0:00:34 > 0:00:37'Glasgow was put on the map in the 18th century
0:00:37 > 0:00:40'by Scotland's first millionaires -
0:00:40 > 0:00:44'merchants whose wealth was founded on trade across the sea.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52'Their artery to the wider world, the River Clyde,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54'became famous for ship building.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00'Most of the old docks are overgrown now but, at the industry's height
0:01:00 > 0:01:04'in the early 1900s, this was home to 31 shipyards,
0:01:04 > 0:01:07'squeezed into a 15-mile stretch of river.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12'60,000 workers churning out world-class ships.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17'And I've come to the birth place
0:01:17 > 0:01:20'of the greatest of the Clyde-built liners.'
0:01:21 > 0:01:25It's hard to believe, walking past all these sapling trees
0:01:25 > 0:01:28and the modern buildings in the background, but this was once
0:01:28 > 0:01:33the mighty John Brown's Shipyard - the birth place of the Queen Mary.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39'The Queen Mary began life in December 1930
0:01:39 > 0:01:42'as hull number 534.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45'Slowly, the ship plan as the world's foremost
0:01:45 > 0:01:47'passenger experience took shape.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56'Launches on the Clyde were always celebrated,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59'but none more so than the Queen Mary.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03'As she slid into the water on September 26th, 1934,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06'a mighty cheer echoed round the river.'
0:02:06 > 0:02:08CHEERING
0:02:09 > 0:02:13My mum and dad were both one year old in 1934 when the Queen Mary
0:02:13 > 0:02:17was launched and they were both brought down by their respective
0:02:17 > 0:02:19families to witness the launch.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24'Two years later, the Queen Mary clinched the Blue Riband
0:02:24 > 0:02:27'for fastest passage to America,
0:02:27 > 0:02:31'taking just four days and 27 minutes to reach New York.'
0:02:33 > 0:02:36These supermodels might have provided the glamour
0:02:36 > 0:02:39for the world stage but the Clyde was also home to some different
0:02:39 > 0:02:44characters that the locals fell in love with - the Clyde puffers.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46Tough little working boats that connected Glasgow
0:02:46 > 0:02:48to the Western Isles.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52'The steam-powered puffers took coal, timber and grain
0:02:52 > 0:02:55'out to Britain's furthest flung communities.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59'For the myriad of isles scattered the length of Scotland's west coast,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02'the puffers were a lifeline.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06'And their crews became local heroes,
0:03:06 > 0:03:09'immortalised by writer Neil Munro
0:03:09 > 0:03:12'in his creation of Skipper Para Handy.'
0:03:13 > 0:03:18Aye, she's making good speed, eh? Must be doing ten knots at least.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23Aye, so she should. The steam is 90% water and 10% whisky.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27'The puffers are all gone now.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29'Well, almost all.'
0:03:32 > 0:03:34BOAT TOOTS
0:03:39 > 0:03:42This is the VIC 32 - the last surviving
0:03:42 > 0:03:46coal-fired, steam-powered Clyde puffer.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50There are some things I get to do, some places I get to go,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53and there's only one word to describe them and the word is...
0:03:53 > 0:03:55magical.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Look at that.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05That's all the atmosphere you need.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09I wish you could smell it. There's this hot mineral oil smell
0:04:09 > 0:04:12and you can hear the beating heart.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15It's like a living thing. It's not a machine, it's alive.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Gorgeous.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23'Few of the men who sailed these boats westward remain.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25'Stewart Pearson is one of them.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27'He was a deck hand on the puffers.'
0:04:27 > 0:04:31What was the life like for you? How were the crew with you?
0:04:31 > 0:04:34We were a cheery lot. The skipper had a great sense of humour.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36The mate was a character.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39But all these guys were rough diamonds.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43In bed at night, in our bunks, Willie Stewart, the mate,
0:04:43 > 0:04:47would read Robert Burns. He had a Burns book. He'd read every night.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50- That's quite cultured. - It was very cultured.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52I thought it was amazing. He loved Burns.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57You kind of get the impression that the skippers
0:04:57 > 0:05:00were a law unto themselves and risk-takers.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03They actually were. They did their own thing.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06When they were sailing between these islands,
0:05:06 > 0:05:09they did it by pilotage, they didn't have charts as such.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15'They had their sturdy boats,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18'but the puffer crews relied on a shortcut to the isles -
0:05:18 > 0:05:21'a seaway carved through the land. The Crinan Canal.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27'For traders heading out from Glasgow,
0:05:27 > 0:05:31'the construction of the Crinan Canal meant they could cut through
0:05:31 > 0:05:34'a fearsome obstacle to the western seaboard.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36'Before the canal's coast to coast route,
0:05:36 > 0:05:39'boats had to navigate around the Mull of Kintyre -
0:05:39 > 0:05:43'a 240-mile trek through some treacherous waters.'
0:05:46 > 0:05:50So coming through here, by contrast, is just a walk in the park?
0:05:50 > 0:05:52Oh, absolutely.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54This is great. The famous song is,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57"The Crinan Canal for me, I don't want the wild rolling sea."
0:05:57 > 0:06:02# The Crinan Canal for me
0:06:02 > 0:06:06# I don't like wild raging sea
0:06:06 > 0:06:10# The big foaming breakers would give me the shakers
0:06:10 > 0:06:14# The Crinan Canal for me
0:06:14 > 0:06:16# It's the Crinan Canal... #
0:06:16 > 0:06:19'The Crinan Canal starts life running parallel to the coast
0:06:19 > 0:06:22'before cutting inland.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25'It sliced journey times to the west coast from one and a half days
0:06:25 > 0:06:27'to just a few hours.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30'It might have started as an industrial trade way
0:06:30 > 0:06:35'but it's now become known as Britain's most beautiful shortcut.'
0:06:36 > 0:06:40# There's no shark or whale that would make your tongue pale
0:06:40 > 0:06:43# Or shiver and shake at the knees... #
0:06:43 > 0:06:46'Even so, it's not exactly plain sailing.'
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Furthest away one, please.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57'There are 15 locks to get through. It's all hands on deck...
0:06:58 > 0:07:01'..and off deck
0:07:01 > 0:07:03'and back on deck again and again.'
0:07:03 > 0:07:06BOAT WHISTLES
0:07:12 > 0:07:15'But it's a magical journey.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18'All too soon, you reach the last lock on the Crinan Canal.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22'Once you're through that, there's nothing between you
0:07:22 > 0:07:26'and the open sea off Scotland's west coast.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36'A constellation of islands beckons.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39'Only a small fraction of them inhabited.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47'This is Britain's wildest frontier.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53'Many of the scattered communities out here once depended
0:07:53 > 0:07:56'on the irrepressible Clyde puffers to bring them the necessities
0:07:56 > 0:08:00'and to export their goods to far away markets.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06'On one group of tiny islands off the Argyle coast,
0:08:06 > 0:08:11'the locals' export activities left some big holes in their lives.'
0:08:12 > 0:08:16'Hermione's on a voyage to see what vanished.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21'She's heading off to the little isle of Easdale.'
0:08:25 > 0:08:28'Easdale's one of the slate islands,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31'so-called because of roof slate.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33'Lots and lots of it.'
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Welcome to the islands that roofed the world.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42'I'm meeting local author Mary Withall,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46'who has researched her home's curious claim to fame.'
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Here we are on Easdale.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51There seems to be an awful lot of slate still here.
0:08:51 > 0:08:52Not all of it's gone!
0:08:52 > 0:08:56It is the result of the slate quarrying activity.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58When they pulled the slate out of the ground,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02only about 60% of what they actually produced
0:09:02 > 0:09:04was usable slate
0:09:04 > 0:09:06The rest of it was waste.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09It gives you a sense of how much must have been quarried.
0:09:09 > 0:09:10Yes, indeed.
0:09:10 > 0:09:15Nine million slates a year at the peak of production,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17which was about 1860.
0:09:18 > 0:09:23'Nine million slates a year. That's an awful lot of roofs.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28'The Vikings may have used the slates for gravestones,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32'but it wasn't until the 18th century that the slate became big business.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36'Men began chipping away at the ground beneath their feet
0:09:36 > 0:09:39'and, steadily, the holes got deeper.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44'The quarrying was so intensive,
0:09:44 > 0:09:47'the landscape looks moth-eaten on a massive scale.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53'Big chunks of Easdale have been removed, slate by slate.
0:09:55 > 0:10:01'On nearby Belnahua, the quarries in the middle took away so much material
0:10:01 > 0:10:04'the island's now almost as much water as land.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08'And this damage was done by hand.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13'Quarrymen worked with picks, shovels and muscle,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17'shifting slate loosened by gunpowder.'
0:10:17 > 0:10:18EXPLOSION
0:10:19 > 0:10:23'The waste from their labours lies in piles all over the island.'
0:10:29 > 0:10:34If you look at the slate close up, you can see that it's made up
0:10:34 > 0:10:38of lots of thin layers and it's got a beautiful bluey-black colour.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41It's formed from mud that was originally laid down
0:10:41 > 0:10:44on an ancient ocean floor more than 500 million years ago.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48That mud was then heated and compressed and formed a rock -
0:10:48 > 0:10:51this slate, that splits very easily into fine sheets,
0:10:51 > 0:10:55making it absolutely perfect for making hardy roof tiles.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04'Easdale's tiny, yet the village is surrounded by
0:11:04 > 0:11:06'no fewer than seven quarries.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10'And as you tour the island, suddenly they come into view.'
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Oh, wow.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Just look at that. A beautiful clear pool.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22You can see over there all the slate banked up
0:11:22 > 0:11:24and disappearing into the water.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27There's something almost a bit magical about it.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29All that history preserved underwater.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32It's just beautiful.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40'There's still plenty of slate here, so where did all the quarriers go?
0:11:41 > 0:11:46'Iain McDougall from the local museum has done some digging of his own.'
0:11:47 > 0:11:51What happened at the end? What led to the demise of this whole industry?
0:11:51 > 0:11:57The initiating factor would be the gale in November 1881.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59The once in a century gale.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03South-westerly, coming from that direction,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05howling gale - hurricane force winds,
0:12:05 > 0:12:10massive seas crashing in filled the quarries with water.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14The sea was reputed to be coming over that island,
0:12:14 > 0:12:18running through the houses and out into the harbour on the other side.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23If you bear in mind, in those days, the quarry companies did not supply
0:12:23 > 0:12:25tools or anything like that.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28The men supplied their own tools. Where were their tools?
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Under 120 feet of water.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33The island was destitute.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37No tools, no work. No work, no pay. No pay, no food.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46'Quarrying limped on until the early 1900s
0:12:46 > 0:12:49'but, as a major industry, it was all over.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52'Fishing became more important
0:12:52 > 0:12:56'and, in the 1950s, Easdale was wired up with electricity.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59'Tourism brought new work
0:12:59 > 0:13:03'and descendants of the original slate quarriers began to return.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06'Now Easdale has about 60 residents.'
0:13:07 > 0:13:10There are people here but no cars so it's a great place
0:13:10 > 0:13:13to let kids run wild
0:13:13 > 0:13:17and they've even found a use for all the abandoned slate.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24'Easdale has reinvented itself as the stone skimming capital of the world.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27'The championships are held here every autumn...
0:13:28 > 0:13:32'..and I've got a couple of experts to show me their skimming secrets.'
0:13:32 > 0:13:35We need to get a particular piece of slate, do we?
0:13:37 > 0:13:41Excellent. How do you stand? Is it all in the stance?
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Put your foot there, your back foot there,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47and then lean back and go forward with your arm.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49- What about holding the stone? - Hold it like that.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53- Thumb on top so...- Like that? - Hold it like that.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55OK, you go.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Brilliant. OK, let me give it a go.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06That was hopeless!
0:14:06 > 0:14:09I wasn't trying to do a rubbish one, honestly.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12Oh!
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Ah, not bad!