0:00:02 > 0:00:04I'm climbing up this hillside
0:00:04 > 0:00:09towards what will be the start of a week-long journey through the mountains.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13And I tell you, this is the most magnificent viewpoint in the whole of Britain.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16If you don't believe me, come with me and see for yourself.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52This is the wild and windy summit of Suilven,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55a remarkable mountain of Torridonian sandstone
0:00:55 > 0:01:00that rears up under the loch-ensplattered moorlands of Inverpolly and Assynt
0:01:00 > 0:01:02in northwest Scotland.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Up here, between the heavens and the deep blue sea,
0:01:06 > 0:01:09I'm embarking on a 70-mile journey
0:01:09 > 0:01:11through the mountains of Sutherland,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15an area many have described as the Empty Lands.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17But I'm curious about that.
0:01:17 > 0:01:18"The Empty Lands?"
0:01:18 > 0:01:19Says who?
0:01:30 > 0:01:35Nothing empty about it. It's just packed with life and vibrant nature.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38But how do you describe it?
0:01:38 > 0:01:42The mountains, the moorlands, the smell, the scent, the beaches,
0:01:42 > 0:01:47the wild flowers, eagles, buzzards, greenshank. I don't know.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51There's something to see and do every minute of every day.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Bruce Sandison is one of many people I've met over the last year
0:01:57 > 0:02:00who's chosen to make his home in Sutherland.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03He's spent most of his life fishing Scotland's remote mountain lochs,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07and wrote the popular trout-fishing guide that has become an angler's bible.
0:02:10 > 0:02:16Before starting on this 70-mile walk, I decided to ease myself into the exercise ahead.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21I've never actually fished these lochs, but I'm willing to try anything once.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26I wrote a little poem, four lines, about fishing.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29For salmon, trout and sea trout.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32For all fish, great or small.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Let thanks be gi'en afore we cast.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36To him that gi' us all.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41We're off.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44I'm glad you volunteered to row.
0:02:44 > 0:02:45The first part!
0:02:49 > 0:02:52Now, this is it, Cameron.
0:02:52 > 0:02:53Take no prisoners.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55You do not need to cast a long line.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Chuck it up into the air, aim for the sky.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03Oh, there you are. Got that one.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05- Do you need this?- I'll take it.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07Thank you. Come on.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Hey, well done. Excellent!
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Right, we'll put him back.
0:03:12 > 0:03:18So, what was the defining moment when you said, "I'm now an angler"?
0:03:18 > 0:03:20I'm not an angler yet. I keep trying.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25Keep trying. I'm sure that the moment I said, "Oh, I'm an angler,"
0:03:25 > 0:03:27I'd stop catching fish.
0:03:27 > 0:03:32Fishing has given me more pleasure than I can say for most of my life.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35I do know that giving a child a love of fishing
0:03:35 > 0:03:40is far more important than putting money in the bank for them.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45Money comes and goes, but a love of fishing stays with you till your dying day.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48- Here's one. - Oh, look.- A lovely fish.- Lovely.
0:03:48 > 0:03:55It's a very small fish, but it's a typical example of a highland loch wild brown trout.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57He's going back now. There you go.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02And that's another thing about fishing.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06It's hard to think about anything else.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08I've got loads to do which I call "work."
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Not just now, I don't think about it.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16And that's the treasure, the joy, of being out on the loch.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Well, how many did you get?
0:04:19 > 0:04:22The boat caught about a dozen fish.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27That was nice of him. I had caught, well, precisely none.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30But back to something I'm more familiar with.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34My own route, which I hope will eventually become known as the Sutherland Trail.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37It started at Lochinver, climbed Suilven,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40crossed the shoulder of Canisp to Inchnadamph,
0:04:40 > 0:04:45from where I climbed wind-scoured hills and quarries to Kylesku.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49From there, I crossed the hills of the Reay Estate to Achfary
0:04:49 > 0:04:51and the start of the ascent of Foinaven.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54A high bealach took me Gleann Mhor and Altnacaillich,
0:04:54 > 0:04:58from where the Moine Path finally led to the Kyle of Tongue
0:04:58 > 0:05:00and journey's end on Ben Loyal.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Suilven, the pillar mountain,
0:05:05 > 0:05:10doesn't reach the 3,000-foot elevation that would make it a Munro.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14It doesn't even make the 2,500-foot height that would give it Corbett status.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Despite the lack of elevation,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19it's a remarkable mountain in every other respect.
0:05:19 > 0:05:25It's got bulk, it's got character, it's steep-sided and it's very impressive.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35It's quite a long walk out from Suilven
0:05:35 > 0:05:38but even in conditions like this, the surroundings are stunning.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49This whole area is synonymous with land reform.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52The story of the Assynt crofters is a remarkable one
0:05:52 > 0:05:58and could be described as the beginning of a land-owning revolution in Scotland.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01Highland crofters had always been at the mercy of the landowners,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05many of whom had removed their tenants from the fertile hinterland
0:06:05 > 0:06:09to coastal fringes during the infamous Clearances.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14But more recently, highland estates were bought and sold, often without the knowledge of their tenants.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18And in 1992, when the estate was once again up for sale,
0:06:18 > 0:06:22the Assynt crofters decided enough was enough.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26They began a campaign to raise the money to buy the estate themselves,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29and their success changed the course of history.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32John MacKenzie was involved from the very start,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35and the implications of their achievement are still difficult to grasp.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38The realisation, the following day,
0:06:38 > 0:06:40of going out and just looking around...
0:06:40 > 0:06:44The fact that we now owned this was just...
0:06:44 > 0:06:46The transformation...
0:06:46 > 0:06:49When I look back on my grandfather...
0:06:55 > 0:06:58..and the...
0:06:58 > 0:07:00..hard life
0:07:00 > 0:07:03that these people endured.
0:07:03 > 0:07:08- Yes, indeed.- And now, we were masters of this.- That's wonderful.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10He just would not have believed it.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13You really, kind of, overturned history.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15Yep.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20As I said, my view was that I would like to do something
0:07:20 > 0:07:26that would be of value to this community in perpetuity.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31But, frankly, the success that we've achieved
0:07:31 > 0:07:33is beyond belief.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35We now own the land.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40We have a democratically-elected board
0:07:40 > 0:07:45who seek to bring input from each of the townships.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47But we largely see ourselves as facilitators.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52In other words, liberating the crofters of Assynt
0:07:52 > 0:07:58to do what they feel is appropriate to their own needs and aspirations.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00And we will encourage and support them.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06Nearly two decades later, and the crofts are flourishing.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09And the dream of a sustainable future has been fulfilled
0:08:09 > 0:08:12by young people like 16-year-old James Morrison.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17Born during the buy-out negotiations, he is, quite literally, a child of land reform.
