0:00:06 > 0:00:09The lochan-studded expanse of Rannoch Moor -
0:00:09 > 0:00:11an icon of the untamed.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17A true wilderness, and once a place of thieves and wild men.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21For generations the West Highlands were considered to be
0:00:21 > 0:00:24a dangerous place, a country to be tamed.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28First the military came, and then the engineers,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32and they built roads and railways and harnessed the power of nature.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37Lochs are Scotland's gift to the world,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40and are the product of an element that we have
0:00:40 > 0:00:44in spectacular abundance - water.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49It's been estimated that there are more than 31,000 lochs in Scotland.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52They come in all shapes and sizes,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55from long fjord-like sea lochs,
0:00:55 > 0:00:58great freshwater lochs of the Central Highlands,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01to the innumerable lochans that stud the open moors.
0:01:03 > 0:01:04In this series,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07I'm on a loch-hopping journey across Scotland,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10discovering how they've shaped the character of the people
0:01:10 > 0:01:12who live close to their shores.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18For this grand tour, I'm taking a walk on the wild side.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35My journey starts on the beautiful banks of Loch Tulla,
0:01:35 > 0:01:39crosses Rannoch Moor, and then by Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel
0:01:39 > 0:01:40I will go.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43It reaches journey's end on a fairy mountain.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Loch Tulla lies on the southern edge of the great Rannoch Moor.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54This wild country was first settled thousands of years ago.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58To see the evidence of habitation for myself,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02I'm being ferried out to a tiny island called Eilean Stalcair,
0:02:02 > 0:02:05where some of the first people to lead settled lives
0:02:05 > 0:02:08in this part of Scotland made their home.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11It's known as a crannog -
0:02:11 > 0:02:14that's an artificial island that was built
0:02:14 > 0:02:17to keep the occupants safe from wild animals,
0:02:17 > 0:02:20and from their human enemies' raiding and plundering.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27Back in the Iron Age, over 2,000 years ago,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30the crannog would have been a defensive home
0:02:30 > 0:02:33to an extended family, living in a thatched timber house,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36sitting on wooden stilts above the water.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40Crannogs were once very common.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45At least 600 have been identified by archaeologists in Scotland's lochs.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48The earliest belonged to the Stone Age.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Others were used for hundreds of years.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56This crannog was occupied up until the 14th century by Clan MacGregor,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59who once dominated this whole area.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01And when they lost it to the Campbells,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05their bard wrote a lament recalling their happy days
0:03:05 > 0:03:07on the shores of Loch Tulla,
0:03:07 > 0:03:09and I can see why they were sad to leave it.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18It's amazing to think that during the last ice age
0:03:18 > 0:03:22the whole of Rannoch Moor was covered by a great ice cap.
0:03:22 > 0:03:23As the glaciers melted,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26they created the loch-studded landscape
0:03:26 > 0:03:27we are familiar with today.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34Most of the moor lies over 400 metres above sea level.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37In winter, its many lochans are covered in ice,
0:03:37 > 0:03:42which makes the prospect of taking a dunk in one of them, even in summer,
0:03:42 > 0:03:43less than appealing.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48I meet Calum Maclean on the banks of Loch Ba.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52He's a devotee of wild swimming, a rather grand name
0:03:52 > 0:03:55for something that people have been doing for years.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Calum blogs about his watery adventures,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01which take him to some extreme locations,
0:04:01 > 0:04:05including an icebound lochan high in the frozen Cairngorm Mountains.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Today, he invites me to take a plunge in water
0:04:10 > 0:04:12that is thankfully ice-free.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Do you ever actually kind of measure temperatures, scientifically?
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Oh, I never measure the temperature with an actual thermometer.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21I think that's far too scientific for me.
0:04:21 > 0:04:22I think I usually stick my toe in,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25and depending on how much it hurts and how much I scream,
0:04:25 > 0:04:26that's how cold the water is that day.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28So are we going to be screaming, do you think?
0:04:28 > 0:04:30I think when we get in, it's going to hurt.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32That's usually what happens. It never gets any easier.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34- Heart stopping?- Possibly, yeah.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Is there a kind of gradation of wildness that you're looking for?
0:04:36 > 0:04:39I mean, how does this compare, Loch Ba?
0:04:39 > 0:04:41Where we are here, it's quite calm, you know,
0:04:41 > 0:04:42we're not too far from the road.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46But, yeah, I've been to some of the more extreme places, you might say.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49The Gulf of Corryvreckan between Jura and Scarba,
0:04:49 > 0:04:52that was a particularly fun one, where the current sweeps through.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55It's one of the biggest whirlpools, I think, around.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Luckily, there was a slack tide, so we were OK.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00Were you not scared?
0:05:00 > 0:05:02I wasn't scared, no. I was excited more than scared.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05So it's adrenaline rather than just pure fear?
0:05:05 > 0:05:07That's right, yeah.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09I'm ready for this. Are you ready for anything?
0:05:09 > 0:05:11- Uh-huh.- Right.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14- How does it feel so far? - It's fine - I'm wearing a wet suit.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18VOICEOVER: The plan today is for Calum to swim the length of Loch Ba.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20I'm going to try my best to keep up with him,
0:05:20 > 0:05:25at least as far as the nearby island of Eilean Molach.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Perhaps I should have brought my rubber ring,
0:05:27 > 0:05:31but at least my wet suit means I shouldn't die of hypothermia.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36Well, it's really quite cold out here, I have to say, Calum.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40Thank you so much for bringing me out for this wonderful experience.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42But the views are amazing.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46- They are.- It's like a kind of trout's-eye view.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48It is. But, yeah, it's a fantastic way
0:05:48 > 0:05:50to see this beautiful landscape around us.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52And we are in the middle of Rannoch Moor.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Who would have thought it?
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Exactly. Lots of people come here for walking, hiking.
0:05:57 > 0:05:58How many people come here to swim?
0:05:58 > 0:06:01Very few. I wonder why!
0:06:01 > 0:06:04But my problem is that I've only ever really swam
0:06:04 > 0:06:07a maximum of about ten lengths before,
0:06:07 > 0:06:12and what we're proposing to do must be a good bit more than that -
0:06:12 > 0:06:14about ten times more than that.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17So I'm not sure I'll be able to make it all the way.
0:06:17 > 0:06:18I think you might be right.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20I reckon it's about half a kilometre or so.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Oh!
0:06:22 > 0:06:24Well, I'm getting a bit tired now.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Oh, look - I can stand up!
0:06:26 > 0:06:28- Oh.- Oh, ho, ho!
0:06:28 > 0:06:30There's no need to panic at all.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32I can literally walk to this island if I need to.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34That's right, yeah. You invited me here for a swim,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36but it's a bit more of a walk, I think.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38We could just walk the whole way.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Why don't we stroll over this way, if you don't mind?
0:06:40 > 0:06:44VOICEOVER: Unfortunately, our reception committee on shore
0:06:44 > 0:06:46is a swarm of vicious midges.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51Just wade the last few feet to the shore.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Well, Calum, I'm afraid I don't think I'm going to be able
0:06:53 > 0:06:56to make it. I'm just a bit too peched.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00So, if you don't mind, I think I'll just wait for a boat.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03So good luck, my friend.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05OK, well, I'll leave you with the midges, then, Paul.
0:07:05 > 0:07:06Happy wild swimming!
0:07:10 > 0:07:12There he goes. Good luck, Calum.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14But these midges really are horrendous.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16It's time to move on.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Fleeing the swarms of miniature bloodsucking beasties,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26I leave Loch Ba and follow the old road west across the moor.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33It was built by the great 18th-century engineer Thomas Telford,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36and follows the route of an older military road,
0:07:36 > 0:07:39built to suppress the lawless and rebellious clans
0:07:39 > 0:07:42who'd made this wild stretch of country their home.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Nearing the high point on Telford's road,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50I'm looking for a little-known monument to a remarkable man.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Much of the western half of Rannoch Moor
0:07:53 > 0:07:56has been owned for many years by the Fleming family.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Now the most famous member of the family has to be Ian Fleming,
0:08:00 > 0:08:05the author and creator of James Bond, 007.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07But what a lot of people don't know
0:08:07 > 0:08:09is that Ian had an older brother
0:08:09 > 0:08:11who at one time was much the more famous of the two.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Long before Ian Fleming had put creative pen to paper,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Peter Fleming was already a successful travel writer
0:08:23 > 0:08:25and novelist.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28During the war he worked for British intelligence,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31and drew on his experience to write a spy thriller.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34The Sixth Column was described by critics
0:08:34 > 0:08:38as the blueprint for his younger brother's Bond story, Casino Royale.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Despite the similarities,
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Peter encouraged Ian's literary endeavours,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47and even suggested the name Miss Moneypenny.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49He loved the outdoors,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53and was an enthusiastic sportsman with a passion for shooting.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56But it was out here on the wilds of Rannoch Moor
0:08:56 > 0:09:01that he suddenly and unexpectedly died of a heart attack.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05And this cairn marks the exact spot where he fell -
0:09:05 > 0:09:10a memorial to a remarkable life and an unsung literary hero.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Journeying into the heart of Rannoch Moor,
0:09:16 > 0:09:21I encounter its biggest loch by far, Loch Laidon.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24A faint path follows the shoreline,
0:09:24 > 0:09:30and after a 14-mile hike I come across an unexpected sight -
0:09:30 > 0:09:33a railway station, apparently in the middle of nowhere.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Rannoch station is one of the remotest in the country.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42Despite this, trains from London stop here.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Hi, Paul.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46VOICEOVER: To find out about the line that crosses Rannoch Moor,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48I'm meeting up with railway historian
0:09:48 > 0:09:51and photographer Norman McNab.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Norman, why build a railway line
0:09:53 > 0:09:55through such a desolate expanse of moorland?
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Well, there was a need to open up the West Highlands.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01There was a particular desire to get a connection
0:10:01 > 0:10:03from Glasgow to Fort William,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06and then onward from Fort William to the West Coast Sea,
0:10:06 > 0:10:09to tap into the lucrative herring industry.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14And you've got to remember that road across Rannoch Moor to the west
0:10:14 > 0:10:17by Coire Ba was a very, very...
0:10:17 > 0:10:19It was nothing much more than a rough track
0:10:19 > 0:10:21as it was in the days of the stagecoach.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23So getting to Fort William was very hard.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27Over the course of eight years,
0:10:27 > 0:10:315,000 navvies toiled in horrendous conditions
0:10:31 > 0:10:34to build the railway across the moor,
0:10:34 > 0:10:36where deep peat banks forced the engineers
0:10:36 > 0:10:40to float the line on rafts of brushwood and ash.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45The first passenger services eventually began in 1894.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48What's interesting to me,
0:10:48 > 0:10:50to celebrate the opening of the line,
0:10:50 > 0:10:53this wonderful book here, Mountain, Moor And Loch,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56was produced when this line was opened,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58presumably to encourage a wealthier sort of visitor.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01Yes. Absolutely.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04And it's a beautifully illustrated book as well.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07And the poetry of it all was bound to have enthused people.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09"From the window of the railway carriage,
0:11:09 > 0:11:11"it is the reverse of wearisome."
0:11:11 > 0:11:14As true today as it was when it was written.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17And of course, you can tell the character of a person, man or woman,
0:11:17 > 0:11:19by their attitude to crossing Rannoch Moor.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24They're either stimulated and excited by it, and wondrously so,
0:11:24 > 0:11:26or they find it a boring place.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30- How do you find it?- Well, I find it a very stimulating place.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40VOICEOVER: Norman wants to get a shot of the London sleeper train
0:11:40 > 0:11:43crossing the famous Rannoch viaduct.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46So we set off over the heather to get into position.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48It's a great view of the viaduct.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Yep. This is absolutely ideal, Paul.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54All we want is the light.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Now, what are you looking for when you come to choose a location
0:11:56 > 0:11:58to take a photograph?
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Well, I'm looking for a composition
0:12:00 > 0:12:02which sets the train within the landscape.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04So the train is just part of it.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07It's primarily to give the impression
0:12:07 > 0:12:09of the scenery and the location.
0:12:10 > 0:12:16Particularly to bring over this aspect of the wild openness.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18It's something unique to the West Highland Line
0:12:18 > 0:12:20as it crosses over Rannoch Moor.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24It is real drama with the lighting and the clear visibility.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27It can be quite fantastic.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31HORN BLARES
0:12:31 > 0:12:33OK, after all the waiting, here comes the train.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37- OK.- Check the lens cap's off, power's on.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38This is very exciting.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41- This is the moment, Paul. - This is what we've been waiting for.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44One, two, are you getting this?
0:12:44 > 0:12:45That's brilliant.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47Yeah.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50- Do you wave at trains, Norman? - Yes, you do.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53They're waving back.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56Yes, I'm not sure about that gesture, Norman.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Having got our shot of the train,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04suitably invested with the drama of a desolate location,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07I leave Norman and explore the loch-studded moor,
0:13:07 > 0:13:11where I am fascinated to see ancient tree roots
0:13:11 > 0:13:12protruding from the dark peat.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18All across the moor, you come across roots like this
0:13:18 > 0:13:19sticking out of the peat.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22These are the remains of a once-great forest
0:13:22 > 0:13:26that covered this desolate expanse thousands of years ago.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Many of the roots are pine trees,
0:13:29 > 0:13:31early victims of climate change.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Just after the last ice age,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40the climate is thought to have been warmer and drier than now,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43encouraging the spread of forest cover.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45But then things changed.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49It got wetter and cooler, and moss thrived,
0:13:49 > 0:13:51which developed into layers of peat.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54This eventually suffocated the forests
0:13:54 > 0:13:56but preserved the remains of the trees
0:13:56 > 0:13:59which once grew here thousands of years ago.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02My old railway guide, Mountain, Moor And Loch,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06mentions the curious sight of so many old tree roots
0:14:06 > 0:14:08in an otherwise treeless moor,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10and goes on to explain that local folk
0:14:10 > 0:14:13used to use this peat pine as candles.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16They would dry it out, break it into little splinters,
0:14:16 > 0:14:18and then light the splinters
0:14:18 > 0:14:22which made excellent candles to spin wool by.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24Not that the local folk had much choice
0:14:24 > 0:14:26in the matter of their illumination,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28because candles were far too expensive.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37Reaching the road, I pick up a push bike and pedal west,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41following the River Gaur as it makes its way down to Loch Rannoch,
0:14:41 > 0:14:46which, in the days of the Jacobites, was an unruly place indeed.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49This was a wild country without roads,
0:14:49 > 0:14:52presided over by a warrior chief.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Alexander Struan Robinson is the only man known
0:14:55 > 0:14:59to have taken part in all three Jacobite risings.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05But Struan Robertson had gentler beginnings.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08He was actually a divinity student at St Andrews University,
0:15:08 > 0:15:13where he joined the first Jacobite rebellion in 1689.
0:15:13 > 0:15:18In 1715, he was captured at the Battle of Sheriffmuir,
0:15:18 > 0:15:20but then escaped to France.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25And then, in 1745, at the age of 75,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28the old warrior marched off to join Bonnie Prince Charlie,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31whose defeat at Culloden cost him dear.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36The estates of Struan Robertson were forfeited
0:15:36 > 0:15:39and he lived out the rest of his days in a cottage
0:15:39 > 0:15:42close to the great black wood of Rannoch.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Today, the black wood is one of the largest areas
0:15:45 > 0:15:49of ancient Caledonian pine forest left in the country.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55The Scots pine is the dominant tree species here.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58In Latin, it's known as Pinus sylvestris,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01but you have to be very careful how you pronounce it
0:16:01 > 0:16:04if you want to avoid offence.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07And I'm being as careful as I can.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09Pee-nus or pie-nus sylvestris
0:16:09 > 0:16:14as it's known, has recently been voted as Scotland's national tree.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17And here in the black wood of Rannoch
0:16:17 > 0:16:19are many fine old specimens,
0:16:19 > 0:16:20including this one,
0:16:20 > 0:16:25which must have been a mere sapling when Struan Robertson lived here.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28Amazing to think of all that history it has seen.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34Struan Robertson wouldn't recognise my next destination.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39Nestling beneath the peak of Schiehallion is Kinloch Rannoch.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42It's a quiet, respectable sort of place,
0:16:42 > 0:16:44but when the old clan chief was alive,
0:16:44 > 0:16:48this area was at the heart of a rebellious community.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51When the Jacobites were finally defeated,
0:16:51 > 0:16:55it became a refuge for desperate, hungry men on the run.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Because the people were starving,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01the returning warriors had to resort to theft
0:17:01 > 0:17:03to keep their families alive.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05And soon, Rannoch acquired a reputation
0:17:05 > 0:17:08of cattle rustling and lawlessness.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12A captain of the army of occupation wrote,
0:17:12 > 0:17:13"The people of this country
0:17:13 > 0:17:15"are the greatest thieves in Scotland
0:17:15 > 0:17:18"and were all in the late rebellion."
0:17:19 > 0:17:23But within a few years, the village of Kinloch Rannoch was established.
0:17:23 > 0:17:25Schools and churches were built
0:17:25 > 0:17:29in an attempt to civilise the wild clansfolk,
0:17:29 > 0:17:31and it seems to have worked.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33There's not a rebellious Jacobite to be seen.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Leaving Kinloch Rannoch, I take the old military road,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46following the southern shores of Loch Tummel.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50After its warlike history, it now seems the epitome of peace.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53And what could be more peaceful than sailing?
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Loch Tummel has become a favourite location for lovers of watersports,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02and dinghy sailing in particular.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Despite the gale that's blowing,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07I threw caution to the wind and joined veteran sailor Jim
0:18:07 > 0:18:09and his crew member Amanda,
0:18:09 > 0:18:13dodging other boats as squalls race across the water.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16Are we going to jibe or are we going to about?
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Oh, no, we're going to go about in this weather.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Would you normally be coming out to the loch in this weather?
0:18:22 > 0:18:23Not normally, no.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26This is just for a bit of fun, really.
0:18:26 > 0:18:27Right.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29So, if you look upwind,
0:18:29 > 0:18:32you can see dark patches are sitting on the water.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Some of them have more ripples than the others,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37and that generally is when your squalls are coming in.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39That's when your boat will start to keel over quickly.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41- Or it could flatten you completely? - Yes.- Which we don't want.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43No.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45When did you start sailing?
0:18:45 > 0:18:47About 1949.
0:18:47 > 0:18:48Good grief, really?
0:18:48 > 0:18:50- Yep.- It's done you well.
0:18:50 > 0:18:51Yep.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54No disrespect, but you really are an old sea dog.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Well, I'd hardly say an old sea dog,
0:18:58 > 0:19:00but we are all wrinkly anyhow.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02It's a lifetime, you've spent a lifetime at the tiller.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10As we tack backwards and forwards across the loch,
0:19:10 > 0:19:14Jim tells me that we are sailing over land that was once farmed.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17There are even the ruins of an ancient Clan Menzies hunting lodge
0:19:17 > 0:19:19beneath our keel.
0:19:19 > 0:19:24Everything was drowned in the 1950s when the lock was dammed.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29Intrigued, I leave Jim's boat and sail 11km
0:19:29 > 0:19:31to Loch Tummel's famous Queen's View,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34to see for myself how the landscape has been altered
0:19:34 > 0:19:37by this man-made flood.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42Now, this really is a grand view
0:19:42 > 0:19:45and one worthy of royal appreciation.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48But you can tell from this old photograph postcard
0:19:48 > 0:19:50that was taken in the 1940s
0:19:50 > 0:19:53just how much it's been altered by rising water levels.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57There's a whole area of land here that's been flooded.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59The tiny island in the background
0:19:59 > 0:20:03is, in the photograph, nothing more than a wooded hill
0:20:03 > 0:20:05beside the River Tummel.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07It's all drowned now,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09but still rather beautiful.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16Just around the corner from Queen's View is the Clunie Dam.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20Built in 1951, it holds back the weight of Loch Tummel
0:20:20 > 0:20:23and water from a vast catchment area,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27all part of a hugely ambitious hydroelectric scheme.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33This archive film from the 1950s
0:20:33 > 0:20:36shows the dramatic scale of the engineering works
0:20:36 > 0:20:38that were undertaken to harness the power of water
0:20:38 > 0:20:42and to turn it into electricity for the Highlands and beyond.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49An army of men toiled day and night, deep underground,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53drilling and blasting their way through solid rock
0:20:53 > 0:20:57to divert the flow of water into a network of dams.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02This is the Clunie Memorial Arch.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04It actually shares the same dimensions
0:21:04 > 0:21:07as the tunnel that was built to carry water
0:21:07 > 0:21:10from the loch to the power station,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13and clearly shows the scale of the tunnel,
0:21:13 > 0:21:18which, at the time, was the largest of its type built in Britain.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21There are names inscribed here too,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25to remind people of the human cost of the project.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30There are seven massive structures
0:21:30 > 0:21:33that make up the huge hydroelectric scheme.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38At the nearby Pitlochry Dam, I meet up with Gonna O'Donnell,
0:21:38 > 0:21:40one of the famous Tunnel Tigers
0:21:40 > 0:21:45who collectively dug over 400 miles of tunnels in Scotland.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50The first job you went and got in a tunnel was a spanner man.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53That's the man that held the drill
0:21:53 > 0:21:56for the driller that was drilling holes.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59You held that drill,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02but you couldn't wear gloves, nor had any earmuffs.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06I was stone deaf, completely stone deaf.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08The men in the tunnels were minors.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10Some of them were platelayers.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12That's the men that looks after the railway line.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15They were platelayers. Then you have the powder monkey.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17He was looking after the explosives.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19Then you have the loco driver.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21He was taking in and out what we called the muck.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23That was the gravel and stones.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24We called that muck.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26It must have been very dangerous work.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Everything is dangerous when you don't know.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33When I went in first, everybody looked after me.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Anybody that came in after me, I looked after him.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39And if I saw a stone hanging above you when you were drilling,
0:22:39 > 0:22:43if I saw a stone, maybe a stone, maybe a tonne weight,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45or half a tonne weight, or 500 weight,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48I would push you out of the road and point up.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51I mean, it was a waste of time trying to talk.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Nobody could hear you.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58Gonna lived on site in a camp high on the mountainside,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00surrounded by hundreds of other men.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04Many had come from Ireland, others from Eastern Europe,
0:23:04 > 0:23:08having fled the Cold War to work on the hydro scheme.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12When you come back to Scotland and you see these amazing dams,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15what does that make you feel?
0:23:15 > 0:23:18It makes me feel about 18 feet tall.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20It makes me very proud
0:23:20 > 0:23:23that I was a wee part, a small part of it.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25I was a small part of it. But I was there.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32VOICEOVER: In the archive room at the Pitlochry Dam,
0:23:32 > 0:23:34I meet up with Brian Haslam.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Brian was a young engineering graduate
0:23:37 > 0:23:39when he first worked on the dams.
0:23:39 > 0:23:40I was excited.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46I don't know why, but I had faith in my own ability.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48The engineering side didn't bother me.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50I felt quite confident.
0:23:50 > 0:23:51But I hadn't got a clue.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53When I first went in the tunnel, I didn't know,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55I could have been on the moon for all I knew.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57It's a great collective effort.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Cos we look at some of these pictures here,
0:23:59 > 0:24:01you can see men working together,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04really kind of complicated, difficult tasks,
0:24:04 > 0:24:06using huge pieces of machinery.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09That was just making the machinery.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11- What's happening here? - This is the Blondin.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16It's a sort of aerial ropeway that carried the concrete across the dam,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20named after the guy who walked over Niagara Falls.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23So, you were flying concrete from one side of the glen to the other?
0:24:23 > 0:24:25Yes. We were doing just that.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29So what have we got here? We've got this precarious business?
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Men about to disappear into the maw of hell?
0:24:32 > 0:24:37This is just an example of the health and safety rules at the time.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39- Non-existent!- Zilch.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44What do you think is your almost abiding memory
0:24:44 > 0:24:45of working on these tunnels?
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Four years of happiness.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52- Really?- Yeah.- Yeah?- Yeah.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55I get quite nostalgic about this.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02I grew up when I came to the scheme.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04I met the big wide world.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06I met wonderful people.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11I was doing a wonderful job, in a wonderful place.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14I know being inside a tunnel doesn't sound like a wonderful place.
0:25:14 > 0:25:15But the company was good?
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Somebody once said to me it was like a family.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20And you were, you looked after each other.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22That was it.
0:25:22 > 0:25:23That stuck with me.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Leaving a legacy of dams and tunnels,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33which are still generating electricity
0:25:33 > 0:25:35from the wild waters of Lanark,
0:25:35 > 0:25:37I headed to my final destination -
0:25:37 > 0:25:39the shapely peak of Schiehallion.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44This mountain was once considered sacred
0:25:44 > 0:25:47by the early people who lived in its shadow -
0:25:47 > 0:25:51a magical place and the haunt of fairy folk.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53But in the 18th century,
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Schiehallion was tamed by science
0:25:55 > 0:26:00in a brilliant experiment to determine the mass of the Earth.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04To do this, you first needed to work out the mass of something smaller,
0:26:04 > 0:26:05like a mountain.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10In 1775, the Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne
0:26:10 > 0:26:14and the mathematician Charles Hutton chose Schiehallion
0:26:14 > 0:26:18for their experiment because of the mountain's regular, conical shape.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21If you look at any OS map,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24you can see quite clearly from the contour lines
0:26:24 > 0:26:27just how uniform the mountain is.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30They're placed at ten metres apart, these lines.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Now, interestingly, Charles Hutton, a mathematician,
0:26:33 > 0:26:37actually invented contour lines to help him with his calculations,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40to work out the volume of Schiehallion.
0:26:41 > 0:26:42It's an amazing thought,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45that the very first contour lines in the world
0:26:45 > 0:26:48were drawn right here and have been used by map-makers
0:26:48 > 0:26:50and hill walkers ever since.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57The contour lines enabled Maskelyne to calculate the volume
0:26:57 > 0:26:59and then the mass of Schiehallion.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04And then, by scaling up, he was able to work out the mass of the Earth.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08It took 17 long weeks to complete the experiment,
0:27:08 > 0:27:12partly because the weather that summer was dreadful.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16Despite this, the experiment was considered to be a great success
0:27:16 > 0:27:20and came close to the modern figure for the mass of the Earth
0:27:20 > 0:27:24of 5.9 x 10 to the power of 24 kg.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28However, because the experiment had taken so long to complete,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32it bankrupted the Royal Society which had funded the project.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37But, as they say, there's no gain without a wee bit of pain!
0:27:37 > 0:27:38Onwards and upwards!
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Although Schiehallion had been tamed by science,
0:27:49 > 0:27:52its reputation for wildness continued.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55The scientists threw a party on the mountain
0:27:55 > 0:27:58for the locals who'd helped them with the experiment.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00It was quite a night.
0:28:00 > 0:28:01The fiddler burned his fiddle
0:28:01 > 0:28:04and then burned the bothy to the ground.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07It's hard to be a rock and not to roll.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12So, here we are - the summit of Schiehallion,
0:28:12 > 0:28:15the fairy mountain of the ancient Caledonians.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18And from here, you can see my route
0:28:18 > 0:28:21all the way from the wilds of Rannoch Moor,
0:28:21 > 0:28:25making this the perfect place for me to end my Grand Tour.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32Join me for my next Grand Tour
0:28:32 > 0:28:35when I travel into the secret heart of Knoydart
0:28:35 > 0:28:38and search for Jacobite gold.