0:00:07 > 0:00:11The beautiful waters of Loch Etive, hemmed in by high mountains,
0:00:11 > 0:00:17lie at the centre of a landscape that fuels the imagination.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20There's an almost primeval feeling about this place.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23These shores are wild and inhospitable,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26and steeped in Celtic myth and legend.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Lochs are Scotland's gift to the world.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35They're a product of an element
0:00:35 > 0:00:39that we have in spectacular abundance - water.
0:00:39 > 0:00:44It's been estimated that there are more than 31,000 lochs in Scotland.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46They come in all shapes and sizes,
0:00:46 > 0:00:49from long fjord-like sea lochs,
0:00:49 > 0:00:52great freshwater lochs of the Central Highlands,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56to the innumerable lochans that stud the open moors.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01In this series, I'm on a loch-hopping journey
0:01:01 > 0:01:04across Scotland, discovering how they've shaped the character
0:01:04 > 0:01:08of the people who live close to their shores.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12For this grand tour, I'm exploring the origins of a mythic world,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15as I follow a loch from sea to mountain.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33My destination for this grand tour is Argyll and Loch Etive,
0:01:33 > 0:01:38which runs from the White Dogs of Connel through the lands of Lorne,
0:01:38 > 0:01:42before turning north-east towards the high mountains of Glencoe.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Loch Etive is a classic fjord,
0:01:47 > 0:01:51and was fashioned by ancient glaciers that scoured out
0:01:51 > 0:01:56the landscape, as they made their way slowly to the sea.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04The untamed shores of upper Loch Etive are truly remote.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06There is no public road into this wilderness,
0:02:06 > 0:02:10and no settlements along its farthest reaches.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15The loch meets the sea and the Firth of Lorne at its narrowest point,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19where the early Gaels settled 1,600 years ago.
0:02:19 > 0:02:21They called their kingdom Dal Riata,
0:02:21 > 0:02:26and its history is populated with heroes and their mighty deeds.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33The narrowest part of the loch is the closest to the sea.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37Today, it's spanned by a bridge at Connel.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Connel means "the White Dogs" in Gaelic.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42So-called because of the tidal race
0:02:42 > 0:02:47that rips through the narrows at an incredible 12 knots.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50The White Dogs are known in English as the Falls Of Lora,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53and when the tide is running, the Dogs
0:02:53 > 0:02:55become a playground for the brave.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07The tide is in full flood and, to watch the sport,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09I've joined kayaker Dave Bleazard
0:03:09 > 0:03:12on a powerboat in the middle of the falls.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15Well, Loch Etive runs about 15 miles up behind you,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18up to Taynuilt and then all the way up to the head of the loch.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21And the tide drops - today it's stopping by about three metres
0:03:21 > 0:03:23in height, so all that volume of water,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26three metres of all the surface area of Loch Etive,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29has got to all come piling through this gap.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32But it's amazing, the force of water that we're looking at here.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35There's great boils erupting on the surface,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37as if there's something alive down there.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41Yeah, the bottom's not flat, so there's pinnacles and hollows,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44and it forces the water up and it forces it down and, yeah,
0:03:44 > 0:03:46it's just not a straight run through at all.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Now, if you were in a kayak over there,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52what kind of challenges are you faced with?
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Staying upright is the first of them!
0:03:54 > 0:03:57There's plenty of boils and things that are going to push your boat
0:03:57 > 0:04:00- around, push you sideways. - But this is strictly for experts,
0:04:00 > 0:04:02- I'm guessing?- Yeah, the boys that will be on here today
0:04:02 > 0:04:04are some of Scotland's top paddlers, absolutely.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Oh! He's gone, he's gone.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14He's back up again.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16Oh! Dearie me! THEY LAUGH
0:04:16 > 0:04:19That water's gone right up his nose.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23I thought he was a goner for a moment.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25It's amazing how quickly they can recover.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Some of the kayakers are making use of an unusual two-metre wave
0:04:33 > 0:04:35that's formed under the bridge.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37- That's a big wave.- It is, yes.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39But it's not actually moving anywhere, is it?
0:04:39 > 0:04:40- It's a standing wave.- Yes.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43So that's, like, quite a strange phenomenon, is it not?
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Well, in ocean terms, it is.
0:04:46 > 0:04:47In river terms, it's not.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50We get a lot of waves on the river that stand still.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53And so, it is, it's a river feature on the sea.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56So, you'll be able to have lots of opportunity as a kayaker
0:04:56 > 0:04:58to just constantly surf this wave.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01- Yeah.- And it's not going to ever break and reach ashore?
0:05:01 > 0:05:02No, that's right.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10It's hardly surprising that the early traveller Dorothy Wordsworth
0:05:10 > 0:05:13never forgot the Falls Of Lora.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17In 1803, she and her brother, the poet William Wordsworth,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20crossed in an open boat with their horse and trap.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24"The horse fretted and stamped
0:05:24 > 0:05:26"its feet against the bare boards.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28"The tide was rushing violently
0:05:28 > 0:05:31"and making a strong eddy so that
0:05:31 > 0:05:35"the motion, the noise and foam terrified him still more,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39"and we thought that it would be impossible to keep him in the boat."
0:05:40 > 0:05:44Fortunately, they just managed to stop the horse from jumping
0:05:44 > 0:05:46overboard and capsizing the boat.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50And guess what? They never took a Highland ferry again.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56Paddling at slack tide,
0:05:56 > 0:05:58with the fury of the falls but a memory,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02I make my way to one of the most ancient castles in Scotland.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05The imposing fortress of Dunstaffnage
0:06:05 > 0:06:09has guarded the entrance to Loch Etive for centuries.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14In the Middle Ages, Dunstaffnage became a centre
0:06:14 > 0:06:16of Clan MacDougall power.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Now, unfortunately, they backed the wrong side
0:06:19 > 0:06:21in the Wars of Scottish Independence,
0:06:21 > 0:06:23and were defeated by Robert the Bruce,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27who confiscated their lands and gave them to their arch rivals,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Clan Campbell, who have reigned supreme here ever since.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39With so much Campbell history embued in its ancient walls,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41Dunstaffnage is a place of legends,
0:06:41 > 0:06:46where the past and the supernatural seem to be ingrained into
0:06:46 > 0:06:47the very fabric of the building.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54Lorn Macintyre has known the castle since he was a boy.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Having spent his formative years in its shadow,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59the place and its Campbell keepers
0:06:59 > 0:07:02have left a great impression on him.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Now, Lorn, you've known Dunstaffnage since you were a boy,
0:07:05 > 0:07:06- is that not right?- Yes,
0:07:06 > 0:07:11we grew up beside Angus Campbell, the 20th hereditary captain
0:07:11 > 0:07:15- of Dunstaffnage, as he never failed to remind people.- Right!
0:07:15 > 0:07:18My grandmother was his housekeeper in the mansion house,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22which burnt down in 1940, and she was really,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26for the rest of his life, his confidant, and looked after him.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28He's a very colourful character.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30He was a very, very colourful character.
0:07:30 > 0:07:31He was, I would call,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35one of the last of the traditional lairds.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37He was steeped in his own heritage,
0:07:37 > 0:07:41but also very much steeped in a kind of Celtic, mystical,
0:07:41 > 0:07:43supernatural heritage.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45He lived, I think, in a world of ghosts,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48and he lived in a world of rituals.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51When you walked up the avenue with him in the twilight,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54and the moon was rising, he insisted on stopping
0:07:54 > 0:07:57and opening his sporran and turning the coins over,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00because he had a superstition about that,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03and when you were in my grandmother's kitchen when he was
0:08:03 > 0:08:06taking his coffee, you daren't look at the new moon through glass.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10- Right, why was that?- Because he thought it would bring misfortune
0:08:10 > 0:08:13onto you. He was enormously superstitious.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17He believed, somehow, that these supernatural apparitions -
0:08:17 > 0:08:19and there were apparitions -
0:08:19 > 0:08:23were part of his heritage like the paintings on the walls,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25and therefore just to be accepted.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32The captaincy of Dunstaffnage is
0:08:32 > 0:08:37a hereditary title, granted by the Campbell Duke of Argyll.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39In addition to a peppercorn rent,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42the captains are traditionally obliged
0:08:42 > 0:08:46to spend each Midsummer's night in the gatehouse,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50which has the reputation for being haunted by a poltergeist.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53So, he'd come here by himself on a camp bed,
0:08:53 > 0:08:55and spend Midsummer's night here?
0:08:55 > 0:08:57He came here and he had a torch.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00- He had a West Highland terrier to...- Uh-huh.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05..to alert him if any ghosts should appear and disturb him.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07And then, he put the light out, he stopped reading
0:09:07 > 0:09:11and he was fetched again in the dawn and taken back home,
0:09:11 > 0:09:15and my grandmother made sure that he had not been disturbed during
0:09:15 > 0:09:19the night by any spectral interventions.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21And were there any spectres that he might have seen, do you think?
0:09:21 > 0:09:26Well, the principal one is a lady called the Elle-maid.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28I'm not quite sure how she gets her name,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31but she seems to have been a very real presence
0:09:31 > 0:09:33in this castle down the centuries.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37And one of the attributes, according to tradition,
0:09:37 > 0:09:41of the Elle-maid is that she has a man's tread, a heavy man's tread.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43What about you, Lorn? Would you spend the night here?
0:09:43 > 0:09:45I don't think so.
0:09:45 > 0:09:50From what I know of the place and what I have actually heard and read,
0:09:50 > 0:09:55I think I would have to have people with me and perhaps
0:09:55 > 0:09:57a very, very good guard dog.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59It is spooky. It is very spooky.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Out of a strange sense of bravado,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09I've decided to spend the night in the gatehouse.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12I'm doing this not to challenge the claim of the Campbell keepers of
0:10:12 > 0:10:16Dunstaffnage, but to see if it's possible to get a good night's sleep
0:10:16 > 0:10:19in such an ancient and haunted place.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24According to Lorn,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28the Elle-maid announces her presence with the sound of very heavy
0:10:28 > 0:10:31footsteps, which is bad news if you're unlucky enough to hear them,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34so I've got these earplugs
0:10:34 > 0:10:38just in case and, as an added precaution...
0:10:39 > 0:10:40..in case I see anything
0:10:40 > 0:10:43that's particularly ghoulish and disturbing,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45I've got this eye mask.
0:10:45 > 0:10:46So, time for bed.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50HE SIGHS
0:10:51 > 0:10:53I'm exhausted.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58SCREAMING VOICES
0:11:00 > 0:11:03FOOTSTEPS
0:11:05 > 0:11:06Dah!
0:11:23 > 0:11:25After a rather fitful sleep,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28I leave Dunstaffnage and its supernatural connections,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32and continue my journey eastwards up Loch Etive,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35heading to Bonawe and the village of Taynuilt,
0:11:35 > 0:11:40where I come across a little-known monument with legendary connections.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45This standing stone, curiously called the Nelson Stone,
0:11:45 > 0:11:50was the first-ever monument erected to the memory of Admiral Lord Nelson
0:11:50 > 0:11:54after his death at the Battle of Trafalgar.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57So, what, you might well ask, has a Highland village
0:11:57 > 0:12:00got to do with a one-armed, one-eyed naval hero?
0:12:00 > 0:12:03And the answer, of course, is balls.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Cannonballs, to be precise.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12Remarkably, some of the cannonballs fired by the Royal Navy at Trafalgar
0:12:12 > 0:12:16could well have been made from iron smelted here
0:12:16 > 0:12:18on the shores of Loch Etive.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23At Bonawe are the impressive remains of an iron foundry built
0:12:23 > 0:12:24in the 18th century.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27These days, it's also a museum.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Now, this is a rare and rather unexpected example
0:12:33 > 0:12:36of early industry in the Highlands,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39and this is a lump of iron slag,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42the waste product from the smelting process.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44It's rough and quite heavy,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47and you find it on the ground everywhere around here.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50Now, the iron ore itself actually came all the way from Cumbria,
0:12:50 > 0:12:55brought here by the ironmasters for the smelting process.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57And the reason they chose Loch Etive
0:12:57 > 0:13:00was because of this stuff - charcoal,
0:13:00 > 0:13:02which came from trees round about.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08To find out more about charcoal-making,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12which kept an army of men busy in the oak forests of Etive,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15I meet up with one of the few charcoal makers left in Scotland.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21Alasdair Eckersall is a ranger with the National Trust for Scotland.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25He combines charcoal making with woodland conservation.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27- This is a kiln?- It is. - A charcoal kiln?- That's right.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31Well, I have to say, it doesn't look quite as high-tech as I imagined.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33It's basically just a big oil drum, is it not?
0:13:33 > 0:13:35It is, indeed.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39But it's higher tech than you would have come across in days gone by.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42There are certainly more advanced ways of making charcoal
0:13:42 > 0:13:44these days, right enough.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Now, what exactly is charcoal?
0:13:46 > 0:13:52So, charcoal is just the carbon element of wood.
0:13:52 > 0:13:53If you take a piece of wood,
0:13:53 > 0:13:57and you burn it without the presence of oxygen,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59everything else in the wood will disappear,
0:13:59 > 0:14:04and you're left the carbon skeleton of that piece of wood.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06So, how do you take the oxygen out of the equation, then?
0:14:06 > 0:14:12By getting a good hot fire going in a controlled fashion.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Using a kiln like this, we can seal out most of the air,
0:14:15 > 0:14:20just let a small amount of air in.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23The next phase of operations is to stack the kiln,
0:14:23 > 0:14:27which means that we actually have to climb inside it to lay the wood,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30which Alasdair's volunteers have prepared,
0:14:30 > 0:14:35a task that would have been familiar to charcoal makers of old.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39The charcoal-making families would have just lived in the woods.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Some of the archive photos,
0:14:41 > 0:14:46you'll see the very basic stone and little thatched huts that they would
0:14:46 > 0:14:47build themselves in the words.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49And the whole family would live like that?
0:14:49 > 0:14:50The whole family would live there.
0:14:50 > 0:14:56The nature of charcoal-making then meant they had to be on site
0:14:56 > 0:14:59- all the time, watching their burn. - Uh-huh.
0:15:04 > 0:15:10The team keeps feeding us with wood, and gradually the level rises.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13I'm then granted the honour of removing the centre pole
0:15:13 > 0:15:19and pouring burning embers into the space to set the fire.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21And how long will this burn for?
0:15:21 > 0:15:25This is going to burn for about 14, 15 hours.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28With the lid in place and sealed with mud,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31the burn will need to be tended carefully,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34and the airflow adjusted using four pipe chimneys
0:15:34 > 0:15:37to make sure the wood doesn't turn to ash.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43After the smoke finally clears the following morning,
0:15:43 > 0:15:45I join an anxious Alasdair
0:15:45 > 0:15:48to lift the lid on his charcoal-making skills.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50And this is the moment of truth.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52- It certainly is.- What's inside?
0:15:54 > 0:15:55HE LAUGHS
0:15:55 > 0:15:58I thought there might just be a pile of ash!
0:15:58 > 0:16:00But that's really impressive, Alasdair, isn't it?
0:16:00 > 0:16:02- That's come away OK. Yeah. - That is really impressive.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05That's not a bad burn. So, you can see there how the wood's kept
0:16:05 > 0:16:08- its integrity. We've still got the...- Uh-huh.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10..the shape of the original piece of wood,
0:16:10 > 0:16:12but everything else has gone out of it,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14and we're just left with the carbon.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18You can even see the grains in the wood and the rings.
0:16:18 > 0:16:19It's really quite beautiful.
0:16:19 > 0:16:20It's almost like a work of art.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27It's amazing to think that Alasdair's charcoal-making process
0:16:27 > 0:16:29links Loch Etive to be cannonballs
0:16:29 > 0:16:33fired by Nelson's fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39As mist descends over the forest, I move on,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43heading to a place that continues to make use of the area's abundant
0:16:43 > 0:16:46resources - oakwood and salmon.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51At Inverawe Smokehouse, salmon and trout are prepared daily.
0:16:51 > 0:16:56Once filleted, the fish are placed on racks to be dried and cured,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00using the age-old process of cold smoking.
0:17:00 > 0:17:01- Yes! You beauty!- That's better.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04I help the owner, Robert Campbell-Preston,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07to load up with freshly split oak logs.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11He then introduces me to the arcane art of smoking.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14The smoke goes under the floor here,
0:17:15 > 0:17:19and then up through the kilns and out through the roof.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22- It's very simple.- Passing through the fish on its way.- Oh, yeah, yeah.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24Absolutely.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27So, I'll just pull this out for you.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28Then...
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Now, how you make the smoke is
0:17:32 > 0:17:35really with this little contraption down here.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38- Is that controlling the air supply? - That controls the air.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40- Uh-huh.- And when you're cold smoking and you don't want flame,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44- you just want smoke, every fire is different.- Mm.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47You get to know the quirk of each fire.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50- So, lift the lid off... - So, this is a 24/7 operation?
0:17:50 > 0:17:51Yeah.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55And the secret to good smoking, I think,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58is to keep stoking the fire every four hours.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00That's perfect. Now,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04what you need to do to make a good heart in your fire,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06what they always do is bang it.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Bang it. Go on, bang it. That gets a good heart going.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11It puts the wood down.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13And heart to a fire is really important.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15- Now, see how it's getting... - There's a lot of stuff out.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Now, the smoke is increasing. Even though the lid's off, the smoke's
0:18:18 > 0:18:21- increasing...- Uh-huh. - ..because we put fresh wood in
0:18:21 > 0:18:22and, obviously, the more...
0:18:22 > 0:18:24The fresher it is, the more smoke you get.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28And that's why it's so important that you stoke the fire
0:18:28 > 0:18:30every three to four hours.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32You love your smoke!
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Yeah, you'll love it, too! Right, lid on.
0:18:34 > 0:18:35Now, this is important to, again,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38control it, because that controls how the fire works,
0:18:38 > 0:18:43but where you place this in here matters, because,
0:18:43 > 0:18:44remember, when we are smoking,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47we mustn't let the fish get warmer than 30 degrees.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50- I'm smoking already, Robert. - OK, push it in, push it in.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Push it in. That's it.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56So, you must have shift work here?
0:18:56 > 0:18:58Oh, yes. 7/7, yeah.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01- We've always got somebody here. - And the fires never go out?
0:19:01 > 0:19:02But at night, we just stoke it down, and...
0:19:02 > 0:19:06- Do they ever go out? - Oh, yeah, of course they do.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08- They do?- Well, sometimes.- Sometimes?
0:19:08 > 0:19:10That's when the boss starts shouting!
0:19:10 > 0:19:13And then starts to get angry. Why are the fires...?
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Who let the fires go out?! You know, just like the wife at home.
0:19:16 > 0:19:17Who let the fire go out?!
0:19:17 > 0:19:20- You know what I mean?- You're very passionate about this.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23I've never heard of someone speak so passionately
0:19:23 > 0:19:25about smoke in my life before.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27- HE CHUCKLES - Yeah, that's crazy, isn't it?
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Leaving Robert in a cloud of his beloved wood smoke,
0:19:32 > 0:19:37I bid farewell to Inverawe, taking a lovely side of smoked salmon -
0:19:37 > 0:19:40a present for my dear old ma.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46Back on the water, I head further up the loch,
0:19:46 > 0:19:48in the company of Natalie Hicks,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50a research scientist working
0:19:50 > 0:19:53at the Scottish Association Of Marine Science.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Natalie has been studying the extraordinary ecosystem hidden
0:19:57 > 0:20:00beneath the deep, dark waters of Loch Etive.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03So, Natalie, we certainly picked the weather to be at an Loch Etive,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07which, from a scientific point of view, is a really unique loch.
0:20:07 > 0:20:08Yes, it is, indeed.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11I mean, is one of 110 sea lochs that we have on the West Coast of
0:20:11 > 0:20:15Scotland and, for scientists, this is particularly interesting,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17because effectively we've got a marine-dominated system
0:20:17 > 0:20:20in the lower basin here, and we've got a more freshwater-dominated
0:20:20 > 0:20:22system in the upper basin,
0:20:22 > 0:20:24very much like a fjord you would find in Norway.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27So, what does that mean in terms of the marine life
0:20:27 > 0:20:29that you might expect to find here?
0:20:29 > 0:20:31So, we've got a few unique species in the loch.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33Most of them you do find in the open oceans.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37For example, we've got a Zooplankton population and a Copepod population.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39What's that?
0:20:39 > 0:20:43They're small organisms that feed on Phytoplankton.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45They form the basis of the food chain.
0:20:45 > 0:20:46There's a huge population in the loch.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49- Really?- It's an ideal environment for them.- Mm-hmm.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51So, they can tolerate the changes in salinity,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53and there's not many predators, but there's a lot of food.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56So, what kind of abundance are you talking about?
0:20:56 > 0:20:57You can just scoop it out of the water?
0:20:57 > 0:21:00You can scoop it out of the water, and it looks like a pink soup -
0:21:00 > 0:21:01because there's so many of them,
0:21:01 > 0:21:03it changes the colour of the water itself.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05- I know you've got a net. - We have got a net.
0:21:05 > 0:21:06Are we going to do some scooping?
0:21:06 > 0:21:10- I think we should scoop some out and see if we can catch some.- Excellent.
0:21:13 > 0:21:18The Zooplankton we're after form an important part of the food chain.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Their bodies have a very high omega oil content,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23and it's what makes the fish that feed on them,
0:21:23 > 0:21:27like herring and mackerel, so healthy to eat.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Natalie's method of catching them takes me back
0:21:30 > 0:21:34to a happy childhood spent rock-pooling with a shrimp net,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37although this one is considerably longer
0:21:37 > 0:21:39and has the collection bottle at its base.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41You don't want to lose that, now, do you?
0:21:41 > 0:21:43No. Definitely not.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46It's as simple as lowering the net into the depths
0:21:46 > 0:21:49and bringing it up to the surface.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51Here it comes!
0:21:51 > 0:21:53- Have you got anything? - Let's have a look.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Let's tip it into a bucket and see what we've got.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Ooh, we've got a couple of jellyfish! Look, you can see there.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03- Is that them?- Yup, so, all those little pinky, browny colours.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06- The pink stuff?- Yup. You can see them zipping around.
0:22:06 > 0:22:07Some of them are in clumps,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10and that's why the water's this sort of pinkish, brownish colour.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14Looks like we got lucky and we've got two Moon jellyfish as well.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16- Do they sting?- These ones don't sting us. Yeah,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18you're safe to pick these up. That's not a problem.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22- Here you go.- Wow. Are you sure it doesn't sting?
0:22:22 > 0:22:25- Yeah.- It doesn't sting. It doesn't sting, folks.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27- You can pick them up.- Yeah.- But only the Moon jellyfish?
0:22:27 > 0:22:30Yeah, only the Moon. Don't pick any of the red ones up that you see
0:22:30 > 0:22:32around the coast, they definitely sting.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34I'm surprised to see so many of these tiny little...
0:22:34 > 0:22:35They look like little shrimps.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38- They do, and they move very quickly, don't they?- They do.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40- Do they bite?- They don't bite.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43- I've never known of a Copepod to bite a human.- Let me see.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45- Go on.- Ouch!
0:22:45 > 0:22:47THEY LAUGH It got me.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Leaving Natalie and her Zooplankton,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57I head up lonely Glen Etive,
0:22:57 > 0:23:01a place which is steeped in the legends of the early Celts
0:23:01 > 0:23:02who settled here.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08I can see why the landscape fed into the collective mythology.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11This is a place that excites the imagination
0:23:11 > 0:23:12with every turn of the road,
0:23:12 > 0:23:17which eventually emerges onto the bleak expanse of Rannoch Moor.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28There can be few visitors who are unimpressed by the imposing
0:23:28 > 0:23:32mountains which dominate the moor, especially Buachaille Etive Mor
0:23:32 > 0:23:35behind me, which translates from the Gaelic
0:23:35 > 0:23:37as the "big herdsman of Etive".
0:23:45 > 0:23:48To fully appreciate the epic scale of the Buachaille,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51which, I have to say, is my favourite mountain
0:23:51 > 0:23:53in the whole of Scotland,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55I'm meeting up with Murray Wilkie,
0:23:55 > 0:24:00who specialises in taking extraordinary mountain photographs.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05His secret is to capture them in the magical light of dawn, sunset,
0:24:05 > 0:24:09or both. But to do this, he goes to exceptional lengths.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14I'm joining him on a trek to the summit of a hill
0:24:14 > 0:24:16overlooking the Buachaille.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18The plan is to camp at altitude.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23So, what's the idea behind this high-level camping, Murray?
0:24:23 > 0:24:26Well, it's the views you get, I think.
0:24:26 > 0:24:27The sunsets and the sunrises.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30When you get them, you just can't beat it.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32It's the best light. You get great views, but when you get the light,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36- it's just amazing.- It's a real privilege to be up here.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39I'm not quite so sure about the privilege of camping up here.
0:24:39 > 0:24:40LAUGHTER
0:24:40 > 0:24:44- We'll have to see how that goes. - Well, let's see. There it is.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47- The sunshine. - That's what we want.- Yeah.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48That's what we're chasing.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51I think we might get a view in a minute, the view we've not seen.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58It's getting spectacular with every step.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Or more spectacular with every step.
0:25:00 > 0:25:01Look at that. Isn't it just...?
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Some people wonder why you come to the mountains,
0:25:03 > 0:25:08and you don't really know until you get into these positions, do you?
0:25:08 > 0:25:10Such an impressive view, Murray.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12- It's not bad, is it? - Ben Nevis in front of us, look.
0:25:12 > 0:25:17Yes. You can make out its north face and the moors in front of that.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19- The Ossians over there. - That's right.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22And then, if you go further round, you can see Ben Alder,
0:25:22 > 0:25:25and right round to Schiehallion again.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27And in front of us, we've got this great chasm.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29The beginning of Glencoe.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Sunset, which is what we've come for, isn't too far away.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40But there's still time to put up the tent and have a blether before the
0:25:40 > 0:25:43magic hour arrives.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45It's the first serious mountain I ever claimed.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49- Oh, really?- When I was a wee boy. Yeah. I was about 13 or 14.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51And I was scared rigid.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55- A curved ridge in early December. - Right.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58Snow and ice, and I was dragged up there kicking and screaming.
0:25:58 > 0:25:59But I loved it!
0:25:59 > 0:26:03I absolutely loved it. And we got to this summit as the sun was going
0:26:03 > 0:26:06down, so the way, watching the sun go down behind the Buachaille is
0:26:06 > 0:26:08- kind of reliving that.- Yeah, yeah.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Have you got any favourite mountains that you've climbed and managed to
0:26:11 > 0:26:15- capture the essence of?- Yes.- In your photography and your videos?
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Yeah, I think the one that stands out, I think,
0:26:19 > 0:26:24I did a wild camp on top of Beinn Alligin, which is up in Torridon.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26It was getting dark. I looked outside back at the summit,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29and I saw a wee flash. Somebody's out taking pictures already.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32So I thought, "Right, I'll get out", and I started taking the
0:26:32 > 0:26:34pictures, and as I scan north,
0:26:34 > 0:26:36I took a picture, looking, you can just see...
0:26:36 > 0:26:39You couldn't see it with the naked eye, because it was still quite
0:26:39 > 0:26:40light, but there was a wee band of green,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43and as the night progressed, the lights became visible to the...
0:26:43 > 0:26:46- The Northern lights?- The Northern Lights. Aurora borealis,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49yeah, became... You know, you often see them on the cameras,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51but you can't see them with the naked eye.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54This is only one of three times I've seen them with the naked eye,
0:26:54 > 0:26:57and the only time I've seen them on top of the mountain.
0:26:57 > 0:26:58It was spectacular, though?
0:26:58 > 0:27:01- Oh, it was amazing. - It's strange, though, because,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04doing what we're doing, it's... Well, the way that you do it,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06is essentially a very solitary pastime.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08But you're not a solitary person.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10- Well...- Do you come up here to contemplate,
0:27:10 > 0:27:13do you feel because you're high somehow,
0:27:13 > 0:27:15you know, you're on the summit of the gods,
0:27:15 > 0:27:17looking down on the rest of humanity?
0:27:17 > 0:27:21- No!- Because we are! We see the cars driving past down there on the A82.
0:27:21 > 0:27:22- Yeah.- Tiny wee things.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25- And we're up here. - For me, personally,
0:27:25 > 0:27:27not that I'm not enjoying your company tonight,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30but I do like it when I'm by myself and I don't meet another soul.
0:27:30 > 0:27:31There's something...
0:27:32 > 0:27:34You appreciate things as well,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37I think, when you do go back, back home.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40- It's a bit zen.- Yeah, well, absolutely.- A bit of zen.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43A bit of meditation, maybe, yeah.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46But look at it. I mean, you can't argue with that, can you?
0:27:50 > 0:27:52We are exceptionally lucky.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54The clouds have kept away,
0:27:54 > 0:28:00allowing the dying rays of the setting sun to catch the Buachaille.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03The great herdsman of Etive looks very imposing now,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05as I take a photograph
0:28:05 > 0:28:08to capture the essence of my favourite mountain.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Now, this has definitely been worth waiting for.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15Because I've never seen the Buachaille in this light before.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19He looks truly epic, a real giant,
0:28:19 > 0:28:24making this the perfect place for me to end my grand tour among the
0:28:24 > 0:28:26legends of the west.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34My next grand tour takes me to the far north-west,
0:28:34 > 0:28:36exploring both above and below the waves.