0:00:09 > 0:00:10Best foot forward.
0:00:12 > 0:00:16What better way to explore our shore
0:00:16 > 0:00:20than striding along its salty margin?
0:00:20 > 0:00:23Nothing beats a coastal walk.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28Thousands of miles of marked paths circle our shores...
0:00:29 > 0:00:32..and plenty of secret ones, too.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36I've certainly done the distance.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41But I've never taken you on my favourite coastal walk until now.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46I'm heading to our last great wilderness.
0:00:46 > 0:00:51And the team are going that extra mile, too.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55Andy attempts a walk above the water.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58And over that edge is a secret path
0:00:58 > 0:01:01that's haunted my imagination for years.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05- What happens if I come off? - Well, you've got big problems.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10And Ruth is tracking down Victorian treasure hunters,
0:01:10 > 0:01:14ladies who risked life and limb for ferns.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18I've got my gathering pole, I've got my ladder.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20All I've got to do now is reach that fern.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Join us off the beaten track
0:01:26 > 0:01:30as we explore secret paths to hidden treasure.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02My secret path lies on the extreme edge, at Cape Wrath.
0:02:03 > 0:02:09Here, the mainland's tallest sea cliffs keep visitors at bay.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13In Cape Wrath's mysterious heart,
0:02:13 > 0:02:17there are no roads, cars, or people to drive them.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23The only way to explore the isolated interior is on foot.
0:02:24 > 0:02:30But glorious treasures await those willing to walk on the wild side.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36I first took on Cape Wrath back in the '70s with my dad.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41I was 18 and I was cutting my teeth on extreme adventures,
0:02:41 > 0:02:44ready for isolation, ready for difficult challenges.
0:02:44 > 0:02:50But that unpopulated wilderness out there had a surprise - a beach.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55Not just any old beach, but the most beautiful beach I've ever seen.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57I can't wait to show you what it's like.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03I'm heading to Sandwood Bay,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06but I'll begin on the other side of the cape.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08After the ferry crossing,
0:03:08 > 0:03:13I'll hitch a ride on a road rarely travelled to the lighthouse.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17Then I'll tread my own path to my favourite beach.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21A three-day adventure beginning on the tiny ferry.
0:03:23 > 0:03:24- Hi, John.- Hi.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29The cape feels like an island,
0:03:29 > 0:03:32disconnected to the rest of Britain and the mainland,
0:03:32 > 0:03:34but it's so remote that this is the easiest way
0:03:34 > 0:03:38- of getting there, taking your ferry. - It's the main gateway, aye.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41A lot of tourists think it's an island, you know.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43What do you think it would have been like living out there?
0:03:43 > 0:03:45It would be a hard life.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48You'd need plenty of Scotch whisky about you, I'd think, at night,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50to pass the nights.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57The isolation of Cape Wrath doesn't only attract tourists.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05Some ten years back, I witnessed how the MOD seal off the cape
0:04:05 > 0:04:10to create a live firing range for 1,000lb bombs.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Now I want to discover why this wild coast
0:04:17 > 0:04:20was abandoned in the first place.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25Once, a handful of shepherds and their families
0:04:25 > 0:04:28had crofts scattered across the cape.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31To see what became of these coastal folk,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35I'm with John Mackenzie, one of the last to leave.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37We're exploring the MOD site.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40So, this must be the edge of the range now.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43That's the start of the range here, aye.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46The barrier's up, so no shells flying around, no bombs dropping.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48- Aye, we're OK today.- What's that?
0:04:48 > 0:04:50Is that an old building, remains of a building?
0:04:50 > 0:04:52- That's the remains of the old school.- Oh, is it?
0:04:52 > 0:04:54- Can we go and have a look? - Yeah.- It's not very big.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57No, got a photograph of it here.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Oh, aye. I've never seen
0:05:00 > 0:05:03- such a small school. It's like a garden shed.- I know.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07So, that's the school, with four pupils in.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10- Four? Is that how many children were here?- Four. - HE LAUGHS
0:05:10 > 0:05:12That's the guy from the ferry.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Wow. You can see where the front door was.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Four children, so four desks.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21- Four children, plenty bigger. - NICK LAUGHS
0:05:21 > 0:05:24- No hiding at the back of class. - No, no.
0:05:24 > 0:05:30These stones were the foundation of the community - the school.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33But it closed in 1947.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38When the school closed down, what did that mean for your family?
