Episode 6 Landward

I'll be joining the crew of that old West Coast on a beautiful sunny day.

history of these splendid vessels.

is coming up tonight on Landward.

How big a problem do you have?

and they're going into they're living in woodland here

camera he's agreed to clean.

Aye.

taking to the water to find out

that's transforming the way

the West Coast in the 21st century.

complicated coastline and the myriad

live, but a tricky place to get to.

Back in the day, these remote areas

Boats like the Vital Spark the Para Handy tales of Neil Munro.

When these boats stopped operating

who came in by road, into the region fell to lorries,

Shipping Company was formed

how they're doing it.

from the head of Loch Etive

We're heading down the loch.

for a real adventure.

on the back of getting We initially started the company

So is it mainly logs you're doing?

of everything we do is logs.

just on the right there.

So, how environmentally friendly and the likes.

to 4,000 lorry miles.

at burning a third of the amount a ship of this size would be looking

We do indeed, yeah. as successors to the old puffers?

they need the smaller vessels to forests coming into maturity now,

Getting from Loch Etive

Not as easy as you might think.

a narrow, tricky channel.

The sea level on the outside rises in the mouth of Loch Etive.

lived at the mouth of the Etive

to get us through safely.

As a yachtsman, the Falls of Lora

without a decent bit of knowledge.

This is a big boat. to leave you alone to concentrate.

You see that rock? Yep.

on this bridge, and suddenly but there's been a lot of banter

If he gets that wrong,

Just hope he gets it right.

Even then, the clearance from

Now that we have managed

he's agreed to let me that I know what I'm doing,

"It's just splendid."

Away you go, Colin.

Well, here we are at Corpach Pier

used half the fuel a whole fleet of lorries,

I'll be on board

and finding out about its history.

reporting increasing damage all over the country have been

Sarah has been investigating and are literally wild again.

been a common sight in Scotland,

they had been hunted to extinction.

isn't it?

Yes, it's an unusual day for snow.

a number of landowners,

begun to reintroduce the animal.

They dig the soil, There's two things they do mostly.

of the forest floor.

preparing the soil to sow a seed.

By disturbing the soil,

We've got a lack of regeneration at for regeneration.

the controlling factor for bracken,

and managed forest

when they escape to the other side but the problem comes

to try to find evidence a remote camera trap

A neighbour of mine from the top

We got a couple of good clips for a period of a week.

in front of the camera.

That's definitely a wild boar.

its thick bristly coat.

into camera shot in a second.

and found it on the camera. Yes. a nice surprise when you got back

and get some nice shots like that, some, but to actually catch one

to see the wild boar, however.

many local farmers are claiming Eight years after the 2006 escape,

So I've come to see for myself,

experience of the damage they cause.

Yeah. I'll show you some with wild boar.

Wow, so the wild boar did this.

when they come out in the evening.

Did you...? Have you seen them, haven't they? Churned this up.

Don't see them very often,

along the roadside there. last week, five o'clock, I saw one

caused by a single wild boar.

from coming into the area.

he was coming under the fence.

and he hasn't been back since.

as long as you adhere to shoot them

It's very difficult.

some middle ground

but without upsetting the farmers?

whether they were let go or another, whether they escaped,

to Scotland.

But my feeling is to try and eradicate them.

It seems pretty clear to me

back behind a fence.

the farmed variety

a hand to see if we can persuade

a taste for wild boar sausages.

Now, while the residents of the

is making wildlife more accessible.

the many spectacular sea bird times of year to go and see some of

become sea bird cities.

yourself on a dramatic cliff top,

to somewhere like this

where they are keeping a close eye the Macduff Marine Aquarium,

just along the coast at Troup Head.

Hi, nice to meet you.

We've got a live view camera for looking at birds, yeah? We are.

That's pretty good.

it's going to get? It is.

needs a bit of a clean,

and give it a wipe over.

of a cliff, we do need to be

safety harnesses, but we'll be fine.

and early summer, the cliffs here

and gannets in particular.

Something on the cliff face.

So where's the camera?

that's the camera on the edge there.

to get too close.

more about the gannets themselves

at this time of year.

Richard Humpidge is the RSPB

just under 3,000 pairs of birds.

in Scotland.

and you don't want to get on a boat,

So what's going on at the moment?

in the gannet season,

from having spent the winter

wandering around and feeding.

is probably a male and a female

and they are kind of

"How was your winter?"

So it's all kicking off then?

This is very much an exciting time.

just about to begin.

and get the cleaning done.

don't try this at home!

It's basically as and when the Every couple of weeks or so.

salt from the spray from the sea.

attacked by the birds as well.

the same as cleaning your windows.

to let go of the rope.

and there's a microwave transmitter

13 miles back to the aquarium.

No, the gannets don't mind at all.

so I don't think they mind too much.

absolutely. Awesome.

window cleaning ever.

now sparkling clean

viewers have got the chance to watch

incredible birds unfold.

on the small screen

and seeing it for yourself,

great places around the coast

at this time of year.

Isle of May, off the coast of Fife,

shags, terns and guillemots.

fulmars, kittiwakes and razorbills.

from Mallaig to Rum,

Manx shearwaters

and gannets.

wild boar on the loose can be.

to see if the great Scottish public

the farmed variety of the animal.

with the Landward street-food van.

great Scottish produce

to the city streets.

prefer pork or wild boar sausages.

butcher's pork sausages,

has made these sausages,

with wild boar.

in colour. Obviously a lot darker.

Wild boar is quite a gamey meat.

I imagine it to be quite tough.

they look tough.

is get these mixed up. OK.

is going to be the wild boar.

round behind me...

pork sausages.

They're handmade.

or at a few butchers' It's only available online

You let them taste it. that it is a good alternative?

But what would the folk on That's my preference too.

They feature the exploits of skipper by author Neil Munro.

and to see if they still have of these much-loved crafts

the Crinan Canal to Ardrishaig,

six swing bridges to navigate,

of Glasgow down the River Clyde,

and out to any of the islands. Yeah.

with glass-making sand, whisky,

were taking to and from the islands?

of the islands,

a pair of knitting needles,

next time you're in Glasgow,

some knitting needles?"

sort of symbiotic relationship

the old puffers had been replaced

travelling by road.

by the Para Handy stories.

three times by the BBC.

a real treat for me.

I loved the television programmes

And we're on the Crinan Canal,

in the world.

the wild open sea... #

with the old puffer trade,

these vessels would be seen

its many locks and bridges.

from the industrialised Clyde

detour round the Mull of Kintyre.

on board the Vital Spark -

an engineer, and a deckhand.

door over here. Oh, that's hot.

so a few shovelfuls,

they might need some coal...

and any spots that look a bit dead.

A few shovelfuls.

to this isn't the best idea.

Absolutely. That's good. OK, good.

shorter than it used to be!

yeah. Oh, that was hot!

Thank you. Thank you.

something of a holiday.

of operating the locks on the canal.

the Puffer Preservation Trust

and keep it in working order.

to relive the tales of Para Handy,

the only remaining working puffer,

in various states of restoration.

in years to come.

the final destination on my journey,

but at times, pretty physical day.

on next week's programme.

of Islay and Jura.

on Islay, while Sarah finds out

And I'll be facing one of of family life on Jura.

In the meantime, on BBC Two Scotland.

Bye for now.

much

much easier to

much easier to get on this red,