0:08:19 > 0:08:20I'm so used to being so quiet up here.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23We keep ourselves to ourselves.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25I've friends dotted around the place up here.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28I've also travelled around a lot.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31But no matter how often I go away or how long I spend away,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34I always just want to get back to home.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36There's no place like home.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44I've been doing it ever since I was old enough to be down here.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48I've enjoyed it immensely. If I go off to a city, what would I do?
0:08:48 > 0:08:53I certainly couldn't stand working indoors, sitting in an office or that sort of thing.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57It's just not me. I like to be outdoors and active all the time.
0:09:00 > 0:09:06- I see you use the spray, because it's quite easy to miss one. - Oh, it is, yes.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09There are some people who want crofts to be left alone
0:09:09 > 0:09:14and let them go back to the wild, a wilderness out there. I don't want that.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Why let the crofts go to waste? Keep them in action.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Do something useful with them. Try and keep them going.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23They've been in our family for years and years, so we try and keep them going.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31We'll lift it up on its end and then we'll roll it down.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33Lift it up towards you, there.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36That's it.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40My main aim in life is to stay up here and
0:09:40 > 0:09:44carry on working outdoors for as long as I can.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47And we'll just spin it round a bit.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Perhaps, James is typical of the next generation of crofters.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57And it would be nice to think the achievements of the Assynt Crofters Trust
0:09:57 > 0:09:59have secured a good future for people like him.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02But right now, I'm, quite literally, in the saddle
0:10:02 > 0:10:04heading north to Inchnadamph
0:10:04 > 0:10:09on one of the very few road sections of my journey through this spectacular landscape.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13And I'm about to have my education enhanced.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18I must admit, I've never been that hot on geology.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21But when you travel through an area like this,
0:10:21 > 0:10:26with all those features around you that have been given the northwest of Scotland geo-park status,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30then you can't help but wonder just how it all began.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37Where you were on top of Suilven, you would actually see a landscape
0:10:37 > 0:10:40formed of raw, hard bedrock.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45In fact, we have rocks here that are 2,900 million years old.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50And the rocks are so hard that they have dominated completely
0:10:50 > 0:10:53the way in which the shape of the land developed.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56The weather had driven me indoors, but that didn't matter.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59I met up with geologist Donald Fisher.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Now, geologists tend to rabbit on about massive timescales,
0:11:03 > 0:11:08like 2,900 billion years, but I can't get my head around those concepts.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11I wondered if Donald did.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13I'll let you into a secret. I personally don't!
0:11:13 > 0:11:15No, it's impossible.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20We geologists convince ourselves that we really do have a feel
0:11:20 > 0:11:26for 500,000 years or, more likely, a million years or 500 million years.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31I have a theory that no geologist really understands what a million years is like.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34So, what makes this area so different from anywhere else?
0:11:34 > 0:11:38Well, we really have to go back to the geological past, Cameron.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42There is a structure which we find runs all the way down through Sutherland
0:11:42 > 0:11:45and it's a famous thing called the Moine Thrust.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49It simply means a structure where rocks were dislocated
0:11:49 > 0:11:53by shearing, by compressionial forces within the Earth's crust.
0:11:53 > 0:11:59And older rocks from far away, that is to the southeast of Inverness,
0:11:59 > 0:12:04were thrust or pushed horizontally, towards, up and over the rocks in Sutherland.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06So, like plates?
0:12:06 > 0:12:10Yes, when plates collide, there is huge compression.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15For example, if I want to compress my two elbows and get them closer, I can either go like that.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20Or I can shear one arm over the other and my elbows are now closer.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22And that's what happens.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26We now understand that. But, of course, at the time it was discovered,
0:12:26 > 0:12:30by two very famous geologists called Ben Peach and John Horne,
0:12:30 > 0:12:33they were the first people to actually discover it, shall we say.
0:12:33 > 0:12:39And in discovering it, they were very successful in resolving a huge debate,
0:12:39 > 0:12:40indeed a fierce argument,
0:12:40 > 0:12:47that ran within the geological scientific community in the mid-1800s.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52So, in geological terms, I'm in for a bit of a treat heading up towards Ben Loyal.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56If we look at this map here, where are we just now?
0:12:56 > 0:13:00- We're here.- I'm heading right across to Ben Stack and Foinaven,
0:13:00 > 0:13:05then across beyond Ben Hope and eventually up to Ben Loyal.
0:13:05 > 0:13:11You're going to walk over and along the zone of the Moine Thrust structure itself.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16You're going to go over these mountain ridges and, from the tops of these,
0:13:16 > 0:13:21- you'll have the most fabulous view of a land surface 2,900 million years old.- Incredible.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24There's one thing about these great geological time spans.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27My wife says I'm too old to be doing a long walk like this.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29These time spans make me feel like a youngster.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33But Sutherland geology isn't just about antiquity.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35There are other odd things here.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38At Inchnadamph, limestone rocks predominate.
0:13:38 > 0:13:45Their porous nature has resulted in an extensive cave network, something very unusual in Scotland.
0:13:45 > 0:13:50This network not only offers exploratory opportunities to sports cavers,
0:13:50 > 0:13:52but also hints at Scotland's past.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56For the last dozen years, members of the Grampian Speleological Group
0:13:56 > 0:14:00have been, quite literally, unearthing the secrets of our past.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05This is the famous crag of the Inchnadamph Bone Caves.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07It shows remnant passages
0:14:07 > 0:14:11that were probably part of a much larger cave system
0:14:11 > 0:14:17that ran down the axis of the valley, draining water from both sides of the valley.
0:14:17 > 0:14:23Something like 70-80% of all the animal remains that we have to research
0:14:23 > 0:14:28in our museums in Scotland have come from this area, and most of them from these caves.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30We've just talked about the Bone Caves.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35If we talk about Claonaite, the big cave, the longest in Scotland, which
0:14:35 > 0:14:40- is behind and underneath the cliffs behind there... - That's not really a tourist cave.
0:14:40 > 0:14:46No, that's definitely a sporting cave. That was discovered in '66.