0:05:38 > 0:05:42Well, we had to move to the mainland so I could go to school over there,
0:05:42 > 0:05:47and probably that's the start of the end of people living here.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51So the closure of the school was the end for a community living out here.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54I would say so. I would say so.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Shortage of pupils meant the crofters' time was up.
0:05:59 > 0:06:03But you can still walk in their footsteps.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06John's father maintained their only road.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11He looked after this road
0:06:11 > 0:06:15from the middle '20s to the middle '40s.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19- How long was the road?- 11 miles.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22What does it feel like to be walking on your father's road?
0:06:22 > 0:06:24- Aye, it's touching.- Yeah?
0:06:27 > 0:06:30I'm heading on into the heart of the cape
0:06:30 > 0:06:33towards my coastal treasure.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Saving my legs for later, I'm hitching a lift
0:06:36 > 0:06:39to where the road runs out.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43This might feel like the road to nowhere,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47but, in fact, it goes all the way out over the moorlands to the
0:06:47 > 0:06:53lighthouse here at Cape Wrath - my last contact with civilisation.
0:06:53 > 0:06:59After that, it's an eight-mile coast walk south through the wilderness -
0:06:59 > 0:07:03a wilderness unlike any other in Britain.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05But at the end of it, there's a treasure,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08a glittering diamond in the rough - Sandwood Bay.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11It's got a freshwater loch and a beautiful river
0:07:11 > 0:07:13spilling out across the sands into the sea.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22At the end of the road,
0:07:22 > 0:07:27I'm on my own, and it's a lonely location,
0:07:27 > 0:07:29even for a lighthouse.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36You're not likely to bump into too many people out here,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38but over there at the lighthouse
0:07:38 > 0:07:41live the last two residents of Cape Wrath.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44But who would chose to live in a place like this?
0:07:47 > 0:07:51I'll discover what it's like to live here later.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54But the splendid isolation of Scotland's Cape Wrath
0:07:54 > 0:07:56doesn't suit everyone.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02For easier going, seek out England's South West Coast Path.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Start hiking at Poole Harbour
0:08:07 > 0:08:13and 630 miles of track unfold before you.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17The tourist trail threading around our southernmost sea
0:08:17 > 0:08:19is strung with pearls...
0:08:21 > 0:08:25..natural wonders, and man-made delights.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Today, many walkers make a beeline for the golden sands,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46but it wasn't always that way.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50In the Victorian age, the craze wasn't for beaches,
0:08:50 > 0:08:51but for botany.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55A particular type of plant fascinated collectors
0:08:55 > 0:08:57who flocked to Lynmouth.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07Ruth is in town to take a leaf out of the Victorians' book.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11In the 19th century, Devon was gripped by a strange epidemic,
0:09:11 > 0:09:14with an equally strange name.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18Pterodomania had taken hold of the town.
0:09:18 > 0:09:23People were roaming the coastal paths wide-eyed with green fingers.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28Devon was in the throes of fern fever.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34We take these garden favourites for granted.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40But, surprisingly, 150 years ago, fern mania
0:09:40 > 0:09:44blossomed into an obsession for genteel Victorian ladies.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Fanatics grew ferns in glass cabinets,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56and nurseries dedicated to the plants sprang up.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02But the real action was in the wild, warm climate of these Devon cliffs.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09A generation of young women was drawn to this land of the ferns.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Sowing the seeds of this growing craze
0:10:13 > 0:10:18was a resident of nearby Ilfracombe, Charlotte Chanter.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20It's not the greatest of pictures, but she was never one
0:10:20 > 0:10:24for sitting still to have her portrait taken, and it was her book,
0:10:24 > 0:10:30Ferny Combes, that really inspired a legion of followers to abandon
0:10:30 > 0:10:35the regular tourist track, and go on the path of fern enlightenment.
0:10:37 > 0:10:43Published in 1856, this slim volume spurred ladies on to leave
0:10:43 > 0:10:47their drawing rooms and walk this coast, fern collecting.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Why were Victorians so fond of fronds?
0:10:53 > 0:10:57Author Sarah Whittingham is sharing her wisdom.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01The Victorian age was the heyday of the amateur naturalist.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Fern-gathering parties were usually of mixed sexes,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08and as Punch said, "The rarest species usually grow
0:11:08 > 0:11:12"in the least frequented spots," so you and your companion can
0:11:12 > 0:11:17disappear off into the hedgerow or round the corner...
0:11:17 > 0:11:19- Far away from the chaperone. - Exactly. Exactly.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21I love this picture because
0:11:21 > 0:11:23she's got caught in the brambles
0:11:23 > 0:11:27and she's looking up really peeved at these two, and she's saying,
0:11:27 > 0:11:29"Please can you identify this fern for me?"
0:11:29 > 0:11:31And she's like, "I can't get loose here!"
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Well, they're too busy flirting to take any notice of her.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Ferns and flirting again, yes, definitely.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42This passionate pursuit was also caught up with sexual politics.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Botany in particular was very fashionable among women.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47It was one of those areas
0:11:47 > 0:11:49where you were allowed to be clever, wasn't it?
0:11:49 > 0:11:53Exactly. Many women were writers of books on ferns,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55and they were many of the early collectors.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01The freedom to study ferns helped foster early feminism
0:12:01 > 0:12:04as women strode out on their own.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06We're taking a walk in their shoes...
0:12:08 > 0:12:09..and their skirts.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Time to hitch up our petticoats and start fern foraging.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17Dressed for action,
0:12:17 > 0:12:19we are well-equipped to collect our quarry.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23You'd bring your baskets,
0:12:23 > 0:12:27a nice, narrow, long fern trowel to really get in there
0:12:27 > 0:12:29among the rocks and dig up a fern specimen.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32And if it's nice and small,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35you can put it in your vasculum, which is a tin collecting case.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37If you're a rather unprincipled botanist,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40you might be digging up vast quantities of fern.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42There was one writer who actually
0:12:42 > 0:12:45had to employ a man with a cart to take them home.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49That's dedication and despoliation of the countryside.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51I'm afraid so, yes.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53For the dedicated fern hunter,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56the passion didn't stop on the coastal path.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01The fern lover could literally fill their home with ferns.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Not just real ones, but they could have images of ferns
0:13:04 > 0:13:07from carpets to chamber pots.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10- Teapot, too, covered in ferns. - Teapot's lovely.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Custard creams. They're a bit of a sight.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17Custard creams were invented around 1908,
0:13:17 > 0:13:19and the pattern on them represents fern crosiers,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22because ferns were so popular at the time.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24And we've got a violinist here.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27- I mean, this isn't fern music, as well, is it?- It is, it is.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30This is the Fern Waltz. You can have the Ferns Polka, as well.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34I'm liking it. It is addictive, isn't it?
0:13:34 > 0:13:37- You catching fern fever? - I think I might be.- Good!
0:13:42 > 0:13:44But off-the-shelf souvenirs
0:13:44 > 0:13:48wouldn't satisfy the really serious collector.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52The damp, salty sea cliffs of Devon concealed the much sought-after
0:13:52 > 0:13:54sea spleenwort.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58It drove fern obsessives to extraordinary lengths.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06One young fern hunter describes taking a 15ft bamboo pole
0:14:06 > 0:14:11and tying a knife on the end, trying to gather her sea spleenwort.
0:14:11 > 0:14:12Cutting-edge technology.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18Locals took advantage of collectors, telling them it was too dangerous
0:14:18 > 0:14:22to scale cliffs, but for a fee, they'd do it for them.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25So it is I find myself clambering over the rocks at Lee Bay
0:14:25 > 0:14:28with a lad to carry my ladder.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33And botanist Maxine Putnam is my expert sea spleenwort spotter.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36You do need sharp eyes, don't you?
0:14:36 > 0:14:41So, we're looking for a tiny little fern somewhere in the spray zone.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45There's some hart's tongue in the corners.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Is this the sort of area we should be looking?
0:14:47 > 0:14:50This is the sort of place where the bracken grows well. It's drier.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53I think we need to look for somewhere damper
0:14:53 > 0:14:56to find the crevices where the sea spleenwort would grow.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01RUTH LAUGHS
0:15:03 > 0:15:07Look, just there, see? Can you see there? Is that something?
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Come on, you're young and fit. Come on.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17- There's something there, look.- Oh!
0:15:17 > 0:15:21- The colour is completely different from the grasses.- Yes.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25- It really is, isn't it? - Fantastic.- Isn't that pretty?
0:15:25 > 0:15:28That's lovely. Look at that. That's a sea spleenwort.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31There's little bits of it all over, actually, there and there.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33There's lots of little bits. That is so pretty.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36- It's too pretty to pick it, isn't it?- Let's have a look on the back.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39Yes, it's fertile, look. There are the spores.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43- They like salt spray?- It does, yes. When the Atlantic gales come in,
0:15:43 > 0:15:45the spray zone is probably significant here.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48Other ferns really can't handle that amount of salt.
0:15:48 > 0:15:49No, it's the only one.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57The success of the lady collectors in stripping the cliffs bare
0:15:57 > 0:16:01would ultimately signal the end of their obsession.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06As the Victorian era ended, fern-mania began to unravel.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12In 1904, it became a crime in certain parts of Devon
0:16:12 > 0:16:15to uproot or destroy a fern.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22But it took a cataclysmic event to finally quell fern fever.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25The arrival of the First World War distracted collectors
0:16:25 > 0:16:28from the fripperies of ferns,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32and by the time it ended, women and feminism had moved on.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42We're walking around the British Isles,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46seeking out secret paths to hidden treasures.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55I'm exploring the most isolated edge of our mainland, Cape Wrath.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08On this ragged fringe, you're free to roam as you see fit,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10as long as it's on foot.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18Cape Wrath's name is from the Old Norse for turning point.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21The Vikings navigated by it.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27The lighthouse is now home to just two permanent residents,
0:17:27 > 0:17:31an intrepid couple eking out a living.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37- How you doing?- Are you John? - Yeah.- How do you do? I'm Nick.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39- Very nice to meet you. - Did you have a nice walk?
0:17:39 > 0:17:44Yeah, well, I'm just completely gobsmacked because I remember this
0:17:44 > 0:17:47as a solitary lighthouse, but to find a real cafe operating
0:17:47 > 0:17:50in what must be the remote headland in Britain is a...
0:17:50 > 0:17:53Yeah, it's quite well patronised with the tourists.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55- They're quite glad to see it. - NICK LAUGHS
0:17:55 > 0:17:57- I bet they are! - It can get quite harsh out here.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01- Can we have a look outside and around the cafe?- Yeah.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Surprisingly, this far-flung spot had a brief brush with fame.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10It started when John's wife Kay went for supplies,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12but the weather closed in.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15- The nearest supermarket is 130 miles away.- 130 miles!
0:18:15 > 0:18:17Inverness for a major supermarket.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20A couple of Christmases ago, Kay was off to get the Christmas shopping
0:18:20 > 0:18:24- and couldn't get back for five weeks. She got stranded. - Five weeks!- Stranded in Durness.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28- It made all the papers, things like this.- That's hilarious.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31"I popped out to buy a turkey on December 19th,
0:18:31 > 0:18:33- "and I've still not got home." - HE LAUGHS
0:18:33 > 0:18:34You were on your own suddenly?
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Yeah. It's OK, we've got army rations and stuff put by,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40so we can last for months up here without contact.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42- So, you had a Christmas on army rations?- Yeah.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46I'm especially pleased to meet John
0:18:46 > 0:18:51because we share a family connection - my dad.
0:18:51 > 0:18:52Dad, who's in his 80s,
0:18:52 > 0:18:57met John recently on his own Cape Wrath expedition.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59- He told me all about it. - Yeah, it was nice to see him.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Just after Christmas and a blizzard kind of came in.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06He said he was looking around in one of your outhouses
0:19:06 > 0:19:09for somewhere to lie down and go to sleep, and you found him doing it.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12Yeah, fished him out and brought him in.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14- Still talks about it. - Yeah, I'm glad he does.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18My dad brought me here in 1972 when I was 18.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20It was a vicious January day,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22the lighthouse keepers had seen us from a long way off,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24and they met us at the door with mugs of tea.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27- It's stayed in my memory ever since. - That's quite surreal.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30It's a very special place. Really special place.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37This rugged coast is a real favourite in our family.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Knowing its moods with daylight fading,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43I'm grateful for John's offer of shelter.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Like father, like son, I'm bedding down.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52Basic, but very welcome.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55WIND WHISTLES
0:19:59 > 0:20:04We're searching for hidden treasures on shoreline tracks.
0:20:05 > 0:20:11In Cardiff, you can join the coast path that's the wonder of Wales.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30When the Welsh created a continuous path
0:20:30 > 0:20:35around their entire coastline, it was a world's first.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16And even when the sea blocks the way at Barmouth,
0:21:16 > 0:21:18they walk across the rail bridge.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38There's 870 miles to tread,
0:21:38 > 0:21:43but some still prefer a precarious path of their own making.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49One such route lies on the edge of Anglesey.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00The cliffs of Gogarth are not for the faint-hearted,
0:22:00 > 0:22:04but Andy Torbet is about to savour a climber's treasure.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10I do enjoy making life a little bit tougher for myself.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13And over that edge is a secret path
0:22:13 > 0:22:16that's haunted my imagination for years.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Only seasoned climbers know
0:22:18 > 0:22:21that below is a seemingly-impossible route,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23hidden from view.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27A route made famous by this fabled photograph.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30It captures a classic moment in climbing history.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32It's a moment of great drama -
0:22:32 > 0:22:35a new path being put up on the cliff face.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38The photo, with the wave leaping upwards,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41as if to claim the two tiny figures,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44earned the climb classic status.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47The climbers are Dave Pearce and Ed Drummond,
0:22:47 > 0:22:53young upstarts who, in 1968, dared to brave the unknown.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Some said it couldn't be done, but they made it to the top,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58and because of that, they got to name this climb,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01and they christened it A Dream Of White Horses,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04in honour of the white-crested crashing waves
0:23:04 > 0:23:06that beat the cliff beneath them.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10I've dreamt of the Dream Of White Horses for years now.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13Steve Long will be leading our attempt.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16What have I let myself in for?
0:23:16 > 0:23:17Let's sit down and have a look.
0:23:21 > 0:23:22What do you think?
0:23:22 > 0:23:26- It's a pretty intimidating bit of rock.- It's amazing, isn't it?
0:23:27 > 0:23:28So, what happens if I come off?
0:23:28 > 0:23:32You've got big problems because you're just hanging above the sea.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36Time to get on with it.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38And I'm wearing a head cam,
0:23:38 > 0:23:40which means you get to see what I see.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Scary, isn't it?
0:23:43 > 0:23:46This big bubbling cauldron of white water at the bottom
0:23:46 > 0:23:47just adds to the atmosphere.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01That's the rope down, that's us completely committed,
0:24:01 > 0:24:03and the only way out now is that way.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16The first pitch is the hardest.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20Hand and footholds are rare and small,
0:24:20 > 0:24:21route finding is hard.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29And just when I need to concentrate, we've got an audience -
0:24:29 > 0:24:33a man who knows the secrets of the Dream of White Horses route
0:24:33 > 0:24:35better than most.
0:24:35 > 0:24:41Leo Dickinson took the famous photo of the original ascent back in 1968.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43As I was wandering down these cliffs here,
0:24:43 > 0:24:46I suddenly had this feeling that something extraordinary
0:24:46 > 0:24:48was going to happen.
0:24:48 > 0:24:54And I sat more or less here, and with a camera with a 28mm lens,
0:24:54 > 0:24:55I looked over my shoulder,
0:24:55 > 0:24:59and suddenly, this great white wave seemed to go up.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02It seemed to last for seconds, it probably didn't,
0:25:02 > 0:25:03and I just took a picture.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05It was a one-chance shot.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09For Leo, this was the start of a successful career
0:25:09 > 0:25:11as an adventure photographer
0:25:11 > 0:25:14which took him all around the world,
0:25:14 > 0:25:16but no picture's been as influential
0:25:16 > 0:25:19as the one on the Gogarth cliffs.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24Leo's primed to recapture his momentous photograph, and so are we.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28Right now, Andy is on one of the most exposed bits of rock
0:25:28 > 0:25:30in Britain, so he's probably thinking,
0:25:30 > 0:25:32"What on earth am I doing here?"
0:25:38 > 0:25:40I've made it over pitch one.
0:25:40 > 0:25:45Now, for the second, where the path's supposedly easier to follow.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48That's not how it looks to me.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51I still can't see an obvious, easy line out.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54I know, and that's the great thing about this route - you know,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56the more committed you get,
0:25:56 > 0:25:58the more you start to wish you hadn't.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05Steve forges ahead using a natural fault line in the cliff face.
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Left alone here, this place is starting to play on my mind.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16You can see why the climb gets its name -
0:26:16 > 0:26:20that thunderous roar and wave beneath me.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23It makes it more exposed, more intimidating, more scary.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37I've no idea how Ed Drummond and Dave Pearce
0:26:37 > 0:26:39navigated this blind for the very first time.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44After Ed and Dave had gone across this great traverse,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47they were quite tense because they really didn't know
0:26:47 > 0:26:49what they were getting into,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51and the sting in the tail is towards the end.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56And it's that sting in the tail that I'm heading for now.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00Dream's final pitch is not as technically difficult
0:27:00 > 0:27:04as some of the earlier climbing, but it's far more intimidating.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Can't see where you're going.
0:27:08 > 0:27:09Oh, yes.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13The path is hard to find,
0:27:13 > 0:27:15but it takes you to a place like no other...
0:27:16 > 0:27:21..a terrifying overhang suspended 60m over the ocean.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Then, as you wrestle with the route,
0:27:33 > 0:27:37suddenly, A Dream Of White Horses releases you.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45- Oh, ho-ho!- Nice, put it there. Well done.- That's superb.- Brilliant.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49To prove our dream was real,
0:27:49 > 0:27:54has Leo captured a picture to compare with his original 1968 shot?
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Hi, guys. Did you enjoy it?
0:27:56 > 0:27:58- Awesome.- Yeah?
0:27:58 > 0:28:01I've been trying hard to emulate that picture I took.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03I don't think I've improved on it.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05We didn't have the magical moment today.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Well, Leo might not think it's up to scratch,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11but I'll never forget this day.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15That makes this photograph even more special for me.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Andy's not the only one out on a limb.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31We're seeking out our stunning shoreline paths.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42I'm on the edge for Britain's wildest coastal walk
0:28:42 > 0:28:44at Cape Wrath.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50My path's taking me to the glorious beach at Sandwood Bay,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53but right now, there's a peat bog in my way.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56And that's not all.
0:28:58 > 0:29:03It's quite dramatic, the great chasm blocking the route
0:29:03 > 0:29:05south along the coast.
0:29:05 > 0:29:06I'm not sure I'm going to get across this.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11That's, uh...that's pretty vertical there.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14It's never a good idea to down-climb a cliff
0:29:14 > 0:29:16with a backpack on your back, and no rope,
0:29:16 > 0:29:19so I'm looking for a way down that's less steep.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23The thing is, what you have to do is follow the river upstream
0:29:23 > 0:29:26until you find a less steep bit.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Now, that might do. Let's have a look.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39The going's tough.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43It's clear I'm not going to make it to Sandwood Bay tonight.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45I need to find shelter.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55In wild Cape Wrath, the only option for a roof over your head
0:29:55 > 0:29:59is to make for one of the isolated bothies.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02Today, the bothies are left open for walkers,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05but originally, they were built for shepherds,
0:30:05 > 0:30:10and until 20 years ago, this bothy had a remarkable resident.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16This was the home of the man known as The Hermit Of The Highlands,
0:30:16 > 0:30:18James McRory Smith,
0:30:18 > 0:30:22who lived here for 30 years totally alone.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31Wow, this is really, really cosy.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34It's a wild, windy evening out there,
0:30:34 > 0:30:39and it's completely still in here. And here's a picture of James.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42That's a very kindly face in the photograph,
0:30:42 > 0:30:44quite weather-beaten.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47And this was his sanctuary, his little den.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51Look over here, there's a Viking longship sailing out of the sea.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54Perhaps, more interesting, are the things you can't see here.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57There are no electrical sockets, there are no lights,
0:30:57 > 0:31:00there's not even a lavatory in here,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03or running water - you have to use the river outside.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07It's a stone shell that James turned into a home.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11There's parts of me that would quite like to, uh,
0:31:11 > 0:31:13spend a while living here, find out what it's like.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16Not like James. Not for 30 years. That's pretty extreme.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19But I wouldn't mind trying a year maybe.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23Unfortunately, I've only got one night,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26so I'd best try and make myself at home.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38Over the years, James captured the imagination of the press.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41He became something of a local celebrity.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45The people who met James came away with a much more intimate,
0:31:45 > 0:31:49touching picture of this man who lived alone.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53Here's an angler who called by in the 1970s.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55He says, "Despite his isolation,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58"he seemed to be remarkably well-informed
0:31:58 > 0:32:00"on what was happening in the outside world.
0:32:00 > 0:32:01"He said he'd read a lot.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04"I asked him how he got hold of all the books and magazines,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07"and he said, 'Most were left by visitors. All were read.'
0:32:07 > 0:32:11"Some, he read again. Others ended up on the fire."
0:32:13 > 0:32:16I don't think James was a hermit at all.
0:32:16 > 0:32:17He relished solitude,
0:32:17 > 0:32:21but he also enjoyed the company of his fellow human beings.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28Tomorrow, my coastal treasure awaits at the end of the path.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32Tonight, though, there's time to think of those
0:32:32 > 0:32:34who've tramped this way before me.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43Our rich past encourages walkers to take in the history
0:32:43 > 0:32:45around our isles.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58But imagine one short coastal path
0:32:58 > 0:33:03that could encompass the whole timeline of our past.
0:33:04 > 0:33:09Surprisingly, such a secret path can be found - on little Lundy.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15Mark is taking an epic trail on a tiny scale.
0:33:16 > 0:33:22Lundy Island - a wilderness where nature thrives.
0:33:22 > 0:33:28Most people come to Lundy to admire the marine life and the wildlife,
0:33:28 > 0:33:30but to me, as an archaeologist,
0:33:30 > 0:33:34the real treasure lies beneath the soil.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37I'm going to take you on a ten-mile coastal walk
0:33:37 > 0:33:41that's going to take 10,000 years to complete.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46Bizarrely, in this single shed, there's evidence of many waves
0:33:46 > 0:33:50of people who tried to make Lundy home,
0:33:50 > 0:33:54objects stretching back millennia.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58This is a kind of Aladdin's cave of treasures.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00Horseshoe, gaming piece,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03and that could be medieval, actually.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05Clay pipe fragments there,
0:34:05 > 0:34:09a rotary quern stone that's probably Roman, actually.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11Ooh, gosh, it's heavy.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13Oh, look, look, here's the archaeology.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Some flints, worked pebbles,
0:34:16 > 0:34:208,000-10,000 years old, something like that.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Bits of old granite, look at it.
0:34:23 > 0:34:25HE CHUCKLES
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Why is there a propeller here?
0:34:29 > 0:34:32This treasure can take me back in time.
0:34:32 > 0:34:38I'm plotting a secret path linking where the objects were discovered.
0:34:39 > 0:34:44These random artefacts can help me tell the story of mankind,
0:34:44 > 0:34:46my journey around the island.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53My path across Lundy will take me on a hike
0:34:53 > 0:34:57through 10,000 years of history,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00beginning in the Stone Age.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02This is it,
0:35:02 > 0:35:05where all those Mesolithic and Neolithic flints were found.
0:35:06 > 0:35:12Remarkably, these fields concealed Stone Age secrets.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17The earliest folk on Lundy fashioned flint into cutting tools.
0:35:19 > 0:35:25This is an extraordinary microlith, crude from basically beach pebbles.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28It's fantastic to see where they were actually found.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35A piece of pottery in the attic provides a clue
0:35:35 > 0:35:38to more advanced technology.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40We're now in search of the Bronze Age.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46This is it. Isn't that amazing?
0:35:48 > 0:35:50This is a little Bronze Age hut.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54You can see the stone walls round on there, both sides.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56It probably would have had a turf roof on top of us here
0:35:56 > 0:36:00supported by a central post, and there's a doorway.
0:36:00 > 0:36:02A room with a view, if you like.
0:36:04 > 0:36:09Even hardy Bronze Age settlers may only have been seasonal visitors,
0:36:09 > 0:36:13harsh winters forcing them back to the mainland.
0:36:15 > 0:36:19I'm leaving the exposed north, heading south
0:36:19 > 0:36:24fast-forwarding 2,000 years into civilisation...
0:36:25 > 0:36:26..the Romans!
0:36:29 > 0:36:35In the attic was a Roman quern stone used to grind grain for bread.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40Somewhere here, our quern stone was found
0:36:40 > 0:36:44in the middle of what's probably a Celtic monastery.
0:36:44 > 0:36:50Around AD 500, the monks were probably using the grindstone
0:36:50 > 0:36:53the Romans had left behind.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55Nothing goes to waste on Lundy.
0:36:58 > 0:37:04My time traveller's path now takes me to the 13th century and beyond.
0:37:05 > 0:37:10The castle was commissioned in 1243 by Henry III.
0:37:10 > 0:37:15It was re-fortified successively until the 18th century.
0:37:15 > 0:37:17However, excavations here in the parade ground
0:37:17 > 0:37:19revealed lots of objects,
0:37:19 > 0:37:23including our gaming board and its counter,
0:37:23 > 0:37:28and this clay tobacco pipe from the Civil War.
0:37:31 > 0:37:36Heading up the island's east coast, I march onwards in time.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41Granite in the attic leads me on a path of short-lived folly.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48The year is 1863, and we've reached the Industrial Revolution.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50The Lundy Granite Company
0:37:50 > 0:37:53reckoned they had 50 million tonnes of the stuff.
0:37:53 > 0:37:58This is what the Victorian quarry must have looked like at its heyday.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06But the management focused more on boozing than quarrying.
0:38:08 > 0:38:14Just five years after starting up, the works fell silent.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27Film cans in the attic are my clue
0:38:27 > 0:38:31to the man who would be King of Lundy.
0:38:32 > 0:38:37I've reached the 20th century and film footage of islanders.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43I'm meeting Derek Green, the manager of Lundy.
0:38:43 > 0:38:45- Hello, good to see you. - Hello. These are the films?
0:38:45 > 0:38:46- They are indeed.- Fantastic.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48- Shall we go and have a look? - Yes, please.
0:38:49 > 0:38:54The footage shows a man destined to become boss of the whole place.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59Not Derek, but this chap, Martin Coles Harman.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03He bought the island in 1925 after visiting as a young lad.
0:39:03 > 0:39:04- And that's him?- And that's him.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08In his hat. The press called him the King of Lundy.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11Well, they did indeed. That was a media term that was used,
0:39:11 > 0:39:14uh, but I didn't hear him denying it very much either.
0:39:14 > 0:39:19Lundy's "King" even tried to take on the British monarchy.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23In 1929, he dismissed the Post Office from the island,
0:39:23 > 0:39:25- and it was because he hated authority.- Yes.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27And he introduced his own stamps.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30The currency is in puffins. One puffin is worth one penny.
0:39:30 > 0:39:34He also introduced coins because he wanted his own currency.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36Puffin on one side?
0:39:36 > 0:39:38Yeah, and interestingly, on the other side...
0:39:38 > 0:39:40- There he is.- There he is.
0:39:43 > 0:39:48Under Harman's reign, the island finally started to thrive.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52Children were born, marriages celebrated,
0:39:52 > 0:39:58and Harman introduced exotic animals like peacocks and wallabies.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03Harman succeeded in creating his own kingdom.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07The outside world would come crashing in.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10Remember that propeller in the attic?
0:40:10 > 0:40:15But of everything we've seen, this is my favourite bit of Lundy.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18It's a frozen moment in time.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22In 1941, on the 3rd of March, a German Heinkel bomber
0:40:22 > 0:40:26returning from the Irish Sea crash-landed at this spot.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30And what we've got is the molten aluminium from the fuselage,
0:40:30 > 0:40:31the engine block.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34And what's incredible is that nobody has actually
0:40:34 > 0:40:35picked up the pieces.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38They're still here 70 years later.
0:40:43 > 0:40:49Martin Harman, the so-called King of Lundy, died in 1954.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52Now, he rests in the land he loved.
0:40:57 > 0:41:02As for Lundy, in 1969, the National Trust took it over,
0:41:02 > 0:41:05preserving its treasures for all.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09Little Lundy's precious artefacts
0:41:09 > 0:41:13are a permanent reminder of our island story.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20What's incredible is that it's all encapsulated
0:41:20 > 0:41:22on this tiny little island.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33My own hidden treasure awaits at the end of my secret path
0:41:33 > 0:41:35on the northwest tip of Scotland.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41I've just caught sight of the great sea stack,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44the column of rock that marks the southern end of Sandwood Bay,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47the coastal treasure that I'm heading towards.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50It's just across this vast expanse of bog and rock.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11I told you it was a treasure.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39This corner of our island is as close as you can get
0:42:39 > 0:42:42to wilderness in mainland Britain.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46And, for me, the jewel on this section of the coast
0:42:46 > 0:42:48is this place, Sandwood Bay.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52But there's something here you won't find anywhere else.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56It's to do with the long walk you have to take to get here -
0:42:56 > 0:42:58it's the beauty of solitude.