0:00:08 > 0:00:11There are some islands that are so removed and distant
0:00:11 > 0:00:16from the mainland, they seem almost forgotten by the rest of the world.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18It's incredible to think
0:00:18 > 0:00:22that beyond the sight of any land, way over the horizon,
0:00:22 > 0:00:24and in the most unlikely places,
0:00:24 > 0:00:26there are tiny islands
0:00:26 > 0:00:30where our ancestors once lived and made their homes.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41I love you. I love you, I love you.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43It's a sin to tell a lie.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47Because when you say it, "Isle of Ewe",
0:00:47 > 0:00:49it sounds like a proposal of marriage.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53Which perhaps explains why it has been known for lovestruck men
0:00:53 > 0:00:58and women to beat a path to its shores to pop the question.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Just over there on the I Love You.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07There is no public ferry service to the island,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10which is just 2km long by 1km wide.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15Skippering her own boat from the mainland is Jane Grant.
0:01:15 > 0:01:21Jane once sailed the world as a ship's engineer on oceangoing merchant ships.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Her own romantic connections with the Isle of Ewe
0:01:24 > 0:01:26began when her husband proposed.
0:01:26 > 0:01:33I met my husband on a ship in Karachi and he is from this island.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Now, a mutual friend phoned me up before I went out and said,
0:01:37 > 0:01:40"Oh, give my regards to Willie Grant,
0:01:40 > 0:01:42"he is a nice bloke, you'll like him."
0:01:42 > 0:01:44And I said, yeah, right(!)
0:01:44 > 0:01:45HE CHUCKLES
0:01:45 > 0:01:50I had absolutely no intentions of falling in love
0:01:50 > 0:01:54or having a relationship with anybody at all. But there you go.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57We just hit it off. What was his job on board? He is a radio officer. Yes.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00So he was upstairs on the airwaves and you were down in the depths...
0:02:00 > 0:02:02That's right. Maintaining the engines. Yes, yes.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04So you managed to get on the same wavelength?
0:02:04 > 0:02:06LAUGHTER
0:02:11 > 0:02:14The Grants have been tenant farmers on the Isle of Ewe
0:02:14 > 0:02:17since the middle of the 19th century.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19Shortly after Jane moved to the island,
0:02:19 > 0:02:23she took up scallop farming to help with the family finances.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27But over the years, the wild scallop stocks
0:02:27 > 0:02:31and the whole biomass of the West Coast have been seriously depleted.
0:02:33 > 0:02:3620 years ago, if you wanted to do scallop farming,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39you would put spat bags out, which were basically like onion bags...
0:02:39 > 0:02:42Uh-huh. And you would put them out in the sea at the right time of year
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and tiny little scallops would settle on them.
0:02:45 > 0:02:49But now, if I put spat bags out, I get no scallops back. Really?
0:02:49 > 0:02:52It's all gone. It is a serious as that? There it is, it is all gone.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Is that because the adult scallops are not there to reproduce themselves? That's right.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00You know, we are just getting to the stage where something needs to be done.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03So now we are looking at hatchery technology.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05Here in Scotland,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08we have got the best growing waters in the world for scallops and we are
0:03:08 > 0:03:13talking about Scottish scallops produced in a hatchery and then put
0:03:13 > 0:03:16back into the sea exactly where we took them from in the first place
0:03:16 > 0:03:20to grow on and become full-grown.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24Back out on the loch, Jane shows me how her young scallops are doing.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Here they come, your scallops. Yes, this is scallops in the lantern.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33They are one year old. They are quite big for a year of growth.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Yes, it's not bad.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38They will go on the seabed this September
0:03:38 > 0:03:42and then it will be another four years before we harvest them.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45So it is a five-year process.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48You call this scallop ranching rather than scallop farming -
0:03:48 > 0:03:50what's the difference? Why ranching?
0:03:50 > 0:03:53If you think of the big ranches in America
0:03:53 > 0:03:57where you have got cattle just roaming around, free,
0:03:57 > 0:03:59that is exactly what we are doing.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03It is not really farming in the sense that you have salmon farming.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07They are only caged for their first year and only to look after them.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09After that, they are literally thrown back out to sea.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14They will all spawn at least three times before we harvest them.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18So that will be putting more biomass back into the...back into the area.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19So, eventually,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23we should be able to increase the amount of wild scallops in the area.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Jane selects her fully grown scallops by hand.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35I join her for a chilly dunk in the briny.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40But I have what appears to be a wardrobe malfunction.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42GRUNTS
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Well, I seem to have a lot of buoyancy, Jane.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48I've blown up like a Michelin man.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50SHE LAUGHS
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Oh, I can't stop laughing!
0:04:52 > 0:04:54I will just stay safely on the surface
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and I will let you take the plunge.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59But I don't think there is any way I'm going to get down at all.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Blown up like this, Frankly.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03SHE LAUGHS
0:05:03 > 0:05:06It's impossible to sink!
0:05:06 > 0:05:08I'm bobbing up and down like a buoy!
0:05:08 > 0:05:12I didn't think you were going to look like that.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Neither did I!
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Composing ourselves finally, Jane takes a deep breath
0:05:19 > 0:05:21and prepares to dive.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23Happy hunting. Okey-doke.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25I will just lurk around here on the surface. Very good.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44I watched Jane to see how her sustainably produced scallops
0:05:44 > 0:05:46are doing on the seabed.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51With the right investment, she hopes her new business will produce
0:05:51 > 0:05:54up to ten million mature scallops every year.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Here she comes!
0:05:57 > 0:06:01Here she comes. Hi, Jane. What have you got? There we go.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Fresh out the sea. Absolutely beautiful.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09How old are they? Four to five years old. That is fantastic. Yes.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12That is the sustainable future. That's it.
0:06:12 > 0:06:18Beautiful scallops fresh from the sea and soon on my table.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22Dinner tonight. Absolutely. Dinner for two, Jane. On the Isle of Ewe.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24Excellent.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31I am moving up the coast to a tiny archipelago
0:06:31 > 0:06:35that luxuriates in the glorious title of the Summer Isles.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38Guiding me through this beautiful
0:06:38 > 0:06:41and remote stretch of water is Julie Ann McLeod,
0:06:41 > 0:06:46where she and fellow guide Rory run kayaking safaris.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50That's it. Remember to twist that body.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54Like most things that look easy, paddling requires technique,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57and Julie Ann is a strict teacher.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59Twist that body. Rotate. I'm twisting the body,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01I'm trying to twist the body. Oh, dear.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03There you go. Oh, it's my kidneys.
0:07:03 > 0:07:04SHE CHUCKLES
0:07:04 > 0:07:06You're feeling now that you've actually got some
0:07:06 > 0:07:09movements down underneath your cockpit?
0:07:09 > 0:07:11I beg your pardon?! THEY LAUGH
0:07:11 > 0:07:15That's not... It's exciting, Jules, but not that exciting! That's not...
0:07:15 > 0:07:18Come on! ..what I meant. I meant with your legs, Paul!
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Movement down my cockpit!
0:07:20 > 0:07:22THEY LAUGH
0:07:23 > 0:07:27Feeling increasingly confident in the cockpit department,
0:07:27 > 0:07:32we explore the intricacies of the islands, their geology and wildlife.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35It's a very narrow passageway we are trying to get through here, Jules.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39Yes. Are we going to make it? Yes, we are going to make it.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Oh, this is narrow! Ooh...
0:07:45 > 0:07:48And emerging into...
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Look at that arch!
0:07:50 > 0:07:54No-one knows for sure why these islands are called the Summer Isles.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57It might be because of the summer grazing
0:07:57 > 0:07:58and fishing then went on here.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02But Julie Ann believes the name is much older.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07In Gaelic, the Summer Isles are called Na h-Eileanan Samhraidh.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Samhraidh is Norse for summer.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13So the Vikings must have been here at one time... Absolutely.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Or have been around long enough to name the islands.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20Yeah, the Vikings were here and they had a huge influence.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25There used to be families living here in the 1800s... Really? Yes.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27What, crofting out here? Yeah.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31A really harsh environment to survive in.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35We are very remote and with that brings beauty,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37but it also brings some challenges.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42What was the great allure for you of kayaking?
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Well, to be honest, when I moved back, I came back up here,
0:08:45 > 0:08:48I was travelling about and I was going to some beautiful places
0:08:48 > 0:08:51and I was thinking, oh, gosh, these are absolutely stunning,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54but I kept on comparing them to back up north, you know,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57and I began to realise... I suppose you need to go away sometimes
0:08:57 > 0:09:00to realise, um, you know,
0:09:00 > 0:09:01and appreciate where you're from.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06I came to realise that I live in one of the most stunning places.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Julie Ann's right.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14The beauty and solitude of the Summer Isles allow you
0:09:14 > 0:09:17to feel as close to nature as it gets.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19But she wants to take this even further
0:09:19 > 0:09:23and get back to basics with some Hebridean bush tucker.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25So what are we going to do now, then?
0:09:25 > 0:09:29We are going to do a little bit of foraging. Foraging? Foraging, yes.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Right. Is that in the absence of having prepared a meal?
0:09:32 > 0:09:33SHE CHUCKLES
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Are you hungry? I'm absolutely starving... Well...
0:09:35 > 0:09:39Because all that paddling has really worked up a tremendous appetite.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41So I could eat a horse.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48While I realise that foraging is very fashionable with the modern gourmet,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52I'm not entirely sure how many Michelin stars today's lunch
0:09:52 > 0:09:54is going to get.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57We are going to try and surprise some limpets.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59The limpets as you can see... Are you serious?
0:09:59 > 0:10:01We are going to eat the limpets? Yeah, yeah.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03We are going to cook some limpets on the fire.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08OK, little limpets, I am going to give you the surprise of your life.
0:10:08 > 0:10:09Yeah! I surprised that one!
0:10:11 > 0:10:13The main course, naturellement, wouldn't be the same
0:10:13 > 0:10:16without some exotic vegetables.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21So this is gutweed. And what we are going to do with the gutweed... What a delightful name!
0:10:21 > 0:10:23Gutweed. I know! It doesn't sound very edible...
0:10:23 > 0:10:26but it is. Here's your dinner of limpet and gutweed!
0:10:26 > 0:10:31Throw in some lightly sauteed sea lettuce and the menu is complete.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Oh, it's going, it's going! Look at that.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37With the foraging kitchen lit in the traditional way,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41it's not long before our lunch alfresco is ready to plate up.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Is that cooked? Yes, it's cooked. Right.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48You sure it's not going to kill me? No, it's not going to kill you(!)
0:10:48 > 0:10:50What are you pulling out of the back of it?
0:10:50 > 0:10:55So this is dinner, Hebridean style?
0:10:55 > 0:10:57So what do I...? Do I...? So...
0:10:57 > 0:11:01Do I eat it with the seaweed, or do I eat it first
0:11:01 > 0:11:03and then have some seaweed, or does it not matter?
0:11:03 > 0:11:08It doesn't matter. Just munch away. I will just...
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Very gingerly sample a little bit.
0:11:11 > 0:11:12It's a little bit chewy, but...
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Well, first impression is something very chewy
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and it tastes a little bit of, um...
0:11:21 > 0:11:23burnt heather. Mmm.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26But it's not unpalatable. No. No. No.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Mmm, I'll try some of this delicious seaweed now.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34Mm.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Wow!
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Well. It's a real feast.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Thank you very much indeed.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Have we convinced you? No.
0:11:45 > 0:11:46THEY LAUGH
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Can't beat the location, can you?
0:11:52 > 0:11:57After digesting my limpet feast, I land on Tanera Mor,
0:11:57 > 0:11:59the largest of the Summer Isles.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05Its story is typical of many of our small islands.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09A once thriving community, brought down by economic disaster,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12poor communications and neglect.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17By the 1930s, Tanera was deserted.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20The old homes were in a ruinous state
0:12:20 > 0:12:23and the jetty was literally falling into the sea.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26But this was just the sort of place that a radical young conservationist
0:12:26 > 0:12:30was looking for to prove a point.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36During his lifetime, Frank Fraser Darling became known
0:12:36 > 0:12:41as one of the founding figures of the modern environmental movement.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45He argued that the landscape of the Scottish Highlands and Islands,
0:12:45 > 0:12:51much vaunted for its beauty, was in fact a man-made desert.
0:12:51 > 0:12:52Over the centuries,
0:12:52 > 0:12:57forests had been cut down and people cleared to make way for deer,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00and for sheep farming on a massive scale.
0:13:00 > 0:13:05And the land which lay fallow had become sour and infertile.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07But it didn't have to be that way.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13Fraser Darling moved into an abandoned croft on Tanera Mor
0:13:13 > 0:13:16with his wife and son in 1938.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19He wanted to prove that crofting could be more than just
0:13:19 > 0:13:22subsistence farming and that, with the right husbandry,
0:13:22 > 0:13:26the wet desert of the West Highlands could bloom again.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Against the odds, they succeeded,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33breathing life back into the moribund island.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37Experiences he described in his book Island Farm.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42"We were peasant folk again, doing first things.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46"The children's happy laughter was a joyous sound.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50"And the golden corn was all about in the golden air
0:13:50 > 0:13:55"as I straightened my back to sharpen the scythe."
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Frank Fraser Darling argued that in order to bring nature back
0:13:58 > 0:14:00to bountiful health,
0:14:00 > 0:14:04people needed to work with the environment instead of against it.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07A landscape full of working crofts
0:14:07 > 0:14:12and people nourishing the soil was his solution to a better future.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20Sadly, the experiment was short-lived.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24After the family left, Tanera Mor had mixed fortunes.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Until Bill Wilder, a farmer from Wiltshire, bought the island
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and moved here with his family.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Living here, as you did for 16 years or so,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36were you aware of the legacy of Frank Fraser Darling?
0:14:36 > 0:14:39He was always there in the background.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44We knew he had a great influence on the place,
0:14:44 > 0:14:46put it on the map in many ways.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51But he had been wanting to demonstrate the art,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54if you like, of proper crofting.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01Unlike Frank Fraser Darling, Bill does not work the land,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04but derives an income by renting out holiday property
0:15:04 > 0:15:07and running the island's rather unique post office
0:15:07 > 0:15:11where much sought-after special edition stamps are on sale
0:15:11 > 0:15:13to the dedicated philatelist.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19So I will just choose a postcard, Bill. That looks like a nice one.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23I know you can sell me a very interesting and unique stamp. Indeed. Yes.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27This one dates back to about 1996, I think.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31But it is an appropriately nautical one. Hopefully...
0:15:31 > 0:15:34So these stamps were produced for Tanera,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36for the Tanera Mor postal service? Is that right? Yes.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39Exactly, to pay for the crossing from this
0:15:39 > 0:15:41side of the water to the mainland.
0:15:41 > 0:15:42From the island to the mainland.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47And then thereafter, I'm afraid you need a Royal Mail stamp. Royal Mail.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54I'm not surprised the stamps are highly collectable.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56The designs are beautiful.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59There is even a set commemorating Frank Fraser Darling.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04We celebrate, try to celebrate happenings like the centenary
0:16:04 > 0:16:09of the Crofters Act in 1886, the Crofters Act.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14The anniversary of the Scouts, for instance.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17And they are slowly appreciating in value, a little bit by little bit.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19The past issues are all here.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23We have run out of one or two, and of course the fewer there are,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26the more valuable they have become, that is the idea.