0:14:46 > 0:14:47And in '95,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50we finally made a breakthrough, through some of the sumps.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Cave divers got through into some really large passages.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55In those passages, we discovered bones.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59Almost a complete skeleton of what's been identified as a brown bear,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01just lying in one of the passages.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04We haven't a clue how it got there, because there's no easy way in.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07We've no real idea how old it is, either.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13This is like a mass industrialisation. What are you doing here?
0:15:13 > 0:15:16In these nice, quiet hills, you've got... I don't know what it is.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21- What's going on?- We started digging down here 12-and-a-half years ago.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26Just after Christmas last year, we broke through into the main cave system.
0:15:26 > 0:15:32Since then, we've discovered about 600 metres of passages, just from this dig.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37The girls are on their bikes there. They're working very, very hard.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40I think we should explain what they're doing.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45This is a fantastic machine made by one of our members coming up from Sheffield, Norman Flux.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48This is Fluxcavater Mk 5.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53The three cycle frames are powering the single winch drum,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56and it's pulling buckets from 100 feet below,
0:15:56 > 0:15:5930 metres down, up to the surface.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01Perhaps 40 kilograms at a time.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06I suppose the moment has come when I should think about going down there.
0:16:07 > 0:16:13I've spent the past 35 years wandering over Scotland's mountain tops and enjoying that.
0:16:13 > 0:16:20I'm not too sure I want to spend any time wandering below the ground, but let's look and see what it's like.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29I shouldn't have had that extra sausage this morning!
0:16:33 > 0:16:37- Makes me feel like a hobbit. - It's not everybody's cup of tea, to be fair.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40You can become claustrophobic.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44But once you've done it once or twice, you know the way and you're with the right guys
0:16:44 > 0:16:46who will help you through, it will give you a buzz.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Wow!
0:16:49 > 0:16:55Well, to be perfectly honest, I've come down all these big, long ladders...
0:16:55 > 0:16:57I'm now in here, just a small chamber.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02But this is where I'll probably cop out, because the next bit involves
0:17:02 > 0:17:07crawling along a very, very low tunnel, crawling on your knees.
0:17:07 > 0:17:13And as a hill walker of 35 years' standing, my knees are pretty well shot, and I won't cope with that.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17So, I'll do is shoot back up and leave this to the real experts.
0:17:30 > 0:17:36Donald Fisher warned me that on no account should I leave Inchnadamph
0:17:36 > 0:17:43before coming up here to pay respects to his great geological heroes, Ben Peach and John Horne.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47It says they played the foremost part in the unravelling
0:17:47 > 0:17:51of the geological structure of the northwest Highlands.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54So, there we are, respects duly paid.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57I'm now off to this area here,
0:17:57 > 0:18:03one of the wildest and roughest sections of the northwest Highlands.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33One of the real delights of coming to this corner of Sutherland
0:18:33 > 0:18:38is the network of stalkers' paths that criss-cross the hills.
0:18:38 > 0:18:43Unlike hill-walkers' paths that tend to go right up the front of the mountain, getting to the summit
0:18:43 > 0:18:50in the quickest possible time, these traditional paths were made by guys who lived on the land
0:18:50 > 0:18:54all their life and knew the intricacies of the landscape.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57All the falls and slopes.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01And they built paths that took devious lines across the hills.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05They smoothed out the contours that followed the lines of least resistance.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07They're absolutely wonderful.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12And all the guys, through the years, who have actually maintained these paths have done a fantastic job.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16Hill walkers, like myself, are really indebted to these guys.
0:19:16 > 0:19:22What I'd like to know is how these guys in bygone years coped with the midges.
0:19:44 > 0:19:50You may be wondering why I didn't just jump in a car and drive from Lochinver to Tongue.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55It's a fantastic car journey, no doubt about that. Probably one of the best in the country.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00But when you're sitting in a car, you're cocooned from the landscapes that you're passing through.
0:20:00 > 0:20:05It's really only by walking that you can tune into the land, connect with the land.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09Just get used to its rhythms and subtleties.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13And you follow tracks that our ancestors have followed
0:20:13 > 0:20:15for hundreds and hundreds of years,
0:20:15 > 0:20:19so we can sometimes hear those whispers and taints of times gone by.
0:20:19 > 0:20:25Another thing about walking the land is you can stop whenever you want and simply gaze at the beauty of it.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29Just stop and wonder at the majesty of it all.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35From here, I took a detour,
0:20:35 > 0:20:40because I certainly couldn't miss out on a visit to the bird reserve of Handa Island,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42somewhere I'd always been meaning to get to.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46I also wanted to travel there under my own steam.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49But I'm not a canoeist, so I needed some help.
0:20:51 > 0:20:56Brian Wilson was the first man to crag all the way around the coast of Scotland.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Having achieved that, he then circumnavigated Ireland.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03But he's passionate about paddling in this area.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08I think it's the combination of islands and mountains.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10The mountains are so close to the sea here.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14And the sea lochs come right in past the mountains,
0:21:14 > 0:21:18so you have sea and mountains meshed together.
0:21:18 > 0:21:19Like a kind of handshake.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22And you have the groups of islands,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26the Summer Isles and the Hebrides, not far offshore here.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30It really makes it a pattern that's almost unique in Britain.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35- Shall we launch and head out for Handa Island?- Let's do that.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37What will it be like out there?
0:21:37 > 0:21:39On the way out to Handa, dead easy.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43- With the current and wind in our favour?- Yeah.- Let's go for it.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55I talk quite a lot about, when walking in the hills, connecting with the land
0:21:55 > 0:21:58and the opportunity to connect with the landscape.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00When you're kayaking, do you connect with the water?
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Not just with the water, but with the smells and the sounds and the sights of it.
0:22:04 > 0:22:10But you also tune into the tides and the weather, because that's what you use to get from A to B.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13It becomes second nature to know whether the tide is rising or falling,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16or going round a headland in a certain direction.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19You take that into account compared to what the wind's doing.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Right a little bit.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26- OK.- You look at the landscape and the seascape in a way
0:22:26 > 0:22:30that the early Celtic travellers or Christian monks would have looked at it.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35An island isn't something that's inaccessible because it has water all around it.
0:22:35 > 0:22:40It's accessible because it has the water to it, and the tides flowing past it.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44You can choose where you're going according to where the day's tide is taking you.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51What are the most difficulties you've been in, Brian?
0:22:51 > 0:22:53How dangerous has it become?
0:22:53 > 0:22:57A kayak can handle strong winds up to about force eight,
0:22:57 > 0:23:01at which time it starts to do things to the sea that you don't really to be out in.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05It will also start to catch your paddle blades and make you feel pretty tippy.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07But a lot depends on what the tide's doing.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10A wind against the tide will cause serious conditions.
0:23:10 > 0:23:16The roughest conditions I've been out in have been force eight with an opposing tide,
0:23:16 > 0:23:21which makes it a very hilly seascape and it's quite hard to survive for long in.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Hey, brilliant. Thank you, Brian.
0:23:28 > 0:23:29Good, made it.
0:23:32 > 0:23:38Every summer, the Scottish Wildlife Trust sets up a temporary base here on Handa Island
0:23:38 > 0:23:41to monitor and protect the vast bird population.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Nobody lives here now all year round.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47But until the 19th century, it was home to over 60 people.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Looking after the island today is ranger Amy Corton.
0:23:51 > 0:23:57Apparently, there is a Queen of Handa, the oldest widow on the island, in charge of everything.
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Have you ever regarded yourself in that position?
0:23:59 > 0:24:01We did try to form a Parliament once.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04I had a volunteer who was the Treasurer, and it was quite funny.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07We made up some little rules for ourselves.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10If you visited, you weren't allowed to take any chocolate away.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13- You had to leave it for the ranger. - Who was you.- Yes!
0:24:13 > 0:24:16So, people lived here, married here, raised children here,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20died here and presumably were buried here as well?
0:24:20 > 0:24:22Yes, there is a graveyard on the island as well.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24It has quite a few people from the mainland.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26They used to bring people over and bury them
0:24:26 > 0:24:30because they were frightened wolves would dig up the bodies and eat them.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32- There are no wolves today?- No, no.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35The only thing we have to look out for are the bonxies. Tell me about them.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37They're quite big birds.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39They'll chase other birds to make them regurgitate their fish,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42then they'll eat the fish the other birds have caught.
0:24:42 > 0:24:48But they'll also kill birds to eat them, too. They'll kill puffins and sometimes kittiwakes as well.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52- They're quite the aggressor of the bird world?- Yeah, predators.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54That's a nice word.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01This year, one of Handa's summer residents is research student Becky Green,
0:25:01 > 0:25:06who is studying the 70-odd pairs of great skuas, or bonxies, who come here every summer.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11- And she has quite an unusual view of these birds. - There are birds that you love.
0:25:11 > 0:25:12It's hard not to love the bonxies
0:25:12 > 0:25:15when they've got their little chicks running around.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17They're lovely and territorial.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20They're good parents, and you want to see them do well.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25- So, you see the nice side of them. - Yeah, I do. And the horrible side, when they try to dive-bomb you!
0:25:25 > 0:25:29How do you keep track of 70 pairs of birds?
0:25:29 > 0:25:30We have a GPS.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35At the beginning of the season, we do what's called an all-island census.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38We walk up and down the island and find all the nests we possibly can.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42So, the majority of them are mapped.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45Then, when I want to find them again, I go out with the GPS.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48I spend a couple of days a week wandering around their territories,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52checking on their chicks or their eggs, taking measurements and recording them.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56Then, I spend a couple more days collecting the pellets,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59which are the regurgitated remains of their diets,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02so we can analyse them and find out what they are eating most.
0:26:02 > 0:26:08But the highlight of any trip to this island is the 400-foot-tall Great Stack of Handa.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15I must confess, I feel quite overwhelmed being here. I think it's the whole sensory thing.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19I can see probably more sea birds than I've ever seen before in one place.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23I can smell more sea birds than I've ever smelt before.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28The sound of it all, between the sea and the birds, it's incredible.
0:26:28 > 0:26:33I suppose, for most people who come here, this is the piece de resistance of the island.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35This is what people come to see?
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Yes, this is the most spectacular part, definitely.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41What are we seeing here? What are all the birds we can see?
0:26:41 > 0:26:43I can see the easy ones, like puffins.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46Yes, the puffins are all on the top of the stack.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49We've also got a lot of guillemots and razorbills at the top.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53And further down again, we have kittiwakes and fulmars, as well.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57The kittiwakes, are they the ones who nest on the horizontal ledges?
0:26:57 > 0:27:00The guillemots are the ones that really pack themselves in tight.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03They sit there, facing the cliff with their backs outwards.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06I noticed that. They look as though they're in a huff!
0:27:08 > 0:27:11It's like a defence against predators.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14The skuas and gulls will try to steal their eggs to eat.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18So, if they pack in tightly and put their eggs under their feet, like penguins,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21it's difficult for the birds to get in and steal their eggs.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23What's your favourite?
0:27:23 > 0:27:26Fulmars, they always look like they're enjoying themselves.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29They are floating on the air at the top of the cliffs.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31If you sit still, they'll come and look at you.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33You can see them looking at you through their eye.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Back on the mainland from Handa, I've gone up the coast to Kylesku.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Hiya.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49- True Vine?- Aye.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Good man.
0:27:52 > 0:27:53Is this safe, aye?
0:27:53 > 0:27:55And this is another first for me.
0:27:55 > 0:28:01I've joined prawn fisherman Andy MacLeod as he set out on his daily trip, heading out to sea.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06It's early August, still only 7am.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08And what a morning I've chosen,
0:28:08 > 0:28:13as we steam out past another of Sutherland's great mountains, Coigach.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16I've been at the creel fishing for seven years.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18I was trawling before that.
0:28:18 > 0:28:24- I've always been fishing.- What took you to fishing in the first place? - I don't know. I don't know.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29We're out here on a lovely day in the middle of summer and it's beautiful to be here.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32But what's it like on a dour November day or a January day?
0:28:32 > 0:28:34Pretty miserable.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Och, it's all right sometimes, but it can be miserable.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39Cold, wet.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41The boat rolling about.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43- Hard going.- How dangerous is it?
0:28:43 > 0:28:45Och, I wouldn't say it's dangerous.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48- Not really.- In relative terms?
0:28:48 > 0:28:53No, I wouldn't say it's dangerous. It can be dangerous, but you just need a bit of common sense.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58As Andy pulls out the creels to see what they've caught, his mate, Darren, chops bait.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01The weather might be delightful, but the catch isn't.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08One!
0:29:08 > 0:29:13- That's not a great start to your day, is it?- No, I think there's room for improvement yet.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15How many would you expect to find in there?
0:29:15 > 0:29:18Och, I've been getting a few. Half a dozen.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21A bit more, maybe.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23How many of these do you have? Oh, that looks better.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26That's a good haul, yes.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29- Oh, wow!- There's a large one there.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37Two large ones. In the last two, a couple of large prawns in.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40That was good. That was just on the edge of the ground.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42- This creel is probably under...- OK.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46You see, there's no prawns at all now.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52- How would you rate this haul, Andy? Reasonable?- No, it's poor.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55The fishing is poor just now. It has been for the last couple of weeks.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58- Is that just a seasonal thing? - Yes, it is.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01But the poorer times seem to be getting longer.
0:30:03 > 0:30:09I'd been promised a good feed of langoustine by mine host, Struan Lothian of the Kylesku Hotel.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12- Wow! Look at that. - Here we are, Cameron.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15Langoustine fresh from the loch this afternoon.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18Fantastic! Before we eat these, I want to tell you a little story.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22A number of years ago, when I was young, newly married, my wife and I went to Brittany.
0:30:22 > 0:30:28We went to a seafood restaurant and we had a thing called fruits de la mer, fruit of the sea.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30It came in a three-tier cake stand.
0:30:30 > 0:30:34All the shellfish. We looked at it and thought, "How do we eat this?"
0:30:34 > 0:30:38We had no idea. It's given me a phobia about shellfish to this day.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41So, could you show me how you actually tackle this?
0:30:41 > 0:30:43I'm not sure whether you actually eat it or fight it.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47Sure. It's fairly straightforward. You might need a bath afterwards.
0:30:47 > 0:30:49You just twist the tail off.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53It's the tail you eat. This is the section we're going to eat.
0:30:53 > 0:30:59Gently crack the shell down the back.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Peel off the top.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05Squeeze the tail and it should just...
0:31:05 > 0:31:08- Wonderful.- There we go.- Thank you.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11I'm not even going to have a dip in this, because this is so fresh.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15- Enjoy.- I think I saw this particular one come out of the water.
0:31:15 > 0:31:20Look at that, isn't that beautiful? Mmm.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23It's just so full of flavour.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27And I've eaten so many prawns in my time that have been simply tasteless.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30But this is, oh, full of flavour.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35And all washed down with a nice glass of white.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41This is the life!
0:31:41 > 0:31:43Enough eating, enough drinking.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46It's time to get back to the walk.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50But first, there's a man-made structure to say goodbye to.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56What do you think of the bridge? The Kylesku Bridge.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59Some people see it as a real blot on the landscape,
0:31:59 > 0:32:03a modern contrivance in such a natural setting.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05But I have to confess, I quite like it.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09I like the simple lines of it and how it blends into the landscape.
0:32:09 > 0:32:15And, on a more pragmatic note, I'm old enough to remember having to queue up at Kylesku for hours on end
0:32:15 > 0:32:18to get the little ferry across to Kylestrome.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22And I remember lines of cars on a single-track road,
0:32:22 > 0:32:24so I think it's a bit of a blessing.
0:32:24 > 0:32:30The alternative is a four-hour round trip if you just want to get to the other side.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34A round trip through Lairg, round the top of the country and back.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36I don't think that bears thinking about.
0:32:36 > 0:32:43It's a wonderful spot here just at the junction of Loch Glencoul and Loch Glendhu.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45These waters hold a dark secret.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51During the war, the 12th Submarine Flotilla trained here.
0:32:51 > 0:32:57They trained young submariners to, basically, sit astride torpedoes,
0:32:57 > 0:33:00and they would go down below enemy convoys
0:33:00 > 0:33:04and attach the warheads to the hull of the enemy craft.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07They would then swim away and detonate these warheads.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12The amazing thing was, the whole community here knew that this training was going on,
0:33:12 > 0:33:16but nobody gave the game away or told the secrets.
0:33:16 > 0:33:21And it's been said that this was a community that knew much, but talked very little.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42On any long-distance walk, you anticipate the high passes,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44or the bealachs as we call them here in Scotland.
0:33:44 > 0:33:50That's those areas of high ground that separate one region of landscape with another.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54Or, quite often, one region of cultural identity with another.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56And on this occasion, I'm leaving,
0:33:56 > 0:34:00I'm saying goodbye to the hills and landscapes of the western seaboard,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03with the great sea lochs that intrude into the land.
0:34:03 > 0:34:09I'm heading over into an area north of the road that runs between Laxford Bridge and Lairg,
0:34:09 > 0:34:14an area of land-locked mountains and very, very different mountains.
0:34:21 > 0:34:27Something I've noticed over the past few days is the complete absence of sheep from these hills.
0:34:27 > 0:34:32A few years ago, sheep would have been everywhere. They would have been grazing at every corner,
0:34:32 > 0:34:33almost eating everything in sight.
0:34:33 > 0:34:39But the truth of the matter is that many of these estates now are given over almost exclusively
0:34:39 > 0:34:42to sporting purposes, to fly fishing or to deer stalking.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47People pay a lot of money to come and take part in these activities.
0:34:47 > 0:34:53But I don't think there's any doubt that sheep farming is still vital to the Sutherland economy.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59And, despite the hard times and low prices of recent years,
0:34:59 > 0:35:02the sheep mart at Lairg is one of the largest in Europe.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06But it's also the moment of reckoning for the year's income.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09Just a wee bit anxious as to what might happen later on in the day.
0:35:09 > 0:35:14Because it's a whole year's work and it's all boiled down into today.
0:35:14 > 0:35:19So, you get into the ring and you just have to see what they say and think of your lambs.
0:35:25 > 0:35:31Jan Mackenzie works on her own croft, and she's also the shepherd for the North Loch Naver estate.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36The Lairg sheep sale is culmination of a year's hard graft.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41These are the tups. Stock tups. They're what we'll be using this year. It's a selection of tups.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44It's the ones from my croft
0:35:44 > 0:35:49and the ones from North Loch Naver Farm, where I work.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52I feed them before they go out.
0:35:54 > 0:35:55What makes a good tup?
0:35:55 > 0:35:57His power to reproduce?
0:35:57 > 0:36:00Certainly, if he has the reputation to reproduce, yes.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04But they've got to have good confirmation, good bone about them.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07See that fella? He's got good, heavy bone. Nice hair and clean.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10No black spots.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14In your lifetime here, have you seen a reduction in the number
0:36:14 > 0:36:17- of people shepherding in the hills in Sutherland?- Oh, yes, definitely.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21There used to be four or five shepherds on each estate.
0:36:21 > 0:36:24Now, there will be one, if any at all.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27So, how important are sheep to this particular landscape?
0:36:27 > 0:36:30I'd say very important.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32There's a lot of sheep going off here anyway.
0:36:32 > 0:36:37If you lose the sheep out of the grounds, it's going to change the whole environment.
0:36:37 > 0:36:43Because your ground is going to get rank and grow long if it's not been grazed hard enough.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47It's changing everything if the sheep are not here.
0:36:47 > 0:36:48You do need them.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07We tend to think of these lands as wilderness areas or empty lands.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11But for hundreds and hundreds of years, people have been living off the land.
0:37:11 > 0:37:16And these are the first peat cuttings I've seen since leaving Lochinver.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20And, with the whole uncertainty of rising fuel prices worldwide,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24I just wonder if we could eventually see the creation
0:37:24 > 0:37:28of a whole new peat-cutting industry in places like Sutherland.
0:37:42 > 0:37:48I've just come down from the high ground that runs across from Kylestrome to Achfary.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52And I have to say, after all the chat with geologists,
0:37:52 > 0:37:58cavers, crofters, I've kind of relished this time on my own,
0:37:58 > 0:38:00just enjoying the solitude.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05So, it's quite appropriate to come to this old bothy here, which goes by the name of Lone.
0:38:05 > 0:38:06I think that's quite suitable.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10And behind me stands a triumvirate of Corbetts.
0:38:10 > 0:38:16Those are the Scottish mountains between 2,500 feet and 2,999 feet.
0:38:16 > 0:38:20They are the wee brothers of the bigger Munros, if you like.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22And behind me is Arkle.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24Over to my left here, Meall Horn.
0:38:24 > 0:38:29And in the distance, you can't see it from here, is Foinaven, the biggest of them all.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32I'm just about to make may way up to a high camp.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36It's just a nice cusp between the three hills.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38All going well, tomorrow morning,
0:38:38 > 0:38:40I'll get onto the summit of Foinaven,
0:38:40 > 0:38:43a mountain I've always regarded as the Queen of Sutherland.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54I love this big, split boulder here.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57They're like twin portals, the gateway to Foinaven.
0:39:07 > 0:39:13I'm almost at a loss for words at the incredible landscape up here.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16Wandering up here this morning, the cloud was down.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19As I've climbed up, it's gradually lifted,
0:39:19 > 0:39:24revealing one of the most incredible landscapes you'll find in Scotland.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28Indeed, one of the most incredible landscapes you'll find anywhere in Britain.
0:39:28 > 0:39:29It really is just stunning.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34I stand here and look right back to Suilven, where I started this walk.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38And I look right down over this fold over fold of hills,
0:39:38 > 0:39:40ridge line against ridge line,
0:39:40 > 0:39:43and all the way up, it is absolutely stunning.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47People talk about your Ben Nevises, Trossachs, Cairngorms,
0:39:47 > 0:39:50National Parks, Torridons, Isle of Skye...
0:39:50 > 0:39:54This landscape in the northwest of Scotland compares with anything in the country!
0:39:54 > 0:39:57It really is absolutely fantastic!
0:40:10 > 0:40:14I'm looking for a nice, flat bit of ground to lie on.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18Reasonably sheltered, but with enough breeze to keep the midges down.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20And some water fairly close by.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25And I think I see my point just down here.
0:40:25 > 0:40:27Yes, this will do, about here.
0:40:27 > 0:40:28Perfect.
0:40:36 > 0:40:41People sometimes think you have to rough and tough it, to wild camp in a place like this.
0:40:41 > 0:40:48But it's ironic that the technology we try and escape from, coming to these places,
0:40:48 > 0:40:54is the very technology that helps make it comfortable for us when we come.
0:40:54 > 0:41:00This whole pack, including the tent, the sleeping bag, stove and food,
0:41:00 > 0:41:03probably weighs no more than 12 to 15lbs.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06That's about six or seven kilograms.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09I've got everything I need in here.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12Waterproof jacket that weighs about 400 grams.
0:41:12 > 0:41:17Waterproof trousers, maybe 200 grams.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20All my food for a night's camping.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23My sleeping bag probably weighs about 900 grams.
0:41:23 > 0:41:29It's pure duckdown, and I've got it extra-wrapped up in a polythene bag,
0:41:29 > 0:41:33because this is the one item that you don't want to get wet.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35You want to keep it nice and dry.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38And it really is beautiful, soft duckdown.
0:41:38 > 0:41:43That will all inflate up there and be very nice and cosy.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46I always maintain that
0:41:46 > 0:41:49any fool can be uncomfortable out in the hills.
0:41:49 > 0:41:54So, it helps to bring one or two nice little things, just to remind you of home
0:41:54 > 0:41:57and make things that little bit more comfortable.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00Like a little bottle of wine to go with the freeze-dried food!
0:42:08 > 0:42:13I've always been very intrigued by the name of this mountain.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Foinaven comes from the Gaelic Fionn Bheinn.
0:42:16 > 0:42:22And I've always understood that to mean the Fair Mountain or the White Mountain.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24You can understand that translation
0:42:24 > 0:42:29when you see these lovely silvery-white quartzite screes
0:42:29 > 0:42:35that give the impression the hill is covered in snow almost any time of the year.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39But more recent thinking suggests that word "Fionn" is spelt differently
0:42:39 > 0:42:46and it actually means the Mountain of Warts, which isn't quite as pleasant as the Fair Mountain.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51But you can understand that interpretation as well, because the hill has five separate summits
0:42:51 > 0:42:56and I suppose, from a distance, they could look like warts on the flanks of the mountain.
0:43:07 > 0:43:12From this point, the character of the mountain changes quite dramatically.
0:43:12 > 0:43:17Until now, I've been walking up broad, fairly featureless, grassy ridges.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20But from here, the mountain tightens up into a narrow,
0:43:20 > 0:43:23eerie, very dramatic ridge
0:43:23 > 0:43:27with steep slopes falling away on either side.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30But the greatest feature of this mountain that you'll notice here
0:43:30 > 0:43:33is the fact that it's eroding below your feet.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36It's really a peeling carcass of a mountain.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38It's kind of falling apart.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41That has led to very, very unstable underfoot conditions.
0:43:41 > 0:43:46So, you have to be very, very careful treading this particular tight ridge.
0:43:58 > 0:44:04For more years than I care to remember, mountaineers have debated the height of Foinaven.
0:44:04 > 0:44:08The reason for that debate is, about 20 years ago, the Ordnance Survey
0:44:08 > 0:44:14surveyed all the mountains and they gave this one the height of 914 metres.
0:44:14 > 0:44:20Now, that could be anything between 2,999 feet and 3,002 feet.
0:44:20 > 0:44:25It might have been a Munro, it might have been over the 3,000-foot contour, or it might not have been.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28Because of this debate, and it went on for a long, long time,
0:44:28 > 0:44:33the Munro Society decided they would resolve this problem once and for all.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37They brought a team of surveyors up here and, using the latest GPS equipment,
0:44:37 > 0:44:39they re-measured the mountain.
0:44:39 > 0:44:43They found, in fact, it was 12 feet short of Munro status.
0:44:43 > 0:44:49The final figure that they reckoned on was 2,988 feet.
0:44:55 > 0:45:00Not only did they discover the fact that the mountain is less than Munro height,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03there was also a wee sting in the tail.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08They realised that this summit here, that everybody thought was the summit, in fact, wasn't.
0:45:08 > 0:45:13There's a wee contour ring missing from the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 series map.
0:45:13 > 0:45:18And, in actual fact, that cairn across there is the real summit.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20So, I'm afraid I'm not finished yet!
0:45:29 > 0:45:34We've made it at last. There was a point when I thought I was never going to get here.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37But does it really matter if Foinaven is a Munro or not?
0:45:37 > 0:45:40I don't think it matters a jot, to be honest.
0:45:40 > 0:45:45But the point is, Foinaven is one of the most underrated mountains in the country.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49It's certainly in my top ten favourite mountains.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53It really is a fantastic hill and I would recommend every hill walker in the country
0:45:53 > 0:45:57to get themselves up here, get this on the list of mountains to climb.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00You certainly won't regret it.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04Before I head down the mountain, let me leave you with one thought.
0:46:04 > 0:46:10Munro bagging, and indeed Corbett bagging, are amongst the most delectable of addictions.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15I commend both of them to you with a passion.
0:46:24 > 0:46:29I've just wandered through the hills from Foinaven and Loch Stack.
0:46:29 > 0:46:30And, in the course of a few miles,
0:46:30 > 0:46:35I've come into a completely different landscape both scenically and culturally.
0:46:48 > 0:46:53This is Doon Dornagel, of the Fort of Dornagel.
0:46:53 > 0:46:58And there's about 500 of these brochs scattered throughout the Highlands and islands of Scotland.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01Nobody seems terribly sure what the purpose was,
0:47:01 > 0:47:06but it's generally believed that they were circular, defensive buildings.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09If that is the case, who was the enemy?
0:47:11 > 0:47:16The finger of history points towards the Vikings.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20But there's some difficulty here, because these were built during the Iron Age,
0:47:20 > 0:47:24and at that time there was no organised civilisation in Norway.
0:47:24 > 0:47:31But more recently, scientists have discovered rock carvings dated at 1,000 BC.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35And these are carvings of Norsemen in their longboats.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40That suggests there were groups of unorganised, undisciplined Norsemen coming down from Norway
0:47:40 > 0:47:45to these southern lands, or what we call Sutherland.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05On my walk through Sutherland,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08I've discovered a wilderness of extraordinary beauty.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11But these glens weren't always empty.
0:48:11 > 0:48:16Until the 19th century, there were around 50 townships in Strathnaver alone.
0:48:16 > 0:48:22And the events in this glen achieved notoriety when the Gaelic-speaking population was thrown out
0:48:22 > 0:48:25to make way for commercial sheep farming.
0:48:25 > 0:48:30Bettyhill head teacher Jim Johnston has spent years studying the Clearances here.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34We're just stepping into the remnants of one of the houses here.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37But if we were here at the time of the Clearances,
0:48:37 > 0:48:41or prior to the Clearances, this would be a substantial house.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44Most of the space would be taken up by cattle.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48For that reason, these houses were often built on a slope
0:48:48 > 0:48:50with cattle at the low end,
0:48:50 > 0:48:53so the effluent they produced during winter
0:48:53 > 0:48:56would flow away from you, rather than up into your kitchen area.
0:48:56 > 0:49:01It was a time when opportunity was available for anyone
0:49:01 > 0:49:05who had an entrepreneurial spirit.
0:49:05 > 0:49:12The Countess of Sutherland had that entrepreneurial spirit, as did Patrick Sellar, her factor.
0:49:12 > 0:49:17In the course of history, Patrick Sellar hasn't done too well.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20He's come across as a real villain, hasn't he?
0:49:20 > 0:49:24He certainly has. He's come across as a villain, and that continues.
0:49:24 > 0:49:31It would be a very dangerous thing to do, to go into a bar in Bettyhill and praise Patrick Sellar!
0:49:31 > 0:49:35He had absolutely no compunction about evicting people from ground
0:49:35 > 0:49:38that he possessed or anything like that.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40He knew what he wanted
0:49:40 > 0:49:46and he was prepared to pursue that with little regard for other people.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50He was one of the largest farmers in the whole of Scotland.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52In that area, that area of his farm,
0:49:52 > 0:49:57there had been 2,000 people living prior to the Clearances.
0:49:57 > 0:50:02And those 2,000 people were replaced by 18 shepherds from the Borders.
0:50:05 > 0:50:10But from the point of view of Victorian society, he was a big success.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13And he was an expert farmer.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17But then, Mussolini made the trains run in Italy on time!
0:50:17 > 0:50:21History repeats itself.
0:50:21 > 0:50:27And one of the most telling things about all this is that things like this still go on.
0:50:27 > 0:50:33You still have parts of the world where traditional lifestyles are being disrupted and destroyed.
0:50:34 > 0:50:39Many of the relatives of those who were cleared found themselves living on the Sutherland coast.
0:50:39 > 0:50:43Just before my final mountain, I wanted to meet one of them.
0:50:43 > 0:50:50Angela MacKay not only lives on the coastline but earns a living from the coastline, farming oysters.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53She came to that job almost by accident.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56I was a hairdresser. I'd just sold my business
0:50:56 > 0:50:59and I was a wee bit unsure what I was going to do next.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03So, from giving people blue rinses and perms and all the rest of it...
0:51:03 > 0:51:07I'm giving haircuts to oysters now!
0:51:07 > 0:51:09- That's quite a difference!- Yes.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11But they don't talk back!
0:51:11 > 0:51:16Can you run me through the process of farming an oyster?
0:51:16 > 0:51:22They come in about the size of my little fingernail and we put them into these bags.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26As they get bigger, we take them further in.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29We take the bigger ones out, put them in bigger bags.
0:51:29 > 0:51:35And the process goes on like that until they become fully grown.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40And then, we take them out of the water and further up the shore a bit to harden the shells.
0:51:40 > 0:51:46So that, when they're out of the water for a while, the muscle starts getting stronger.
0:51:46 > 0:51:49- They're just like pets to you, I suppose.- Are they really?
0:51:49 > 0:51:52- Yes.- You don't give them names?
0:51:52 > 0:51:55No. Too many!
0:51:55 > 0:51:57Can I go and choose some for my tea tonight?
0:51:57 > 0:52:00- Yes, no problem.- Lovely, thank you.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08- I think we'll take some of these ones.- OK.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10Ah, let's have a look.
0:52:10 > 0:52:11Feel that one.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13They're nice and full.
0:52:13 > 0:52:19Never, ever have an oyster if it's open, like that, in any way at all.
0:52:19 > 0:52:22In fact, what you can do is...
0:52:22 > 0:52:24Always tap them.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27And make sure you have no hollow sound.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31There we are. I'll see if I can get one or two more in there.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34Brilliant. Whoa, whoa!
0:52:34 > 0:52:37- They'll all want a wee taste. There you are.- Marvellous.
0:52:37 > 0:52:38Kyle of Tongue oysters.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42- The best in the world. - But, of course!
0:52:49 > 0:52:55This is Grant. Grant, last year, was Scotland's Young Chef of the Year.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59So, for getting advice on how to eat oysters, I'm in very capable hands.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02- I think the best thing is for you to demonstrate to me.- No problem.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04You have a go and tell me what to do.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08What we do once we've opened them is serve them with a bit of lemon on a bed of ice.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12And you just want to make sure it's nice and loose in the shell...
0:53:15 > 0:53:17- Down the hatch. Beautiful!- OK.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21Just make sure it's fairly loose, and here we go.
0:53:26 > 0:53:27I almost missed part of it.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32Yes, it is very... The combination of lemon...
0:53:32 > 0:53:36- The lemon brings out the taste of the seafood.- Indeed.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38- Fantastic.- Simply done. Don't mess about with it too much.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41Get them out simply, and let the customer do the work.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44That's what I like to see, people using their hands.
0:53:44 > 0:53:49I'm going to try and chew this one, just to see what the difference is.
0:53:54 > 0:53:56Mmm.
0:53:56 > 0:53:58Oh, that's good too!
0:54:13 > 0:54:19It's always a bittersweet moment when you come close to the end of a great journey like this one.
0:54:19 > 0:54:23In this case, I'm a little sad because I know that, very shortly,
0:54:23 > 0:54:28I'll be finishing what has been a fantastic walk across the county of Sutherland.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31But at the same time, I'm actually quite pleased,
0:54:31 > 0:54:36because I'm going to finish this journey on top of an amazing mountain called Ben Loyal.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40Now, I know I've already said that Foinaven is the Queen of Sutherland.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43But according to a statistical account of 1840,
0:54:43 > 0:54:46Ben Loyal is, in fact, the Queen of the Highlands.
0:54:51 > 0:54:56This will be the second time I've completed this walk between Lochinver and Tongue.
0:54:56 > 0:55:01The first time was with my wife, over six or seven days during the summer.
0:55:01 > 0:55:06But for this journey, I was very keen to break it down into several parts.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09Into the seasons of spring, summer and autumn.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12And I was keen to fine-tune
0:55:12 > 0:55:16the end of the walk this time with the fading out of the season,
0:55:16 > 0:55:20so I could sit up here on these slopes of burnished bronze
0:55:20 > 0:55:25and listen to this incredible sound of the roaring of the red deer stags.
0:55:26 > 0:55:33At this time of year, each of the stags will gather its own herd of hinds, its own harem, if you like.
0:55:33 > 0:55:37And other marauding stags will come along and try and take over the herd.
0:55:37 > 0:55:43Quite often, the two stags will stand on the hillside and roar defiantly at each other.
0:55:43 > 0:55:50And quite often, the stags will come together in head-to-head combat, their antlers interlocking.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53It's one of the great sights of the Highlands.
0:55:58 > 0:56:03For me to sit up here at this time of year and listen to the roaring
0:56:03 > 0:56:06is something I don't think I'll ever get tired of.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26One thing I've realised on this walk
0:56:26 > 0:56:31is that the geological complexities aren't confined to one area,
0:56:31 > 0:56:37but actually follow you all the way north to this most northern of mountains, Ben Loyal.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40This hill is the only igneous mountain in the north.
0:56:40 > 0:56:44It's made up of quite a peculiar form of granite called cyanite.
0:56:44 > 0:56:49That's a granite that doesn't have any quartz, or very little quartz, in it.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52And it's because of the granite that this mountain has got its shape.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55It's weathered down into four distinct summits,
0:56:55 > 0:56:57four distinct granite tors.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01The highest of which, An Caisteal, I'm heading for right now.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15The one thing that really stands out in my mind of this walk is...
0:57:15 > 0:57:20Well, other than the three mountains I've climbed, Suilven, Foinaven and Ben Loyal, of course...
0:57:20 > 0:57:24But the thing I'll always remember are the people.
0:57:24 > 0:57:30Both those who were born and bred here and those who came to Sutherland to make it their home.
0:57:30 > 0:57:36Those who earn their living by traditional means, by crofting, fishing and farming.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39And those who service the needs of the tourists,
0:57:39 > 0:57:43the climbers, the mountaineers, the sea kayakers, the fly fishermen,
0:57:43 > 0:57:45the cavers, all these people.
0:57:48 > 0:57:49Hey!
0:57:52 > 0:57:56Well, that's it. That's the end of the climb.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00And it's also a very breezy end to my walk through Sutherland.
0:58:00 > 0:58:07I hope you'll agree that we should never really refer to Sutherland as the Empty Lands.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10I think this is a land overflowing with promise and potential.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14And, for me, it will always be a very, very special place.
0:58:48 > 0:58:51Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:51 > 0:58:55E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk