Sutherland - The Empty Lands? The Adventure Show


Sutherland - The Empty Lands?

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I'm climbing up this hillside

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towards what will be the start of a week-long journey through the mountains.

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And I tell you, this is the most magnificent viewpoint in the whole of Britain.

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If you don't believe me, come with me and see for yourself.

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This is the wild and windy summit of Suilven,

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a remarkable mountain of Torridonian sandstone

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that rears up under the loch-ensplattered moorlands of Inverpolly and Assynt

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in northwest Scotland.

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Up here, between the heavens and the deep blue sea,

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I'm embarking on a 70-mile journey

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through the mountains of Sutherland,

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an area many have described as the Empty Lands.

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But I'm curious about that.

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"The Empty Lands?"

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Says who?

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Nothing empty about it. It's just packed with life and vibrant nature.

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But how do you describe it?

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The mountains, the moorlands, the smell, the scent, the beaches,

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the wild flowers, eagles, buzzards, greenshank. I don't know.

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There's something to see and do every minute of every day.

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Bruce Sandison is one of many people I've met over the last year

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who's chosen to make his home in Sutherland.

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He's spent most of his life fishing Scotland's remote mountain lochs,

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and wrote the popular trout-fishing guide that has become an angler's bible.

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Before starting on this 70-mile walk, I decided to ease myself into the exercise ahead.

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I've never actually fished these lochs, but I'm willing to try anything once.

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I wrote a little poem, four lines, about fishing.

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For salmon, trout and sea trout.

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For all fish, great or small.

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Let thanks be gi'en afore we cast.

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To him that gi' us all.

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We're off.

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I'm glad you volunteered to row.

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The first part!

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Now, this is it, Cameron.

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Take no prisoners.

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You do not need to cast a long line.

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Chuck it up into the air, aim for the sky.

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Oh, there you are. Got that one.

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-Do you need this?

-I'll take it.

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Thank you. Come on.

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Hey, well done. Excellent!

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Right, we'll put him back.

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So, what was the defining moment when you said, "I'm now an angler"?

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I'm not an angler yet. I keep trying.

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Keep trying. I'm sure that the moment I said, "Oh, I'm an angler,"

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I'd stop catching fish.

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Fishing has given me more pleasure than I can say for most of my life.

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I do know that giving a child a love of fishing

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is far more important than putting money in the bank for them.

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Money comes and goes, but a love of fishing stays with you till your dying day.

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-Here's one.

-Oh, look.

-A lovely fish.

-Lovely.

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It's a very small fish, but it's a typical example of a highland loch wild brown trout.

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He's going back now. There you go.

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And that's another thing about fishing.

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It's hard to think about anything else.

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I've got loads to do which I call "work."

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Not just now, I don't think about it.

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And that's the treasure, the joy, of being out on the loch.

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Well, how many did you get?

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The boat caught about a dozen fish.

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That was nice of him. I had caught, well, precisely none.

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But back to something I'm more familiar with.

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My own route, which I hope will eventually become known as the Sutherland Trail.

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It started at Lochinver, climbed Suilven,

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crossed the shoulder of Canisp to Inchnadamph,

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from where I climbed wind-scoured hills and quarries to Kylesku.

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From there, I crossed the hills of the Reay Estate to Achfary

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and the start of the ascent of Foinaven.

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A high bealach took me Gleann Mhor and Altnacaillich,

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from where the Moine Path finally led to the Kyle of Tongue

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and journey's end on Ben Loyal.

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Suilven, the pillar mountain,

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doesn't reach the 3,000-foot elevation that would make it a Munro.

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It doesn't even make the 2,500-foot height that would give it Corbett status.

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Despite the lack of elevation,

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it's a remarkable mountain in every other respect.

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It's got bulk, it's got character, it's steep-sided and it's very impressive.

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It's quite a long walk out from Suilven

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but even in conditions like this, the surroundings are stunning.

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This whole area is synonymous with land reform.

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The story of the Assynt crofters is a remarkable one

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and could be described as the beginning of a land-owning revolution in Scotland.

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Highland crofters had always been at the mercy of the landowners,

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many of whom had removed their tenants from the fertile hinterland

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to coastal fringes during the infamous Clearances.

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But more recently, highland estates were bought and sold, often without the knowledge of their tenants.

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And in 1992, when the estate was once again up for sale,

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the Assynt crofters decided enough was enough.

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They began a campaign to raise the money to buy the estate themselves,

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and their success changed the course of history.

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John MacKenzie was involved from the very start,

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and the implications of their achievement are still difficult to grasp.

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The realisation, the following day,

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of going out and just looking around...

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The fact that we now owned this was just...

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The transformation...

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When I look back on my grandfather...

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..and the...

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..hard life

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that these people endured.

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-Yes, indeed.

-And now, we were masters of this.

-That's wonderful.

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He just would not have believed it.

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You really, kind of, overturned history.

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Yep.

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As I said, my view was that I would like to do something

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that would be of value to this community in perpetuity.

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But, frankly, the success that we've achieved

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is beyond belief.

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We now own the land.

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We have a democratically-elected board

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who seek to bring input from each of the townships.

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But we largely see ourselves as facilitators.

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In other words, liberating the crofters of Assynt

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to do what they feel is appropriate to their own needs and aspirations.

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And we will encourage and support them.

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Nearly two decades later, and the crofts are flourishing.

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And the dream of a sustainable future has been fulfilled

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by young people like 16-year-old James Morrison.

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Born during the buy-out negotiations, he is, quite literally, a child of land reform.

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I'm so used to being so quiet up here.

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We keep ourselves to ourselves.

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I've friends dotted around the place up here.

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I've also travelled around a lot.

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But no matter how often I go away or how long I spend away,

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I always just want to get back to home.

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There's no place like home.

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I've been doing it ever since I was old enough to be down here.

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I've enjoyed it immensely. If I go off to a city, what would I do?

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I certainly couldn't stand working indoors, sitting in an office or that sort of thing.

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It's just not me. I like to be outdoors and active all the time.

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-I see you use the spray, because it's quite easy to miss one.

-Oh, it is, yes.

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There are some people who want crofts to be left alone

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and let them go back to the wild, a wilderness out there. I don't want that.

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Why let the crofts go to waste? Keep them in action.

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Do something useful with them. Try and keep them going.

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They've been in our family for years and years, so we try and keep them going.

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We'll lift it up on its end and then we'll roll it down.

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Lift it up towards you, there.

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That's it.

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My main aim in life is to stay up here and

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carry on working outdoors for as long as I can.

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And we'll just spin it round a bit.

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Perhaps, James is typical of the next generation of crofters.

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And it would be nice to think the achievements of the Assynt Crofters Trust

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have secured a good future for people like him.

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But right now, I'm, quite literally, in the saddle

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heading north to Inchnadamph

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on one of the very few road sections of my journey through this spectacular landscape.

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And I'm about to have my education enhanced.

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I must admit, I've never been that hot on geology.

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But when you travel through an area like this,

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with all those features around you that have been given the northwest of Scotland geo-park status,

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then you can't help but wonder just how it all began.

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Where you were on top of Suilven, you would actually see a landscape

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formed of raw, hard bedrock.

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In fact, we have rocks here that are 2,900 million years old.

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And the rocks are so hard that they have dominated completely

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the way in which the shape of the land developed.

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The weather had driven me indoors, but that didn't matter.

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I met up with geologist Donald Fisher.

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Now, geologists tend to rabbit on about massive timescales,

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like 2,900 billion years, but I can't get my head around those concepts.

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I wondered if Donald did.

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I'll let you into a secret. I personally don't!

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No, it's impossible.

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We geologists convince ourselves that we really do have a feel

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for 500,000 years or, more likely, a million years or 500 million years.

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I have a theory that no geologist really understands what a million years is like.

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So, what makes this area so different from anywhere else?

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Well, we really have to go back to the geological past, Cameron.

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There is a structure which we find runs all the way down through Sutherland

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and it's a famous thing called the Moine Thrust.

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It simply means a structure where rocks were dislocated

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by shearing, by compressionial forces within the Earth's crust.

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And older rocks from far away, that is to the southeast of Inverness,

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were thrust or pushed horizontally, towards, up and over the rocks in Sutherland.

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So, like plates?

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Yes, when plates collide, there is huge compression.

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For example, if I want to compress my two elbows and get them closer, I can either go like that.

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Or I can shear one arm over the other and my elbows are now closer.

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And that's what happens.

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We now understand that. But, of course, at the time it was discovered,

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by two very famous geologists called Ben Peach and John Horne,

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they were the first people to actually discover it, shall we say.

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And in discovering it, they were very successful in resolving a huge debate,

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indeed a fierce argument,

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that ran within the geological scientific community in the mid-1800s.

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So, in geological terms, I'm in for a bit of a treat heading up towards Ben Loyal.

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If we look at this map here, where are we just now?

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-We're here.

-I'm heading right across to Ben Stack and Foinaven,

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then across beyond Ben Hope and eventually up to Ben Loyal.

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You're going to walk over and along the zone of the Moine Thrust structure itself.

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You're going to go over these mountain ridges and, from the tops of these,

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-you'll have the most fabulous view of a land surface 2,900 million years old.

-Incredible.

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There's one thing about these great geological time spans.

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My wife says I'm too old to be doing a long walk like this.

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These time spans make me feel like a youngster.

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But Sutherland geology isn't just about antiquity.

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There are other odd things here.

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At Inchnadamph, limestone rocks predominate.

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Their porous nature has resulted in an extensive cave network, something very unusual in Scotland.

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This network not only offers exploratory opportunities to sports cavers,

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but also hints at Scotland's past.

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For the last dozen years, members of the Grampian Speleological Group

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have been, quite literally, unearthing the secrets of our past.

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This is the famous crag of the Inchnadamph Bone Caves.

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It shows remnant passages

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that were probably part of a much larger cave system

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that ran down the axis of the valley, draining water from both sides of the valley.

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Something like 70-80% of all the animal remains that we have to research

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in our museums in Scotland have come from this area, and most of them from these caves.

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We've just talked about the Bone Caves.

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If we talk about Claonaite, the big cave, the longest in Scotland, which

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-is behind and underneath the cliffs behind there...

-That's not really a tourist cave.

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No, that's definitely a sporting cave. That was discovered in '66.

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And in '95,

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we finally made a breakthrough, through some of the sumps.

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Cave divers got through into some really large passages.

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In those passages, we discovered bones.

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Almost a complete skeleton of what's been identified as a brown bear,

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just lying in one of the passages.

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We haven't a clue how it got there, because there's no easy way in.

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We've no real idea how old it is, either.

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This is like a mass industrialisation. What are you doing here?

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In these nice, quiet hills, you've got... I don't know what it is.

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-What's going on?

-We started digging down here 12-and-a-half years ago.

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Just after Christmas last year, we broke through into the main cave system.

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Since then, we've discovered about 600 metres of passages, just from this dig.

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The girls are on their bikes there. They're working very, very hard.

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I think we should explain what they're doing.

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This is a fantastic machine made by one of our members coming up from Sheffield, Norman Flux.

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This is Fluxcavater Mk 5.

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The three cycle frames are powering the single winch drum,

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and it's pulling buckets from 100 feet below,

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30 metres down, up to the surface.

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Perhaps 40 kilograms at a time.

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I suppose the moment has come when I should think about going down there.

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I've spent the past 35 years wandering over Scotland's mountain tops and enjoying that.

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I'm not too sure I want to spend any time wandering below the ground, but let's look and see what it's like.

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I shouldn't have had that extra sausage this morning!

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-Makes me feel like a hobbit.

-It's not everybody's cup of tea, to be fair.

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You can become claustrophobic.

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But once you've done it once or twice, you know the way and you're with the right guys

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who will help you through, it will give you a buzz.

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Wow!

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Well, to be perfectly honest, I've come down all these big, long ladders...

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I'm now in here, just a small chamber.

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But this is where I'll probably cop out, because the next bit involves

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crawling along a very, very low tunnel, crawling on your knees.

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And as a hill walker of 35 years' standing, my knees are pretty well shot, and I won't cope with that.

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So, I'll do is shoot back up and leave this to the real experts.

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Donald Fisher warned me that on no account should I leave Inchnadamph

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before coming up here to pay respects to his great geological heroes, Ben Peach and John Horne.

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It says they played the foremost part in the unravelling

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of the geological structure of the northwest Highlands.

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So, there we are, respects duly paid.

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I'm now off to this area here,

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one of the wildest and roughest sections of the northwest Highlands.

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One of the real delights of coming to this corner of Sutherland

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is the network of stalkers' paths that criss-cross the hills.

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Unlike hill-walkers' paths that tend to go right up the front of the mountain, getting to the summit

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in the quickest possible time, these traditional paths were made by guys who lived on the land

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all their life and knew the intricacies of the landscape.

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All the falls and slopes.

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And they built paths that took devious lines across the hills.

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They smoothed out the contours that followed the lines of least resistance.

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They're absolutely wonderful.

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And all the guys, through the years, who have actually maintained these paths have done a fantastic job.

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Hill walkers, like myself, are really indebted to these guys.

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What I'd like to know is how these guys in bygone years coped with the midges.

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You may be wondering why I didn't just jump in a car and drive from Lochinver to Tongue.

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It's a fantastic car journey, no doubt about that. Probably one of the best in the country.

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But when you're sitting in a car, you're cocooned from the landscapes that you're passing through.

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It's really only by walking that you can tune into the land, connect with the land.

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Just get used to its rhythms and subtleties.

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And you follow tracks that our ancestors have followed

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for hundreds and hundreds of years,

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so we can sometimes hear those whispers and taints of times gone by.

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Another thing about walking the land is you can stop whenever you want and simply gaze at the beauty of it.

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Just stop and wonder at the majesty of it all.

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From here, I took a detour,

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because I certainly couldn't miss out on a visit to the bird reserve of Handa Island,

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somewhere I'd always been meaning to get to.

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I also wanted to travel there under my own steam.

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But I'm not a canoeist, so I needed some help.

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Brian Wilson was the first man to crag all the way around the coast of Scotland.

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Having achieved that, he then circumnavigated Ireland.

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But he's passionate about paddling in this area.

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I think it's the combination of islands and mountains.

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The mountains are so close to the sea here.

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And the sea lochs come right in past the mountains,

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so you have sea and mountains meshed together.

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Like a kind of handshake.

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And you have the groups of islands,

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the Summer Isles and the Hebrides, not far offshore here.

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It really makes it a pattern that's almost unique in Britain.

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-Shall we launch and head out for Handa Island?

-Let's do that.

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What will it be like out there?

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On the way out to Handa, dead easy.

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-With the current and wind in our favour?

-Yeah.

-Let's go for it.

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I talk quite a lot about, when walking in the hills, connecting with the land

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and the opportunity to connect with the landscape.

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When you're kayaking, do you connect with the water?

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Not just with the water, but with the smells and the sounds and the sights of it.

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But you also tune into the tides and the weather, because that's what you use to get from A to B.

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It becomes second nature to know whether the tide is rising or falling,

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or going round a headland in a certain direction.

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You take that into account compared to what the wind's doing.

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Right a little bit.

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-OK.

-You look at the landscape and the seascape in a way

0:22:230:22:26

that the early Celtic travellers or Christian monks would have looked at it.

0:22:260:22:30

An island isn't something that's inaccessible because it has water all around it.

0:22:300:22:35

It's accessible because it has the water to it, and the tides flowing past it.

0:22:350:22:40

You can choose where you're going according to where the day's tide is taking you.

0:22:400:22:44

What are the most difficulties you've been in, Brian?

0:22:480:22:51

How dangerous has it become?

0:22:510:22:53

A kayak can handle strong winds up to about force eight,

0:22:530:22:57

at which time it starts to do things to the sea that you don't really to be out in.

0:22:570:23:01

It will also start to catch your paddle blades and make you feel pretty tippy.

0:23:010:23:05

But a lot depends on what the tide's doing.

0:23:050:23:07

A wind against the tide will cause serious conditions.

0:23:070:23:10

The roughest conditions I've been out in have been force eight with an opposing tide,

0:23:100:23:16

which makes it a very hilly seascape and it's quite hard to survive for long in.

0:23:160:23:21

Hey, brilliant. Thank you, Brian.

0:23:240:23:28

Good, made it.

0:23:280:23:29

Every summer, the Scottish Wildlife Trust sets up a temporary base here on Handa Island

0:23:320:23:38

to monitor and protect the vast bird population.

0:23:380:23:41

Nobody lives here now all year round.

0:23:410:23:44

But until the 19th century, it was home to over 60 people.

0:23:440:23:47

Looking after the island today is ranger Amy Corton.

0:23:470:23:51

Apparently, there is a Queen of Handa, the oldest widow on the island, in charge of everything.

0:23:510:23:57

Have you ever regarded yourself in that position?

0:23:570:23:59

We did try to form a Parliament once.

0:23:590:24:01

I had a volunteer who was the Treasurer, and it was quite funny.

0:24:010:24:04

We made up some little rules for ourselves.

0:24:040:24:07

If you visited, you weren't allowed to take any chocolate away.

0:24:070:24:10

-You had to leave it for the ranger.

-Who was you.

-Yes!

0:24:100:24:13

So, people lived here, married here, raised children here,

0:24:130:24:16

died here and presumably were buried here as well?

0:24:160:24:20

Yes, there is a graveyard on the island as well.

0:24:200:24:22

It has quite a few people from the mainland.

0:24:220:24:24

They used to bring people over and bury them

0:24:240:24:26

because they were frightened wolves would dig up the bodies and eat them.

0:24:260:24:30

-There are no wolves today?

-No, no.

0:24:300:24:32

The only thing we have to look out for are the bonxies. Tell me about them.

0:24:320:24:35

They're quite big birds.

0:24:350:24:37

They'll chase other birds to make them regurgitate their fish,

0:24:370:24:39

then they'll eat the fish the other birds have caught.

0:24:390:24:42

But they'll also kill birds to eat them, too. They'll kill puffins and sometimes kittiwakes as well.

0:24:420:24:48

-They're quite the aggressor of the bird world?

-Yeah, predators.

0:24:480:24:52

That's a nice word.

0:24:520:24:54

This year, one of Handa's summer residents is research student Becky Green,

0:24:560:25:01

who is studying the 70-odd pairs of great skuas, or bonxies, who come here every summer.

0:25:010:25:06

-And she has quite an unusual view of these birds.

-There are birds that you love.

0:25:060:25:11

It's hard not to love the bonxies

0:25:110:25:12

when they've got their little chicks running around.

0:25:120:25:15

They're lovely and territorial.

0:25:150:25:17

They're good parents, and you want to see them do well.

0:25:170:25:20

-So, you see the nice side of them.

-Yeah, I do. And the horrible side, when they try to dive-bomb you!

0:25:200:25:25

How do you keep track of 70 pairs of birds?

0:25:250:25:29

We have a GPS.

0:25:290:25:30

At the beginning of the season, we do what's called an all-island census.

0:25:300:25:35

We walk up and down the island and find all the nests we possibly can.

0:25:350:25:38

So, the majority of them are mapped.

0:25:380:25:42

Then, when I want to find them again, I go out with the GPS.

0:25:420:25:45

I spend a couple of days a week wandering around their territories,

0:25:450:25:48

checking on their chicks or their eggs, taking measurements and recording them.

0:25:480:25:52

Then, I spend a couple more days collecting the pellets,

0:25:520:25:56

which are the regurgitated remains of their diets,

0:25:560:25:59

so we can analyse them and find out what they are eating most.

0:25:590:26:02

But the highlight of any trip to this island is the 400-foot-tall Great Stack of Handa.

0:26:020:26:08

I must confess, I feel quite overwhelmed being here. I think it's the whole sensory thing.

0:26:090:26:15

I can see probably more sea birds than I've ever seen before in one place.

0:26:150:26:19

I can smell more sea birds than I've ever smelt before.

0:26:190:26:23

The sound of it all, between the sea and the birds, it's incredible.

0:26:230:26:28

I suppose, for most people who come here, this is the piece de resistance of the island.

0:26:280:26:33

This is what people come to see?

0:26:330:26:35

Yes, this is the most spectacular part, definitely.

0:26:350:26:37

What are we seeing here? What are all the birds we can see?

0:26:370:26:41

I can see the easy ones, like puffins.

0:26:410:26:43

Yes, the puffins are all on the top of the stack.

0:26:430:26:46

We've also got a lot of guillemots and razorbills at the top.

0:26:460:26:49

And further down again, we have kittiwakes and fulmars, as well.

0:26:490:26:53

The kittiwakes, are they the ones who nest on the horizontal ledges?

0:26:530:26:57

The guillemots are the ones that really pack themselves in tight.

0:26:570:27:00

They sit there, facing the cliff with their backs outwards.

0:27:000:27:03

I noticed that. They look as though they're in a huff!

0:27:030:27:06

It's like a defence against predators.

0:27:080:27:11

The skuas and gulls will try to steal their eggs to eat.

0:27:110:27:14

So, if they pack in tightly and put their eggs under their feet, like penguins,

0:27:140:27:18

it's difficult for the birds to get in and steal their eggs.

0:27:180:27:21

What's your favourite?

0:27:210:27:23

Fulmars, they always look like they're enjoying themselves.

0:27:230:27:26

They are floating on the air at the top of the cliffs.

0:27:260:27:29

If you sit still, they'll come and look at you.

0:27:290:27:31

You can see them looking at you through their eye.

0:27:310:27:33

Back on the mainland from Handa, I've gone up the coast to Kylesku.

0:27:400:27:44

Hiya.

0:27:440:27:47

-True Vine?

-Aye.

0:27:470:27:49

Good man.

0:27:490:27:52

Is this safe, aye?

0:27:520:27:53

And this is another first for me.

0:27:530:27:55

I've joined prawn fisherman Andy MacLeod as he set out on his daily trip, heading out to sea.

0:27:550:28:01

It's early August, still only 7am.

0:28:040:28:06

And what a morning I've chosen,

0:28:060:28:08

as we steam out past another of Sutherland's great mountains, Coigach.

0:28:080:28:13

I've been at the creel fishing for seven years.

0:28:130:28:16

I was trawling before that.

0:28:160:28:18

-I've always been fishing.

-What took you to fishing in the first place?

-I don't know. I don't know.

0:28:180:28:24

We're out here on a lovely day in the middle of summer and it's beautiful to be here.

0:28:240:28:29

But what's it like on a dour November day or a January day?

0:28:290:28:32

Pretty miserable.

0:28:320:28:34

Och, it's all right sometimes, but it can be miserable.

0:28:340:28:37

Cold, wet.

0:28:370:28:39

The boat rolling about.

0:28:390:28:41

-Hard going.

-How dangerous is it?

0:28:410:28:43

Och, I wouldn't say it's dangerous.

0:28:430:28:45

-Not really.

-In relative terms?

0:28:450:28:48

No, I wouldn't say it's dangerous. It can be dangerous, but you just need a bit of common sense.

0:28:480:28:53

As Andy pulls out the creels to see what they've caught, his mate, Darren, chops bait.

0:28:530:28:58

The weather might be delightful, but the catch isn't.

0:28:580:29:01

One!

0:29:050:29:08

-That's not a great start to your day, is it?

-No, I think there's room for improvement yet.

0:29:080:29:13

How many would you expect to find in there?

0:29:130:29:15

Och, I've been getting a few. Half a dozen.

0:29:150:29:18

A bit more, maybe.

0:29:180:29:21

How many of these do you have? Oh, that looks better.

0:29:210:29:23

That's a good haul, yes.

0:29:230:29:26

-Oh, wow!

-There's a large one there.

0:29:260:29:29

Two large ones. In the last two, a couple of large prawns in.

0:29:330:29:37

That was good. That was just on the edge of the ground.

0:29:370:29:40

-This creel is probably under...

-OK.

0:29:400:29:42

You see, there's no prawns at all now.

0:29:430:29:46

-How would you rate this haul, Andy? Reasonable?

-No, it's poor.

0:29:490:29:52

The fishing is poor just now. It has been for the last couple of weeks.

0:29:520:29:55

-Is that just a seasonal thing?

-Yes, it is.

0:29:550:29:58

But the poorer times seem to be getting longer.

0:29:580:30:01

I'd been promised a good feed of langoustine by mine host, Struan Lothian of the Kylesku Hotel.

0:30:030:30:09

-Wow! Look at that.

-Here we are, Cameron.

0:30:090:30:12

Langoustine fresh from the loch this afternoon.

0:30:120:30:15

Fantastic! Before we eat these, I want to tell you a little story.

0:30:150:30:18

A number of years ago, when I was young, newly married, my wife and I went to Brittany.

0:30:180:30:22

We went to a seafood restaurant and we had a thing called fruits de la mer, fruit of the sea.

0:30:220:30:28

It came in a three-tier cake stand.

0:30:280:30:30

All the shellfish. We looked at it and thought, "How do we eat this?"

0:30:300:30:34

We had no idea. It's given me a phobia about shellfish to this day.

0:30:340:30:38

So, could you show me how you actually tackle this?

0:30:380:30:41

I'm not sure whether you actually eat it or fight it.

0:30:410:30:43

Sure. It's fairly straightforward. You might need a bath afterwards.

0:30:430:30:47

You just twist the tail off.

0:30:470:30:49

It's the tail you eat. This is the section we're going to eat.

0:30:490:30:53

Gently crack the shell down the back.

0:30:530:30:59

Peel off the top.

0:30:590:31:02

Squeeze the tail and it should just...

0:31:020:31:05

-Wonderful.

-There we go.

-Thank you.

0:31:050:31:08

I'm not even going to have a dip in this, because this is so fresh.

0:31:080:31:11

-Enjoy.

-I think I saw this particular one come out of the water.

0:31:110:31:15

Look at that, isn't that beautiful? Mmm.

0:31:150:31:20

It's just so full of flavour.

0:31:200:31:23

And I've eaten so many prawns in my time that have been simply tasteless.

0:31:230:31:27

But this is, oh, full of flavour.

0:31:270:31:30

And all washed down with a nice glass of white.

0:31:320:31:35

This is the life!

0:31:390:31:41

Enough eating, enough drinking.

0:31:410:31:43

It's time to get back to the walk.

0:31:430:31:46

But first, there's a man-made structure to say goodbye to.

0:31:460:31:50

What do you think of the bridge? The Kylesku Bridge.

0:31:520:31:56

Some people see it as a real blot on the landscape,

0:31:560:31:59

a modern contrivance in such a natural setting.

0:31:590:32:03

But I have to confess, I quite like it.

0:32:030:32:05

I like the simple lines of it and how it blends into the landscape.

0:32:050:32:09

And, on a more pragmatic note, I'm old enough to remember having to queue up at Kylesku for hours on end

0:32:090:32:15

to get the little ferry across to Kylestrome.

0:32:150:32:18

And I remember lines of cars on a single-track road,

0:32:180:32:22

so I think it's a bit of a blessing.

0:32:220:32:24

The alternative is a four-hour round trip if you just want to get to the other side.

0:32:240:32:30

A round trip through Lairg, round the top of the country and back.

0:32:300:32:34

I don't think that bears thinking about.

0:32:340:32:36

It's a wonderful spot here just at the junction of Loch Glencoul and Loch Glendhu.

0:32:360:32:43

These waters hold a dark secret.

0:32:430:32:45

During the war, the 12th Submarine Flotilla trained here.

0:32:470:32:51

They trained young submariners to, basically, sit astride torpedoes,

0:32:510:32:57

and they would go down below enemy convoys

0:32:570:33:00

and attach the warheads to the hull of the enemy craft.

0:33:000:33:04

They would then swim away and detonate these warheads.

0:33:040:33:07

The amazing thing was, the whole community here knew that this training was going on,

0:33:070:33:12

but nobody gave the game away or told the secrets.

0:33:120:33:16

And it's been said that this was a community that knew much, but talked very little.

0:33:160:33:21

On any long-distance walk, you anticipate the high passes,

0:33:380:33:42

or the bealachs as we call them here in Scotland.

0:33:420:33:44

That's those areas of high ground that separate one region of landscape with another.

0:33:440:33:50

Or, quite often, one region of cultural identity with another.

0:33:500:33:54

And on this occasion, I'm leaving,

0:33:540:33:56

I'm saying goodbye to the hills and landscapes of the western seaboard,

0:33:560:34:00

with the great sea lochs that intrude into the land.

0:34:000:34:03

I'm heading over into an area north of the road that runs between Laxford Bridge and Lairg,

0:34:030:34:09

an area of land-locked mountains and very, very different mountains.

0:34:090:34:14

Something I've noticed over the past few days is the complete absence of sheep from these hills.

0:34:210:34:27

A few years ago, sheep would have been everywhere. They would have been grazing at every corner,

0:34:270:34:32

almost eating everything in sight.

0:34:320:34:33

But the truth of the matter is that many of these estates now are given over almost exclusively

0:34:330:34:39

to sporting purposes, to fly fishing or to deer stalking.

0:34:390:34:42

People pay a lot of money to come and take part in these activities.

0:34:420:34:47

But I don't think there's any doubt that sheep farming is still vital to the Sutherland economy.

0:34:470:34:53

And, despite the hard times and low prices of recent years,

0:34:560:34:59

the sheep mart at Lairg is one of the largest in Europe.

0:34:590:35:02

But it's also the moment of reckoning for the year's income.

0:35:020:35:06

Just a wee bit anxious as to what might happen later on in the day.

0:35:060:35:09

Because it's a whole year's work and it's all boiled down into today.

0:35:090:35:14

So, you get into the ring and you just have to see what they say and think of your lambs.

0:35:140:35:19

Jan Mackenzie works on her own croft, and she's also the shepherd for the North Loch Naver estate.

0:35:250:35:31

The Lairg sheep sale is culmination of a year's hard graft.

0:35:310:35:36

These are the tups. Stock tups. They're what we'll be using this year. It's a selection of tups.

0:35:360:35:41

It's the ones from my croft

0:35:410:35:44

and the ones from North Loch Naver Farm, where I work.

0:35:440:35:49

I feed them before they go out.

0:35:490:35:52

What makes a good tup?

0:35:540:35:55

His power to reproduce?

0:35:550:35:57

Certainly, if he has the reputation to reproduce, yes.

0:35:570:36:00

But they've got to have good confirmation, good bone about them.

0:36:000:36:04

See that fella? He's got good, heavy bone. Nice hair and clean.

0:36:040:36:07

No black spots.

0:36:070:36:10

In your lifetime here, have you seen a reduction in the number

0:36:100:36:14

-of people shepherding in the hills in Sutherland?

-Oh, yes, definitely.

0:36:140:36:17

There used to be four or five shepherds on each estate.

0:36:170:36:21

Now, there will be one, if any at all.

0:36:210:36:24

So, how important are sheep to this particular landscape?

0:36:240:36:27

I'd say very important.

0:36:270:36:30

There's a lot of sheep going off here anyway.

0:36:300:36:32

If you lose the sheep out of the grounds, it's going to change the whole environment.

0:36:320:36:37

Because your ground is going to get rank and grow long if it's not been grazed hard enough.

0:36:370:36:43

It's changing everything if the sheep are not here.

0:36:430:36:47

You do need them.

0:36:470:36:48

We tend to think of these lands as wilderness areas or empty lands.

0:37:030:37:07

But for hundreds and hundreds of years, people have been living off the land.

0:37:070:37:11

And these are the first peat cuttings I've seen since leaving Lochinver.

0:37:110:37:16

And, with the whole uncertainty of rising fuel prices worldwide,

0:37:160:37:20

I just wonder if we could eventually see the creation

0:37:200:37:24

of a whole new peat-cutting industry in places like Sutherland.

0:37:240:37:28

I've just come down from the high ground that runs across from Kylestrome to Achfary.

0:37:420:37:48

And I have to say, after all the chat with geologists,

0:37:480:37:52

cavers, crofters, I've kind of relished this time on my own,

0:37:520:37:58

just enjoying the solitude.

0:37:580:38:00

So, it's quite appropriate to come to this old bothy here, which goes by the name of Lone.

0:38:000:38:05

I think that's quite suitable.

0:38:050:38:06

And behind me stands a triumvirate of Corbetts.

0:38:060:38:10

Those are the Scottish mountains between 2,500 feet and 2,999 feet.

0:38:100:38:16

They are the wee brothers of the bigger Munros, if you like.

0:38:160:38:20

And behind me is Arkle.

0:38:200:38:22

Over to my left here, Meall Horn.

0:38:220:38:24

And in the distance, you can't see it from here, is Foinaven, the biggest of them all.

0:38:240:38:29

I'm just about to make may way up to a high camp.

0:38:290:38:32

It's just a nice cusp between the three hills.

0:38:320:38:36

All going well, tomorrow morning,

0:38:360:38:38

I'll get onto the summit of Foinaven,

0:38:380:38:40

a mountain I've always regarded as the Queen of Sutherland.

0:38:400:38:43

I love this big, split boulder here.

0:38:510:38:54

They're like twin portals, the gateway to Foinaven.

0:38:540:38:57

I'm almost at a loss for words at the incredible landscape up here.

0:39:070:39:13

Wandering up here this morning, the cloud was down.

0:39:130:39:16

As I've climbed up, it's gradually lifted,

0:39:160:39:19

revealing one of the most incredible landscapes you'll find in Scotland.

0:39:190:39:24

Indeed, one of the most incredible landscapes you'll find anywhere in Britain.

0:39:240:39:28

It really is just stunning.

0:39:280:39:29

I stand here and look right back to Suilven, where I started this walk.

0:39:290:39:34

And I look right down over this fold over fold of hills,

0:39:340:39:38

ridge line against ridge line,

0:39:380:39:40

and all the way up, it is absolutely stunning.

0:39:400:39:43

People talk about your Ben Nevises, Trossachs, Cairngorms,

0:39:430:39:47

National Parks, Torridons, Isle of Skye...

0:39:470:39:50

This landscape in the northwest of Scotland compares with anything in the country!

0:39:500:39:54

It really is absolutely fantastic!

0:39:540:39:57

I'm looking for a nice, flat bit of ground to lie on.

0:40:100:40:14

Reasonably sheltered, but with enough breeze to keep the midges down.

0:40:140:40:18

And some water fairly close by.

0:40:180:40:20

And I think I see my point just down here.

0:40:220:40:25

Yes, this will do, about here.

0:40:250:40:27

Perfect.

0:40:270:40:28

People sometimes think you have to rough and tough it, to wild camp in a place like this.

0:40:360:40:41

But it's ironic that the technology we try and escape from, coming to these places,

0:40:410:40:48

is the very technology that helps make it comfortable for us when we come.

0:40:480:40:54

This whole pack, including the tent, the sleeping bag, stove and food,

0:40:540:41:00

probably weighs no more than 12 to 15lbs.

0:41:000:41:03

That's about six or seven kilograms.

0:41:030:41:06

I've got everything I need in here.

0:41:060:41:09

Waterproof jacket that weighs about 400 grams.

0:41:090:41:12

Waterproof trousers, maybe 200 grams.

0:41:120:41:17

All my food for a night's camping.

0:41:170:41:20

My sleeping bag probably weighs about 900 grams.

0:41:200:41:23

It's pure duckdown, and I've got it extra-wrapped up in a polythene bag,

0:41:230:41:29

because this is the one item that you don't want to get wet.

0:41:290:41:33

You want to keep it nice and dry.

0:41:330:41:35

And it really is beautiful, soft duckdown.

0:41:350:41:38

That will all inflate up there and be very nice and cosy.

0:41:380:41:43

I always maintain that

0:41:430:41:46

any fool can be uncomfortable out in the hills.

0:41:460:41:49

So, it helps to bring one or two nice little things, just to remind you of home

0:41:490:41:54

and make things that little bit more comfortable.

0:41:540:41:57

Like a little bottle of wine to go with the freeze-dried food!

0:41:570:42:00

I've always been very intrigued by the name of this mountain.

0:42:080:42:13

Foinaven comes from the Gaelic Fionn Bheinn.

0:42:130:42:16

And I've always understood that to mean the Fair Mountain or the White Mountain.

0:42:160:42:22

You can understand that translation

0:42:220:42:24

when you see these lovely silvery-white quartzite screes

0:42:240:42:29

that give the impression the hill is covered in snow almost any time of the year.

0:42:290:42:35

But more recent thinking suggests that word "Fionn" is spelt differently

0:42:350:42:39

and it actually means the Mountain of Warts, which isn't quite as pleasant as the Fair Mountain.

0:42:390:42:46

But you can understand that interpretation as well, because the hill has five separate summits

0:42:460:42:51

and I suppose, from a distance, they could look like warts on the flanks of the mountain.

0:42:510:42:56

From this point, the character of the mountain changes quite dramatically.

0:43:070:43:12

Until now, I've been walking up broad, fairly featureless, grassy ridges.

0:43:120:43:17

But from here, the mountain tightens up into a narrow,

0:43:170:43:20

eerie, very dramatic ridge

0:43:200:43:23

with steep slopes falling away on either side.

0:43:230:43:27

But the greatest feature of this mountain that you'll notice here

0:43:270:43:30

is the fact that it's eroding below your feet.

0:43:300:43:33

It's really a peeling carcass of a mountain.

0:43:330:43:36

It's kind of falling apart.

0:43:360:43:38

That has led to very, very unstable underfoot conditions.

0:43:380:43:41

So, you have to be very, very careful treading this particular tight ridge.

0:43:410:43:46

For more years than I care to remember, mountaineers have debated the height of Foinaven.

0:43:580:44:04

The reason for that debate is, about 20 years ago, the Ordnance Survey

0:44:040:44:08

surveyed all the mountains and they gave this one the height of 914 metres.

0:44:080:44:14

Now, that could be anything between 2,999 feet and 3,002 feet.

0:44:140:44:20

It might have been a Munro, it might have been over the 3,000-foot contour, or it might not have been.

0:44:200:44:25

Because of this debate, and it went on for a long, long time,

0:44:250:44:28

the Munro Society decided they would resolve this problem once and for all.

0:44:280:44:33

They brought a team of surveyors up here and, using the latest GPS equipment,

0:44:330:44:37

they re-measured the mountain.

0:44:370:44:39

They found, in fact, it was 12 feet short of Munro status.

0:44:390:44:43

The final figure that they reckoned on was 2,988 feet.

0:44:430:44:49

Not only did they discover the fact that the mountain is less than Munro height,

0:44:550:45:00

there was also a wee sting in the tail.

0:45:000:45:03

They realised that this summit here, that everybody thought was the summit, in fact, wasn't.

0:45:030:45:08

There's a wee contour ring missing from the Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 series map.

0:45:080:45:13

And, in actual fact, that cairn across there is the real summit.

0:45:130:45:18

So, I'm afraid I'm not finished yet!

0:45:180:45:20

We've made it at last. There was a point when I thought I was never going to get here.

0:45:290:45:34

But does it really matter if Foinaven is a Munro or not?

0:45:340:45:37

I don't think it matters a jot, to be honest.

0:45:370:45:40

But the point is, Foinaven is one of the most underrated mountains in the country.

0:45:400:45:45

It's certainly in my top ten favourite mountains.

0:45:450:45:49

It really is a fantastic hill and I would recommend every hill walker in the country

0:45:490:45:53

to get themselves up here, get this on the list of mountains to climb.

0:45:530:45:57

You certainly won't regret it.

0:45:570:46:00

Before I head down the mountain, let me leave you with one thought.

0:46:000:46:04

Munro bagging, and indeed Corbett bagging, are amongst the most delectable of addictions.

0:46:040:46:10

I commend both of them to you with a passion.

0:46:100:46:15

I've just wandered through the hills from Foinaven and Loch Stack.

0:46:240:46:29

And, in the course of a few miles,

0:46:290:46:30

I've come into a completely different landscape both scenically and culturally.

0:46:300:46:35

This is Doon Dornagel, of the Fort of Dornagel.

0:46:480:46:53

And there's about 500 of these brochs scattered throughout the Highlands and islands of Scotland.

0:46:530:46:58

Nobody seems terribly sure what the purpose was,

0:46:580:47:01

but it's generally believed that they were circular, defensive buildings.

0:47:010:47:06

If that is the case, who was the enemy?

0:47:060:47:09

The finger of history points towards the Vikings.

0:47:110:47:16

But there's some difficulty here, because these were built during the Iron Age,

0:47:160:47:20

and at that time there was no organised civilisation in Norway.

0:47:200:47:24

But more recently, scientists have discovered rock carvings dated at 1,000 BC.

0:47:240:47:31

And these are carvings of Norsemen in their longboats.

0:47:310:47:35

That suggests there were groups of unorganised, undisciplined Norsemen coming down from Norway

0:47:350:47:40

to these southern lands, or what we call Sutherland.

0:47:400:47:45

On my walk through Sutherland,

0:48:030:48:05

I've discovered a wilderness of extraordinary beauty.

0:48:050:48:08

But these glens weren't always empty.

0:48:080:48:11

Until the 19th century, there were around 50 townships in Strathnaver alone.

0:48:110:48:16

And the events in this glen achieved notoriety when the Gaelic-speaking population was thrown out

0:48:160:48:22

to make way for commercial sheep farming.

0:48:220:48:25

Bettyhill head teacher Jim Johnston has spent years studying the Clearances here.

0:48:250:48:30

We're just stepping into the remnants of one of the houses here.

0:48:300:48:34

But if we were here at the time of the Clearances,

0:48:340:48:37

or prior to the Clearances, this would be a substantial house.

0:48:370:48:41

Most of the space would be taken up by cattle.

0:48:410:48:44

For that reason, these houses were often built on a slope

0:48:440:48:48

with cattle at the low end,

0:48:480:48:50

so the effluent they produced during winter

0:48:500:48:53

would flow away from you, rather than up into your kitchen area.

0:48:530:48:56

It was a time when opportunity was available for anyone

0:48:560:49:01

who had an entrepreneurial spirit.

0:49:010:49:05

The Countess of Sutherland had that entrepreneurial spirit, as did Patrick Sellar, her factor.

0:49:050:49:12

In the course of history, Patrick Sellar hasn't done too well.

0:49:120:49:17

He's come across as a real villain, hasn't he?

0:49:170:49:20

He certainly has. He's come across as a villain, and that continues.

0:49:200:49:24

It would be a very dangerous thing to do, to go into a bar in Bettyhill and praise Patrick Sellar!

0:49:240:49:31

He had absolutely no compunction about evicting people from ground

0:49:310:49:35

that he possessed or anything like that.

0:49:350:49:38

He knew what he wanted

0:49:380:49:40

and he was prepared to pursue that with little regard for other people.

0:49:400:49:46

He was one of the largest farmers in the whole of Scotland.

0:49:460:49:50

In that area, that area of his farm,

0:49:500:49:52

there had been 2,000 people living prior to the Clearances.

0:49:520:49:57

And those 2,000 people were replaced by 18 shepherds from the Borders.

0:49:570:50:02

But from the point of view of Victorian society, he was a big success.

0:50:050:50:10

And he was an expert farmer.

0:50:100:50:13

But then, Mussolini made the trains run in Italy on time!

0:50:130:50:17

History repeats itself.

0:50:170:50:21

And one of the most telling things about all this is that things like this still go on.

0:50:210:50:27

You still have parts of the world where traditional lifestyles are being disrupted and destroyed.

0:50:270:50:33

Many of the relatives of those who were cleared found themselves living on the Sutherland coast.

0:50:340:50:39

Just before my final mountain, I wanted to meet one of them.

0:50:390:50:43

Angela MacKay not only lives on the coastline but earns a living from the coastline, farming oysters.

0:50:430:50:50

She came to that job almost by accident.

0:50:500:50:53

I was a hairdresser. I'd just sold my business

0:50:530:50:56

and I was a wee bit unsure what I was going to do next.

0:50:560:50:59

So, from giving people blue rinses and perms and all the rest of it...

0:50:590:51:03

I'm giving haircuts to oysters now!

0:51:030:51:07

-That's quite a difference!

-Yes.

0:51:070:51:09

But they don't talk back!

0:51:090:51:11

Can you run me through the process of farming an oyster?

0:51:110:51:16

They come in about the size of my little fingernail and we put them into these bags.

0:51:160:51:22

As they get bigger, we take them further in.

0:51:220:51:26

We take the bigger ones out, put them in bigger bags.

0:51:260:51:29

And the process goes on like that until they become fully grown.

0:51:290:51:35

And then, we take them out of the water and further up the shore a bit to harden the shells.

0:51:350:51:40

So that, when they're out of the water for a while, the muscle starts getting stronger.

0:51:400:51:46

-They're just like pets to you, I suppose.

-Are they really?

0:51:460:51:49

-Yes.

-You don't give them names?

0:51:490:51:52

No. Too many!

0:51:520:51:55

Can I go and choose some for my tea tonight?

0:51:550:51:57

-Yes, no problem.

-Lovely, thank you.

0:51:570:52:00

-I think we'll take some of these ones.

-OK.

0:52:050:52:08

Ah, let's have a look.

0:52:080:52:10

Feel that one.

0:52:100:52:11

They're nice and full.

0:52:110:52:13

Never, ever have an oyster if it's open, like that, in any way at all.

0:52:130:52:19

In fact, what you can do is...

0:52:190:52:22

Always tap them.

0:52:220:52:24

And make sure you have no hollow sound.

0:52:240:52:27

There we are. I'll see if I can get one or two more in there.

0:52:290:52:31

Brilliant. Whoa, whoa!

0:52:310:52:34

-They'll all want a wee taste. There you are.

-Marvellous.

0:52:340:52:37

Kyle of Tongue oysters.

0:52:370:52:38

-The best in the world.

-But, of course!

0:52:380:52:42

This is Grant. Grant, last year, was Scotland's Young Chef of the Year.

0:52:490:52:55

So, for getting advice on how to eat oysters, I'm in very capable hands.

0:52:550:52:59

-I think the best thing is for you to demonstrate to me.

-No problem.

0:52:590:53:02

You have a go and tell me what to do.

0:53:020:53:04

What we do once we've opened them is serve them with a bit of lemon on a bed of ice.

0:53:040:53:08

And you just want to make sure it's nice and loose in the shell...

0:53:080:53:12

-Down the hatch. Beautiful!

-OK.

0:53:150:53:17

Just make sure it's fairly loose, and here we go.

0:53:170:53:21

I almost missed part of it.

0:53:260:53:27

Yes, it is very... The combination of lemon...

0:53:290:53:32

-The lemon brings out the taste of the seafood.

-Indeed.

0:53:320:53:36

-Fantastic.

-Simply done. Don't mess about with it too much.

0:53:360:53:38

Get them out simply, and let the customer do the work.

0:53:380:53:41

That's what I like to see, people using their hands.

0:53:410:53:44

I'm going to try and chew this one, just to see what the difference is.

0:53:440:53:49

Mmm.

0:53:540:53:56

Oh, that's good too!

0:53:560:53:58

It's always a bittersweet moment when you come close to the end of a great journey like this one.

0:54:130:54:19

In this case, I'm a little sad because I know that, very shortly,

0:54:190:54:23

I'll be finishing what has been a fantastic walk across the county of Sutherland.

0:54:230:54:28

But at the same time, I'm actually quite pleased,

0:54:280:54:31

because I'm going to finish this journey on top of an amazing mountain called Ben Loyal.

0:54:310:54:36

Now, I know I've already said that Foinaven is the Queen of Sutherland.

0:54:360:54:40

But according to a statistical account of 1840,

0:54:400:54:43

Ben Loyal is, in fact, the Queen of the Highlands.

0:54:430:54:46

This will be the second time I've completed this walk between Lochinver and Tongue.

0:54:510:54:56

The first time was with my wife, over six or seven days during the summer.

0:54:560:55:01

But for this journey, I was very keen to break it down into several parts.

0:55:010:55:06

Into the seasons of spring, summer and autumn.

0:55:060:55:09

And I was keen to fine-tune

0:55:090:55:12

the end of the walk this time with the fading out of the season,

0:55:120:55:16

so I could sit up here on these slopes of burnished bronze

0:55:160:55:20

and listen to this incredible sound of the roaring of the red deer stags.

0:55:200:55:25

At this time of year, each of the stags will gather its own herd of hinds, its own harem, if you like.

0:55:260:55:33

And other marauding stags will come along and try and take over the herd.

0:55:330:55:37

Quite often, the two stags will stand on the hillside and roar defiantly at each other.

0:55:370:55:43

And quite often, the stags will come together in head-to-head combat, their antlers interlocking.

0:55:430:55:50

It's one of the great sights of the Highlands.

0:55:500:55:53

For me to sit up here at this time of year and listen to the roaring

0:55:580:56:03

is something I don't think I'll ever get tired of.

0:56:030:56:06

One thing I've realised on this walk

0:56:240:56:26

is that the geological complexities aren't confined to one area,

0:56:260:56:31

but actually follow you all the way north to this most northern of mountains, Ben Loyal.

0:56:310:56:37

This hill is the only igneous mountain in the north.

0:56:370:56:40

It's made up of quite a peculiar form of granite called cyanite.

0:56:400:56:44

That's a granite that doesn't have any quartz, or very little quartz, in it.

0:56:440:56:49

And it's because of the granite that this mountain has got its shape.

0:56:490:56:52

It's weathered down into four distinct summits,

0:56:520:56:55

four distinct granite tors.

0:56:550:56:57

The highest of which, An Caisteal, I'm heading for right now.

0:56:570:57:01

The one thing that really stands out in my mind of this walk is...

0:57:110:57:15

Well, other than the three mountains I've climbed, Suilven, Foinaven and Ben Loyal, of course...

0:57:150:57:20

But the thing I'll always remember are the people.

0:57:200:57:24

Both those who were born and bred here and those who came to Sutherland to make it their home.

0:57:240:57:30

Those who earn their living by traditional means, by crofting, fishing and farming.

0:57:300:57:36

And those who service the needs of the tourists,

0:57:360:57:39

the climbers, the mountaineers, the sea kayakers, the fly fishermen,

0:57:390:57:43

the cavers, all these people.

0:57:430:57:45

Hey!

0:57:480:57:49

Well, that's it. That's the end of the climb.

0:57:520:57:56

And it's also a very breezy end to my walk through Sutherland.

0:57:560:58:00

I hope you'll agree that we should never really refer to Sutherland as the Empty Lands.

0:58:000:58:07

I think this is a land overflowing with promise and potential.

0:58:070:58:10

And, for me, it will always be a very, very special place.

0:58:100:58:14

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0:58:480:58:51

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0:58:510:58:55

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