Solway Firth to Skye Coast


Solway Firth to Skye

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We've crossed the Irish Sea to begin the Scottish leg of our epic journey

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around the entire coast of the UK.

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So far we've travelled along the southern edge of England, round Wales,

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north from Liverpool and around the coast of Northern Ireland,

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uncovering the stories that have shaped us as an island nation.

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This part of our grand tour takes us around the jagged west coast of Scotland.

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Nowhere else in the UK is there such an intricate tangle

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of islands, lochs and sounds.

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And it's this chaos of islands and inlets that has shaped life here on the rocky west.

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Donning their sou'westers and hopping around with me is our usual team of experts.

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Historian Neil Oliver joins the Royal Navy to find out

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why this stretch of coast is home to the UK's entire nuclear arsenal.

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Zoologist Miranda Krestovnikoff goes on the hunt for minke whales off the island of Rhum.

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Anthropologist Alice Roberts witnesses the re-birth of Glasgow shipbuilding,

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as 11,000 tonnes of steel is cheered down the slipway.

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And while I discover how the Scottish King James V crushed the mighty clans of the Western Isles...

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-Launch!

-..Mark Horton gets a crash course in German rocket science on the Island of Scarp.

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Welcome to the west coast of Scotland.

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This next leg of our journey takes us from the Firth of Clyde to the Outer Hebrides.

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As the seagull flies, it's only 300 miles, but add in the dozens

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of islands anchored off this rugged coastline and we are talking thousands of miles.

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Life on the west coast is governed as much by the sea as by the land.

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So what better way of getting to know its geography than on this classic Scottish sailing ketch.

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Skipper Andrew Ritchie has had a lifelong love affair with this stretch of coast.

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What makes this such a great place to sail, Andrew?

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I've sailed in many parts of the world and I still think

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the west coast of Scotland is the finest sailing area in the world.

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There's nothing like the west coast, the freshness of the air.

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You've got sandy shores and rocky sea cliffs that come down.

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You've got the mountains of Skye that come up to the sea.

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The variety of sailing is better than anywhere else in the world.

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It's also one of the most hazardous, isn't it?

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It has its places, and it has its moments.

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The Atlantic shore, wind can get up in no time and you can find yourself

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in a lot heavier weather than you originally expected.

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One of one of the great advantages of sailing on the west coast

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is that the coast is so jagged there's always some place you can get safe anchorage,

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and you can get under cover within a short sailing time.

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So far my experience of Scotland's west coast has been windswept and carefree.

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But nowhere in the British Isles has so much heavy metal been put to sea than here on the River Clyde.

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For 200 years, if it was ploughing of the world's great sea-lanes, chances are it was built here.

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Sailing and boat-building has been part of the culture around here for centuries.

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And nowhere is that legacy more evident than on the River Clyde.

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For generations, the River Clyde lay at the heart of Glasgow's prospering economy,

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with a massive shipbuilding heritage that saw huge iron-clad vessels

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sail to the four corners of the world.

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To be Clyde-built was seen as a mark of quality, craftsmanship and reliability.

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But decades of fierce foreign competition spelt the end of Glasgow's golden age of shipping.

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The dockyards slid into decline, disuse and neglect.

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But some refuse to die.

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Today, it's no wonder that any new ship is met with jubilant celebration.

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Alice Roberts is quayside as Glasgow's most famous industry trumpets its latest creation.

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At this dock in Govan, amidst a wave of pomp and ceremony,

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they're about to name and launch the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's Navy support ship Cardigan Bay.

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11,000 tonnes must slip majestically onto the River Clyde.

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The Cardigan Bay is the 751st vessel to be launched from this dock in 150 years.

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For the workers who have spent the last 18 months building her, launch day is a momentous occasion.

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It is also a nerve-jangling one.

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Only last year the Cardigan's sister ship hit trouble, literally,

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when she slid down the slipway straight into a concrete wall.

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It was an embarrassing dent to their pride, and one that is not going to happen again!

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Co-ordinating this launch is Scott Jamieson.

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Now on the launch of the sister ship there was a little bit of a problem.

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When you launch a ship this size,

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there are a lot of variables and it is a very complex process.

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The direction wasn't quite right and she travelled further than we wanted her to.

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How much further?

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She made slight contact with the opposite end of the river.

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But it wasn't that big a deal. Very minor damage.

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-And it's not going to happen?

-It won't happen this year.

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-We've done everything to make sure everything goes smoothly.

-Yeah.

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Scott, I have to say I am ever so slightly nervous being underneath thousands of tons of ship.

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So what's stopping her sliding down?

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We have four hydraulic rams, which push against the weight of the ship and hold her in position.

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Half an hour before we launch the ship, we start to take these away.

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-We'll press the button that releases the triggers and she'll start to slide into the Clyde.

-Right.

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I think I need to get out of here.

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Last year, one of the four drag chains that slow the ship down snapped free.

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It was enough to spell disaster.

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This year, the launch team are taking no chances and are attaching two extra 60-tonne drag chains,

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so there'll be three on either side of the ship.

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BAND STRIKES UP

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With only a few hours to go, the final preparations are carried out.

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Glasgow's passion for big ships still burns bright, and launch day is always a carnival.

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Can I ask you, have you any family connections with the ship?

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My cousin John worked on it.

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-Oh, really? Is he up there on deck?

-He's on there now.

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-Have you seen a ship launched?

-No, this is my first time.

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Is it a big day for Glasgow?

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-Yes, very big.

-Why is it so big?

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Well, tradition.

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A Glasgow tradition.

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Shipbuilding on the Clyde, second to none in the world.

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-We used to do this twice a month.

-Really? Ships this size?

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-That's a small one, by the way.

-Right.

-But it's good to know they still build them here.

