0:00:40 > 0:00:43In August 2010, we brought you The Great Climb.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46Three years of planning and preparation that resulted
0:00:46 > 0:00:50in the world's first live climbing broadcast in high definition.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53And what a day it turned out to be.
0:00:53 > 0:00:54Go on, Dave!
0:00:54 > 0:00:59Two climbers, Dave MacLeod and Tim Emmett, at the very top of their game.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03A day of wild, wet, windy weather, and the pair reaching the summit
0:01:03 > 0:01:06with only seconds before the programme was due to end.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10Here we go. Yes! With a minute to go, man.
0:01:12 > 0:01:13- Oh, man.- Good effort.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16The venue for our spectacular great climb
0:01:16 > 0:01:20was the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24But there's much more to this place than just a world-class piece of rock.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27Even one as overhanging as Sron Ulladale.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31We also wanted to celebrate a landscape rich in culture, history
0:01:31 > 0:01:34and what one person has called,
0:01:34 > 0:01:38"The last remnants of a genuinely civilised life."
0:01:38 > 0:01:40You only have to look at the landscape
0:01:40 > 0:01:43to want to know what the story behind it is.
0:01:45 > 0:01:46It's just spectacular.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54It's a way of life we were surrounded by.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56Oh, yes.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00Here is my place.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06People have lived on Harris since the earliest times,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09and there's evidence of their existence all over the island.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12As well as the obvious famous landmarks,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14there are literally thousands of other sites
0:02:14 > 0:02:17with new finds being unearthed every year.
0:02:17 > 0:02:23Carol Knott is a Lewis-based archaeologist who works with a group of local people.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27One of her favourite sites on Harris is on the Northern peninsula,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30just South of the famous Luskentyre Beach,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33where a medieval chapel sits on the site of even earlier remains.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38It's just a part of the island's rich archaeological heritage.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40It's just in the landscape,
0:02:40 > 0:02:41it's all around you.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44You only have to look at the landscape, look at the buildings
0:02:44 > 0:02:47and look at the shape of the rocks and the markings in the rocks
0:02:47 > 0:02:51and everything, to want to know what the story behind it is.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59Even when you come to a landscape like this that looks deserted today,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02it looks like an idyllic deserted empty landscape,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04every nook and corner of it
0:03:04 > 0:03:09has a story which tells you about the people that used to live here.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15It may not look like it,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18but we are standing in the middle of an iron-age broch.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Probably built in the early centuries BC,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23and it's got massively thick walls -
0:03:23 > 0:03:27the foundations of these massively thick walls -
0:03:27 > 0:03:30and it runs in an arc all the way around the outside here,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33round along this curve, enclosing the headland.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37And there would have been one stone wall on the outside
0:03:37 > 0:03:40and a gap in the middle and another massively thick stone wall
0:03:40 > 0:03:44concentrically on the inside, creating a very thick enclosure
0:03:44 > 0:03:49with the centre of the broch going up two or maybe even three stories,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52so this would have been an incredibly visible landmark.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56It would have been the residence of the local iron-age chief
0:03:56 > 0:04:00and it would have been his way of saying, "This headland belongs to me,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03"all the land around me and the people is in my control."
0:04:04 > 0:04:08And when you look at it now, it's all been reduced.
0:04:08 > 0:04:09The stones have been dismantled
0:04:09 > 0:04:13and many of the stones have probably ended up in the walls of the chapel
0:04:13 > 0:04:14that we've got here now.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22The fantastic thing about this site in particular is the concentration
0:04:22 > 0:04:27of different periods that are all focused on this one particular area.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Back from the time the village behind me was cleared,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32and the stones of the wall behind us are the remains
0:04:32 > 0:04:36of those houses that were taken down when it was turned into a sheep farm.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Going back before that, we've got a Christian medieval chapel
0:04:40 > 0:04:43that was built here, and perhaps graves from the Viking period
0:04:43 > 0:04:46and the Pictish period before that.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48And then going back into the prehistoric period,
0:04:48 > 0:04:51right back to the earliest Mesolithic settlers
0:04:51 > 0:04:55who travelled through this area at the end of the ice age.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58And it's all preserved in this one particular area,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01so we've got the best sequence of events
0:05:01 > 0:05:03right here of the whole of the island.
0:05:03 > 0:05:10Carol works with a local archaeological group, Lin Gu Lin, which now has around 25 members.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14One of them is George MacLeod, who lives nearby at Scaristavore,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17literally surrounded by visible remains of the past.
0:05:17 > 0:05:23You're born and brought up here, you see things like the standing stones
0:05:23 > 0:05:26and hear things about Borve.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30I then started thinking there's reasons for them to be there,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33and who are the people living here, and all this kind of stuff.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Behind us here you can see the Hill of Chaipaval
0:05:36 > 0:05:39and I think it is very interesting where this stone is,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42especially in relation to Chaipaval.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46The stone-age people seem to put a lot of emphasis in
0:05:46 > 0:05:51hill sites and landscapes which maybe had a female form to them.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56And on the summer solstice, the sun actually rises behind us
0:05:56 > 0:05:59at the Hill of Luskentyre there
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and it lights up the two peaks of Kentangaval,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05and then it lights up on the stone here.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09Every time we go out, we keep finding new things,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13and things that surprise the archaeologist that goes out with us,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Carol Knott, as well, things that she hasn't seen before.
0:06:18 > 0:06:249,000 years ago is the earliest evidence we have of people living here on this spot or close-by.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29And at that time, for example, the sea all around us here would have looked very different.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31It would have been many metres lower -
0:06:31 > 0:06:33five, six, seven metres lower perhaps.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35And so all these scattered islands around us
0:06:35 > 0:06:37wouldn't have been islands at all.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41They would all have been connected and you would have been able to walk
0:06:41 > 0:06:44from what is now one island to the other.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46It ties you down to the land
0:06:46 > 0:06:50and to the island that I was brought up in.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54I mean, I can trace my family tree back to the 1700s,
0:06:54 > 0:06:58so if the people in the family tree were here in the 1700s,
0:06:58 > 0:07:03then they were probably here 1,000 years ago, 2,000 years ago.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07So it certainly kind of roots you down to a place.
0:07:08 > 0:07:14Those archaeological remains give us a valuable insight into early life on Harris.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17But more recently, one remarkable individual,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20together with a camera, has almost single-handily
0:07:20 > 0:07:23ensured we've a record of our recent history.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25Oh, yes.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27Yes, you don't forget.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31I think it was the French that said, "Good cooking is like good painting.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35"You can taste it, but you can't explain it."
0:07:35 > 0:07:37You can't explain a good picture.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41You can taste it, you can feel it, can't explain it, though.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44You can't tell somebody else what to do,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47and you have to love the people you're photographing.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50If you don't love them, don't do it.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53And, believe me, I love the people here.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57They're the last remnants of what I would call a genuinely civilised life.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Thousands have seen the work,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04but few outside the Hebrides have seen the man.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Gus Wiley started taking photographs here in the early 1970s,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11travelling around the island in a camper van
0:08:11 > 0:08:14and returning for the next 30 years or more.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18He was a painter who discovered photography,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20but more than anything, he's a born communicator.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26He has a way of getting very close to people,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28he puts people at ease very readily.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31And that's part of the skill that he has.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35He gets into people's homes and they welcome him,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39and very few people refuse to be photographed by him.
0:08:41 > 0:08:48There is no word really to define the magic of his photographs,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50why they are so good.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52I don't know why they're so good,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56I don't know why they stop you when you look at them.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58He just has an artistic eye.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02And when he comes into a room or he sees somebody outside,
0:09:02 > 0:09:08it's as if he can very quickly see the potential, see the photograph.
0:09:08 > 0:09:15As an outsider, born in the fishing town of Lowestoft and used to seeing Scottish trawlermen as a child,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17he started by easing himself into island life.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21Initially, he began by photographing the ancient monuments,
0:09:21 > 0:09:26arguing that they told you about the people who inhabited these islands for thousands of years.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Oh, the MacLeod Stone.
0:09:30 > 0:09:31There she is.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37As an Englishman, coming from so far away, I didn't know a great deal.
0:09:37 > 0:09:43Different culture, different people, different geography, different history.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47So I started off
0:09:47 > 0:09:52with the monuments because that gives you
0:09:52 > 0:09:57an idea of the uniqueness of the landscape
0:09:57 > 0:10:00and the uniqueness of the people themselves.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04But the major problem is,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07what about the people?
0:10:07 > 0:10:13And I realised after a while, working on this,
0:10:14 > 0:10:19that essentially above all I had to meet people,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21and that's not so easy.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26So I needed to relate stones to people.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Early on, Gus teamed up with Lewis man Finlay MacLeod.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37Together, they roamed the islands looking for suitable subjects.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Work that was one contemporary has now captured ways of life
0:10:41 > 0:10:44that have changed and, in some cases, vanished.
0:10:44 > 0:10:50Harris chef Katie MacAskill is typical of a younger generation who admires his work.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54I'm often quite interested
0:10:54 > 0:10:59in finding out what are the photographs that the local people like.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03There are two actually which always come up.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07- Oh, that one.- Led Zeppelin.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09- Led Zeppelin.- Stornoway.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14And this woman, she said, "Oh, when I saw that picture, I thought
0:11:14 > 0:11:19"'Led Zeppelin in Stornoway with an oilrig at the end of the street'."
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Oh, look at that. I've not noticed that before now.
0:11:22 > 0:11:28See that lady there, Ann MacIver. She's still the head teacher.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Yes. Here you had this young,
0:11:31 > 0:11:38very bright school ma'am, head mistress,
0:11:38 > 0:11:43and in the mirror here is an older member of the staff.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48But here's a huge man being told what to do.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53There is a photograph of a young girl here as well,
0:11:53 > 0:11:54Donna Ferguson, she's my age.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58So today obviously her photo almost 30 years later.
0:11:58 > 0:12:03I remember that this photograph was used on the copy of the...
0:12:03 > 0:12:06record that Runrig took out.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Heartland, yes. I asked them why did they choose that photograph.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15What's that got to do with rock and roll? They said, "No, no, I don't think you quite get it.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20"Look, it's about the site,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24"the aspiration on the child, the freckles,
0:12:24 > 0:12:26"everything about it,"
0:12:26 > 0:12:29and they said, "That's what our music is about."
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Gus' 30-year project, photographing this landscape and people,
0:12:33 > 0:12:34officially ended in 2004,
0:12:34 > 0:12:39but for Professor Wiley, there's always one more picture.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43That one is really tame, but this one's a wee bit jumpier.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Could you now come to me?
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Closer to about here. That's right.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54I hate to say this, but the weather is lovely.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58It's just that lovely mellow quality.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02They always say, "If you don't like the weather in the Hebrides, just wait a bit."
0:13:09 > 0:13:13And award winning chef Katie MacAskill is one of a number
0:13:13 > 0:13:17of people who have transformed the island's reputation for fine dining.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22Today, you'll find some of the best seafood and fresh meat anywhere in Scotland.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Her family has been on Harris for generations,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28but she travelled to the mainland to train with some of the best chefs
0:13:28 > 0:13:31before returning to set up a business on the family croft.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34This is her story,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37part of a long-term plan to stay on the island.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42I had intentions of going away and doing a hospitality degree,
0:13:42 > 0:13:48but then I didn't want to leave, I wanted to stay at home.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51And I did stay at home and I stayed home for about 12 years,
0:13:51 > 0:13:52working in a bank.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56I was, like, too scared to leave.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Better the devil you know.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02It took me a good couple of years to pick up the courage to leave
0:14:02 > 0:14:05to go to the mainland to get some training
0:14:05 > 0:14:07and then, after three years,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09I came home and opened it as a bed and breakfast.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15I always loved cooking, always since I was a child.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Even to this day, I've got the Brownie Guide Handbook for my queen cake recipe,
0:14:19 > 0:14:24and still it's in my kitchen and still - I don't know why - how I can't memorise it.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28I still have to pull it out to see what the ingredients are,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and that would have been when I was eight-years-old.
0:14:31 > 0:14:37In the islands here, particularly, we're very lucky with the produce that we have.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39I rear my own cattle,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43sheep, but the fish and the shellfish is fantastic.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46And I get it from the shore to the door,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49like, I received lobsters about an hour ago,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51langoustines will come in later on.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Scallops are hand-dived. All you have to do is send a text or phone
0:14:54 > 0:14:57and you've got it within a couple of hours
0:14:57 > 0:15:00and they're flapping about all over the place, they're alive.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03It's just wonderful. And I love showing the guests.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06I mean, this morning tourists went, "What are you going to do with it?"
0:15:06 > 0:15:10And I went, "Well, I'm going to cook it." She walked away.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13She said, "I don't want to see, it's almost like a form of torture."
0:15:13 > 0:15:17And I said, "It's not at all," we put them to sleep first,
0:15:17 > 0:15:20they go into the deep freeze to comatose them,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22and then we cook them off then.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25One of Katie's suppliers is Alasdair MacDonald.
0:15:25 > 0:15:30In a varied life, he's been a shepherd, crofter and salmon farmer.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34Now in retirement, he's become a lobster fisherman.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36I think they're very nice, these lobsters.
0:15:36 > 0:15:37They come in last night.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40I took them in last night, so they're nice and fresh.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43These are good size for the restaurants and that.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46You don't want big ones at all. Just these half-size ones.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49And see the red claws, you know they're in good condition.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51I go as far out as Taransay.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54The boat is not big for going too far,
0:15:54 > 0:15:58so as far as Taransay some days and right round these islands.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02The water here is just great. It's so fresh.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05You can see the colour of the water.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Even today there, you can see right down to the bottom there.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15I was speaking to a couple who were staying over at that house, Seaside Cottage, last week.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17And I asked him was he up on hol.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20"Yes, I'm up on holiday here", he says. "You've got a jewel here."
0:16:20 > 0:16:25That is what he said. "You've got a jewel here in the islands."
0:16:27 > 0:16:31When you see the view there today, the hills, it's magnificent.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Having good, fresh ingredients is one thing.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38Knowing what to do with them is quite another.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42Katie's philosophy is straightforward - simple is best.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46We boil them off when they're alive and then we split it in half.
0:16:47 > 0:16:53I've got Japanese tourists that come every year, the same ones,
0:16:53 > 0:16:58and they always want me to leave everything intact,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01but it's only the Japanese really that likes that.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05So we take the tail bit out. Nothing gets washed.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09We don't wash the shells like some people would
0:17:09 > 0:17:11because it is all edible and it's all good.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16A lot of people avoid shellfish and they say, "Oh, no, I don't want that", because they have to maybe
0:17:16 > 0:17:20in some places have to crack it open themselves,
0:17:20 > 0:17:21and it's just a bit of a mess.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24I prepare it already, so knife and fork does the job for them.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27It's already cooked, but I warm it through by grilling it.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33But you can't overcook them, otherwise they go all rubbery.
0:17:38 > 0:17:39Ouch!
0:17:41 > 0:17:45Like with everything else, more practice, you build up speed.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50So, that's half of the lobster ready,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53so we go over to the prepping for the sauce.
0:17:53 > 0:17:59Some leeks, stock, vermouth, cream and a bit of butter.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04Some leeks. It's like with everybody in their own business -
0:18:04 > 0:18:10if you're wanting your business to be successful,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13if you want to do well, you have to put all into it.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23There we go. And I light it just to get rid of the alcohol,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27although you still have the flavour of the vermouth.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31After this dies down, taking the leeks away so that the leeks have done their job.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33And the cows can eat them later.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37So that's your vermouth reduction there.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40And then I've got some stock here.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42OK.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44And some cream.
0:18:44 > 0:18:52So now I want to warm through my lobster, so I grill it just to warm it through. Very simple.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55I think that is the best way with food, with cooking. Keep it simple.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57You don't want the sauce to drown the food.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01You're seeing a lobster on the menu, you want the flavour of the lobster, you want the lobster.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04The sauce is just at the side. Yep, perfect.
0:19:04 > 0:19:05And just plate it up.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12What to do is just a wee spoon over the lobster like that.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16A very delicate sauce, and wee snippets of the chives.
0:19:18 > 0:19:24You have a lobster with a vermouth and a chive sauce.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27And that looks delicious.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30While some people may come for the food, the majority are
0:19:30 > 0:19:34attracted by an unspoilt landscape right on the edge of Western Europe.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39One that's home to an astonishing variety of wildlife.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44Perhaps most obvious are the sea eagles and golden eagles that live and breed here.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47And earlier this year, we had the rare opportunity to join
0:19:47 > 0:19:52North Harris Trust Ranger Robin Reid as he visited their breeding sites
0:19:52 > 0:19:54and tagged the young birds.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56It's quite a small chick.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59This chick's about six to seven weeks old,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02about two thirds of its development.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04And we're just going to ring this chick.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12What we'd like to see here is a full crop.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15This chick's obviously not been eating a lot of food.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Often when you get to a nest, there's a lot of remains about.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23Looks like the remains of a small rabbit here,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25but not that much else.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30So we're putting on the BTO metal ring here.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34It is ZZ1986.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42I suppose I feel excitement every time, and suspense if I'm in an area where I might see eagles.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46I guess with a lot of species, that kind of excitement maybe fades
0:20:46 > 0:20:48over time if it's something you are seeing
0:20:48 > 0:20:51on a very regular basis. But I always feel that excitement.
0:20:51 > 0:20:56I suppose it's a symbol of wildness because, in Scotland, a lot of the
0:20:56 > 0:21:02big, native carnivorous mammals, we've hunted them to extinction,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05so I suppose the golden eagle and the sea eagle,
0:21:05 > 0:21:08those are our two top predators that we still have here.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10- And it's fantastic that we still have them.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Due to human persecution, the golden eagle population
0:21:14 > 0:21:17on the Outer Hebrides had dwindled to nearly nothing.
0:21:17 > 0:21:23And by 1918, sea eagles had become completely extinct.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28To chart the progress of both species, detailed records are essential.
0:21:28 > 0:21:34Robin's partner Anna works for the RSPB, monitoring the sea eagles on Harris and Lewis, and maintaining a
0:21:34 > 0:21:39database containing information on their habitat for the whole of the west coast of Scotland.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44The story of their return was several reintroductions,
0:21:44 > 0:21:45which were successful
0:21:45 > 0:21:48in the early 1980s.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Pairs started to establish
0:21:51 > 0:21:54and then produce chicks slightly later on.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57So, basically, there were several reintroductions,
0:21:57 > 0:22:02and the most successful of which was sort of in the early 90s,
0:22:02 > 0:22:06and several of those birds went on to breed.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09But now, hopefully, we believe that most of the birds
0:22:09 > 0:22:12that are breeding are actually wild-bred birds.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14The ringing and monitoring of eagles
0:22:14 > 0:22:19provides vital information about how these birds use their habitat.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Today, Robin is on a remote island
0:22:21 > 0:22:25off Harris's west coast with Ruaridh Beaton.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28They're visiting a nest containing two sea eagles.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34OK, so we've just accessed this nest
0:22:34 > 0:22:39which has got a set of twins in it, twin sea eagle chicks.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43And we've just covered them at the moment, just to keep them calm,
0:22:43 > 0:22:45while we get our ringing kit sorted.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49So this ring has a special pin on it
0:22:49 > 0:22:51that kind of locks the ring,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54so that it's not possible
0:22:54 > 0:22:56for the bird to take it off.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01This is blue over silver C929.
0:23:01 > 0:23:07I don't think many people actually get to do this for their daytime job,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10certainly in these locations.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15And this is probably one of the most beautiful nest sites there is.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17Now for the difficult job.
0:23:17 > 0:23:23This requires uncovering the bird to take the bill measurements...
0:23:31 > 0:23:33- ..which might not be possible. - HE LAUGHS
0:23:39 > 0:23:41So I think this bird is around
0:23:41 > 0:23:44seven-and-a-half to eight weeks old,
0:23:44 > 0:23:46and that's about two thirds
0:23:46 > 0:23:48of its time in the nest.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50The first half of the time in the nest,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52they're mainly growing skeletally,
0:23:52 > 0:23:54and then during the last phase in the nest
0:23:54 > 0:23:56they're mainly growing all their feathers.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Shall I put my hands over its eyes for you?
0:24:00 > 0:24:02Maybe that'll work.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Maybe that's a good idea.
0:24:04 > 0:24:09OK...so I'm just taking the bill length.
0:24:12 > 0:24:18From the end of the cere to the tip of the bill, 52.0,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21and the bill depth 36.6.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25The North Harris Trust is also part of a Scotland-wide programme
0:24:25 > 0:24:27of fitting satellite tags,
0:24:27 > 0:24:32containing an electronic transmitter to young birds.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35Today they'll be tagging a golden eagle chick,
0:24:35 > 0:24:37but the site is remote and inaccessible.
0:24:37 > 0:24:42So, Robin and satellite tagging expert Justin Grant must abseil
0:24:42 > 0:24:46down to the nest and bring the chick back up to be tagged.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49What we really want to know is whether the habitat and the
0:24:49 > 0:24:53areas that they use differs much from the adults
0:24:53 > 0:24:55because clearly we need to have
0:24:55 > 0:24:58a good, healthy population of youngsters.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00If we don't have a good population of youngsters,
0:25:00 > 0:25:04we're not going to have any adults. So, if the youngsters are doing
0:25:04 > 0:25:06different things in different places,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09which they might well do, then we really need to know about that.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Because it might - in fact it probably will be - that we need
0:25:12 > 0:25:16to put our conservation efforts in slightly different directions
0:25:16 > 0:25:18in order to make sure that we
0:25:18 > 0:25:21conserve habitats not only for the adult territorial birds,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24but for the wandering youngsters as well.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Yep, so that went as well as it could go.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32The bird just didn't really react to us. Just playing dead in the nest.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36So that's exactly how we want it, especially with the weather conditions today.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38We've been waiting for a break in the weather.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41It's been quite a lot of wind and quite a lot of rain.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43So on to the next stage, fitting the tag.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45So we're actually going to hood this bird.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47Basically that just calms the bird,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51so we've got a falconer's hood.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55It's worn like a little rucksack basically,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57so you've got the straps at the front
0:25:57 > 0:26:00which go over effectively the shoulders
0:26:00 > 0:26:01as it would do if you were
0:26:01 > 0:26:02just wearing a rucksack.
0:26:02 > 0:26:03And then the back straps go
0:26:03 > 0:26:05in down behind the wings
0:26:05 > 0:26:07and underneath, so it's worn
0:26:07 > 0:26:08in the middle of the back.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11And this bit that you can see here
0:26:11 > 0:26:13is also the panel.
0:26:14 > 0:26:19There's a lot of research projects, biological research projects,
0:26:19 > 0:26:22that have missed out the Western Isles
0:26:22 > 0:26:26because it's a difficult place to get to logistically.
0:26:26 > 0:26:27It's expensive to get to.
0:26:27 > 0:26:28And it's great to be involved
0:26:28 > 0:26:29in this project out here.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Many of those birds nest
0:26:33 > 0:26:37on the North Harris Estate, which is now owned by the community.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39But it used to be very different
0:26:39 > 0:26:41when the estate was in private hands.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43That all changed in 2002,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46with a buy-out, when local people for the first time
0:26:46 > 0:26:47were able to take control
0:26:47 > 0:26:50of the land in which they lived and worked.
0:26:50 > 0:26:56Not surprisingly, they now gather to celebrate that historic event with an annual ceilidh.
0:26:56 > 0:27:02HE SINGS IN GAELIC
0:27:02 > 0:27:04'We're all working for a common purpose,'
0:27:04 > 0:27:09which is to make Harris a better place to live for the future.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13It's a long-term project this. We've achieved a lot, I think, in seven years.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17But the next couple of hundred will tell whether we've succeeded or not.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22'As soon as you own the land, it's like'
0:27:22 > 0:27:24a whole new vista has opened up,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27and you realise the possibilities are, if not quite endless,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29they're certainly huge.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33It really does change the way you look at things and the way you think about things.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37HE SINGS IN GAELIC
0:27:37 > 0:27:39APPLAUSE
0:27:41 > 0:27:46'It was a fantastic feeling to think that we'd actually managed to achieve the purchase of the estate.'
0:27:46 > 0:27:49That was carried out before the Land Reform Act came into effect,
0:27:49 > 0:27:54so we had to bid and purchase in an open market.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57I was really delighted at what we'd managed to do,
0:27:57 > 0:27:59and in another sense I was incredibly relieved
0:27:59 > 0:28:04because that had been a year of hard work and I could now relax.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09I guess that was mixed with a great sense of expectation, wondering what
0:28:09 > 0:28:11we could actually do now that we had the land, what we could achieve.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16To be honest, at that time, I don't think any of us realised
0:28:16 > 0:28:17just how much you could actually do
0:28:17 > 0:28:21and I suspect in ten years' time we'll be saying the same thing,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24regarding the position we're in today.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28The North Harris Trust now rely on the support of the local community.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31The chair of the trust is Calum MacKay.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34Someone who's spent all his life in this area.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38He's helped steer the change to community land ownership,
0:28:38 > 0:28:40ending a century's old tradition.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43People in North Harris had lived
0:28:43 > 0:28:46with the situation for over 150 years,
0:28:46 > 0:28:50where they had landlords from outwith.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53If you have an absentee landlord,
0:28:53 > 0:28:55who comes only two or three times a year,
0:28:55 > 0:28:59the local people don't really have a huge input into what happens on the land.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05We have some of the best scenery
0:29:05 > 0:29:08probably in Scotland in North Harris,
0:29:08 > 0:29:11and we're always encouraging people
0:29:11 > 0:29:14to go out and to explore the natural environment.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18And one of the things we're doing to enable people to do that
0:29:18 > 0:29:20is making improvements to the Paths Network.
0:29:20 > 0:29:26We've got an extensive Paths Network throughout North Harris, leading into the hills,
0:29:26 > 0:29:29and we're always trying to improve these.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33We've just secured quite a bit of funding to enable us over the next
0:29:33 > 0:29:38couple of years to make significant improvements to the Paths Network.
0:29:39 > 0:29:43It's not just the landscape that features in the plans of the North Harris Trust.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46Another project, the provision of land to enable
0:29:46 > 0:29:51the building of affordable housing for local people, is nearing fruition.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54It's something that's welcomed by the community.
0:29:54 > 0:29:59We negotiated the release of a small area of land from the common grazing.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03It was poor quality land, it was basically rock,
0:30:03 > 0:30:07and we worked with the local housing association and lobbied
0:30:07 > 0:30:12to get them to build houses for rental.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16And, at the moment, eight are almost completed.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23I think, for me, the key thing is the great confidence
0:30:23 > 0:30:27it's put into people in thinking of new ideas and trying new things.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31Because we've actually done, and are doing, so many different things now.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35I suspect there's going to be a lot of new initiatives in the next five years
0:30:35 > 0:30:37that we haven't even thought of yet today.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43A lot of people who had lived here all their lives
0:30:43 > 0:30:51and were accustomed to a particular way of life and a particular way of the estate being managed
0:30:51 > 0:30:56had initially quite a lot of difficulty in getting their heads round the idea
0:30:56 > 0:30:59'that they would be actually managing it themselves.
0:30:59 > 0:31:05'Now we're eight years down the road, I don't think people
0:31:05 > 0:31:07'would now go back to the situation that we had before.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11'It's very exciting for all of us, particularly someone like myself
0:31:11 > 0:31:16'who has been brought up here and lived on the estate almost all my life.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21'And 20 or 30 years ago, we had no concept that this would be at all possible.'
0:31:24 > 0:31:27There's a huge list of things which I think the trust has done,
0:31:27 > 0:31:30which, were it not for the trust, wouldn't have been done.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33It's a milestone in many ways.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36We now own this land, and the future is in our hands.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45Symbolic of this part of Harris is the imposing Victorian castle at Amhuinnsuidhe.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49it lies on the road west from the island's largest settlement, Tarbert,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51to the small community of Hushinish.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55In fact, the road takes you through the front gardens and right by the front door.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59It's a castle of imposing architecture and intriguing history.
0:31:59 > 0:32:04People always think of Amhuinnsuidhe Castle with Lord Dunmore,
0:32:04 > 0:32:09but in fact there was five or six Dunmores who actually lived here.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13But the one that produced the castle here was the seventh Earl,
0:32:13 > 0:32:19Charles Adolphus, known as Charlie, and also at times known as Mr Harris.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23Because one could see him on a horse, astride a horse,
0:32:23 > 0:32:28with a gun over one shoulder and a fishing rod over the other,
0:32:28 > 0:32:32just wandering his way round the island, shooting and fishing as he went.
0:32:32 > 0:32:39He had Ardvourlie Castle, but he also had Rodel House as well,
0:32:39 > 0:32:43and he also thought Queen Victoria was probably coming to stay with him.
0:32:43 > 0:32:49So he decided that he would send down to Oban for a whole load of sandstone,
0:32:49 > 0:32:54and produced this castle here in a very short space of time.
0:32:54 > 0:33:00Sadly, things were not to go to plan because he sent for his wife Gertrude.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03She was the third daughter of the Earl of Leicester.
0:33:03 > 0:33:09And she took one look at the castle and she said, "My father's got a hen house bigger than this."
0:33:09 > 0:33:16But multi-millionaire businessman Ian Scarr-Hall is arguably the most remarkable in a long line of owners.
0:33:16 > 0:33:22When the estate was last on the market, he agreed to buy only the castle and the salmon fishing,
0:33:22 > 0:33:26whilst the local community, in the form of the North Harris Trust,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29were able to make a parallel purchase of the land.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31It was a unique arrangement,
0:33:31 > 0:33:36but then Ian Scarr-Hall is a highly unusual man.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Well, everybody got what they were looking for. I was privileged to own
0:33:40 > 0:33:45a very large house and some excellent fishing rights,
0:33:45 > 0:33:48and the local community got their ownership of the land.
0:33:48 > 0:33:56And it's amazing, I think, how ownership brings pride and responsibility,
0:33:56 > 0:34:01which is where I would lead on to say that Scotland should own its own land,
0:34:01 > 0:34:06become independent, release the pride and the energy that we saw here.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11And Scotland would become a very, very wealthy nation in the world.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15Once, the castle would employ around 30 people each summer -
0:34:15 > 0:34:18gardeners, pony boys, ghillies and stalkers.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20It was a rich man's playground.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Today, it has to pay its way.
0:34:23 > 0:34:30The fishing and stalking here are still first-class, but perhaps the real star is the castle itself.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34Estate manager Innes Morrison is proud of what's on offer.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38This is probably the room in the castle that gets the most stories
0:34:38 > 0:34:41told around the table. It's called the fishing room.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44It's where all our fishing and shooting parties
0:34:44 > 0:34:47keep their stuff - fishing rods, wellies, waterproofs, everything.
0:34:47 > 0:34:52So they usually all sit around the table telling about their day's fishing.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56So there's usually quite a good craic on the go here or something.
0:34:56 > 0:35:01Up on the walls, they've drawn some of the record catches of fish, the size of them.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05You can see our biggest has been 23 pounds from the sea pool down there.
0:35:05 > 0:35:10The biggest in the loch was an 18.75 pound salmon.
0:35:10 > 0:35:16Every room is different. There's no two rooms the same in here, and they all have their own character.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24We're in the drawing room now.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29It's the room where people come in and just sit and chill out, read a book, have their afternoon tea.
0:35:29 > 0:35:33But the good thing about this room is it's got beautiful views in both ways.
0:35:33 > 0:35:39Also, this room has got a bit of a special interest because there's a painter called MacTaggart,
0:35:39 > 0:35:41who was a Gaelic-speaking painter,
0:35:41 > 0:35:46so really, apart from two paintings in this room, the rest of them are his.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50And it's the biggest collection of MacTaggarts outwith an art gallery anywhere.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57We'll go to the dining room now. I think it's one of the nicest dining rooms in Scotland.
0:35:57 > 0:36:02This is where everybody comes in and has their breakfast and their dinner at night.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04It's not set up at the moment.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08Again, it's a great room - lots of stories, lots of laughter round the table.
0:36:08 > 0:36:13But if you're ever lucky enough to come to eat here, I recommend you sit on this side of the table,
0:36:13 > 0:36:17so you can just look out the window all the time, cos it's absolutely beautiful,
0:36:17 > 0:36:21and it's got tapestries up on the walls too.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25They used to be coloured at one time, but the sunlight's faded them.
0:36:25 > 0:36:30Actually, they blend in a wee bit better now with all the woodwork, anyway.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36You can't really imagine what's in here when you drive past it,
0:36:36 > 0:36:38but it's a special place.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48For many people who live in the Outer Hebrides, work and lifestyle are intermingled.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52And nothing illustrates that better than crofting.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56But it's a way of life that outsiders often struggle to understand.
0:36:56 > 0:37:02Murdo MacKay and Donald John MacInnes are two local people who carry on that tradition.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17'Crofting is completely different to farming.'
0:37:17 > 0:37:24It's just a way of life we live, and a very hard way of life.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33The cows, they know you and they know if anybody else comes in, they're more wary of them.
0:37:33 > 0:37:39'They do bond. Possibly cos I just feed them and look after them all the time.'
0:37:43 > 0:37:46'Here you don't have any arable or anything like that.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50'It's just what you can make from the livestock that graze the land.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52'So, it is a challenge.'
0:37:54 > 0:38:00The crofting land tenure system was set up after the Napier Commission in 1886
0:38:00 > 0:38:04that looked into the hardships of the crofters at the time.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07And you have the system now today
0:38:07 > 0:38:12where the crofters are tenants on the land, but it's a secure tenancy
0:38:12 > 0:38:16where they pay a rent and they have rights in many ways equal to ownership,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19'and sometimes better than ownership.'
0:38:19 > 0:38:23HE WHISTLES
0:38:23 > 0:38:26It's kept people in the really remote peripheral areas.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28I think, without crofting,
0:38:28 > 0:38:33this area would probably just have been sporting estates
0:38:33 > 0:38:38and really wouldn't have developed as it has.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43The townships are set up so each croft has its share of the hill grazing and the croft itself.
0:38:43 > 0:38:49It's traditionally been extensive livestock - sheep and cattle - that have been kept on crofts.
0:38:52 > 0:38:58There is 24 cows to the bull this year, and a few hundred sheep.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02It's the quality of the croft, and really we don't have good quality,
0:39:02 > 0:39:08but I've got five crofts and still I'm struggling to have enough land to keep the animals
0:39:08 > 0:39:14because of the kind of ground we've got.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16The external image is an idyllic one.
0:39:16 > 0:39:21There's very few people can actually make a living out of crofting as such.
0:39:21 > 0:39:26Whether it's crofting or people who have allotments, I think it's the same sort of motivation.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33They like growing things, they like managing the land, keeping it in good heart, I suppose.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38It must be in the blood somewhere or in the genes, I suppose, yeah.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45My father before me and my brother and my grandfather, they were all crofters.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48It's very, very peaceful,
0:39:48 > 0:39:53and just the scenery around North Harris and that is really nice.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59Plenty of time to think. No-one to shout at you or annoy you!
0:40:02 > 0:40:07I enjoy every day. You haven't got two days the same, you know, doing everything,
0:40:07 > 0:40:14and every day is different and it's good to get out there and be in the fresh air all day, working in it.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16I think it's a very good way of life.
0:40:19 > 0:40:25One defining aspect of island life here is the importance Christianity has for many people.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Faith lies at the core of life on the island.
0:40:28 > 0:40:32Here, the unaccompanied singing of psalms in Gaelic
0:40:32 > 0:40:37is part of traditional worship that can be found across the various denominations.
0:40:37 > 0:40:43Hamish Taylor is presenter, and leads the singing at the Church of Scotland in Manish.
0:40:43 > 0:40:48The word "faith" would come to me more readily than "religion" would,
0:40:48 > 0:40:55and, in the past, the people really lived by faith,
0:40:55 > 0:40:57because they didn't have an awful lot else.
0:40:57 > 0:41:02And they needed their faith to carry them on from day to day,
0:41:02 > 0:41:05from week to week, and from generation to generation.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09SINGING IN GAELIC
0:41:18 > 0:41:22The psalms are really
0:41:22 > 0:41:26a witness of the word of God to the psalmist's heart,
0:41:26 > 0:41:34which is as real to us now as it was in the time of, for example, David.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38In this kind of singing, the congregation is not a choir,
0:41:38 > 0:41:45it's a group of people who are worshipping God together, but also individually.
0:41:45 > 0:41:50A lot of people who have heard this style of singing say for the first time,
0:41:50 > 0:41:55they liken it to waves breaking on the shore or waves on the sea,
0:41:55 > 0:41:59the vocals sweeping in and out.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06This group who has been singing today,
0:42:06 > 0:42:07we don't usually sing together,
0:42:07 > 0:42:13because this group actually represents three different Christian denominations,
0:42:13 > 0:42:17and what you've seen and heard is completely spontaneous.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22SINGING IN GAELIC
0:42:33 > 0:42:36I remember this church in which we are now.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41I remember that church in the late '40s or so,
0:42:41 > 0:42:48on a Communion Sunday in the summer, being absolutely full with planks in the aisles.
0:42:48 > 0:42:53Since then, of course, the population has declined an awful lot.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58The world has changed, has become secularised.
0:42:58 > 0:43:06And even though the effect of that in the islands is delayed a bit from elsewhere, from the mainland,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08we are not immune from it.
0:43:11 > 0:43:17The Sabbath here has been a part of the exercise of our faith
0:43:17 > 0:43:20and of our obedience to the word of God.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23These things are changing,
0:43:23 > 0:43:31and ever so slowly perhaps, but also steadily, outside influences are encroaching on us,
0:43:31 > 0:43:35including the introduction of Sunday planes and ferries.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Do they do any harm?
0:43:40 > 0:43:46I remember what the Lord said, that the Sabbath was made for man, and for man's benefit,
0:43:46 > 0:43:50because we all need our Sabbath and we need our rest,
0:43:50 > 0:43:56not just for the body, but also for the mind, and for reflection which feeds the soul.
0:43:57 > 0:44:04If I was a builder, my neighbour needs the Sabbath,
0:44:04 > 0:44:08and he values it and he treasures it and he knows that he needs it.
0:44:08 > 0:44:13If I, as a builder, continued my six-day week into the Sabbath,
0:44:13 > 0:44:19that may well make that neighbour who needs the Sabbath
0:44:19 > 0:44:27forget that it is the Sabbath, and he has lost that, even for a moment.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30I have transgressed against my neighbour,
0:44:30 > 0:44:36and if I have transgressed against my neighbour in that case I have also transgressed against the will of God.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39SINGING IN GAELIC
0:44:48 > 0:44:54I'd like to think that we haven't wholly departed from our past,
0:44:54 > 0:44:57we are a continuum of our past,
0:44:57 > 0:45:04and in our present we are a part of that flow in time,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07as indigenous people of Harris.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11We are a part of the landscape.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14SINGING IN GAELIC
0:45:16 > 0:45:23And I would find it difficult to think of Harris or its people
0:45:23 > 0:45:28without the element of faith still in it.
0:45:34 > 0:45:38Harris has many other strong links to its traditional way of life,
0:45:38 > 0:45:41with skills being passed down from generation to generation.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44But now some of these are in danger of dying out.
0:45:44 > 0:45:50John MacAulay is the last person on Harris to build wooden boats by hand.
0:45:50 > 0:45:56Currently, he doesn't have a boat to build, so is using his skills on building a scale model,
0:45:56 > 0:45:58continuing his trade in miniature.
0:45:59 > 0:46:04Started off here as a boy, really. There was another shed on this site
0:46:04 > 0:46:08which my father had, and I built my first boat here.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12After that, I went off to Glasgow and served an apprenticeship.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15Worked in different places on the mainland
0:46:15 > 0:46:17before I came back to the island again.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21But here is my place.
0:46:24 > 0:46:28Boats are built in a traditional manner.
0:46:28 > 0:46:35I've tried to stick to that all my life, avoided modern materials.
0:46:35 > 0:46:41Most of the boats I've built have been clinker, gladstone oak with copper fastenings.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45The usual old-fashioned paint treatments
0:46:45 > 0:46:50or linseed oil and turpentine and Stockholm tar -
0:46:50 > 0:46:52the smelly things that are nice.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59You learn the basic skills fairly quickly,
0:46:59 > 0:47:04but then you are always refining those skills.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06I'm still learning.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10John's current project involves researching the history of a boat
0:47:10 > 0:47:15that was once commonplace in these waters, the trading schooner.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19In the 19th century they were an everyday sight, sailing from island to island.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22Now they're just a memory.
0:47:22 > 0:47:28That's a scale model of a schooner that was built in 1834,
0:47:28 > 0:47:30built in Dartmouth.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34Called the Lady Of St Kilda.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38'And she sailed out to Australia to Port Phillip bay near Melbourne,
0:47:38 > 0:47:42'and the city of St Kilda was named after her.'
0:47:42 > 0:47:45That's that joint made, ready for gluing.
0:47:45 > 0:47:51'She'll be fully rigged as the original was, in every detail.'
0:47:51 > 0:47:56When I hold these in for gluing, I use wooden clothes pegs, which are very hard to find nowadays.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00'I've always been sailing and fishing,
0:48:00 > 0:48:05'so I've been more involved with the sea than I ever have been with the land.'
0:48:07 > 0:48:09So that holds it in place while the glue sets.
0:48:09 > 0:48:17'Some people go to sea and like to do long voyages halfway round the world,
0:48:17 > 0:48:20'or all the way round the world.'
0:48:20 > 0:48:22I'm quite happy to be pottering around the islands here
0:48:22 > 0:48:26and just being there within the natural environment,
0:48:26 > 0:48:30seeing everything that's going on around.
0:48:30 > 0:48:32You're always at play with the elements as well,
0:48:32 > 0:48:36and particularly in the Hebrides, you get quite a mix of weather.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40It's a different way of life,
0:48:40 > 0:48:44and being on an island as well is something very special.
0:48:44 > 0:48:50And if there's one thing virtually everybody knows about this island, it's Harris Tweed.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53The yarn is produced commercially in mills,
0:48:53 > 0:48:58but the cloth is entirely hand-woven by independent suppliers working from home.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00One of these is Donald John Mackay,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03a man with over 40 years of experience,
0:49:03 > 0:49:07and one who has no intention of stopping.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11It's a way of life. It's something that we grew up with.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14And we were surrounded by it, you know.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16From the time going to school, it was everywhere.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19You just couldn't avoid being in contact with the industry.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26Normally I'm here about 9am in the morning, and I'm here till 1pm.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31Then I'm back in at 2pm, till about 6pm.
0:49:31 > 0:49:36Then I'm here again back at 8pm, not every evening but most evenings.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39Back about 8pm, and I'm here till about 10.30pm.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43I can produce about 100 metres a week.
0:49:43 > 0:49:48That's giving myself a bit of a cushion of time.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51I fetch the yarn, the colours I need.
0:49:51 > 0:49:55I prepare it, I load that into the loom, and weave it.
0:49:55 > 0:50:00Now, if all that was done for me, I could double that output.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03Recently, the Harris Tweed industry has undergone a series of upheavals.
0:50:03 > 0:50:10But Donald John's always known that to survive, it must adapt to today's lifestyle.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13He's been at the forefront of those changes.
0:50:13 > 0:50:20The image has changed, and I suppose it's mostly to do with the number of end uses Harris Tweed has nowadays
0:50:20 > 0:50:23that were unheard about 30 years ago, unheard of.
0:50:23 > 0:50:28You would never think of putting Harris Tweed in trainers 30 years ago,
0:50:28 > 0:50:31but now it's quite common.
0:50:31 > 0:50:38And in shoes in particular, quite a range of shoes use Harris Tweed.
0:50:38 > 0:50:44To me, I think the Harris Tweed industry is certainly on a more steady footing
0:50:44 > 0:50:47than it has been for the last 20 years,
0:50:47 > 0:50:51and I think anybody in the industry at the moment
0:50:51 > 0:50:54has little to worry about the future of the industry,
0:50:54 > 0:50:58because, quite frankly, it's going from strength to strength every day.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01We've got new blood in the industry,
0:51:01 > 0:51:08and perhaps people have different visions of how the industry should go.
0:51:08 > 0:51:14Another person who's making sure Harris Tweed is as relevant now as it was in past centuries
0:51:14 > 0:51:16is the Lewis designer Laurie Stewart.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18In one way she's traditional, though.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22She works from her home just outside Stornoway.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25A lot of people do associate it with island life,
0:51:25 > 0:51:28the sea, and the heather, and the fields, and the sheep
0:51:28 > 0:51:29and that sort of thing.
0:51:30 > 0:51:35It was considered this fuddy-duddy old fabric.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39When I got some experience in it, I realised what a really good fabric it was.
0:51:39 > 0:51:46It's wearable and it's really workable, and with the right design, people do want to wear it.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50The majority of things that are available at the moment,
0:51:50 > 0:51:55not all of them, are more aimed towards the older generation.
0:51:55 > 0:52:01And there's nothing really that young people are going to want to wear that's made out of Harris Tweed.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04What I'm aiming to do and working towards
0:52:04 > 0:52:12is creating really feminine designs that women and young women want to wear,
0:52:12 > 0:52:17and hopefully get a bit of the younger generation wearing tweed, and keep it going.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25It's iconic. It's renowned the world over.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28It is a special, special fabric.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30I love what I do,
0:52:30 > 0:52:37and I can't think of anything other than being here, doing what I'm doing.
0:52:37 > 0:52:43It's certainly done with great pride, care, skill,
0:52:43 > 0:52:49and at the end of the day, hopefully it's as good as anything you could possibly buy.
0:52:52 > 0:52:55At the heart of island life is the Gaelic language,
0:52:55 > 0:53:01something you'll hear spoken, reflected in place names, and also in the music.
0:53:01 > 0:53:06There are a number of people, many of them young, determined to keep that music alive.
0:53:06 > 0:53:11One of the most remarkable talents to emerge in recent years is the singer Jenna Cumming.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14SINGING IN GAELIC
0:53:14 > 0:53:19Many songs that I learned myself tell a great deal about the place.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23I know quite a lot of songs that are from Harris which describe
0:53:23 > 0:53:25the beauty of the island
0:53:25 > 0:53:28and the friendliness of the people that live here.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31SINGING IN GAELIC
0:53:35 > 0:53:39There's so much imagery that's conveyed in the words,
0:53:39 > 0:53:43and as a singer, you always put across the sentiments of the song.
0:53:43 > 0:53:48And I think that's really important when they spent so much time writing it and making these songs,
0:53:48 > 0:53:52it's really important that they're delivered to an audience,
0:53:52 > 0:53:58and that they're not kind of kept in a book or under the carpet.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01SINGING IN GAELIC
0:54:17 > 0:54:21One person who has been key to the survival of these songs is Morag Macleod.
0:54:21 > 0:54:26A native of the island of Scalpay, just off the east coast of Harris,
0:54:26 > 0:54:30Morag is regarded as one of the greatest authorities on Gaelic song and folklore.
0:54:30 > 0:54:37For just under 40 years, she worked for the School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University,
0:54:37 > 0:54:42in a team collecting and recording thousands of songs which would otherwise have been lost forever.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45Now she's back living on the island.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50It wasn't an easy thing to do, to go to somebody's house and say, "Will you sing for me?"
0:54:50 > 0:54:55And one of the problems was they thought you were from the BBC,
0:54:55 > 0:54:58in which case they were wondering when they would hear it.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02Or, if you weren't from the BBC,
0:55:02 > 0:55:04well, what are you doing this for?
0:55:04 > 0:55:07It was difficult to explain why you were doing it.
0:55:07 > 0:55:11Jenna is constantly expanding her repertoire of traditional songs,
0:55:11 > 0:55:14often getting them from those Morag has collected.
0:55:14 > 0:55:20The two of them are determined that this music should be preserved for future generations.
0:55:20 > 0:55:25When I was younger, you know, I didn't really appreciate the songs I was learning,
0:55:25 > 0:55:31the story and the sentiment behind them. You don't really understand that until you get older,
0:55:31 > 0:55:36and you learn a bit more about what it is you're doing and where these songs are coming from.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40There was one song that Jenna learned - and I am so impressed with this -
0:55:40 > 0:55:48- we were doing a concert, arranging a concert in Inverness about Jacobites, wasn't it?- Yes.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52I gave her a tape of the song with the words,
0:55:52 > 0:55:57and she made such a good job of it. How many verses? Seven or eight?
0:55:57 > 0:55:59Yeah, it is long.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03And people aren't generally interested in songs like that,
0:56:03 > 0:56:06unless they have a strong rhythm.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08This song depends very much on the words.
0:56:08 > 0:56:12SINGING IN GAELIC
0:56:48 > 0:56:52It's lovely. Yeah, I think it's a lovely tune.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56But people don't immediately take to tunes like that.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00It's just like any good music - the more you hear it, the more you like it.
0:57:01 > 0:57:05These songs represent an important and rich musical heritage.
0:57:05 > 0:57:11But, out of so many songs, one of Jenna's favourites is a very personal one.
0:57:11 > 0:57:18My mother put the tune to this song. It was written by a man who was from Kintulavig,
0:57:18 > 0:57:19where my mother was brought up.
0:57:19 > 0:57:21But she had to move to Oban.
0:57:21 > 0:57:27And the song is really just about her leaving the island and just how homesick she felt.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32GAELIC SINGING: "Cianalas na Hearadh" By Jenna Cumming
0:58:35 > 0:58:38Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:38 > 0:58:42E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk