0:00:06 > 0:00:10The beautiful coastline of Scotland is adorned with
0:00:10 > 0:00:14an astonishingly diverse collection of islands.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18But inland there's another treasure trove.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23Many of Scotland's freshwater lochs are studded with gems of their own,
0:00:23 > 0:00:29perfect worlds in miniature, and each with an island story to tell.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36I've always been drawn to islands and in this series
0:00:36 > 0:00:41I'm setting out to explore Scotland's amazing island riches.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46In fact, there are over 280 offshore islands big enough to lay claim
0:00:46 > 0:00:50to the name, and that's not counting the myriad of stacks
0:00:50 > 0:00:55and skerries that surround 6,000 convoluted miles of coast.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00But now I'm turning my back on the sea to discover
0:01:00 > 0:01:04the secrets of some of Scotland's landlocked islands.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09And to do this I'm heading for the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27Loch Lomond lies at the heart of Scotland's first national park,
0:01:27 > 0:01:32just 18 miles from the centre of Glasgow and 45 miles from Edinburgh.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35For 60% of the country's population,
0:01:35 > 0:01:41this beautiful stretch of water is just an hour's drive away.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44For centuries, the natural beauties of this loch, which is
0:01:44 > 0:01:48the largest body of fresh water on the UK mainland,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50have attracted all manner of visitors.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Heroes and villains, the great and the good,
0:01:53 > 0:01:58writers and artists have all beaten a path to these shores.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04In 1803, Dorothy Wordsworth, her brother William
0:02:04 > 0:02:08and the poet Coleridge toured the loch.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12Dorothy was enchanted by the romance of the scene.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15"What I had heard of Loch Lomond," she wrote,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18"had given me no idea of anything like we beheld.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20"It was an outlandish scene.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24"We might have believed ourselves in North America."
0:02:25 > 0:02:29To fully appreciate just what Dorothy Wordsworth was writing about
0:02:29 > 0:02:35and to get a fresh perspective on the romantic qualities of my destination,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39I'm going to do something she couldn't even have dreamed of.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41I'm going to take to the skies.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Globetrotting wildlife cameraman Richard Cook
0:02:50 > 0:02:52is a veteran microlight pilot.
0:02:52 > 0:02:53Hi, Richard.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55'I meet up with him just a short flight from
0:02:55 > 0:02:58'the southern shores of Loch Lomond.'
0:02:58 > 0:02:59So, tell me, do you think
0:02:59 > 0:03:02we're going to get a good bird's-eye view from this?
0:03:02 > 0:03:05You're going to get the best view of Scotland you'll ever get from that.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Really? It's fantastic.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Up to 50mph, and we're airborne. It's amazing, isn't it?
0:03:18 > 0:03:20Fantastic.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23'Richard has filmed from microlights in lots of different
0:03:23 > 0:03:28'and exotic locations, from the Peruvian jungle to the Dardanelles.'
0:03:28 > 0:03:31The variety is astonishing, isn't it?
0:03:31 > 0:03:34I mean, we're flying over some very flat land at the moment
0:03:34 > 0:03:37but just ahead of us we can see the Highlands. Exactly.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40In about ten minutes' flying you can be on the top of Ben Lomond.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43You don't get that anywhere else in the UK.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48'Seen from a height of 4,000ft,
0:03:48 > 0:03:53'the island-studded Loch Lomond makes a dizzying spectacle.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57'It stretches for over 39km from north to south
0:03:57 > 0:04:02'and covers 71 square kilometres of fresh water.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08'But before the last ice age, when glaciers reshaped the landscape,
0:04:08 > 0:04:12'Loch Lomond and its 30 islands were connected to the sea.'
0:04:13 > 0:04:18From up here, many of the islands seem to be in perfect alignment,
0:04:18 > 0:04:23strung out like charms on a bracelet across the surface of the loch.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25It's absolutely beautiful.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30The islands are actually part of a submerged ridge that was
0:04:30 > 0:04:32formed by the Highland faultline
0:04:32 > 0:04:36which separates the hard rocks of the Highlands to the north
0:04:36 > 0:04:39from the soft rocks of the Lowlands to the south.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45'Divided historically and culturally by its geography
0:04:45 > 0:04:47'into Highlands and Lowlands,
0:04:47 > 0:04:52'the loch and its islands are like a microcosm of the whole of Scotland.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57'To understand this landscape more intimately, I need to get closer,
0:04:57 > 0:05:01'so it's time to swap the element of air for the element of water.'
0:05:05 > 0:05:10The first stop on my island-hopping grand tour is Inchcailloch, which
0:05:10 > 0:05:15lies close to the eastern shore, near the picturesque village of Balmaha.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Most of the islands on the loch are called Inch-something-or-other.
0:05:20 > 0:05:26Now, "inch" in Gaelic means island - surprise, surprise!
0:05:26 > 0:05:29Now, Inchcailloch means "The Island of the Old Woman",
0:05:29 > 0:05:34and the old woman in question was an Irish princess who became
0:05:34 > 0:05:37a Christian missionary back in the eighth century.
0:05:37 > 0:05:43History remembers her as Saint Kentigerna, and this is her island.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50There's an atmosphere here that hints at the sacred
0:05:50 > 0:05:55and the mysterious, a place for contemplation and prayer.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59This must have been what attracted Saint Kentigerna
0:05:59 > 0:06:03to the island 1,300 years ago.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Nestling beneath the ancient trees
0:06:11 > 0:06:15are the remains of the religious centre she founded.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19There was once a nunnery here and later a parish church.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23There's not much left of the old church now
0:06:23 > 0:06:26except the outline of its foundations but, for over 500 years,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29from the 12th to the 17th century,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32folk living on the east side of Loch Lomond worshipped here
0:06:32 > 0:06:36and they brought their dead here to be buried,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39and long after the church fell into ruin the old graveyard
0:06:39 > 0:06:43was still in use right up until the end of the Second World War.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Many of the gravestones are inscribed with the names MacFarlane
0:06:50 > 0:06:55and MacGregor, two Highland clans intimately associated with
0:06:55 > 0:06:57the loch and the islands.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02Gregor MacGregor, clan chief and uncle of the legendary Rob Roy,
0:07:02 > 0:07:07is buried here, and who knows, perhaps the bones of my own family's
0:07:07 > 0:07:12MacGregor ancestors are mouldering beneath these crumbling gravestones.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Leaving Inchcailloch and its dead MacGregors
0:07:17 > 0:07:22and MacFarlanes, I'm rowing across the loch to the village of Balmaha
0:07:22 > 0:07:24to meet a man whose own connections with Loch Lomond
0:07:24 > 0:07:27and the islands go way back in history.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Sandy MacFarlane owns the Balmaha boatyard,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35which has been in his family for generations.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39Hiring out these beautiful antique rowing boats
0:07:39 > 0:07:42is just part of Sandy's job.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Now, Sandy, your family's got quite an interesting sideline
0:07:45 > 0:07:47to the boat-hire business.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Aye, that's right, Paul, we deliver the mail round the islands
0:07:50 > 0:07:51that are inhabited in the loch.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54How long have you been doing that for?
0:07:54 > 0:07:58Eh, that's been going on since about 1948, so that's...65-odd years.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Was that your great-grandfather, was it?
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Er, no, it was my grandfather that started that service, yeah. Uh-huh.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08And that's something we're continuing to this day.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13'Sandy's mail boat is the good ship Marion, the same trusty craft
0:08:13 > 0:08:17'that his grandfather skippered when this film was shot in 1968.'
0:08:17 > 0:08:22Alexander MacFarlane of Balmaha. Occupation - postman.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25But with one or two differences.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29The continuity between past and present is almost uncanny.
0:08:29 > 0:08:30Like his grandfather,
0:08:30 > 0:08:35Sandy also enjoys the companionship of the family Alsatian, Kim.
0:08:39 > 0:08:43Back then, deliveries were made three times a week
0:08:43 > 0:08:47to the three occupied islands, in all sorts of weather.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Luckily, the similarities end there.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54We are blessed with a glorious day.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57Sandy, when your grandfather used to do this mail run,
0:08:57 > 0:08:59he took it quite seriously, did he not?
0:08:59 > 0:09:04Oh, aye, it was a big thing for him and he dressed very smartly
0:09:04 > 0:09:08in a, you know, brass-buttoned tunic and a skipped hat
0:09:08 > 0:09:11with scrambled egg on the front of it.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14No, he definitely did take it very seriously indeed.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Today, we're heading straight for Inchmurrin,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23sailing by the string of islands I noticed from the air.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Torrinch and Creinch are the high points
0:09:26 > 0:09:30of a submerged ridge marking the boundary fault.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33To the north of them is Inchfad, "The Flat Island",
0:09:33 > 0:09:36and home to Sandy's early ancestors.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40Our oldest traceable ancestor, Duncan MacFarlane,
0:09:40 > 0:09:44he lived on Inchfad latterly and he ran a government-run distillery
0:09:44 > 0:09:47on the island, believe it or not.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50A government-run distillery? Yeah, a government...
0:09:50 > 0:09:54A proper government distillery, no moonshine for him!
0:09:54 > 0:09:58He was actually buried on Inchcailloch graveyard,
0:09:58 > 0:09:59in fact he's buried with some honours, I have to say,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02in fact he's buried with some honours, I have to say,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05because his gravestone is a proper sandstone flat stone with
0:10:05 > 0:10:08the Clan MacFarlane crest and motto on it. What, like a table?
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Like a table, aye, in fact you can sit on it and have a dram,
0:10:12 > 0:10:13if one wishes to do so,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16and I have done myself with the family on many occasions.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20I'm sure he'd appreciate that. I'm sure he probably would.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26Ahead lies Inchmurrin, the biggest island in Loch Lomond,
0:10:26 > 0:10:31but at just a mile-and-a-half long, it's still pretty small.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Today it has a permanent population of ten.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37'Curiously, all of them are related.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41'Braving the chill winds of spring,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45'Dugald Scott takes me on a tour of his domain.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48'His family have farmed here since the 1930s
0:10:48 > 0:10:51'and Dugald has lived here all his life.'
0:10:51 > 0:10:56Now, Dugald, I'm guessing that you're all Scotts here living on Inchmurrin.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58Yep. Yeah, we're all Scotts.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01Have you ever thought of changing the name of the island
0:11:01 > 0:11:03from Inchmurrin to, I don't know, Scott Island?
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Scott Land maybe, yeah, that would be good.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Scott Land would be even better. Yeah!
0:11:09 > 0:11:13'The Scotts still farm on Inchmurrin but, like many islanders,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16'they've been forced to diversify.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18'They have holiday lets, a restaurant,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22'and occasionally they work on the mainland.'
0:11:22 > 0:11:26Do you never feel cut off and isolated?
0:11:26 > 0:11:30Not really. We're not that cut off, really. I can get to...
0:11:30 > 0:11:33I can get to Glasgow in half an hour. Half an hour?
0:11:33 > 0:11:37Yeah, by road. And it's another maybe ten minutes by boat.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39Really? Or 15 minutes, yeah.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45'It's hard to imagine all the hustle and bustle of city life
0:11:45 > 0:11:47'being so close by.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50'Inchmurrin looks and feels very remote
0:11:50 > 0:11:54'and to fully appreciate its island setting
0:11:54 > 0:11:57'Dugald takes me to his favourite viewpoint.'
0:11:57 > 0:12:02Wow, this really is quite a splendid and very special view. Look at that.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04Yeah, you've got a panoramic view right round the...
0:12:04 > 0:12:07That's the ben over there. That's the ben, yeah.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12'The 360-degree vista once made Inchmurrin strategically important,
0:12:12 > 0:12:17'which explains the ruins of the 13th-century Lennox Castle.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21'But long before that this place was sacred to St Mirren,
0:12:21 > 0:12:23'who gave his name to the island.'
0:12:23 > 0:12:26The saints loved islands, didn't they?
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Oh, yeah, yeah. They still do. Do you feel close to God up here?
0:12:29 > 0:12:32As close as I'll ever be, I think. Yeah!
0:12:33 > 0:12:37'Life on the island hasn't always been easy for the Scotts.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41'I meet up with Dugald's mum, Anne, and sister-in-law, Dorothy.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44'Anne tells me how her husband, Tom,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47'earned a bit of extra cash in the old days.'
0:12:47 > 0:12:51Well, he went to all the big Highland Games in Scotland,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55he and his brother both went, and won a lot of prizes.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59They were quite famous for the heavyweight things
0:12:59 > 0:13:03and also for the pole vaulting. So there was prize money involved?
0:13:03 > 0:13:06Prize money, yes, uh-huh. Was that important to them at the time?
0:13:06 > 0:13:09Oh, yes, very...very important.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11Now, there's a fascinating picture here, look at that.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14I mean, what's happening there? We've got...
0:13:14 > 0:13:16That was from when the loch was frozen.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20He walked over the loch, principally to get cigarettes for his mother.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23THEY LAUGH
0:13:23 > 0:13:25She must have been desperate!
0:13:25 > 0:13:30'One winter was so severe that the island was bombed from the air
0:13:30 > 0:13:31'with food parcels.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33'But on a day like today,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37'it's impossible to imagine the loch frozen over.'
0:13:39 > 0:13:43Fair weather has always brought the boats and the tourists,
0:13:43 > 0:13:49and the loch has long been synonymous with leisure craft of all kinds.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52The boating craze began with the dawn of the steam age,
0:13:52 > 0:13:55nearly 200 years ago, when people discovered
0:13:55 > 0:13:58the delights of cruising the loch on a paddle steamer.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03The last steamer to sail among the islands was the Maid of the Loch,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07and that was over 30 years ago, and ever since then
0:14:07 > 0:14:12this magnificent old paddle steamer has been moored here at Balloch Pier.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17Now, this year is the Maid's 60th birthday and she hasn't sailed
0:14:17 > 0:14:21since 1981, but hopefully that's about to change.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31I've come on board to meet John Beveridge.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34For the last three decades, John's been campaigning to restore
0:14:34 > 0:14:40the old Maid to her rightful place as the queen of paddle steamers.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43It was very popular, was it not, to come out here to Balloch
0:14:43 > 0:14:46and board the Maid of the Loch and go for a cruise?
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Yes, really up until the last time she sailed
0:14:50 > 0:14:53she was carrying 100,000 passengers a year.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57And over her lifespan she's carried three million people.
0:14:58 > 0:15:0250 years ago a cruise on the Maid was a great day out
0:15:02 > 0:15:04and the most elegant way
0:15:04 > 0:15:09to explore the scenery of Loch Lomond and its beautiful islands.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12But the Maid's fortunes changed
0:15:12 > 0:15:15and her paddles haven't turned for decades.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18She's had a very unfortunate past few years
0:15:18 > 0:15:22because she was sold in 1982 to a succession of private owners
0:15:22 > 0:15:24who didn't do anything with the ship at all.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26She was vandalised eventually,
0:15:26 > 0:15:30because people stripped valuable metal and took all
0:15:30 > 0:15:32the interesting artefacts off the ship,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35and she was within days of sinking at the pier,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38because she had become so waterlogged and...vandalised.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46With the Maid's very survival at stake, John came to the rescue,
0:15:46 > 0:15:49and with the help of the local council
0:15:49 > 0:15:52took the Maid into the safekeeping of the charity.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57The main priority today is to breathe life into the old girl's engines,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59which, despite the Maid's relative youth,
0:15:59 > 0:16:04were built to an original Victorian design from 1897.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Now, John, that's a very inspiring sight to any steam enthusiast.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11Yep, this is the Maid of the Loch's compound diagonal steam engine.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Now, you told me that some very vital bits of the ship had gone missing
0:16:15 > 0:16:19when it was languishing here for a number of years. Yes.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Was anything taken from the engine? The engine was badly vandalised,
0:16:22 > 0:16:28because a lot of the components were copper piping, from the boiler
0:16:28 > 0:16:31through taking steam to the main engine and brasswork,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35so those are the two main things that people can reclaim money on.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38And you're missing a boiler as well. The boiler is the main thing...
0:16:38 > 0:16:40It's a large item!
0:16:40 > 0:16:44Just a slight question of the main item to get the ship sailing, yes.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49John reckons that it will take ?5 million to bring the Maid
0:16:49 > 0:16:51back to vigorous life.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55I hope he raises the money or finds a sugar daddy
0:16:55 > 0:16:58to set this charming old lady to rights.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01I'd love to see her paddles turning again.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07Balloch Pier, where the Maid has been moored for the past four decades,
0:17:07 > 0:17:08is also home to
0:17:08 > 0:17:12the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Ranger Service.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15I've been invited by park ranger David Cameron
0:17:15 > 0:17:17to join him on patrol.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24Davie's job as ranger is a bit like being a speed cop,
0:17:24 > 0:17:29enforcing the bylaws that regulate the boating traffic
0:17:29 > 0:17:31on this vast sheet of water.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34So how many people actually use the loch, do you know?
0:17:34 > 0:17:39We have 5,000-5,500 powered craft registered on the loch every year.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41I think the highest count ever was
0:17:41 > 0:17:44over 1,000 boats in one day on Loch Lomond.
0:17:44 > 0:17:45That's a pretty busy day.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47It's a very busy day. Yes, erm...
0:17:48 > 0:17:51When it gets to those sort of peaks, we do what we can.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54We can't obviously be everywhere and dealing with every incident.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57So that must take a wee bit of policing, I guess.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59It does indeed, yes. Craft collisions and mishaps.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02Yes, we have our hot spots. Places that people like to go.
0:18:02 > 0:18:03Uh-huh.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09'One of the most visited boating locations on the loch
0:18:09 > 0:18:10'is called The Narrows,
0:18:10 > 0:18:14'an almost river-like channel between the islands.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18'This is Davie's favourite stretch of water.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21'As we thread our way through The Narrows,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24'the peace and the tranquility are unexpectedly interrupted
0:18:24 > 0:18:27'by the sight of the loch rescue boat.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30'Davie makes a call.'
0:18:30 > 0:18:31RINGING TONE
0:18:34 > 0:18:38How you doing? It's Davie, Davie Cameron on the Brigadier.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39Have yous got a shout?
0:18:41 > 0:18:42Whereabouts?
0:18:51 > 0:18:52'We join the high-speed dash
0:18:52 > 0:18:56'to where the cruiser had radioed for help.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59'We find her, now aground, off one of the islands.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02'The crew had already abandoned ship
0:19:02 > 0:19:07'and are waiting on the shore as their skipper makes a futile attempt
0:19:07 > 0:19:09'to bail out his sinking vessel.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13'The rescue boat goes in and brings them all to safety.'
0:19:13 > 0:19:15Lucky for them that we were here.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Absolutely!
0:19:17 > 0:19:19If for no other reason, it is a cold evening,
0:19:19 > 0:19:21and it looks like a couple of kids.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23If we can get them on board and get them warm...
0:19:25 > 0:19:27'The survivors look more embarrassed
0:19:27 > 0:19:30'than endangered by their boating mishap.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34'And, thanks to the rescue boat's quick response,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37'they don't need Davie's assistance on this occasion.'
0:19:37 > 0:19:39A memorable day for them.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42I'm sure it will be! Hopefully one they don't want to repeat.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47Continuing his patrol,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Davie drops me off at the picturesque village of Luss
0:19:50 > 0:19:53on the western shores of the loch.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01From here I make my way to the wooded Inchtavannach,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05"The Monk's Island", lying just offshore.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09It only takes a couple of minutes to cross the water to Inchtavannach,
0:20:09 > 0:20:13which, for the last 30 years, has been home to a man
0:20:13 > 0:20:15appropriately called Roy Rogers.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19COUNTRY AND WESTERN GUITAR
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Famously, of course, Roy Rogers was a cowboy.
0:20:22 > 0:20:29Like his fictional namesake, this Roy Rogers also likes to ride the range.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31I joined him to spend a day in the saddle
0:20:31 > 0:20:33riding his horse, Shoshone.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39So, Roy, what is this with the cowboy hat, the spurs
0:20:39 > 0:20:42and the horses, on a small island?
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Well, it started a few years back, but I've always been
0:20:46 > 0:20:49extremely fond of horses.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51But a friend of mine taught me to ride Western
0:20:51 > 0:20:53and I was absolutely hooked.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Took about 2-3 minutes and I was absolutely hooked
0:20:55 > 0:20:59and had Shoshone within six weeks and now we have seven horses.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01So you're really bitten by this bug in a big way?
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Yes, yeah, very much so, yeah.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08'At one time, Roy combined working his farm
0:21:08 > 0:21:11'with his job as a fireman on the mainland.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15'Now, Inchtavannach has his full attention.'
0:21:15 > 0:21:19So this is your range, really, Roy. Yep.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Out to check the stock, see how the sheep are,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26check the fences, do all the things cowboys do!
0:21:27 > 0:21:29How big's Inchtavannach, Roy?
0:21:29 > 0:21:32It's about a mile long by about quarter of a mile wide.
0:21:32 > 0:21:33And roughly 200 acres.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37So it's a small island.
0:21:37 > 0:21:38Yeah, relatively small, yeah.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40But it's your fiefdom, in a way.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43It is indeed, yeah, we're the only people that live here.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46Have you any idea how long people have lived on this island for?
0:21:46 > 0:21:48Yes, from our knowledge anyway, certainly since the Iron Age,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51if not the Bronze Age before that.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55'Down the centuries, Druids, Celtic saints,
0:21:55 > 0:22:00'Vikings and monks have been drawn to this magical island.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05'Riding the range with Roy, I begin to understand its allure.'
0:22:05 > 0:22:07It's my own little kingdom,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10it's just the most the beautiful place to live.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13I enjoy the solitary part of it too but, I mean, I love company.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16It's just everything about it, really. It's living on my own,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20having to be independent of everything usually, more or less.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24You have to be, I imagine, very self-reliant and resourceful.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Yes, we have had our self-sufficiency sort of thing
0:22:27 > 0:22:29where we had our own cows
0:22:29 > 0:22:33and we used to make our own cheese and butter. We had goats.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35What, Inchtavannach cheese? Yes.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37Oh, I tell you, it was goat's cheese,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40it was absolutely beautiful stuff.
0:22:47 > 0:22:48'Spurring our horses on,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51'we galloped the full length of Roy's domain
0:22:51 > 0:22:55'to enjoy one of his proud views.'
0:22:55 > 0:22:57This is not a bad view though, is it? It's gorgeous, isn't it?
0:22:57 > 0:23:00The ben, bit of a breeze on the loch
0:23:00 > 0:23:03and the scent that it brings you - can you smell it?
0:23:03 > 0:23:06Fresh. Really, really fresh.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08I can only smell horse, to be quite honest with you.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14'Roy has a novel way of getting rid of the smell of horse sweat
0:23:14 > 0:23:16'after a long day of bouncing in the saddle,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20'and I'm surprised and delighted to see that it's a technique
0:23:20 > 0:23:23'that takes full advantage of this island location.'
0:23:28 > 0:23:30Shoshone... She's swimming now, look. There she goes.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33'Swimming the horses is something that Roy
0:23:33 > 0:23:37'and his partner Susie do all year round.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40'In the water, Shoshone looks like a mythical seahorse
0:23:40 > 0:23:41'as she surges forward.'
0:23:43 > 0:23:45It's a great thing actually
0:23:45 > 0:23:48because not only does it wash all the sweat off
0:23:48 > 0:23:51but it really does physically relax her, but more than anything,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53it relaxes them mentally
0:23:53 > 0:23:57and that, to me, is the biggest thing about it, is the mental side.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Have you done it with other horses as well?
0:23:59 > 0:24:02Yes, lots of horses for all sorts of reasons.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06Cardiovascular. We had one with a snake bite and didn't know
0:24:06 > 0:24:10if we could do anything for it and the vet who sent the horse to us
0:24:10 > 0:24:13had worked with a horse before that and it had taken nearly six months
0:24:13 > 0:24:17before it got back to work so we said, "Well, we'll give it a shot."
0:24:17 > 0:24:20And within a fortnight, we had it sent back to work.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23So swimming is really therapy for horses. Absolutely.
0:24:24 > 0:24:25Well done.
0:24:27 > 0:24:28Well done, Shoshone.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35Well, that's a sight I didn't expect to see.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37'Back on dry land once again,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40'it's time for me to take the high road,
0:24:40 > 0:24:44'and what better way to end a grand tour of these islands
0:24:44 > 0:24:48'than by climbing the mountain that gave the loch its name?
0:24:48 > 0:24:50'Ben Lomond.
0:24:53 > 0:24:58'Ben Lomond is the most southerly of Scotland's famous Munros -
0:24:58 > 0:25:01'mountains over 3,000ft.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03'And being so close to Glasgow,
0:25:03 > 0:25:04'it has, for many years,
0:25:04 > 0:25:06'been the most popular
0:25:06 > 0:25:08'and most climbed of them all.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13'In fact, about 30,000 people clamber up to the summit every year.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18'They say that from the top you can see half of Scotland,
0:25:18 > 0:25:20'the coast of Ireland
0:25:20 > 0:25:23'and even the mountains of the Lake District in England,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26'so it should be worth the effort.'
0:25:26 > 0:25:31Sadly for national pride, the first recorded ascent of the ben
0:25:31 > 0:25:36was made by a group of Cambridge University students in 1756.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40William Burrell and chums were determined to conquer the peak
0:25:40 > 0:25:44but Burrell himself was overcome with vertigo
0:25:44 > 0:25:47just a few hundred feet shy of the summit.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51His friends bashed on and celebrated their achievement
0:25:51 > 0:25:52with lashings of ginger beer.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59It's true that the early climbers totally exaggerated
0:25:59 > 0:26:01the seriousness of the climb.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06There was talk of thin air, altitude sickness and terrifying cliffs
0:26:06 > 0:26:10that made even the strongest heads swim with vertigo.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14Such claims seemed to have been
0:26:14 > 0:26:16endorsed by early paintings
0:26:16 > 0:26:22of the mountain which make the ben look more like the Matterhorn.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27In reality, the climb is little more than a long, stiff walk.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31Though I might be tempted to agree with one early climber who said
0:26:31 > 0:26:37it was impossible to get to the top without the aid of a whisky flask.
0:26:37 > 0:26:38Here we are.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42The top at last and in keeping with tradition, just...
0:26:44 > 0:26:46..kiss the summit cairn as you do.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Now, sadly, I've left my whisky flask behind.
0:26:50 > 0:26:57I've only got ginger beer to toast this fabulous view
0:26:57 > 0:27:01and to reflect on all the islands that I visited.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06Each one, a perfect world in miniature.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Slainte!