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As the crowds line up and the VIPs arrive, it all looks perfect.

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Lady Stanhope is getting ready to name the ship and launch her, and underneath the ship

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the last-minute checks are being held to make sure that everything goes smoothly.

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But below the ship, it's a different story. The launch was scheduled for high tide,

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which should have guaranteed a healthy three metres of water to carry her massive bulk.

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But strong northerly winds have blown the tide back out to sea.

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The result - the Clyde is now too shallow to launch the ship safely.

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The ship is named, but the actual launch is postponed till tomorrow.

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I name this ship Cardigan Bay.

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May God bless her and all who sail in her.

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CHEERING

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It's the morning after the naming ceremony and the launch is back on track.

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With only half an hour to go, the burner is called in to remove the four supporting spurs.

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For 18 months, the weight of ship has been held back by the steel girders.

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Once gone, there'll be no stopping her sliding inexorably into the water. There'll be no turning back.

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She's moving. Come on, get her moving.

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The ship is ready to launch.

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MUSIC: "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss

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-Three cheers for the Cardigan Bay. Hip, hip...

-CROWD: ..Hooray!

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-Hip, hip...

-CROWD: ..hooray!

-Hip, hip...

-CROWD: ..hooray!

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It's a success that has given the Clyde its first real taste of optimism in decades.

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Though nobody expects shipbuilding to regain its pre-war levels, the order books are now bulging

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and this bit of Scottish coast looks like its going to be busy for a while yet.

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Despite the decline in shipbuilding, the connection with the sea remains strong.

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The biggest employer along the west coast is the Royal Navy.

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Her Majesty's naval base here at Faslane is the largest military establishment in Scotland.

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It employs a workforce of more than 6,000.

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The Navy's presence here dates back to the First World War.

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The depth of the lochs and their ready access to the Atlantic Ocean

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make this an obvious choice for our most important submarine base.

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And since the '60s, that no longer means just torpedoes, but intercontinental ballistic missiles.

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Each of these boats is capable of delivering more destructive power

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than was unleashed in the whole of the Second World War.

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Faslane stands guard over Britain's entire nuclear arsenal,

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a force that comprises four Trident submarines.

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Our historian, Neil Oliver, has been given privileged access

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to join the crew of Trident submarine HMS Vanguard.

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As we're escorted out, the submarine has to negotiate the shallow waters of Loch Gareloch.

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Navigating a 150-metre-long 16,000-tonne nuclear submarine is no easy feat.

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Overseeing this tricky manoeuvre is Captain Jake Moores.

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We've just left the Gareloch and coming down

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the Rhu Narrows where we have 40 yards of clear water either side

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and 3.5 metres of clear water underneath the submarine.

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As the submarine is over 100 yards long,

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there isn't a lot of space to turn her as we come through the Narrows and out here into the Clyde.

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What is it about Faslane that makes it so special?

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Faslane's in a unique position within the UK.

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It's a deep-water harbour that's well protected, with a difficult navigational entrance and exit.

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And also, it provides easy access to the North Atlantic and quick access to get out to deep water.

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In addition, the lochs in the area provide us with deep water

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where we can conduct trials and training without having to go too far.

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It's been over three years since HMS Vanguard was last on patrol.

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As the oldest of the UK's four Trident submarines,

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she was taken out of service in 2001 for a complete overhaul.

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But before she can resume patrol duty, both the crew and the submarine must survive a series of drills.

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I've joined the crew at the start of a gruelling set of sea trials

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that will test the ship and, more importantly, her men to the limits.

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For the past two weeks Captain Moores has been preparing his crew for the first of those tests.

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Ready to dive. Diving now.

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Their underwater patrols last three months, during which time

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no-one sees anything of the outside world, not even daylight.

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With such a vast array of complex equipment, a lot can go wrong

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and the crew must sort out any emergency themselves. But the fear that haunts every submariner is fire

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which, hundreds of feet below the surface, can quickly turn lethal.

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Three men have been airlifted from a Canadian submarine stranded...

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Last year, a crewman died and eight others were injured on board the Canadian submarine

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the Chicoutimi, when a fire crippled her and left her adrift in open seas.

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No wonder they take these drills in such deadly earnest.

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To make sure the crew are up to scratch,

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the Navy's own team of inspectors plant a series of simulated fires throughout the submarine.

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Assessment day! There's a real sense of tension running right through the ship. It's very exciting.

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ON RADIO: 'Shut bulkhead doors!

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'Emergency stations! Shut bulkhead doors!'

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Go! Go!

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As soon as any emergency occurs, the officers' mess rapidly transforms into Damage Control.

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The heads of every department are here, from the chief weapons engineer to the chief medic.

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Doc, any information on casualties?

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This is the nerve centre during any crisis.

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Meanwhile, it's the crew's job to tackle the fire.

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ON RADIO: 'Electrical failure!'

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The pace of the day is relentless.

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With one fire under control, the test team set off others.

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In such confined spaces, speed and teamwork are essential.

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The fire is out! The fire is out!

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ON RADIO: 'The submarine was struck by a submerged container.

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'Various incidents have occurred throughout the submarine, including two fires which are out. That's all.'

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Although the drills and tests are now over, the crew can never relax.

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Is it possible at all to get away from the day job

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while you're on active service? I mean, can you switch off at all?

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No, while we're at sea, you can't switch off.

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If something goes wrong, you're in an enclosed environment underwater

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and you've got to deal with it very quickly, otherwise there could be problems.

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That's why we train so carefully for it.

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Well, they've passed the first big milestone

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but for the crew this is just the start of a long process.

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For them, it's more practice, more assessment, more practice, more assessments

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for the next 12 months, until this ship is finally declared fully operational.

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The lochs, so perfect for submarine training, and the tangle of islands and inlets on the west coast,

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have been 3,000 million years in the making.

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Everything around here has been shaped by heat and by ice.

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These ancient volcanic rocks have been scoured into deep troughs and mountains

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by the glaciers of the last ice age. It's a landscape that's changing all the time.

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When the ice melted, the water flooded in,

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so those aren't islands but the tops of submerged mountains.

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It's impossible not to be moved by the sheer scale of this place

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and the unbelievable forces that formed it -

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the rivers of molten rock, the cataracts of ice, the torrents of water.

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They've all created a natural spectacle that just cannot fail to unleash the human imagination.

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The island of Staffa, thrown up by the same volcanic activity that created the Giant's Causeway

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in Northern Ireland, has lured travellers from all over the world.

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German composer Felix Mendelssohn visited Staffa in 1829.

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The experience inspired his Hebridean overture.

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MUSIC: "Fingal's Cave Overture" by Felix Mendelssohn

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Other artists came here simply to get away from it all.

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60 years ago, George Orwell went out to the remote island of Jura to write his caustic satire, 1984.

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Secluded Jura may be, but tranquil it is not.

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Orwell's own experiences of Jura included a close call

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with one of the coast's most ferocious black spots - the gulf of Corryvreckan.

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The stretch of water between the islands of Jura and Scarba

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is one of the most dangerous in the British Isles.

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With currents reaching speeds of up to 16 knots, it was once classed as un-navigable by the Royal Navy.

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On a quiet day it can be deceptively calm, but when tides and winds conspire,

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this water transforms into one of Britain's most fearsome sights -

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the Corryvreckan whirlpool.

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The whirlpool's awesome power has become a daily draw for thrill-seekers.

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Archaeologist Mark Horton discovers what lies beneath.

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-So where are we?

-We're heading into the Corryvreckan straight ahead.

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'I've hitched a lift with local tour boat operator David Ainsley

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'to find out what causes this maelstrom.'

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We have Jura on our left-hand side...

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Twice a day, in the period between the tide ebbing in and flowing out,

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the whirlpool lies dormant, allowing us a brief moment to glimpse what lies beneath -

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a huge underwater mountain known as "the pinnacle".

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Now we're sitting on top of the famous pinnacle,

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the pinnacle that fuels one of the largest whirlpools in the world.

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We're just going up over the top, 50, 40... That's the peak!

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-We're pretty well on top of it now.

-This 170-metre pinnacle,

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taller than the Blackpool Tower,

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lies waiting in the path of the tide.

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When the tide floods in, the weight of the water

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squeezing through this narrow gulf is deflected by the pinnacle

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and is forced down this huge underwater mountainside,

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where it accelerates, just like a waterfall.

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But the water flowing to the other side of the pinnacle travels much slower

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and it is the difference between these two currents that causes it to swirl.

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The only way to see this pinnacle is to dive into the maelstrom.

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It is one of the most dangerous dives in Britain,

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and one which only a handful of people have undertaken.

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David Ainsley is one of those brave few.

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If it is such a dangerous dive, why would you dive in the first place?

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I think divers and mountaineers have very much the same, um,

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ambitions and so on.

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-It's regarded as one of the pinnacles, if you like, of diving in Britain.

-Because it's there?

-Yes!

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What's it actually like down there?

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The tide hits the pinnacle at the end of the flood tide and it actually pushes up.

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So you have to haul yourself down with the tide flowing into your face like a river.

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The biggest risk is getting taken down in the down currents.

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The top of the pinnacle is at 30 metres and it goes straight down to 200 metres.

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When the tide turns, it's like an underwater washing machine down there.

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Rocks trapped in the swirling waters scour out hollows in the rock face.

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It's chilling evidence of what a dangerous place this is.

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It's a bit like when a typhoon passes overhead and you can feel the tide pulling your fins off the rocks.

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-Tugging you downwards to these depths?

-Well, yes.

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How long does one actually dive on the pinnacle, half an hour?

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-You're lucky if you get five minutes. Ten minutes, maximum.

-How do you know when time's up?

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The end of the dive is when the down currents start.

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So normally on a dive your bubbles go up to the surface.

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As you're diving, you'll find your bubbles start staying with you.

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Then the bubbles will go down over the side of the cliff,

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and we've been there looking down the side of the cliff with our bubbles going down,

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-and you know you've overstayed your welcome.

-You get the hell out?

-You get the hell out of there.

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For every danger thrown up by the jagged west coast,

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there are just as many natural harbours and safe passages.

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And it is these safe route ways that link the islands rather than separate them.

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Along the west coast, the sea holds people and communities together,

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and at its hub lies the port of Oban.

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For over 200 years, this fishing town has been a tourist attraction in itself.

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But for many travellers, their view of the town is often from the ferry as it leaves the terminus.

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Because it's so close to the Inner and Outer Hebrides,

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Oban can justifiably claim to be the gateway to the isles.

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From here you can take your pick of 22 island destinations that pepper the west coast,

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though few are as rainbow-coloured as Tobermory, more familiar to the under-6s as Balamory.

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# Balamory

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# What's the story in Balamory? Wouldn't you like to know? #

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I'm Donald MacLean, painter and decorator.

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I was born in Tobermory. I've lived here all my life.

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# ..Choosing our colours with Spencer we should go... #

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Balamory was filmed in Tobermory.

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It's got a lot of characters in it.

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Spencer the painter, who I've been called after a few times.

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Kids shouting, "Dad! There's Spencer!"

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'I tell them Spencer's on holiday. I'm just standing in for him.'

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HE LAUGHS

0:27:450:27:47

The colours were started off by a former provost of Tobermory, Bobby Macleod.

0:27:470:27:53

He decided he would do one building red, one yellow and one blue.

0:27:530:27:57

He was told to change it back, but he never.

0:27:570:27:59

That started off the trend of all the different colours, which I think is very nice.

0:27:590:28:04

I'm having my piece now... while Junior's doing the work.

0:28:060:28:10

Don't miss any bits.

0:28:100:28:12

Not all visitors head to Mull for the colourful scenery.

0:28:160:28:20

Others are drawn by the spectacular wildlife.

0:28:200:28:24

The waters north of Tobermory up towards the islands of Eigg and Rhum are teeming with marine life.

0:28:240:28:30

Zoologist Miranda Krestovnikoff teams up with local whale expert

0:28:330:28:37

Brennen Fairbairns for a close-up view of the elusive minke whale.

0:28:370:28:41

I've done a bit of whale-watching,

0:28:500:28:52

but I didn't appreciate what a whale-watching hot spot this is.

0:28:520:28:55

There's a massive amount of species here. We see almost a third of the world population

0:28:550:28:59

of whales and dolphins here around the UK coast. Amazing diversity.

0:28:590:29:04

More common ones we see - minke whales, we see lots of dolphin species,

0:29:040:29:09

rissos, bottle-nosed dolphins, common dolphins,

0:29:090:29:11

porpoises, harbour porpoises, just to name a few of the ones we see.

0:29:110:29:16

And why here, what's so special about this location?

0:29:160:29:19

There's a lot of reasons, really, but the main reason is that we catch the edge of the Gulf Stream

0:29:190:29:25

and that brings warmer, richer water into this colder sea.

0:29:250:29:28

Brings in nutrients which helps to accounts for massive plankton bloom every year

0:29:280:29:33

and that brings in all the predators up the food chain from there, of course, leading up to the whale.

0:29:330:29:38

'And because the whales' food comes in so close to shore

0:29:380:29:42

'it's a great opportunity to see these fantastic animals.'

0:29:420:29:46

One in front, one o'clock!

0:29:470:29:50

Oh, yes! Really close. There's another one.

0:29:510:29:56

'Minke whales migrate here from the tropics to spend the summer months feeding in these rich waters.

0:30:000:30:06

'But no-one really knows if they stay around the Scottish coast all summer

0:30:060:30:10

'or if they keep moving further north where they could be in danger from an all-too-familiar threat.'

0:30:100:30:16

Some nations still hunt minke whales, which is the main whale we see.

0:30:160:30:20

Norway and Iceland, which have resumed whaling,

0:30:200:30:24

and because so little is known about minke whales,

0:30:240:30:26

we don't know if the whales we are seeing here

0:30:260:30:29

are the same ones that are being killed up off their shores.

0:30:290:30:32

So really, so much needs to be learned about these whales, really.

0:30:320:30:37

'In order to find out more, Brennen and his team are photographing the whales,

0:30:370:30:41

'so they can spot any markings, which help identify the individual animals.

0:30:410:30:45

'They've compiled a catalogue of the minke whales they see here each year.'

0:30:450:30:51

We're trying to basically get photo ID shots of the whale.

0:30:510:30:54

We have upwards of 80 animals now that we know that we've seen back more than one year in a row.

0:30:540:31:01

Minke whales, being the smallest, nobody was concerned about them,

0:31:010:31:04

but now, because they're being hunted, they're getting more attention which is good.

0:31:040:31:09

'Another reason we know so little about these whales

0:31:100:31:13

'is because they're fast and elusive which makes it really difficult to follow them and get photographs.'

0:31:130:31:20

You see them once, then you focus on them and then they're gone.

0:31:200:31:24

It gives you an idea of how little is known about minke whales.

0:31:240:31:28

Excellent, that's a good shot.

0:31:320:31:34

Is that good enough for identification?

0:31:340:31:36

-Yes, we can add that to our catalogue.

-Fantastic.

0:31:360:31:39

What is that terrible smell?

0:31:390:31:41

-It's minke whale breath.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-It smells like rotting fish.

0:31:410:31:45

'It's really frustrating how little you see of the whales from the surface.'

0:31:450:31:50

'So, we're going to use an underwater camera

0:31:510:31:55

'so we can appreciate the true size and beauty of these animals.

0:31:550:31:59

'And the best way to find whales is to find a shoal of fish,

0:32:050:32:08

'stick with them and hope a whale comes in.'

0:32:080:32:10

I can see the fish, yeah.

0:32:100:32:12

You can just start to see the bait ball here, there's birds feeding here.

0:32:120:32:16

You see the razorbills and the guillemots diving in from the surface

0:32:160:32:21

and they seem to be keeping the fish together in that big ball.

0:32:210:32:24

-We're expecting a minke whale to come in and scoop up the lot.

-That'd be great.

0:32:240:32:28

It's almost the different species of birds working collectively together.

0:32:280:32:33

There's a whale coming in, a whale coming this way over here at nine o'clock.

0:32:330:32:36

You got the whale there, Mike? Got it, got it here, yeah!

0:32:360:32:40

-Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!

-Excellent.

-Really sleek.

0:32:400:32:44

It's hard to keep up with them, they keep swimming through frame really quickly.

0:32:440:32:48

-Whoa!

-Blimey!

0:32:480:32:50

I have to say it's spectacular from here. Very streamlined.

0:32:500:32:54

You don't appreciate, when you see them on the surface,

0:32:540:32:56

just how streamline they are, cos you see so little of them.

0:32:560:33:00

-Yep, it's coming closer.

-It's coming right underneath us.

0:33:000:33:04

-Fantastic. This is...

-Excellent, that's so close.

0:33:040:33:07

Really close. So how long is this individual we've got here?

0:33:070:33:11

Probably about nine metres.

0:33:110:33:13

-And how heavy?

-Probably about ten tons.

0:33:130:33:17

It's so good to see them underwater, because you don't appreciate

0:33:170:33:20

what size or shape they are when you see just a dorsal fin.

0:33:200:33:23

'It's great to know that you can see these whales and dolphins around our coastline.

0:33:270:33:32

'But once they leave the safety of these shores,

0:33:320:33:34

'they could become part of the 1,000 minke whales killed through hunting each year.

0:33:340:33:39

'This makes Brennen's research work even more invaluable.'

0:33:390:33:43

Take a look at this, the Knoydart peninsula,

0:34:100:34:13

there's not a single road or rail track the whole way from Loch Hourn up here

0:34:130:34:17

to Loch Nevis down here.

0:34:170:34:19

It's known as Scotland's last wilderness.

0:34:190:34:22

The place perfect for a quiet life.

0:34:220:34:25

My name is Francis Cormey, normally called Frank or Frankie.

0:34:340:34:39

And I look after this church, which is a backpacker's place.

0:34:390:34:44

And what I'm doing now is making these bloody sticks

0:34:450:34:50

and I sell them to the tourists.

0:34:500:34:53

I don't like doing that.

0:34:530:34:55

I'd sooner make a stick for somebody who wants a stick, actually for nothing.

0:34:550:35:00

One of these phil... Phila...

0:35:000:35:04

Well, that long word that means a kindly soul.

0:35:040:35:08

I've just sawed a hole in my trousers.

0:35:090:35:12

There it's there, you see it?

0:35:120:35:15

-Oh, it's... It's fallen off!

-LAUGHTER

0:35:170:35:20

Och, I swear a lot. I enjoy swearing, actually.

0:35:200:35:24

There are occasional ceilidhs in the church.

0:35:240:35:27

I've got a little house at the end there, with a double bed upstairs.

0:35:270:35:32

Just in case, by chance, I get lucky.

0:35:320:35:36

It's a special place this, you won't get many, many places in Scotland now

0:35:410:35:47

that's like this place. I actually love it up here.

0:35:470:35:51

But it...

0:35:510:35:52

40 years ago, I wouldn't have contemplated staying in a place like this,

0:35:520:35:57

You have to wander a bit. It's like that film - the wandering stars thing.

0:35:570:36:02

My wandering stars landed here.

0:36:020:36:04

For centuries, huge swathes of Scotland

0:36:060:36:08

were as isolated and as inaccessible as Knoydart

0:36:080:36:12

and much of the western coast was considered to be firmly beyond the pale.

0:36:120:36:16

Not only were its craggy islands difficult and dangerous to reach,

0:36:160:36:21

but they were populated by violent warrior clans.

0:36:210:36:25

This was the domain of the Lords of the Isles -

0:36:280:36:31

clan chiefs who thumbed their nose at the King in Edinburgh.

0:36:310:36:35

The lords protected their realm from castles built in key strategic coastal locations,

0:36:370:36:43

safe in the knowledge that control of the waterways made them impregnable.

0:36:430:36:47

But in 1540, the Scottish King James V

0:36:490:36:52

decided that it was time to bring these rebellious lords to heel.

0:36:520:36:57

I've come to Eilean Donan Castle to learn why it was so hard

0:36:570:37:01

for the Scottish monarch to dislodge the Lords of the Isles.

0:37:010:37:04

It's curious in this day and age to think of a monarch who wasn't in control of his own land.

0:37:040:37:10

Very much. This was part of James' back yard and he didn't run it.

0:37:100:37:15

The Lords of the Isles ran it.

0:37:150:37:16

The MacDonalds and the MacLeods on the Isle of Skye,

0:37:160:37:19

the MacLeans down towards Duart and all these clans held their own territories, fiercely autonomous,

0:37:190:37:25

in total contempt of King James or any other monarch for that matter. This was their land

0:37:250:37:30

and they wouldn't have been too impressed with a monarch

0:37:300:37:33

seeming to want to rule or govern them.

0:37:330:37:35

The King was kept at bay by 200 miles of almost impassable terrain separating the Isles from Edinburgh.

0:37:350:37:44

To an outsider, this is pretty formidable geography.

0:37:440:37:46

-How did the lords use this to their advantage?

-Simply by using the sea.

0:37:460:37:50

The sea is the lifeblood of the clan culture because these sea lochs -

0:37:500:37:55

these fjords - are the marine motorways of the ancient world.

0:37:550:37:58

You must command the sea. The sea is the important thing about the Lords of the Isles.

0:37:580:38:03

The King was totally disadvantaged.

0:38:060:38:08

He couldn't march to the Western Isles, so any punitive raid would have to be by sea.

0:38:080:38:14

Fine, but how on earth would he find his way through the lethal labyrinth that was the west coast?

0:38:140:38:20

There were no accurate maps.

0:38:200:38:23

Undaunted, he decided to compile one of his own -

0:38:230:38:26

a route map to the back door of his own kingdom.

0:38:260:38:29

Authored by his foremost navigator, Alexander Lindsay,

0:38:470:38:50

the document gave James his own definitive router, or "rutter" as it became known.

0:38:500:38:55

Information really was power.

0:38:550:38:57

Such a plan, such a route, would be a prized piece of information.

0:38:570:39:02

Not all the Lords of the Isles knew of the details of everyone else's territory,

0:39:020:39:06

but to knit it all together - the complete intelligence of the West Highlands -

0:39:060:39:10

was a powerful piece of equipment, a powerful document.

0:39:100:39:13

Armed with the rutter and a fleet of warships, James was ready for battle!

0:39:150:39:20

Having rounded the east and north coasts, James advanced into the very heart of clan territory.

0:39:220:39:28

To Dunvegan, where he captured the chief of Clan MacLeod.

0:39:280:39:32

Next stop, Mull and Islay,

0:39:320:39:34

strongholds of the MacLeans and MacDonalds.

0:39:340:39:38

It was here the rutter really proved its worth,

0:39:380:39:41

directing the fleet to a vital short cut.

0:39:410:39:44

"From Burnt Iland to Kilark

0:39:460:39:49

"south east to south, five mile.

0:39:490:39:52

"Kilark is a narrow passage

0:39:550:39:57

"and betwixt it and Kyilra is a good route."

0:39:570:40:01

No-one knows better than local sailor David Croy

0:40:080:40:10

how powerful a tool the rutter would have been.

0:40:100:40:13

We're talking about an age before GPS, or Admiralty charts,

0:40:130:40:18

they'd have been navigating in those days by following shore features.

0:40:180:40:23

The interesting thing is we came down on the bearing of south east -

0:40:230:40:26

you just could not see the Kyleakin entrance - it wasn't visible, was it?

0:40:260:40:31

The other thing is you've got lots of what you think could be an entrance

0:40:310:40:35

and certainly over here, just behind the sail, that could look like the Kyleakin entrance.

0:40:350:40:40

It's easy for us now, because we have the Skye Bridge telling us where to go,

0:40:400:40:44

but if you take the Skye Bridge out of the shoreline, you can't see that way through.

0:40:440:40:49

It just looks like the dark flank of the mountain.

0:40:490:40:51

'The rutter also gave James vital information about dangerous tides and shallow channels.

0:40:530:40:58

'Without this knowledge his warships could easily have found themselves stranded in hostile waters.'

0:40:580:41:05

"If ye will lie betwixt the Brunt islands and Kylark,

0:41:070:41:12

"hold the east side and ye shall find 80 fathoms.

0:41:120:41:16

"Kyle Rhea is a narrow passage in which is a dangerous tide."

0:41:170:41:22

How did those high and low tides affect passage up and down this tricky coast?

0:41:220:41:28

Well, one of the things is we've got a massive body of water

0:41:280:41:31

that's wanting to get through quite a narrow channel here, which causes big tides.

0:41:310:41:38

If we were rowing forward at say three knots with four knots of tide going against us, it would be...

0:41:380:41:44

Well, we'd go forward three but back four.

0:41:440:41:47

-So you're losing ground because you got the tide wrong?

-Yeah.

0:41:470:41:52

So James coming down here with his armada of much bigger ships than this

0:41:520:41:57

would have needed to know just when to try to do that,

0:41:570:42:00

-because to get it wrong, he'd just run those ships on to rocks.

-Right.

0:42:000:42:04

It was all over for the clans.

0:42:050:42:08

With their inaccessible island bases penetrated,

0:42:080:42:11

they were easy meat for James, who dragged the most troublesome clan chiefs back to Edinburgh

0:42:110:42:16

where he held them there as hostages till his death in 1542.

0:42:160:42:20

The lasting impact of Lindsay's rutter and James' expedition

0:42:220:42:25

is that the Western Isles were opened up to the rest of Scotland.

0:42:250:42:29

No longer separate fiefdoms, no longer beyond the control of the crown.

0:42:290:42:34

Back in Edinburgh, James added insult to injury

0:42:340:42:37

by claiming the title Lord of the Isles for himself and for the monarchy.

0:42:370:42:41

So the current Lord of the Isles is no west coast chieftain, but Prince Charles.

0:42:410:42:47

Royalty has always had a strong connection with the Highlands.

0:43:030:43:07

In 1891, mountaineer Sir Hugh Munro catalogued every peak over 3,000 feet for Queen Victoria.

0:43:070:43:14

I'm sure she had no intention of climbing all of them.

0:43:140:43:17

There are 284, 12 of them here on Skye.

0:43:170:43:21

And the practice of climbing them one by one and keeping a list is called munro-bagging.

0:43:210:43:27

It's a bit like train spotting only wetter and colder and a bit more exerting.

0:43:270:43:32

The person who introduced me to the mountains was my dad.

0:43:340:43:37

He taught me how to use a map and a compass

0:43:370:43:39

and I've been climbing and walking in places like this ever since.

0:43:390:43:43

From here on Skye, we're travelling further west to the Outer Hebrides.

0:44:030:44:07

The tiny island of Barra is the only place in the world

0:44:070:44:11

to use its beach as a runway for scheduled airline flights.

0:44:110:44:15

The kind of airline food you'll get here is slightly more unusual.

0:44:150:44:18

The menu at Barra's Castlebay Hotel includes "cockles from the airport"

0:44:180:44:23

collected from the beach by local boy Angus John.

0:44:230:44:27

I'm Angus John MacLeod and I'm from the Isle of Barra.

0:44:270:44:30

That's the service plane. It lands over there.

0:44:300:44:34

That's what makes this whole place unique, you know?

0:44:340:44:36

A service plane actually lands here. It's a corned beef can with wings. I can't stand flying on it.

0:44:360:44:42

Putting a rake in the ground and taking out cockles and putting it into a bucket's not exciting,

0:44:420:44:47

but at least you're in the fresh air. You're doing something.

0:44:470:44:49

It's an honest day's work. All you do is put the rake in,

0:44:490:44:52

pull it out and try and get them out from under it, you know?

0:44:520:44:56

And then, once they get above it, just pick them up and chuck them in the bucket.

0:44:560:45:01

That's my grandfather, Callum.

0:45:040:45:06

He's 75 this year and the guy still works like a Trojan.

0:45:060:45:10

He's a machine, I'm sure of it.

0:45:100:45:13

Even my dad, and he's a fit fella, he'll not keep up with him.

0:45:130:45:16

There's not many people that can. I don't know how he does it.

0:45:160:45:19

The cockles that we have picked will get taken to mainland Europe,

0:45:210:45:24

down to France and down to Spain.

0:45:240:45:27

There's a good few tonnes go out of here every week,

0:45:270:45:29

so they must be pretty fond of their cockles down in Portugal.

0:45:290:45:33

I don't like cockles. My mum and dad like them.

0:45:330:45:35

My dad will sometimes take a bucket home.

0:45:350:45:37

Either curry them or cook them in garlic butter, you know?

0:45:370:45:41

That's when I shoot out the house, I don't like them at all.

0:45:410:45:44

One of the biggest problems for the Western Isles is the number of young people leaving the islands.

0:45:440:45:50

During the last 40 years, the population has dropped by a fifth

0:45:500:45:54

and 12 islands have been completely abandoned.

0:45:540:45:58

Scarp, around 60 miles north of Barra,

0:45:580:46:01

is the most recently deserted island.

0:46:010:46:04

In the 1930s, it witnessed an ingenious attempt to improve communication,

0:46:040:46:08

an experiment in air mail that was to make history.

0:46:080:46:12

Not with aircraft but by rocket!

0:46:120:46:15

'The German inventor Herr Zucker visualises a cross-channel rocket mail service.'

0:46:180:46:23

One, two, three!

0:46:230:46:25

And now, 70 years later, we'll try to re-create an audacious plan

0:46:330:46:38

to bridge the gap between those islands.

0:46:380:46:40

And joining me on this mission is Mark Horton.

0:46:400:46:44

Back in the 1930s, Scarp was home to a thriving community,

0:46:480:46:52

who survived through a combination of crofting the land and fishing the local seas.

0:46:520:46:57

Then the most pressing problem facing the islanders was maintaining a link with nearby Harris mainland.

0:46:580:47:05

On a clear, calm day the journey is just a short boat trip and takes little more than a few minutes.

0:47:050:47:12

But when the weather is bad, this waterway might as well be a hundred miles wide

0:47:120:47:16

becoming completely impossible to cross.

0:47:160:47:19

One person who knows only too well the difficulties of living on Scarp

0:47:190:47:23

is Donald John MacInnes, whose family was one of the last to leave in 1971.

0:47:230:47:29

Harris doesn't seem particularly far off.

0:47:290:47:32

No, it doesn't - just on our doorstep.

0:47:320:47:34

But deceptively far though when you have to get across

0:47:340:47:37

in quite tough tides and rough weather.

0:47:370:47:41

We're right out in the Atlantic here.

0:47:410:47:43

You can see the difficulties when you look on things like the school register, for instance.

0:47:430:47:48

If you look at the entry from December 14th 1917.

0:47:480:47:54

"Only today did a few men venture to take a boat to Hushinish and thence to Amhuinnsuidhe.

0:47:540:47:59

"But it was a risk and far too stormy for women to venture.

0:47:590:48:04

"They have just returned to Hushinish but can't get home.

0:48:040:48:07

"Such is Scarp."

0:48:070:48:09

And that's the story of it - so near and yet so far.

0:48:090:48:13

The problems of getting to and from the island

0:48:140:48:16

were to bring Scarp spectacularly to the international limelight.

0:48:160:48:21

In January 1934, Christina MacLennan was expecting twins.

0:48:210:48:25

The first baby, a girl, Mary, arrived on the 13th.

0:48:250:48:28

The second birth ran into trouble and because of appalling weather

0:48:280:48:32

the doctor could not be reached on the mainland.

0:48:320:48:34

Christina and her unborn baby were in danger,

0:48:340:48:37

so, still in labour, she was transported by boat and bus to Stornoway.

0:48:370:48:41

The twins, Mary and Jessie, were born two days and 50 miles apart on separate islands.

0:48:410:48:47

This near tragedy showed communication had to be made more reliable.

0:48:470:48:52

The dramatic story reached 26-year-old German inventor Gerhard Zucker.

0:48:520:48:59

He thought he had the answer - rockets!

0:48:590:49:02

So he sold the government and the post office on his vision of a rocket mail service

0:49:020:49:07

that could deliver letters and food and even medical supplies to isolated communities like Scarp.

0:49:070:49:13

The authorities were intrigued and they invited him up here to show them what he could do.

0:49:130:49:17

By July, he was in Tarbert preparing for his big experiment.

0:49:170:49:22

Zucker's plan was to fire his mail rocket from Scarp

0:49:230:49:27

across the half-mile stretch of water and hopefully land on Harris.

0:49:270:49:31

To appreciate the challenge faced by Zucker,

0:49:330:49:35

we're going to recreate his experiment

0:49:350:49:37

using surviving blueprints held by the Post Office Museum.

0:49:370:49:40

Our modern rocketeer John Bonsor gives Mark Horton a crash course in rocket science.

0:49:400:49:47

John, this is what a rocket really should look like.

0:49:470:49:50

I mean, it's straight out of Flash Gordon or Jules Verne.

0:49:500:49:54

Yes, it's very much a 1920s, 1930s classical rocket design.

0:49:540:49:58

So how heavy is it?

0:49:580:49:59

-Four kilograms, including the mail.

-The mail's in the front here?

0:49:590:50:03

It's in three compartments at the front, so the mail's in there.

0:50:030:50:07

To get this mail in the air is going to be difficult.

0:50:070:50:10

That's why we need so many motors. Large one in the core - that's the main motor -

0:50:100:50:14

and then the eight smaller engines take over when the main one starts to run out of thrust,

0:50:140:50:19

-to make sure we get the range.

-Do you think it will work?

-I believe it will.

0:50:190:50:23

28th July 1934 - launch day had arrived on Scarp.

0:50:230:50:28

It was a momentous occasion and the tiny island buzzed with VIPs and dignitaries

0:50:280:50:33

who had travelled from as far afield as London to witness the great postal experiment.

0:50:330:50:38

Also there on the day was 14-year-old John Angus MacLeod.

0:50:380:50:43

What was the atmosphere like here on the day of the launch?

0:50:430:50:47

Well, nowadays, I would probably say it was electric,

0:50:470:50:50

though we didn't have electricity on the island then.

0:50:500:50:53

Given that you were going to have a rocket fired, well, more or less at you,

0:50:530:50:58

was anybody worried about where it would land?

0:50:580:51:01

Well, I was a little worried myself -

0:51:010:51:05

"Could he get it straight on to that beach over there?"

0:51:050:51:08

That's where it was supposed to land - make a soft landing.

0:51:080:51:11

-So it was just to make a smooth curve across to that beach there?

-Yes, to that beach there.

0:51:110:51:15

To prove its worth as a postal missile, Zucker packed the rocket with 1,800 letters.

0:51:150:51:21

And for the big day he had persuaded the Post Office to issue special rocket mail commemorative stamps,

0:51:210:51:27

because he figured that stamp collectors would pay a small fortune

0:51:270:51:31

for a letter that had been delivered by a rocket.

0:51:310:51:34

This is one of the actual letters that went in that nose cone

0:51:340:51:38

complete with the original stamp.

0:51:380:51:39

There was interest in this from all over Britain.

0:51:390:51:42

So Zucker's plan was beautiful and simple -

0:51:420:51:45

send the rocket over, have the letters go on their way,

0:51:450:51:48

so in one stroke he would show that rocket mail worked

0:51:480:51:51

and turn a profit for himself on the side.

0:51:510:51:54

But the singeing on the envelope tells its own story.

0:51:540:51:58

-One...two...three!

-BANG!

0:51:580:52:02

It had taken Zucker two years of hard work to design and build his rocket,

0:52:050:52:09

but it was all over in a matter of seconds.

0:52:090:52:11

The rocket didn't even make it off the ramp.

0:52:110:52:14

It exploded, blasting the mail all over the island like confetti.

0:52:140:52:18

Later it was recovered by the postmaster and ultimately delivered by more conventional means.

0:52:180:52:24

Not allowed to import his usual rocket fuel from Germany,

0:52:240:52:28

Zucker had been forced to use firework gunpowder, which was far too volatile.

0:52:280:52:32

The result was it exploded.

0:52:320:52:35

But was the design also at fault?

0:52:350:52:38

'Our modern rocketeers put it to the test,

0:52:380:52:40

'this time using a much more stable propellant.'

0:52:400:52:44

-OK, Neil, we're preparing for launch.

-OK, Mark. Good luck.

0:52:550:52:59

Thanks!

0:52:590:53:02

Five...four...three...two...one!

0:53:030:53:10

Launch!

0:53:100:53:12

-Mark, I've found it!

-Fantastic!

0:53:250:53:28

I'm just going to look at it. It seems intact though.

0:53:280:53:31

'Our rocket flew at over 200 mph

0:53:310:53:33

'and easily covered the half-mile distance between Scarp and Harris.'

0:53:330:53:39

Looks like a prop from Dan Dare.

0:53:390:53:41

-Hi, Neil.

-Mark, what do you think?

0:53:430:53:46

-THEY LAUGH

-It's all there, all in one piece.

0:53:460:53:50

Three...two...one!

0:53:500:53:54

Launch!

0:53:540:53:56

Although it looked like something straight out of a comic book,

0:53:570:54:01

Zucker's rocket design actually works.

0:54:010:54:03

-You're a genius, John.

-Thank you very much.

0:54:030:54:07

Mission accomplished, I think.

0:54:070:54:09

But for poor Zucker, things only got worse.

0:54:110:54:14

On returning to Germany, he was promptly imprisoned

0:54:140:54:17

for smuggling weapon technology out of the Reich.

0:54:170:54:20

Because while he'd been away developing peaceful uses for the technology,

0:54:200:54:24

the Nazis had been at work on a top-secret rocket programme

0:54:240:54:28

that would eventually deliver the infamous V1 and V2 rockets

0:54:280:54:31

that would bring such terror to the skies over London.

0:54:310:54:35

After the war, Zucker, ever the showman, kept plugging away.

0:54:350:54:38

But by now, he was just a sideshow earning a few quid

0:54:380:54:42

firing rocket mail bearing his own commemorative stamps.

0:54:420:54:45

We're coming to the end of our island-hopping journey along the west coast.

0:55:260:55:32

That 50m fang of rock there is called the Old Man of Storr

0:55:320:55:39

and it's a measure of how remote this region is,

0:55:390:55:42

that it wasn't climbed until 1955,

0:55:420:55:45

two years after Sherpa Tenzing and Edmund Hilary first climbed Mount Everest.

0:55:450:55:50

I've been coming to these mountains since I was a teenager and I'm drawn back year after year

0:55:500:55:55

by the space, the isolation, and the theatrical beauty of these mountains above the sea.

0:55:550:56:02

From here, we're heading back to the mainland over there

0:56:140:56:17

for the next leg of our journey along the north coast of Scotland, where life gets even tougher.

0:56:170:56:23

We'll be exploring life on the edge, from Cape Wrath to Dunnett Head.

0:56:250:56:29

Along the way, we'll find out what happened during the notorious Highland Clearances.

0:56:290:56:35

We look at the legacy of Britain's experimental nuclear power station, Dounreay.

0:56:350:56:40

And we see how the coastguard copes with battling extreme elements

0:56:400:56:43

on this remote and isolated stretch of coast.

0:56:430:56:46

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd - 2006

0:56:460:56:49

E-mail [email protected]

0:56:490:56:51

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