:00:45. > :00:48.Landward. This week we are in Assynt for a special programme, 20 years
:00:48. > :00:51.after the first community land buy-out in Scotland. I'll be finding
:00:51. > :00:57.out what community ownership has meant for this stunning part of the
:00:57. > :00:59.world. And what are you two up to? Well, I will be meeting the people
:01:00. > :01:04.working on one of the biggest ecological restoration projects in
:01:04. > :01:09.Britain. I will be seeking out one of this area's most spectacular
:01:09. > :01:12.local residents. The golden eagle. will be hearing how this landscape
:01:12. > :01:22.and its people inspired literary genius Norman MacCaig. But first,
:01:22. > :01:23.
:01:23. > :01:25.let us take a step back in time. 20 years ago, history was made here in
:01:25. > :01:29.Assynt, where crofters took possession of their land in the
:01:29. > :01:35.first community land buy-out in Scotland. And back in 1993, Landward
:01:35. > :01:41.transmitted a special programme to mark the occasion. It captured the
:01:41. > :01:44.lives of the crofters, just as the buy-out was realised. Romance and
:01:44. > :01:47.awe and greed have moulded our vision of the Highlands of Scotland.
:01:47. > :01:53.In the spring of 1992, the North Lochinver Estate was put on the
:01:53. > :01:57.market, echoing history. The sales brochure suggested that man himself
:01:57. > :02:07.is perhaps the alien element in this landscape. The 120 crofters on the
:02:07. > :02:12.
:02:12. > :02:15.estate at last rebelled. It is up to us to begin with. Allan MacRae was
:02:15. > :02:19.then and still is the charismatic chairman of the Assynt Crofters
:02:19. > :02:23.Trust. He headed up the campaign that made history. We must show that
:02:23. > :02:32.we mean business. It is not going to happen, we have got to make it
:02:32. > :02:34.happen and it starts with us. December, the crofters won their
:02:34. > :02:38.campaign and in February of this year they celebrated their ownership
:02:38. > :02:41.of the 21,000 acre North Lochinver Estate. It was very much a victory
:02:41. > :02:51.for ordinary people and I am sure that there are many people like
:02:51. > :03:08.
:03:08. > :03:11.myself who will count themselves do you think it was absolutely the
:03:12. > :03:14.right thing to do? Oh, yes, it was something that was waiting to
:03:14. > :03:18.happen. If it had not happened in happen. If it had not happened in
:03:18. > :03:20.Assynt, it would have probably happen. If it had not happened in
:03:20. > :03:24.Assynt, it would have The circumstances arose and... If they
:03:24. > :03:27.say we made history, maybe that is the way that history is a bit. It is
:03:27. > :03:30.something that triggers it. I think it was pretty important that it was
:03:30. > :03:34.the people on the ground that actually initiated something like
:03:34. > :03:37.that and there is no doubt events in Assynt here were a kind of catalyst
:03:37. > :03:41.for land reform, there is no doubt about it. I think crofters do not
:03:41. > :03:44.get excited, they are not that kind of people, but I think there is a
:03:44. > :03:54.strong sense of satisfaction at what we did. Another of the driving
:03:54. > :04:04.
:04:04. > :04:06.forces behind the buy-out was John MacKenzie. Landward filmed him
:04:06. > :04:11.shortly after the buy-out, exploring the possibility of a hydroelectric
:04:11. > :04:14.scheme for the area. It began as an almost impossible prospect that we
:04:14. > :04:16.would take possession of this estate, upon which our forefathers
:04:16. > :04:26.had lost and worked over generations. But to have actually
:04:26. > :04:28.accomplished the enterprise was really quite remarkable. It really
:04:28. > :04:38.was an emotional experience. But, of course, that was ultimately replaced
:04:38. > :04:40.
:04:40. > :04:43.by reality. After the glare of publicity had faded, the crofters
:04:43. > :04:50.had to set about making the estate financially viable. 20 years on, is
:04:50. > :04:53.the estate clear of debt and generating an income? We have
:04:53. > :04:57.developed the fishing and shooting on the estate. We have built a hydro
:04:57. > :05:00.scheme as well. We have just recently built a new office with
:05:00. > :05:02.solar panels and we have three part-time people working for the
:05:02. > :05:10.Trust, carrying out the administration, and very good they
:05:10. > :05:13.are too. There are various incomes from other sources as well -
:05:13. > :05:17.landfills and... In fact, on the estate here are a huge number of new
:05:17. > :05:20.houses that have been built over the last 20 years. The Trust is
:05:20. > :05:30.financially viable, we stand on our own feet. That is very important. We
:05:30. > :05:41.
:05:41. > :05:43.community buy-out were felt throughout Scotland as a series of
:05:43. > :05:52.land buy-outs followed. One of these was the neighbouring Glencanisp and
:05:52. > :05:55.Drumrunie Estates in 2005. The Land Reform Act 2003 allowed us to make
:05:55. > :06:03.the purchase, so it was 44,000 acres of land, including beautiful
:06:03. > :06:05.mountains, lochs...the lodge, which is a big asset. The Assynt crofters
:06:05. > :06:09.buy-out was the major buy-out that brought forward the land
:06:09. > :06:13.legislation. It gave us the courage and the momentum to take it forward
:06:13. > :06:16.in the belief that we could actually do it as a community. It affected
:06:16. > :06:26.everyone and it was a call for getting local people back on the
:06:26. > :06:40.
:06:40. > :06:44.response we had from the public. So many people put their hands in their
:06:44. > :06:47.pockets and gave us their money. We were not conscious of making history
:06:47. > :06:50.and we clearly were, and the wider public clearly believed that there
:06:50. > :07:00.was a bigger issue here than just the Assynt crofters. We claimed our
:07:00. > :07:16.
:07:16. > :07:19.birthright - the land and the right Scotland, I've travelled from the
:07:19. > :07:22.Cairngorm National Park to the Isle of Skye, in search of Scotland's big
:07:22. > :07:32.five iconic species. This week, I'm in a secret location in Assynt, in
:07:32. > :07:33.
:07:33. > :07:40.search of one of the most magnificent... The golden eagle.
:07:40. > :07:44.Ranger Andy Summers is the man who knows where to find them. Are they
:07:44. > :07:48.out there, Andy? Well, I hope so. I have been monitoring these golden
:07:48. > :07:58.eagles for 12 years and there are six pairs that I monitor, this is
:07:58. > :08:03.
:08:03. > :08:12.one of them. Hopefully we will see somewhere up there there are some
:08:12. > :08:15.eagles? I hope so. We are right in their territory now. At this time of
:08:15. > :08:19.year they will be on their nest. Today it is wet but then suddenly
:08:19. > :08:23.the sun clears and hopefully they will come out and wemight see them.
:08:23. > :08:28.So if we see them it is going to be dramatic? I hope so. They are
:08:28. > :08:31.dramatic birds! There are around 440 breeding pairs of golden eagles in
:08:31. > :08:34.the UK, most of which are in the Scottish Highlands. It is the
:08:34. > :08:43.country's second largest bird of prey after the white-tailed sea
:08:43. > :08:51.eagle. What we will do is perhaps have a little stop here and we will
:08:51. > :08:55.wait and keep scanning the horizon. Why here? This is a good vantage
:08:56. > :09:05.point. We can see 180 degrees here and if they break the skyline we
:09:06. > :09:11.
:09:11. > :09:14.see our first eagle and it really is a spectacular sight. We have just
:09:14. > :09:24.got lucky because we have got not just one bird but two birds,
:09:24. > :09:27.
:09:27. > :09:35.possibly three. There it goes again. They are fantastic birds when you
:09:35. > :09:38.see them in that kind of element. They are cruising along that ridge.
:09:38. > :09:42.They disappear into the stonework, lift off and that two-metre wingspan
:09:42. > :09:52.opens up and they hardly flap at all, they glide along. Is this ideal
:09:52. > :09:53.
:09:53. > :09:57.golden eagle territory? Yes, we are quite remote, away from habitation.
:09:57. > :10:00.When they are hunting they look as if they are trying to spook some
:10:00. > :10:04.grouse. The fact that they are both flying means they are not incubating
:10:04. > :10:07.at the moment. They are getting close to egg-laying time. They are
:10:07. > :10:11.getting closer to the nest site. We are lucky that the people around
:10:11. > :10:14.here are quite proud of having the eagles and I think if you have
:10:14. > :10:18.golden eagles, they are the top predator, it is a sign that
:10:18. > :10:22.everything below is well. It is a healthy environment. Do you think
:10:22. > :10:31.they deserve to be on the list? think so. They should be Scotland's
:10:31. > :10:36.emblem bird. Top of the list? Yeah, I think so. What an incredible bird.
:10:36. > :10:39.It is so easy to see why it made it onto the big five list. But which
:10:39. > :10:42.animal is your favourite? Over the last three weeks we have been asking
:10:42. > :10:52.you to send in your wildlife photographs to Landward and we have
:10:52. > :11:18.
:11:18. > :11:22.footsteps of Norman MacCaig... Landscape to me is my substitute for
:11:22. > :11:28.the religion and politics and such trifles. When I'm in a landscape I
:11:28. > :11:33.feel extraordinary at home. And Euan takes to the road with the mobile
:11:33. > :11:43.library. I saw the job advertised on the council website, applied for it,
:11:43. > :11:50.
:11:50. > :11:56.and got the interview. They insisted the most rugged and spectacular
:11:56. > :12:05.scenery in Scotland. The mountains, famed for their strange shapes, rise
:12:05. > :12:08.out of moorland full of lochans and peaty hollows. But it is a landscape
:12:08. > :12:17.that noticeably lacks trees with just a few remnants of ancient
:12:17. > :12:20.woodland dotted across this vast area. There would have been a
:12:20. > :12:26.certain amount of native deciduous woodland on the lower slopes where
:12:26. > :12:31.it is quite well-drained ground. didn't they survive? It has been a
:12:31. > :12:34.long process. Basically it is down to overgrazing over centuries. And
:12:34. > :12:38.also changes in climate have had a big effect to, the climate got
:12:38. > :12:47.wetter and that has a negative affect on tree growth in this part
:12:47. > :12:50.of the world. Woodlands like this one here are very rare in Assynt.
:12:50. > :12:59.But now a scheme has been launched which will see thousands of trees
:12:59. > :13:02.being planted. The hope is that it will restore precious habitats.
:13:02. > :13:05.Coigach Living Landscape Project has a 40-year vision, so it is a
:13:05. > :13:09.long-term thing. It is one of the largest living landscape projects in
:13:09. > :13:19.Europe and extends to over 60,000 hectares. It is a huge chunk of land
:13:19. > :13:27.
:13:27. > :13:30.moment? The idea is to grow a stock of trees from native, genetic stock,
:13:30. > :13:35.if you like. We are collecting tree seeds from local woodlands and
:13:35. > :13:38.planting them. They will eventually be used to fulfil some of the
:13:38. > :13:48.planting schemes around the area. The native trees of the woodlands
:13:48. > :13:48.
:13:48. > :13:51.around here are primarily birch, hazel, rowan. There's also oak, elm,
:13:51. > :13:54.juniper is quite a toughie, sometimes, holly, Scots pine. It's
:13:54. > :13:58.still early spring, so we don't want to jump the gun, but things are
:13:58. > :14:01.sprouting already so we have a few seeds of birch and alder and some
:14:01. > :14:09.other things. How many trees do you hope to plant? In full production we
:14:09. > :14:13.should be producing more than 100,000 each year. It sounds a lot
:14:13. > :14:18.but it does not go very far in the size of landscape you see behind me.
:14:18. > :14:27.Exciting to be in at the beginning and to be able to provide some of
:14:27. > :14:30.the stock to regenerate the Part of the forest here at Culag
:14:30. > :14:40.Woods on the edge of Lochinver is ancient woodland, and it's very
:14:40. > :14:43.precious to the local community. the woodland here, there's pine
:14:43. > :14:46.marten, badgers, otters down by the shore, we have herons nest in the
:14:46. > :14:48.woodland, tawny owls here but it's also important for other smaller
:14:48. > :14:58.species as well, lichens are particularly important to this
:14:58. > :14:58.
:14:58. > :15:01.woodland. They in turn support smaller creatures which provide food
:15:01. > :15:11.for birdlife. It has education purposes, the school is just across
:15:11. > :15:15.the road so we use it a lot for outdoor learning and put on events.
:15:15. > :15:19.Could this be used as a blueprint for other areas in Assynt? It would
:15:19. > :15:29.be lovely to think that over the next 40 or 50 years we could leave a
:15:29. > :15:33.
:15:33. > :15:36.legacy of woodland pockets such as described as desolate and empty,
:15:36. > :15:39.with its own rugged beauty. It is hoped that the restoration of native
:15:39. > :15:49.woodland will greatly enhance this amazing place. It may take a long
:15:49. > :15:56.
:15:56. > :16:06.time to be realised, but I'm sure it you see on the programme, or perhaps
:16:06. > :16:11.you have an amazing story to share, in Assynt is pretty changeable -
:16:11. > :16:21.earlier, crisp and clear, now pretty dreich. But what about the prospect
:16:21. > :16:29.
:16:29. > :16:33.showers right across the country, but the ridge of high pressure is
:16:33. > :16:36.building, bringing dry, light and settled conditions to start the
:16:36. > :16:40.weekend. Some light showers through the north-east to start things off,
:16:40. > :16:45.perhaps, most of us seeing blue skies for the morning. By the
:16:45. > :16:48.afternoon, cloud building, coming and going at times, but not much
:16:48. > :16:53.rain until much later. By mid-afternoon, nine, ten or maybe
:16:53. > :16:58.even 11 degrees. Pretty low for this time of year. Some outbreaks of rain
:16:58. > :17:03.towards the end of the afternoon, coding overhead of it & Shine
:17:03. > :17:12.turning hazy. The Shetlands in the cold air could eat six degrees at
:17:12. > :17:16.rest. If you are hillwalking or climbing it could be clouding over.
:17:17. > :17:22.Staying as a north-westerly elsewhere, generally staying far.
:17:22. > :17:27.Temperatures across the eastern Rangers are quite low. It looks like
:17:27. > :17:33.there will be a couple of ski centres open this weekend. Saturday
:17:33. > :17:36.is the better day, dry and bright, a number of showers on Sunday and
:17:36. > :17:43.strengthening winds. If you want to enjoyed the waters in the
:17:43. > :17:51.south-west, it is a moderate sea and good visibility. Around the Firth of
:17:51. > :17:55.Forth in the east, fairly similar. Slight seas with good visibility.
:17:55. > :18:01.The rest of the afternoon into the evening and overnight, the weather
:18:02. > :18:07.gets its act together. The rain tends to ease as it does so and
:18:07. > :18:12.fragments. The overnight lows are not as cold as this coming night,
:18:12. > :18:17.but 4-macro or five as the overnight low.
:18:17. > :18:21.In behind this front you will notice the tight isobars, still fairly
:18:21. > :18:25.breezy for the second half of the weekend, which will bring in a
:18:25. > :18:29.number of showers. A cloudy and damp start to Sunday, by the afternoon
:18:29. > :18:33.there should be bright skies in between the showers, temperatures on
:18:33. > :18:37.the low side for the time of year. Into Monday, the low pressure to the
:18:37. > :18:40.North continues to stay with us. We will see a number of showers,
:18:40. > :18:45.primarily across the west of the country, but the wind strength could
:18:45. > :18:52.blow some of them further east. In between, bright or sunny skies,
:18:52. > :18:56.temperatures nine to 10 Celsius. The rain moves away and the wind tends
:18:56. > :19:01.to ease, but there is a never low coming our way on Wednesday. Tuesday
:19:01. > :19:07.itself looks OK. Dash-macro there is another low coming our way on
:19:07. > :19:12.Wednesday. Temperatures nine or 10 Celsius with some decent sunshine.
:19:12. > :19:16.For Wednesday, we will get some showers and outbreaks of rain, some
:19:16. > :19:25.snow over the higher ground but some bright and sunny skies in between.
:19:25. > :19:28.Assynt's amazing range of stunning landscapes and scenery has inspired
:19:28. > :19:30.classic Scottish writing through the ages. But in a remote area like
:19:30. > :19:39.this, getting access to great literature really isn't that easy.
:19:39. > :19:40.Or maybe it is?! Or maybe it is?!
:19:40. > :19:44.I'm spending the day with relief mobile library van driver Howard
:19:44. > :19:49.I'm spending the day with relief Assynt is his favourite patch, he
:19:49. > :19:54.loves it so much that he wrote a song about it.
:19:54. > :19:57.# I am the mobile library man. # I drive the mobile library van.
:19:57. > :20:03.# And I bring you books whenever I can...# Well, I was a primary school
:20:03. > :20:06.teacher in Sheffield and I retired from that job about seven years ago.
:20:06. > :20:10.Moved up here and I saw the job advertised on the council website
:20:10. > :20:20.and applied for it and got an interview, insisted I was the man
:20:20. > :20:33.
:20:33. > :20:37.Goodness me. Oh, we've got a crowd. Good morning, how are you?
:20:37. > :20:39.I've always had an interest in books. It's a combination of a
:20:39. > :20:45.wonderful place to work and meet interesting people who really value
:20:45. > :20:50.the service that you give them. a vital service, we couldn't really
:20:50. > :20:52.do without it. We use it an awful lot and we look forward to it
:20:52. > :20:57.coming. Especially in the winter. Especially in the winter.
:20:57. > :20:59.# You'd think these places hard to reach.
:20:59. > :21:07.# The library van, it must get through.
:21:07. > :21:11.# To bring some sex and violence out to you. The highlight of the trip so
:21:11. > :21:17.far, Mrs McKenzie's scones and pancakes feature in the song.
:21:17. > :21:23.# I'll stop for tea with cakes and scones and jam she's made for me.
:21:23. > :21:29.# And then I'm off along the shore. # Take Mr Parker his books on war...
:21:29. > :21:30.Howard's van is one of eight mobile library vans dish out show
:21:30. > :21:37.chick-lit, gardening manuals and crime novels all across the
:21:37. > :21:41.Highlands and the Islands. How often do you use the library? Whenever it
:21:41. > :21:45.comes, all the time, it's good. It helps the children to learn about
:21:45. > :21:53.looking after things that are not theirs. Good girl. Thank you very
:21:53. > :21:57.much. The library service give you three or four boxes of books every
:21:57. > :22:00.two weeks, and you have to swap some over. Bodice rippers?Plenty of
:22:00. > :22:05.those, plenty of bodice rippers. I have to watch out for those and make
:22:05. > :22:12.sure some of the more genteel old ladies don't end up with things they
:22:12. > :22:16.should not be reading! What is it about Assynt? It is so
:22:16. > :22:20.wild, it is a combination of the mountains and the sea. It couldn't
:22:21. > :22:29.be better. Look around you, spectacular.
:22:29. > :22:39.# I'm still a mobile library man. # I drive the mobile library van.
:22:39. > :22:44.
:22:44. > :22:48.# And I bring you books whenever I Who owns this landscape? The
:22:48. > :22:52.millionaire who bought it or the poacher staggering downhill in the
:22:52. > :22:58.early morning with a deer on his back?
:22:58. > :23:03.Who possesses this landscape? The man who bought it, or I, who am
:23:03. > :23:07.possessed by it? Norman MacCaig was one of Scotland's
:23:07. > :23:11.best known and respected poets of the 20th century. Although very much
:23:12. > :23:19.an Edinburgh man, he also loved the land. It was during a cycle trip
:23:19. > :23:23.round the Highlands as a young man that he first discovered Assynt.
:23:23. > :23:27.I grew up to love the landscape of Scotland, and in my earlier days I
:23:27. > :23:35.cycled all over the place with a tent. The most important thing, one
:23:35. > :23:39.of the big important things in my life, in fact.
:23:39. > :23:47.From 1947 onwards, MacCaig brought his family here for some holidays,
:23:48. > :23:54.and he made many lifelong friends. I knew him through my uncle, who
:23:54. > :24:00.lived in this house with Kitty, his wife. They were great friends, they
:24:00. > :24:03.became great friends. They would mostly talk and drink and smoke.
:24:03. > :24:11.Flighting was a thing that they would refer to, discussions,
:24:11. > :24:18.anything under the sun. But they loved being out. Fishing was the
:24:18. > :24:21.thing. It involved itself in everything.
:24:21. > :24:24.Much of his poetry reflects his deep attachment to the particular
:24:24. > :24:29.landscape here - the remarkable mountains, the glittering lochs and
:24:29. > :24:33.coral beaches. The landscape, to me, is my
:24:33. > :24:40.substitute for religion and politics and such trifles. What does it mean
:24:40. > :24:44.to you, landscape? I can't explain it, except that I always feel that
:24:44. > :24:47.landscapes - and the people who wander in and out of the cracks and
:24:47. > :24:57.crevices of the landscape - I always feel there is some kind of web that
:24:57. > :24:58.
:24:58. > :25:01.joins them together. And I've actually been accused of being
:25:01. > :25:11.metaphysical about the landscape - an accusation, of course, which I
:25:11. > :25:12.
:25:12. > :25:16.spurn and eschew. It seems to me that when I look at a rock, I don't
:25:16. > :25:26.want to see anything more than that rock. Yet I know that when I'm in a
:25:26. > :25:28.
:25:28. > :25:31.landscape, especially a wild-ish one, I feel extraordinarily at home.
:25:31. > :25:35.MacCaig was also friends with Wilma MacKay and her family, who lived in
:25:35. > :25:41.Inverkirkaig, and he rented a cottage here for many years. He just
:25:41. > :25:49.liked the place, people got used to him going about. He wandered about
:25:49. > :25:55.and fished, was at the bar, went to the Games helped. A very interesting
:25:55. > :25:59.person to talk to. You couldn't help being interested when he was going
:25:59. > :26:09.about. If I'm allowed to quote his son, he said he felt that it
:26:09. > :26:14.
:26:14. > :26:20.permeated his dad, that the place, guillemot, sea trout, fox and
:26:20. > :26:26.falcoln. The list winds through all the crooks and crannies of the
:26:26. > :26:29.landscape, all the subtleties and shifts of its waters and the
:26:29. > :26:34.prevarications of its air. Roofs fall in, walls crumble, gables
:26:34. > :26:43.die last of all and man becomes, in this most beautiful corner of the
:26:43. > :26:47.land, one of the rare animals. The impressions of this area that
:26:47. > :26:49.made a mark on MacCaig were deep and would return to him later when he
:26:49. > :26:52.was back in Edinburgh. He filled himself up like a camel's
:26:52. > :27:01.hump, as he referred to it, with images, thoughts and memories of the
:27:01. > :27:08.time spent here. I never think of poetry when I am out there. Never,
:27:08. > :27:13.ever. I go to the Highlands as much as I can in the summer - six, seven,
:27:13. > :27:15.eight, nine or ten weeks - and I never write a single word. I am not
:27:15. > :27:20.interested, I'm too busy doing nothing. Fattening my camel's hump,
:27:20. > :27:27.you know? It drains through the winter and I arrive in June or July
:27:27. > :27:36.in time. It is not a conscious thing, I don't go around looking for
:27:36. > :27:39.something to write poems about. MacCaig's longest poem, A Man In
:27:39. > :27:41.Assynt, explores the landscape and the depopulation of the crofters,
:27:41. > :27:48.but it also predicts that people will return to the land and reclaim
:27:48. > :27:50.it as their own. And the mind behind the eye, within the pattern,
:27:50. > :27:58.remembers with certainty that the tide will return and thinks with
:27:58. > :28:01.hope... That that other ebb, that sad
:28:01. > :28:03.withdrawal of people may too reverse itself and flood the bays and the
:28:03. > :28:09.sheltered glens with new generations, replenishing the land
:28:09. > :28:19.with its richest of riches and coming, at last, into their own
:28:19. > :28:19.
:28:19. > :28:22.again. The genius of Norman MacCaig, with a