had much experience
0:20:03 > 0:20:07of being out in the great outdoors, they just love it.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10I mean they do find it literally awe-inspiring,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13that appreciation of just even tiny little things,
0:20:13 > 0:20:19but just away from the hustle and bustle and just enjoying the beauty
0:20:19 > 0:20:21and the size of it all, yeah.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31Having tramped for hours, I feel the need to cool my feet,
0:20:31 > 0:20:33so leaving the ladies to navigate home,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36I make my own way to the coast.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41One of the simplest holiday pastimes has to be paddling in the sea
0:20:41 > 0:20:44where you can luxuriate in salt water
0:20:44 > 0:20:49and let the sand tickle over your toes, but down on the Solway coast
0:20:49 > 0:20:51here you are faced with a bit of a problem
0:20:51 > 0:20:57because when the tide goes out, it leaves behind miles and miles and miles
0:20:57 > 0:21:02of thick, sticky mud, but for some people this is absolutely ideal.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11Squelching my way across a huge expanse of warm, oozing mud,
0:21:11 > 0:21:15I meet up with Vivian Brown, who is a big fan of the ancient
0:21:15 > 0:21:19and honourable sport of floundering,
0:21:19 > 0:21:23when folk go barefoot in search of the humble flat fish.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27- Yuck, this is really, really muddy! - HE LAUGHS
0:21:27 > 0:21:29Are you enjoying this?
0:21:29 > 0:21:32I don't think it is unpleasant!
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Is this what flounderers look for
0:21:34 > 0:21:37when they come tramping for flounders, a lot of mud?
0:21:37 > 0:21:40A lot of mud, that's the main part of it.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42The flounders are kind of secondary, I think!
0:21:42 > 0:21:46What are we looking for, how do we catch a flounder?
0:21:46 > 0:21:47You stand on them,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50but your natural instinct if you stand on a fish obviously is...
0:21:50 > 0:21:53- Is to jump away!- To jump away, so you have got to be really brave
0:21:53 > 0:21:58and keep your foot on and then pick it up.
0:21:58 > 0:21:59So you don't spear them?
0:21:59 > 0:22:01No, we are not allowed to do that any more.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03So you don't eat them then?
0:22:03 > 0:22:05People have eaten them in the past,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08but we now return the fish to the water afterwards, yes.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11- Is that just to be kind to flounders?- To be kind to flounders, yes.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13And then go home for a fish tea?
0:22:13 > 0:22:14That's right! Fish fingers!
0:22:14 > 0:22:16It is a strange old world!
0:22:16 > 0:22:17Absolutely!
0:22:20 > 0:22:23This part of the Solway coast was for many years famous
0:22:23 > 0:22:27for holding a mass flounder-tramping competition.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31It was a major event, attracting hundreds of eager entrants
0:22:31 > 0:22:33and has recently been revived.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37- This was really a big event.- It was, yes.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39- Well, this is the World Championship!- Really?
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Yes. People come from all over the world.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Are there other international venues
0:22:44 > 0:22:46that are famous for flounder-tramping or whatever?
0:22:46 > 0:22:49- No, this is the only one!- This is it?- This is it.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51So, as an experienced flounder-tramper,
0:22:51 > 0:22:56- you must know the best spots, really.- Oh, yes.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59I'm relying on your native instinct here to lead me
0:22:59 > 0:23:03to catch the biggest flounder ever caught on the Solway coast!
0:23:03 > 0:23:05SHE LAUGHS
0:23:05 > 0:23:09As we reach our floundering hunting-ground,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13I'm having second thoughts about this peculiar spot.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15So, it is a really kind of odd experience, Vivian.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19We're probing into this mud, into this silt.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21We can't really see what we are doing, it's all by touch
0:23:21 > 0:23:23and it is really quite disgusting! Ugh, what's that? Ugh!
0:23:23 > 0:23:24SHE LAUGHS
0:23:24 > 0:23:26I put my foot on something there!
0:23:26 > 0:23:30Ugh! Ugh!
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Despite many fishy false alarms,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37my untrained toes failed to locate the elusive flounder.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40- Now, that tide, is it coming in or is it going out?- It is coming in.
0:23:40 > 0:23:41- Right.- Yes.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44So, we had better not get cut off by the tide, Vivian,
0:23:44 > 0:23:46- that would be disastrous!- That would be just terrible!
0:23:46 > 0:23:48We would just have to spend the day here!
0:23:48 > 0:23:50I think we would have to swim!
0:23:50 > 0:23:51THEY LAUGH
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Floundering with Vivian has whetted my appetite for the hunt.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Travelling along the coast,
0:24:03 > 0:24:07I take the opportunity to try my luck in deeper waters.
0:24:07 > 0:24:12The Solway Firth provides some of the finest sea angling
0:24:12 > 0:24:13anywhere in Europe.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16I am in the capable hands of Christine Burrett,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19who I hope is going to help me land a whopper.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24To get me in the mood, we stop for a spot of mackerel fishing,
0:24:24 > 0:24:27and it is not long before my rod is twitching!
0:24:27 > 0:24:28Oh, something is biting here!
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Oh, there you go! Have you got something?
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Oh, you have, you have got mackerel coming up, yeah.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34I have got something here. Here we go!
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Yeah, we have got them as well.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40I've got a beauty! I've got a beauty! There we are!
0:24:40 > 0:24:42- Look at that!- There you go!
0:24:42 > 0:24:43- You've got one as well!- I've got two!
0:24:43 > 0:24:45You've got two! You beat me!
0:24:45 > 0:24:49What is the normal kind of protocol for this sort of thing?
0:24:49 > 0:24:52I mean, do you take a lot of fish back to eat?
0:24:52 > 0:24:55- Well, no, we try and put everything back, you know.- Why is that?
0:24:55 > 0:24:58I thought the point of fishing was to take something home for your tea!
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Not always, not always. It's sport fishing, really, round here.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06Most anglers want to help conserve depleted fish stocks,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10so returning their catch makes perfect sense.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13But fishing is an extremely popular pastime, isn't it?
0:25:13 > 0:25:14Oh, yes, it is growing as well
0:25:14 > 0:25:17and you find more and more women getting involved as well now.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19- Yes?- Yep.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21I've got one, I've got one, here we go.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24How many have you got this time then, Paul?
0:25:24 > 0:25:25A lot, I think.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28You've got a full string, have you?
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Not necessarily a full string. Oh, no, I have got four!
0:25:30 > 0:25:33I have got four!
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Four fish coming aboard.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37One, two, three...
0:25:37 > 0:25:39What a weight!
0:25:39 > 0:25:40SHE LAUGHS
0:25:40 > 0:25:45The mackerel are coming thick and fast but it is time to move on,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49to try for a fish that is considered to be a more sporting catch,
0:25:49 > 0:25:50the pollock.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54So basically, I am just sitting here watching this float bob up and down
0:25:54 > 0:25:56and that is the sport part?
0:25:56 > 0:25:59That is the sport. Well, that's the relaxing part.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01- It is very relaxing.- Yes, it is very relaxing,
0:26:01 > 0:26:03especially on a day like this, isn't it.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07I am just wondering, Christine, if there is a difference of approach
0:26:07 > 0:26:10between men and women to the art of fishing?
0:26:10 > 0:26:13- To the art of fishing?- Yes.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15Well, I think all women just like to beat the men,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18- that is one thing about it, oh, yeah!- So you are quite competitive?
0:26:18 > 0:26:20We are very competitive, yes.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Christine has just thrown down the gauntlet
0:26:23 > 0:26:27and I can't resist the challenge to beat her at her own game
0:26:27 > 0:26:30by catching my whopper. Got it!
0:26:30 > 0:26:33- Now do you feel the fish biting?- Yes, whoah! Whoah!
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Try and lift your rod out of the water.
0:26:36 > 0:26:37This is the sport! Whoa! It is huge!
0:26:37 > 0:26:40- That's it.- This is a big one! Look at that!
0:26:40 > 0:26:42- That is a better one, yes.- This is a cracker!
0:26:42 > 0:26:43Well done!
0:26:43 > 0:26:44HE LAUGHS
0:26:44 > 0:26:50Wow! How about that for your tea! Look at this one!
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Try and get your rod tip up.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Enormous! Look at the size of that!
0:26:56 > 0:26:58Wow, look at that!
0:26:58 > 0:27:00- Look at this beauty! - SHE LAUGHS
0:27:00 > 0:27:03And look at the man that caught it, eh?
0:27:03 > 0:27:07But just seconds later, Christine catches a whopper of her own.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11Aha! Mine is bigger than yours!
0:27:11 > 0:27:13I don't think so, Christine! I think mine was considerably bigger
0:27:13 > 0:27:16- than that, and you know!- OK then.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20What more fitting end to a grand day out
0:27:20 > 0:27:24than to see our pollock swim away to his fishy home.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32I am coming to the end of my grand tour of the south-west
0:27:32 > 0:27:35which started on the border with England and finishes
0:27:35 > 0:27:37within sight of Ireland.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42This is Portpatrick.
0:27:42 > 0:27:48Black's Guide Book explains that the town owes its name to a visit from St Patrick
0:27:48 > 0:27:51who is said to have stepped ashore one day.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55It is not surprising that Portpatrick
0:27:55 > 0:28:01has so many Irish connections - it's just 21 miles from the Irish coast
0:28:01 > 0:28:05and for centuries there has been a constant stream of people
0:28:05 > 0:28:08going backwards and forwards across the sea.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13Being so close to Ireland, Portpatrick became the Gretna Green
0:28:13 > 0:28:17of the far west and in the 18th century, love-struck runaways
0:28:17 > 0:28:21from the Emerald Isle made their way here by boat
0:28:21 > 0:28:25and got married in a fever, which is a suitably romantic note for me
0:28:25 > 0:28:29to end my Grand Tour of Scotland with a feminine touch.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35Join me on my next Grand Tour of Scotland
0:28:35 > 0:28:38when I will be crossing the country from coast to coast.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd