0:00:05 > 0:00:10In 1840, one man transformed travel in the British Isles.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13His name was George Bradshaw, and his railway guides
0:00:13 > 0:00:16inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Stop by stop, he told them where to travel,
0:00:21 > 0:00:23what to see and where to stay.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Now, 170 years later, I'm making a series of journeys
0:00:29 > 0:00:31across the length and breadth of these isles
0:00:31 > 0:00:34to see what of Bradshaw's Britain remains.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56I'm continuing my journey through the Scottish Highlands.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59This morning, I boarded the overnight sleeper train from London
0:00:59 > 0:01:02on its last leg to Inverness.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Today, I'm looking forward to vistas of land and sea
0:01:05 > 0:01:09and to discovering how tracks laid in Victorian days
0:01:09 > 0:01:13helped to inspire authors and even a cultural revival.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17'On today's leg, I ride a picturesque railway...'
0:01:18 > 0:01:21I have no words. I'm out of superlatives.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24'..visit Scotland's smallest station...'
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Nearly everyone has joined the queue to get off at the single door
0:01:28 > 0:01:32that opens at the incredibly short platform at Beauly.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35'..and I go on a spa break, Victorian style.'
0:01:35 > 0:01:39After you've been hosed down with warm salty water,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42your doctor will probably have prescribed you
0:01:42 > 0:01:43a glass of sulphurous water.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45And would I be cured?
0:01:45 > 0:01:47You might well be. THEY CHUCKLE
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Using my 1880s Bradshaw's, this trip started in Stirling,
0:01:54 > 0:01:58passed through Perthshire, moved on to the Granite City of Aberdeen,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01and is now taking me west to Banffshire,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04thence to the classic lochs of the Highlands,
0:02:04 > 0:02:06to finish at John O'Groats.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12On today's leg, I'm taking a detour west, along a Highland railway.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16From Inverness, I'll head first to Beauly, then Dingwall,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19and finally cross-country to the coastal town of Plockton.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25My Bradshaw's tells me that Inverness lies, as it were,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27"at the back of Scotland,
0:02:27 > 0:02:31"in a part formerly little visited or accessible.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35"Invernesians speak purer English than any other Scotch people."
0:02:35 > 0:02:39I'm wondering whether it was the previous remoteness of the city
0:02:39 > 0:02:44that led its inhabitants to speak such refined version of the English tongue.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Dubbed the capital of the Highlands,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53over the centuries, Invernesians have spoken at least three languages.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59First inhabited by the Picts, whose ancient language has disappeared,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03the area was then occupied by Gaelic-speaking Irish settlers,
0:03:03 > 0:03:08but subsequent invasions pushed Gaelic to the brink of extinction,
0:03:08 > 0:03:09and English to the fore.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14I wonder whether the townsfolk rejoice
0:03:14 > 0:03:17that Bradshaw's dubs them "speakers of the purest English,"
0:03:17 > 0:03:20or whether they feel prouder of their Gaelic heritage?
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Hello. I'm just wondering, are you from Inverness?
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Not originally, not ME, but my parents are.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Did you ever hear it said, as my guidebook says,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33that the purest English is spoken in Inverness?
0:03:33 > 0:03:35I never understood why people would say that,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37cos there's a very distinct accent here.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Any of your family speak Gaelic?
0:03:40 > 0:03:43Erm...very few, actually.
0:03:43 > 0:03:44- Hello.- Hi, there.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48- Do you hear people speaking Gaelic in the town?- Not usually, no.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Do you think it's a pity if Gaelic is not much spoken today?
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Yeah, yeah...
0:03:53 > 0:03:56I think it should be taught more in schools, and stuff like that.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59I think it would be nice to, you know, keep it going.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02So, it's only as you get older you start to appreciate, you know,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05what it means to keep your traditional languages
0:04:05 > 0:04:06and stuff like that.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11In the 17th and 18th centuries,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15Scotland's Privy Council called for the abolition of Gaelic,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18and wearing tartan was criminalised.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20But in the 19th century,
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Queen Victoria's love affair with Scotland
0:04:22 > 0:04:24made all things Highland fashionable...
0:04:24 > 0:04:28RADIO V/O: "Tha na Bord na Gaidhlig ag iarraidh an sgoil Ghaidhlig..."
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Ever since, there's been a gradual thawing of antipathy toward Gaelic.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36And here at the BBC, the language is nurtured.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44This is BBC nan Gaidheal, a Gaelic-language radio station,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47and Donald Morrison is just finishing his morning show.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52And you're off air...
0:04:52 > 0:04:55An hour and a half, that's it. MICHAEL CHUCKLES
0:04:55 > 0:04:58So, how long have you had the Gaelic-language radio station?
0:04:58 > 0:05:01It started off very small, to be honest.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06When Gaelic first came to Inverness, there was the Gaelic minute.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08They had a minute a day. HE LAUGHS
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Now, from Inverness, we broadcast this hour-and-a-half news programme in the morning.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16That's in combination with the other output of Radio nan Gaidheal,
0:05:16 > 0:05:18which is a Scotland-wide radio station.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Why do you think the broadcasts in Gaelic are so valued?
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Well...because it's...it's...
0:05:24 > 0:05:27I think an academic once, a few years ago,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30described Gaelic radio, Radio nan Gaidheal
0:05:30 > 0:05:34as the cement that binds the Gaelic communities together.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38Bear in mind the Gaelic communities are spread from the Western Isles
0:05:38 > 0:05:42to mainland Highland, an enclave here in Inverness,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44Glasgow, throughout Scotland,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47and I think the radio is the thing that brings them all...
0:05:47 > 0:05:51into the one...sort of community pot, if you like,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54and it's also in their own language, of course.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Have you any idea whether the number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland
0:05:57 > 0:05:59is going up at the moment?
0:05:59 > 0:06:02It's stabilised at the moment.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05When the figures for the new census come out,
0:06:05 > 0:06:06we'll have a better idea.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09It's a pretty worrying situation.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12You know, for years, Gaelic has been declining.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15The policy at the moment for the language developers
0:06:15 > 0:06:18is to stabilise it and then to grow,
0:06:18 > 0:06:22but, you know, here in Inverness, a minority language like that,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25it IS in a pretty precarious state, unfortunately.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Since 1871, The Gaelic Society of Inverness
0:06:31 > 0:06:35has also been trying to rejuvenate the language.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Allan Campbell is a former chairman.
0:06:40 > 0:06:41Which language did you learn first?
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Well, Gaelic was my first language,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47and I went to school at the age of five in the west of Skye, without...
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Well, maybe I had one or two words of English,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52but I'm still learning English, Michael.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55- When did you start to learn English? - Oh, the day I went to school...
0:06:55 > 0:07:01because, although my primary school teacher was a native Gaelic speaker,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04we were forbidden to speak Gaelic in school.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09And, so, here, in an area that was formerly very remote,
0:07:09 > 0:07:11Gaelic, at one time, predominated?
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Oh, yes. Gaelic was, at one time,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17the language of a large proportion of Scotland.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21- What happened to Gaelic before the 19th century?- Quite a lot.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Many people will say today that it's astonishing that Gaelic survives,
0:07:24 > 0:07:28because it has been the subject of persecution
0:07:28 > 0:07:31and legal suppression for centuries.
0:07:33 > 0:07:38The Gaelic Society has seen two relatively recent successes.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43Several schools now teach in Gaelic, and the society's lobbying
0:07:43 > 0:07:47led to the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act of 2005,
0:07:47 > 0:07:52which recognises Gaelic as equal to English as a Scottish language.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Why does it matter?
0:07:54 > 0:07:59Well, I think it matters because Gaelic is part of this country.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Gaelic belongs to Scotland.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04As you make your journey through Scotland, Michael,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and you see all these mountains, rivers and railway stations,
0:08:08 > 0:08:13many of them will have names whose origin is Gaelic,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17and you might actually learn a bit of the language as you go along the way.
0:08:17 > 0:08:18I hope you do, and enjoy it.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22Would you, for the moment, send me on my way
0:08:22 > 0:08:24with a farewell in Gaelic?
0:08:24 > 0:08:25Well, indeed...
0:08:25 > 0:08:30Turas math, a Mhicheil. Tha mi an dochas gun chord Alba riut.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33That's very, very kind of you. Thank you so much, Allan. Bye, bye.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41It's been a struggle to keep Gaelic cherished as a living language.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45As I leave Inverness, I turn my attention to another thing
0:08:45 > 0:08:47for which the community has had to fight.
0:08:51 > 0:08:52My next stop is Beauly,
0:08:52 > 0:08:55which Bradshaw's tells me is a place of importance
0:08:55 > 0:08:59on account of its cattle fairs and belonging to Lord Lovat.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03Lord Lovat was deputy chairman of the Highland Railway Company
0:09:03 > 0:09:06and had a private waiting room at Beauly station,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10but, even so, train services ceased there in 1960...
0:09:10 > 0:09:12But I'm alighting there today,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15so clearly that wasn't the end of the story.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21'And I've heard that to keep down the cost of rebuilding the station,
0:09:21 > 0:09:23'its platform is minute.'
0:09:23 > 0:09:26- Are you getting off at Beauly?- Yes.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28- And it's a good service?- Yes.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32And I'm told there's only one door we can get off at, at Beauly...
0:09:32 > 0:09:34- Yes, that's right.- Which one's that?
0:09:34 > 0:09:36- This one.- That one there. MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:09:36 > 0:09:40So, do you have to form yourselves into a queue to get off the train?
0:09:40 > 0:09:41Yes, you'll see that in a moment.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44Oh, will I? I can't wait!
0:09:44 > 0:09:46You'll be caught in the rush.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53This is the most extraordinary sight.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Nearly everyone in this carriage has joined the queue to get off
0:09:57 > 0:10:01at the single door that opens at the incredibly short platform at Beauly.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Beauly station closed in 1960,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09but a campaign led by Frank Roach succeeded,
0:10:09 > 0:10:10and it reopened in 2002.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17- Hello, Frank.- Hello, Michael.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20Welcome to Beauly, the shortest railway platform in Britain.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23It's wonderful to see such a small place
0:10:23 > 0:10:25that has railway services still,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28and I think you had something to do with that, didn't you?
0:10:28 > 0:10:32That's right. The station actually closed in 1960, pre-Beeching,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35and gradually, over the years, congestion has increased...
0:10:35 > 0:10:37there is a bridge into Inverness
0:10:37 > 0:10:41that gets a lot of congestion in the morning peak...
0:10:41 > 0:10:44So, I decided it would be interesting to try and reopen the station,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47so I put the funding package together and persuaded various parties
0:10:47 > 0:10:50that a short platform would be an obvious solution.
0:10:50 > 0:10:55Well, Frank, I think while I'm here, I need to measure this phenomenon.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57Perhaps you'll join me...
0:10:58 > 0:10:59..as we pace it out?
0:11:05 > 0:11:07One, two, three,
0:11:07 > 0:11:09four, five, six,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12seven, eight, nine, ten,
0:11:12 > 0:11:1411, 12, 13,
0:11:14 > 0:11:1714, 15, 16,
0:11:17 > 0:11:1817...
0:11:20 > 0:11:23..18 on the Portillo scale, equals 15 metres.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27Frank, any prospect of opening other mini stations on the line?
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Yes, we've got pretty advanced plans to reopen Conon Bridge,
0:11:30 > 0:11:32which is six miles up the track.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Again, a mini platform looks to be on the cards,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39and predictions suggest 40,000 people could use it every year,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42and this from a village of under 3,000 people.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44Just itching to get back on the tracks?
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Absolutely. They've seen the success at Beauly, and want to be part of it.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51'Sadly, the town for which I'm bound now
0:11:51 > 0:11:54'hasn't succeeded in reopening its station,
0:11:54 > 0:11:58'so I shall use a car from the next stop, Dingwall.'
0:11:58 > 0:12:01My next destination is the village of Strathpeffer,
0:12:01 > 0:12:03where, my Bradshaw's tells me,
0:12:03 > 0:12:07"the large Ben Wyvis Hotel, 156 feet long,
0:12:07 > 0:12:11"has been built over an excellent sulphur spa."
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Taking the waters and bathing enjoyed a vogue in Victorian times,
0:12:15 > 0:12:19and I'm anxious to know how the little Strathpeffer
0:12:19 > 0:12:22joined the elite of British spa towns.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Originally no more than a few farms,
0:12:26 > 0:12:30Strathpeffer grew when sulphurous springs were discovered
0:12:30 > 0:12:32in the 1770s.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35The first pump room was built in 1819,
0:12:35 > 0:12:39but Strathpeffer truly flourished from 1885,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41once it had a railway station.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45Grand hotels and substantial Victorian villas were built
0:12:45 > 0:12:47to accommodate the steady stream of visitors
0:12:47 > 0:12:50who came to "take the waters."
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Local businessman Steve Macdonald
0:12:53 > 0:12:56takes Strathpeffer's history seriously.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59- Steve, hello.- Michael!
0:12:59 > 0:13:00What a splendid machine!
0:13:00 > 0:13:02HE LAUGHS Pleased to meet you.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05I'm just wondering whether George Bradshaw
0:13:05 > 0:13:06might have ridden on one of these?
0:13:06 > 0:13:10He died in 1853. Were these popular in the mid-1800s?
0:13:10 > 0:13:13They were, yes. They were very popular then. That was the heyday.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Let's park that fellow up somewhere, shall we?
0:13:16 > 0:13:21Now, after the glorious opening of Strathpeffer station in 1885,
0:13:21 > 0:13:24presumably people were really pouring in to take the waters?
0:13:24 > 0:13:27Trains came directly from London,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30and brought patients of Harley Street doctors
0:13:30 > 0:13:35to houses that had been built especially for patients to the area,
0:13:35 > 0:13:39and people promenaded around the village and went to tea dances,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42took the waters, went for healthy walks...
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Mid to late 19th century, it was the place to be.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49I'm a Victorian gentleman with a skin complaint.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52I'm coming to Strathpeffer for my health. What routine can I expect?
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Well, when you get up in the morning,
0:13:55 > 0:13:57your doctor will probably have prescribed you
0:13:57 > 0:14:01a glass of sulphurous water, which you'd drink...
0:14:01 > 0:14:04probably sip during the day.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06After you'd recovered from that,
0:14:06 > 0:14:11you might well have a bath in peat mixed with sulphurous water.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14You would probably lie in that for an hour.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16It might be followed by a massage,
0:14:16 > 0:14:20after you've been hosed down with warm, salty water,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23then you might well go for a brisk walk
0:14:23 > 0:14:26on one of the paths that have been laid around here.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31In the afternoon, you may well go to a tea dance,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34and have dinner in the evening at the regular time,
0:14:34 > 0:14:39and then repeat every day until you're cured.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41And would I be cured?
0:14:41 > 0:14:43You might well be... THEY LAUGH
0:14:43 > 0:14:44I wouldn't like to say.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54The Ben Wyvis Hotel, as advertised in my Bradshaw's.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58I believe that the peat baths have now given way to hot baths,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00and I shall reject a sulphurous drink,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04because I believe that the Highlands have a better tipple to offer.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26Rested, refreshed and refuelled, I'm excited about the day ahead,
0:15:26 > 0:15:30which will take me along one of the most remote lines in Britain.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38In the quiet of this isolated station,
0:15:38 > 0:15:40I could hear the train maybe a mile away
0:15:40 > 0:15:42clattering its way through the glens,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44and now, here it is, approaching the platform.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53I'm now travelling on what my Bradshaw's calls
0:15:53 > 0:15:57the Dingwall and Skye Rail, "a line 53 miles long
0:15:57 > 0:16:00"that runs westwards through fine mountain scenery
0:16:00 > 0:16:03"near Ben Wyvis and Rogie Falls."
0:16:03 > 0:16:05In the years just before my guide was published,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09this area had been opened for the first time to train passengers,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12and judging by the large numbers on board today,
0:16:12 > 0:16:17I say, "Rejoice! This rural and remote railway is resurgent."
0:16:36 > 0:16:39First train of the day, and it's absolutely heaving with people.
0:16:39 > 0:16:40Is it often like this?
0:16:40 > 0:16:43It started to get very popular with bus parties,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46so we get bus parties joining the train at Inverness,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49the bus moves up to Kyle, and they get picked up there,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52and it's part of their package, and the last four or five years
0:16:52 > 0:16:54it's proved very popular, which is great for the line.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Well, let's hope more and more people
0:16:57 > 0:16:59- find out about the wonders of this line.- Definitely.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02May I ask, do you travel on the line very much?
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Yes, quite often. Every sort of second day in the summer, anyway.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Why is that?
0:17:07 > 0:17:11Well, I study in Skye, doing Gaelic, so I get the train to Kyle,
0:17:11 > 0:17:14and then get a bus to Sabhal Mor Ostaig, the university there.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Do you feel lucky to have such a beautiful commute?
0:17:17 > 0:17:19Yes, it's very nice.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Do you still watch the beautiful countryside go by,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23or have you become kind of blase about it?
0:17:23 > 0:17:27No, no, no! I always watch it. It's lovely, especially on a nice day.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32The Highlands have been associated with Romanticism
0:17:32 > 0:17:35ever since the Victorians began to explore them.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38In 1880, Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson
0:17:38 > 0:17:41may have alighted here at Garve because,
0:17:41 > 0:17:45during a holiday with his wife, Fanny, he stayed in Strathpeffer.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51He visited my next destination,
0:17:51 > 0:17:54Rogie Falls, on the Blackwater River,
0:17:54 > 0:17:57where I'm meeting professor of literature, Linda Dryden.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03- Magnificent! Linda, it's the most glorious sight.- Isn't it?
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Enough to inspire any Romantic writer, don't you think?
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Well, indeed. In fact, Robert Louis Stevenson actually came here
0:18:09 > 0:18:12and wrote a letter to his literary agent,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16literary friend, Sidney Colvin, about this very place.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19He says to Colvin, "I've lain down and died.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24"No country, no place, was ever for a moment so delightful for my soul.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29"Give me the cool breath of Rogie waterfall henceforth and forever,
0:18:29 > 0:18:30"world without end."
0:18:30 > 0:18:34And he signs off saying, just lets us know what a good time he's having,
0:18:34 > 0:18:39"May you have as good a time as possible, so far from Rogie..."
0:18:39 > 0:18:41In other words, I'm having the best time in the world.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43Most interesting.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47Do we think his visit to Rogie Falls had an enduring impact on him?
0:18:47 > 0:18:50It's very difficult to say, but when he was writing Kidnapped,
0:18:50 > 0:18:52he set a lot of that in the Highlands.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55This passage here, to me, looks exactly like
0:18:55 > 0:18:57we're looking at up there.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00"And with that, he ran harder than ever down to the waterside
0:19:00 > 0:19:03"in a part where the river was split in two among three rocks..."
0:19:03 > 0:19:06- One, two... Can we see three rocks? I think...- Yes, mm-hmm.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10"It went through with a horrid thundering that made my belly quake,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13"and there hung over the lynn a little mist of spray.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16"Alan looked neither to the right nor to the left,
0:19:16 > 0:19:18"but jumped clean upon the middle rock,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21"and fell there on his hands and knees to check himself."
0:19:21 > 0:19:22- Yes.- It looks it, doesn't it?
0:19:22 > 0:19:26You can just imagine looking at that waterfall there.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Is Robert Louis Stevenson regarded as a great hero of Scottish writing?
0:19:29 > 0:19:32SHE CHUCKLES It's with the publication of Treasure Island
0:19:32 > 0:19:34that we get a great success for Stevenson.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38He becomes famous not just in the UK, but in the States,
0:19:38 > 0:19:40particularly after Jekyll and Hyde.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43This is the problem, I suppose, with Robert Louis Stevenson
0:19:43 > 0:19:47We read Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Jekyll and Hyde when we're children,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50probably never go back to those books or back to Stevenson.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Absolutely. If you mention Robert Louis Stevenson, what comes to mind?
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Treasure Island, Jekyll and Hyde or Kidnapped. Yes.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15With my mind full of swashbuckling feats of derring-do,
0:20:15 > 0:20:19I'm back to Dingwall and onward through this rugged terrain
0:20:19 > 0:20:22to the west coast, and my next destination, Plockton.
0:20:25 > 0:20:31I'm fulfilling a long-held ambition, to ride The Kyle of Lochalsh line.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36Two hours of train travel with hardly a human habitation glimpsed,
0:20:36 > 0:20:40radiant greens, imposing terrain...
0:20:40 > 0:20:44The line has been described as a symphony in three movements.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49First, pastoral, then mountainous and, finally, marine,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51as the line, at last, reaches the sea
0:20:51 > 0:20:55and the symphony reaches its glorious climax.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20Oh! Every curve brings a more spectacular vista.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23This line is wonderful.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25I have no words. I'm out of superlatives.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37My Bradshaw's says, "Several fine lochs penetrate the Atlantic coast,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41"such as Loch Broom, Loch Ewe, Gairloch, Loch Torridon,
0:21:41 > 0:21:47"and Loch Carron, where the Dingwall and Stromeferry rail terminates."
0:21:47 > 0:21:49But it doesn't terminate there any longer,
0:21:49 > 0:21:53and I want to know why this railway line to distant hamlets
0:21:53 > 0:21:57was pushed yet further away from any centre of population.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05The Dingwall and Skye Railway is certainly one of the most picturesque of routes,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09but Victorian rail companies had to be more businesslike than romantic,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11and I want to know about the economics
0:22:11 > 0:22:15behind this vast and expensive engineering project.
0:22:16 > 0:22:21I'm hopeful that local historian Pat Myhill will enlighten me.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28I'm wondering why a line like this to such remote places
0:22:28 > 0:22:30was built in the first place, Pat?
0:22:30 > 0:22:34The Victorians were great improvers, great entrepreneurs,
0:22:34 > 0:22:39and, so, they saw what a lot of people would regard as a wilderness
0:22:39 > 0:22:43as an untapped resource, particularly the fisheries,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47which were considered to be inexhaustible at the time...
0:22:47 > 0:22:50But I think, really, what it comes down to
0:22:50 > 0:22:53is a group of very, very large landowners
0:22:53 > 0:22:58saw the benefits to them of bringing improved communications in.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00There was a measure of altruism, certainly,
0:23:00 > 0:23:04but there was also a great deal of self-interest in it for them.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07How much difference would it make to the fisheries,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10first in Stromeferry and then in Kyle, having a railway line?
0:23:10 > 0:23:12Massive, because the price of fish
0:23:12 > 0:23:15depends on the speed with which you can get it to the market.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19The best markets, like Billingsgate, wanted very fresh fish,
0:23:19 > 0:23:23so the price wasn't as good if you couldn't get them to market so quickly.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Therefore, if you could get a railway line in,
0:23:26 > 0:23:30and you could get the fish down to London in little over 12 hours,
0:23:30 > 0:23:32you're going to get a much much better price for them,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36and, of course, that helped develop the fisheries industry itself.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40I rode along the line today, and it was a lovely gentle ride.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Give me an idea of what it would have been like
0:23:43 > 0:23:45in its early days at the end of the 19th century?
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Uncomfortable, especially on a day like this.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51The original carriages were six-wheelers,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54that's a rigid wheel base,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58and this is a twisty, tortuous switchback line,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01lots of short bends and lots of ups and downs,
0:24:01 > 0:24:03so they gave you a bumpy ride.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07They were wooden, no toilets, no heating...
0:24:07 > 0:24:09I really enjoyed my journey today.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12How would you sell it to a prospective tourist?
0:24:12 > 0:24:17Oh, as the greatest scenic, coastal railway journey in the country,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19quite probably in the world.
0:24:19 > 0:24:20That's pretty good, isn't it?
0:24:22 > 0:24:25In Bradshaw's day, the catch around Plockton
0:24:25 > 0:24:27consisted mainly of white fish and crab,
0:24:27 > 0:24:31but now the waters of Loch Carron are fished for prawn.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Bob Rowe has agreed to show me how it's done.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40- Hello, Bob.- Hi, how are you doing? - How are you?- Not bad.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44Where are your markets for the prawns?
0:24:44 > 0:24:47Well, we land to a company based in Dingwall,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50and they're trying to develop a market in Britain,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54so a lot of their stuff goes to hotels, restaurants, in the British Isles.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57- Fresh?- Yes, fresh. Well, alive, they send them live,
0:24:57 > 0:24:59because when they're landed, they go into this tank,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03which is spraying fresh water on them to keep them alive.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Nowadays, I guess you're not sending the catch by train?
0:25:07 > 0:25:10No, they don't go by train now. Most of them go by road.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12I think that's more... Well, it's...
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Because the bulk of it, you know, it's so bulky,
0:25:16 > 0:25:18and also the timetabling, and...
0:25:18 > 0:25:20I hadn't thought of that. In the days of the train,
0:25:20 > 0:25:24- you had to fish to the... - Fish to the timetable, yeah.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26So, if the train was timetabled for five o'clock,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29then the fishermen would have to have their catch ashore
0:25:29 > 0:25:33and packaged up, ready to go on the train for five o'clock.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36So, nowadays because it goes by road,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38they're not under that same pressure.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44'These days, fishing boats are under pressure to maximise their catch,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46'so they'd do well to leave ME ashore.'
0:25:48 > 0:25:50I'm baiting the creel in order that it can go back into the water,
0:25:50 > 0:25:53ready for the next lot of prawns.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56I have to put this bit of herring in the middle here...
0:25:57 > 0:26:01..and it just needs to be secured in that position
0:26:01 > 0:26:03by sliding down that knot,
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Now, the creels, with their bait, are going back overboard again
0:26:07 > 0:26:09to try and catch more prawn,
0:26:09 > 0:26:11and while Bob chucks them over the side,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15the rope is running along the deck and I'm standing clear,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18cos I don't want to go over with the creels.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21Being a fisherman is still a pretty tough lot, isn't it?
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Yeah, well, it's still the most dangerous job in the world, I think.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26Well, you certainly have my respect.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29OK, well, you did pretty good for a beginner, I think.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32I'll be thinking about you the next time I'm on a warm train journey.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34- HE LAUGHS - I'm sure you will.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38I'm sure I'll never make a trawlerman!
0:26:38 > 0:26:42I think my skills lie at the consuming end of the food chain.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47Since I'm in sight of the sea,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51I thought this would be a good time to taste the catch of the sea.
0:26:51 > 0:26:52It must be really fresh.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54- Oh, thank you!- Your fish platter.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Oh, that looks wonderful. So, what have I got there?
0:26:57 > 0:27:00You have some langoustines and squat lobsters,
0:27:00 > 0:27:03they're from a local Plockton creel boat.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05The crabs and the mussels are from Skye,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09and they're hand-dived scallops from Loch Alsh, near Kyle.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12- How wonderful! Thank you very much. - OK, enjoy your meal.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Hmm, start with the scallops...
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Glorious. Glorious!
0:27:29 > 0:27:34Today, I have enjoyed a feast of Scotland's natural beauty
0:27:34 > 0:27:38on tracks laid by 19th-century railway builders.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42The trains were the means by which fishermen in the remotest places
0:27:42 > 0:27:46could supply their catches, still fresh, to distant cities.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49Now, the line is thronged with tourists
0:27:49 > 0:27:51who, like Queen Victoria herself,
0:27:51 > 0:27:55are attracted by the majesty of the Highlands.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00'On the next stretch of my journey, I'll learn how one man's vision
0:28:00 > 0:28:03'helped to bring train travel to the Highlands...'
0:28:03 > 0:28:05He really saw the social value of railways,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08and in opening up the county of Sutherland.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11'..discover how farming's changed since Bradshaw's day...'
0:28:11 > 0:28:14We have about a tonne in the grain tank there.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18That would hopefully produce about 400 litres of neat whisky.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Wow!
0:28:20 > 0:28:24'..and re-live the drama of Scotland's Victorian gold rush...'
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Gold! We've found gold!
0:28:49 > 0:28:55Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd