0:00:02 > 0:00:03We all think we know Skye...
0:00:03 > 0:00:10or do we? In my view it's an island with not just one but the two of the finest mountain ranges in Britain.
0:00:10 > 0:00:17So join me as I walk from one end of this island to the other to meet the people who live and work here.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19You know, Alasdair, any argument that says
0:00:19 > 0:00:25this is not the most astonishing landscape in Britain is surely indefensible.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29What a day, eh? Just cracking. The feeling you get here is sort of boundless.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08Welcome to Rubha Hunish at the very tip of the Trotternish peninsula.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11The most northerly part of the Isle Of Skye and this is the spot that
0:01:11 > 0:01:16I've chosen to begin a weeklong walk through this magical island.
0:01:16 > 0:01:22Taking in what I believe are the two most fascinating landscapes that we have in Britain.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26Now most people will be familiar with the savage grandeur
0:01:26 > 0:01:32of the Skye Cuillin, but not so many people will be aware of the natural wonders of Trotternish.
0:01:32 > 0:01:38And I really believe that this long walk has the potential to be the finest walk in the whole country.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Not many people get to this northern outpost, and that's a huge pity.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51It's worth spending some time here before you start putting one foot in front of another.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56At Rubha Hunish you're a million miles away from the pressures of modern life,
0:01:56 > 0:01:59so I've begun by camping out amongst the cliffs and the rocks
0:01:59 > 0:02:02that surround this superbly atmospheric headland.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08You know I've really been longing for a beautiful sunset tonight
0:02:08 > 0:02:11to help start off my walk through Skye, but it wasn't to be.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15But what I have seen is some fabulous wildlife. I'll tell you,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19this place is amazing. Gulls of all kinds, seals
0:02:19 > 0:02:21and minke whales.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Oh, fantastic. Look at that!
0:02:25 > 0:02:28You know, we don't have to go abroad. We've got it all here.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47During the next week I will be travelling about 70 miles,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51starting from the most northerly point of the mainland and finishing in Broadford.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55The first leg of my journey takes me past the historic Duntulm Castle,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59down the Trotternish roads to Skye's capital, Portree.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01And I can't wait to get started.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14On a day of crashing surf and gale force winds,
0:03:14 > 0:03:19there are few places in Scotland as inspiring as Duntulm Castle.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26There's not an awful lot left,
0:03:26 > 0:03:31but there is enough to give you a sense of the grandeur of the position of this castle.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33You can almost sense, you can almost imagine
0:03:33 > 0:03:38the war galleys sailing in to the shelter of the bay down below me here,
0:03:38 > 0:03:43and over the centuries two highland clans fought for ownership of this particular castle -
0:03:43 > 0:03:46the MacLeods and the McDonalds.
0:03:46 > 0:03:51And there's a lovely story that tells of a race between the chief of the clan MacLeod
0:03:51 > 0:03:58and the chief of the clan McDonald and the first one to land at Duntulm could claim ownership of the castle.
0:03:58 > 0:04:03And the story goes as the two galleys approached, the chief of the clan McDonald
0:04:03 > 0:04:08cut off his right hand and cast it onto the shore to claim ownership.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12And during their reign this was a very grand and special place.
0:04:12 > 0:04:18It's said that they created gardens here out of the earth of seven different countries
0:04:18 > 0:04:22and during that time they were visited by King James V.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27But all that grandeur came to an end one night when the heir to the clan
0:04:27 > 0:04:33chieftainship was being nursed by this window, and for some reason the nurse
0:04:33 > 0:04:40dropped the baby out of the window and it crashed to its death on the rocks below. The nurse was taken,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44she was bound and she was cast off in an open boat, cast adrift on the sea.
0:04:44 > 0:04:51And it's said that even to this day, on wild and stormy nights you can hear her cries and screams.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05No-one really knows why the McDonalds eventually left Duntulm,
0:05:05 > 0:05:11but there is a school of thought that says that they came out in support of the Jacobite cause in 1715
0:05:11 > 0:05:16and after the battle of Culloden in 1746, the Highland clans were proscribed.
0:05:16 > 0:05:22They were banned. So it's quite likely that at that time the McDonalds left Duntulm,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25left it to the ravages of the sea and the wind.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37On the way at last.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43It's a fairly inauspicious start to what is really one of the great walks of Scotland.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59Who'd guess that this simple sign heralds the start of 20 miles or more
0:05:59 > 0:06:03of the finest ridge walking in Scotland?
0:06:03 > 0:06:08The Trotternish escarpment runs unerringly north to south from summit to summit.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12It's also one of the most distinctive landscapes you'll find anywhere.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16A place where the forces of nature have sculptured a succession
0:06:16 > 0:06:20of free standing pillars, sheer cliffs and isolated tables of rock.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28And you meet the first of these almost immediately you step foot on this volcanic ridge.
0:06:28 > 0:06:34Natural events over thousands of years have shaped a place that is geologically unique.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36This is the Quiraing,
0:06:36 > 0:06:40a name originally from the Norse which means pillared enclosure.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49You know, I first came here as a youngster. I was brought here.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53I was actually scared. The place terrified me.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57I could almost hear the wind just moving around these
0:06:57 > 0:07:04tall, distorted fingers of rock and the water was oozing from the rock, oozing and dripping.
0:07:04 > 0:07:12And looking down these dark corridors of scree everywhere, I half-expected to see orcs or hobbits and dwarfs.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18But I have been back here several times since and, you know, even on a day like this, a nice sunny day,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21the place just has this extraordinary atmosphere.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45There are three main features here in the Quiraing,
0:07:45 > 0:07:51the Prison, which is the fortress-like block of rock down at the start of the path,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54the Needle, which is the 200ft tall tower of rock
0:07:54 > 0:07:58that kind of guards the entrance to this inner sanctum,
0:07:58 > 0:08:04and then there's this amazing feature, this great big elevation of turf known as the Table.
0:08:04 > 0:08:11And local folklore suggests that every New Year's Day, two teams would come here and play a game of shinty.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13I've some doubts about that.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Most of the shinty players I know would do well to be up and about
0:08:17 > 0:08:20and sober on New Year's Day, never mind play a game of shinty.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46It's a great view of the ridge from here
0:08:46 > 0:08:48as it rollercoasters its way all the way
0:08:48 > 0:08:52down to Portree, and it stays as spectacular as this all the way.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07I've just crossed the road that runs between Staffin and Uig...
0:09:07 > 0:09:10over the spine of the Trotternish peninsula.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13A lot of hill walkers stop here because there's a van in the lay-by,
0:09:13 > 0:09:18and they sell teas and coffees and things like ostrich burgers
0:09:18 > 0:09:23or kangaroo burgers and coming soon, a speciality, zebra burgers.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26All good Scottish traditional fair.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30But before I head up Bioda Buidhe and then on to Beinn Edra and the rest of the ridge,
0:09:30 > 0:09:35I'm going to take a wee diversion down to the coast where I've been promised something really special.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Just something I've got to do. Won't be a second.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Voila!
0:09:59 > 0:10:03I've taken a detour from my route to meet one of Skye's more recent residents.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07A patriotic Frenchman, he loves Scotland so much he wears the kilt
0:10:07 > 0:10:11and is a living example of the Auld Alliance.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Flodigarry was once the home of Flora MacDonald.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19Now it's one of a number of places on the island serving excellent food.
0:10:19 > 0:10:20Almost there now.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24I've arranged to meet the chef here, Pascal Rivault.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27a man who, somewhat surprisingly, is now an enthusiastic ambassador
0:10:27 > 0:10:31not for French cuisine, but for Scottish cuisine.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35And he wanted to show me just how fabulous the local produce is.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38As always, I'm a willing student.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42So we've got langoustines, fresh langoustines and lobster.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Are the oysters...are these local?
0:10:45 > 0:10:47Yes, they have just been delivered.
0:10:47 > 0:10:48- Straight from the sea?- Right.
0:10:48 > 0:10:54'I thought I might get a quick taster, but didn't realise this was the start of a banquet.'
0:10:54 > 0:10:58Smoked salmon in Scotland is a must, but we smoke it ourselves.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02We've got a duo of langoustine and pan-fried scallops.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06- Oh, I love scallops.- Cooked with sesame oil, spring onion, ginger.
0:11:06 > 0:11:12'Never a man to do things by halves, Pascal is just getting into his stride.'
0:11:12 > 0:11:18- And lamb.- Scottish lamb just roasted, mint and honey juice.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23It's all looks absolutely fantastic, and it will be accompanied by a French wine.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26It's a pity we don't do wine in Scotland.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29No. But you do your whisky pretty well so we'll forgive you.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33Straight from the sea to my mouth.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Gosh. Down the hatch.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41You get the taste of the sea from that oyster.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43It's like the sea exploding in your mouth.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47They haven't been travelling, they haven't been sitting in fridges for...
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Wonderful. And the important bit, Slainte.
0:11:50 > 0:11:57'French wine there may be, but Pascal recommends an 18-year-old single malt whisky with the oysters.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00'And who am I to argue?' Wonderful.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05It's very encouraging for me as a Scotsman to hear a Frenchman say that we have such good produce.
0:12:05 > 0:12:10The scallops, the langoustines when you get them are still crawling around.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12It's just unbelievable.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18It's so fresh, isn't it?
0:12:18 > 0:12:23- That's the beauty of it. - It's the taste of the sea.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25I think Lamb is probably my favourite meat.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28- Join the club. - Yeah? You're a pro-lamb fan?
0:12:28 > 0:12:30I love this lamb.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32Ok, lets try this.
0:12:37 > 0:12:38Could get used to it?
0:12:41 > 0:12:45I've got to go back to beans and sausages tomorrow night.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48In a little tent up there somewhere.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50You can always order takeaway.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Will you come up the hill and serve it in your kilt?
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Why not? Why not?
0:13:07 > 0:13:12Today, we often think of our Western Islands as places of great beauty...
0:13:12 > 0:13:17of wide-open spaces, of peace, solitude and comparatively few people.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19But that's not always been true.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Our ancestors settled here from earliest times
0:13:22 > 0:13:25and one of the things I want to do is get under the surface of this island.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28Literally beneath the ground.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31There's something here I'm really keen to show you.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39People have lived on Skye since the earliest times, and relics of our past lie everywhere.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42New discoveries are being made even today.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45In the north, the local community came together to excavate
0:13:45 > 0:13:49this underground chamber called a souterrain.
0:13:49 > 0:13:55I'm only just a few feet down, but I've already stepped back countless generations.
0:13:55 > 0:13:56Isn't this fantastic?
0:13:56 > 0:13:59It's an iron age cold store, if you like.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04If you can imagine a township above us 2,000 years ago, and this is where
0:14:04 > 0:14:07people would come and bring the butter and cheese and their milk.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11Really just to keep it cold and cool under the ground.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14It's beautifully constructed with lovely lintels, solid walls...
0:14:14 > 0:14:17absolutely fantastic.
0:14:17 > 0:14:22While I'm really fascinated by these early settlers in Scotland, the early
0:14:22 > 0:14:25hunter-gatherers, I don't know an awful lot about them.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28But shortly, I'm going to meet someone who does.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33The Isle of Skye is an archaeologist's treasure trove
0:14:33 > 0:14:36and new evidence is being discovered all the time.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Karen Hardy is a specialist in prehistory.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44She took me to one of the newest discoveries, but I wasn't sure what I should be looking for.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46- You're standing on it.- Sorry.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50In this remote cave is a midden...
0:14:50 > 0:14:53the remains left by people living here thousands of years ago.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58Karen's showing me a system of caves that she's only just starting to explore.
0:15:00 > 0:15:01Look at this.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Now look at that. That is shell midden.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07Look at all of those shells.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10I think we have got the shell midden continuing here.
0:15:10 > 0:15:15We've got the dung, not a very thick layer of dung by the look of it, and we've got the shells.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Right there.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22This is a shell midden, or rubbish heap, right in the southern tip of the island.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26It may not sound exciting, but it can provide Karen and her colleagues
0:15:26 > 0:15:32with a huge amount of detail about the people who once lived here and the lives they led.
0:15:32 > 0:15:38I would have thought people who lived 5000, 8000, 10,000 years ago
0:15:38 > 0:15:41would be one step removed from animals.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43Not at all. No, no, no.
0:15:43 > 0:15:49These were highly sophisticated people living in a highly sophisticated social structure.
0:15:49 > 0:15:54They would have had a very detailed and in depth knowledge of their surroundings.
0:15:54 > 0:16:01The people who lived here, whoever they were and however long ago it was, were here to exploit the sea.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05It's possible they were Mesolithic, but I can't be sure of that.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08I looked at shell middens in lots of different places and had
0:16:08 > 0:16:09shell middens carbon-dated
0:16:09 > 0:16:11and we've discovered that,
0:16:11 > 0:16:16in fact, people created these shell middens right throughout history.
0:16:16 > 0:16:22We have dates dating to the 1700s and we have dates going back to 8,000 years ago.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25And so all the way through human history, different sorts
0:16:25 > 0:16:28of people were using the caves, probably for different things...
0:16:28 > 0:16:34It could take years before this cave system is properly excavated and we know who lived here.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37But this site is yet another important discovery on the island.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41It gives us a really good insight into our past.
0:16:41 > 0:16:48I found this recently and no-one has explored this since the people left, however long ago that was.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50- After you.- Thank you.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54I couldn't help thinking, walking up to the cave, that we were approaching
0:16:54 > 0:16:58a lost world and a society that's vanished forever.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03It's not just one cave, it's got several chambers to it
0:17:03 > 0:17:09and I haven't even been in past the first chamber yet. It's so big.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13How do we know that all these shells haven't just been brought here naturally?
0:17:13 > 0:17:17Do birds bring shells into a place like this or have they just been washed up here?
0:17:17 > 0:17:20No. These have been brought here by humans.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25The reason we know that is that we have lots of other evidence in amongst the shells.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Artefacts that have been worked into tools.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31We've found animals, bones, bones that have got cut marks on them,
0:17:31 > 0:17:37we've got fish bones, we've got charcoal, we've got ochre in some places, we've got hematite...
0:17:37 > 0:17:40They must have been using this for colour of some sort.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43So these are real dumps, not just shell middens.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46They're living areas. I don't know that you can call them dumps.
0:17:46 > 0:17:52Maybe it's because I come from Glasgow originally, but my sense of the word midden is just that.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56- Well, who knows? Let's see. - Well, you're from Edinburgh.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59You don't have middens in Edinburgh, do you?
0:17:59 > 0:18:04I have to say that this is a wonderful opportunity for me because the last couple of times I've been,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07I've forgotten my torch, which is why I've never been
0:18:07 > 0:18:10underneath here, and finally we've come with a torch so we can go.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12- I've never been under here.- OK.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Well, me being a thorough gentleman, ladies first.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20- OK. You'll be following up close behind will you?- I will be.- Good.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22What have we got here?
0:18:24 > 0:18:28Oh, wow. Look. You see that?
0:18:28 > 0:18:31You see the shells? Let's go further in.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34How far in can we get?
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Oh, gosh. This is so exciting.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41- This goes on and on.- Does it really?
0:18:41 > 0:18:47Look. We can't actually get any further down, but this just extends and I can't see how far it goes.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52I think the exciting thing about this is where it is.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55It's just the location of it.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57It makes is quite exciting.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00And it's obviously very big.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03- So it continues. - It does, doesn't it?
0:19:03 > 0:19:06But I don't think I'm brave enough to squeeze in there.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- Will you be back?- Oh, I will be back.
0:19:09 > 0:19:15That's for sure. I'm just going to peep under here while I have the torch.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18'It'll take Karen years to fully explore what's in this cave.'
0:19:23 > 0:19:29Back on the ridge, I'm walking off the calories and beginning to eat up the miles.
0:19:29 > 0:19:35Heading south, a succession of summits bring me to the other famous landmark of Trotternish.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40The Old Man of Storr can be seen for miles, and is a fragile pillar of rock
0:19:40 > 0:19:43that looks as if it might topple over at any moment.
0:19:44 > 0:19:50And it's in the amphitheatre below the Storr that I've arranged to meet botanist and ranger, John Phillips.
0:19:50 > 0:19:57John grew up in Barrhead just outside Glasgow, but now he's delighted to be an adopted son of Skye.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59But what brought him here?
0:19:59 > 0:20:03My wife and I had both had time spent on islands.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08My wife on Mull and myself on Arran for a period.
0:20:08 > 0:20:09That was part of it.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13We had come to a time when we knew we wanted to get away from the city.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15So I just started looking for jobs.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20The first thing that came up was a job here.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24I'm far happier out here.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32I've described the Trotternish Ridge and the Cuillins as possibly
0:20:32 > 0:20:36the two most remarkable landscapes not only in Scotland, but in Britain.
0:20:36 > 0:20:42The Trotternish Ridge is the longest landslip
0:20:42 > 0:20:46feature in Britain. It's something like 22 miles
0:20:46 > 0:20:49of tumbled rock.
0:20:49 > 0:20:55The top end of Skye, the Trotternish area, is a series of about
0:20:55 > 0:21:0225 blankets of molten rock solidified on top of each other.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04- This is volcanic rock? - It's volcanic rock.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09The molten rock welled up out of the ground rather than
0:21:09 > 0:21:11big eruptions.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15The later layers are just molten rock oozing out.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18The Earth's crust was stretching,
0:21:18 > 0:21:26cracks appearing, molten rock coming up through the gaps and solidifying.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31We've got a massive, very unstable sandwich of basalt here.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34The Earth's crust has tilted.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37It's been under ice
0:21:37 > 0:21:39many times in the past.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44Every time the ice comes, it wears away a little bit more
0:21:44 > 0:21:46and the whole lot slips down again.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51And there's about 5 different layers, landslip events.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55The last one probably about 6,500 years ago.
0:21:55 > 0:21:56- That's not long.- It's not.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00We've already heard that in Metholithic times, 8,000 years ago
0:22:00 > 0:22:03people were living here in quite idyllic conditions.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06So possibly, this would all look quite different.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10The pinnacle of the Storr probably wasn't there at that time.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14- It appeared subsequently.- It really has resulted in quite friable rock.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17You get the feeling when you walk up here that the rock is quite...
0:22:17 > 0:22:19It's very loose.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21It breaks very readily.
0:22:21 > 0:22:28It forms a very rich soil. There are rare plants here that you won't find in many other places in Britain.
0:22:28 > 0:22:35I think the Iceland purslane must be one of the star attractions.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38It's fascinating that these amazing landscapes have provided
0:22:38 > 0:22:42a home for rare plants like the Iceland purslane.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44It's found high on the Trotternish Ridge and even
0:22:44 > 0:22:50in the rapidly worsening weather, I was determined to see it for myself.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53The first specimen was discovered here in the mid 1950s
0:22:53 > 0:22:57and created a stir amongst naturalists of the time.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Botanists came flocking here
0:22:59 > 0:23:04and got local people to guide them up to where they would find this plant.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Iceland purslane really is a tiny plant...
0:23:07 > 0:23:10it still takes some finding today.
0:23:10 > 0:23:17- Oh, well spotted, tiny little plant here.- Look at that.- There wouldn't
0:23:17 > 0:23:20be people who would say to you, John, you've got me up
0:23:20 > 0:23:24here on a wild, windy day like this to see that!
0:23:24 > 0:23:26It gives me quite a lot of satisfaction.
0:23:26 > 0:23:31To know a little about it and to be able to find it again, and
0:23:31 > 0:23:37given that this is an annual plant, you never know where it'll be next year in this rough area.
0:23:37 > 0:23:38But you do need to hunt about a bit.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40This is a genuine rarity.
0:23:40 > 0:23:48Exceedingly rare. There are only 2 places in Britain where you can go to see this plant.
0:23:48 > 0:23:54One is Trotternish Ridge and the other one is Mull, that's it.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00It just shows you that even precious rarities like this Iceland purslane
0:24:00 > 0:24:03can look quite insignificant in this kind of landscape.
0:24:03 > 0:24:0822 miles, over a dozen summits, and some fantastic views ranging from
0:24:08 > 0:24:11the Outer Isles to the mountains of mainland Scotland,
0:24:11 > 0:24:19and from here it's downhill to the end of the Trotternish Ridge and, for a short time, back to civilisation.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23Formerly known as Kiltaraglen, the town was renamed Port Righ,
0:24:23 > 0:24:29or King's Harbour, after a visit by King James the 5th in 1540.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Today it's the largest town on Skye, and a great place to take a wee break.
0:24:36 > 0:24:42You can't do a long walk through the Isle of Skye without popping in to Portree, and down here by the pier
0:24:42 > 0:24:48is an ideal place to while away an hour or two, have a fish supper and just prepare yourself for the next
0:24:48 > 0:24:56stage of the journey, down through an area called the Braes, the scene of the last land battle in Britain.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58Cheers!
0:25:01 > 0:25:04It's a short distance from Portree to the little
0:25:04 > 0:25:08string of small crofting hamlets that make up the area collectively known
0:25:08 > 0:25:13as the Braes, and when I was here earlier in the year I was surprised to hear someone call my name...
0:25:13 > 0:25:17someone I'd not seen for about 35 years.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23I first met Lorne Nicolson when we were both young Glasgow coppers.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28Like many people in these parts, Lorne's family had left Skye to find work in Clydeside.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32But after retiring from the Glasgow police force, he's returned to the island
0:25:32 > 0:25:37and the family croft right next to the site of the battle of the Braes.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42In 1882, following a dispute with the landowner, a fight took place
0:25:42 > 0:25:48between the local crofters and a contingent of policemen who had been drafted in from Glasgow.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53I asked Lorne to tell me what conditions would have been like for local people at the time.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55The people were in wretched poverty here.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57The herring had gone,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59the potato blight,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02there was no money for the sheep,
0:26:02 > 0:26:06the kelp had gone because the Germans started producing pot ash,
0:26:06 > 0:26:12so they were reduced from earning £30 a season in herring fishing to £1.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15If you put yourself in the position of those
0:26:15 > 0:26:18policeman in the 19th century, the sergeant says to them,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21"I need 50 volunteers to go up to the Isle of Skye for a week."
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Would they have seen that as a bit of a jolly?
0:26:24 > 0:26:30Yes. I can see the mindset of the police was, "Lets get away from Glasgow, lets get away up somewhere,
0:26:30 > 0:26:35"and lets do our job, and you know, we'll march, we'll look good, we'll do everything."
0:26:36 > 0:26:40They marched from Portree all the way to Braes and they
0:26:40 > 0:26:45arrested them and they brought them back to just this spot we are here.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47The Braes folk had prepared for them coming...
0:26:47 > 0:26:51The stramash happened here and they rolled stones down the hill at the police.
0:26:51 > 0:26:57A lot of the police were injured, and through time they said it was a massive battle, but this battle was
0:26:57 > 0:27:00only the catalyst that caused problems all over the island.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04Do you think the police, when they came here, were surprised with the reception?
0:27:04 > 0:27:06I think more than surprised.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10They got a real shock. I don't think they expected this.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14They thought they'd march up the hill and down again, nothing would happen.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19So someone who was a crofter and someone who was a policeman for about 30 years...
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Where would your sympathies have lain?
0:27:21 > 0:27:25Basically, my sympathies were with the people.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30With all people who are downtrodden, but I still have a wee sneaky one for the cops who came up here.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33I know how the cops would think.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35They didn't deserve what they got because nobody told them.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38But again, they obeyed the orders.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41They came, they got a hiding, they went home and being a Glasgow boy with...
0:27:41 > 0:27:44I have a balance.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47So the events of the battle of Braes here really sparked off
0:27:47 > 0:27:50unrest throughout the Highlands and Islands.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52What was the outcome of all of that?
0:27:52 > 0:27:54The outcome was the Napier's Commission.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59When the landlords and the legal advisors
0:27:59 > 0:28:04brought forward the Crofting Holdings Act of 1886.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07They were able to pass their property onto their children.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Most of the rents were reduced by 50%.
0:28:10 > 0:28:14It was the best bit of legislation that the crofters ever had. It was wonderful for them.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18I actually grin and smirk when I see it.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22It was really, really good for them and really is a thing that we must try and hold onto to.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Not change the system too much.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28What a pity this momentous occasion doesn't warrant more than
0:28:28 > 0:28:34a small monument, because it did have a profound effect on changing conditions for crofters everywhere.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37From the Braes, you look east to skyline of Raasay...
0:28:37 > 0:28:43a place I've seen for years from various mountain summits but never managed to visit.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45But that's about to change.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50I'm making the short ferry crossing in the company of Meg Bateman.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54She was brought up in Edinburgh of English parents, and as a university
0:28:54 > 0:28:58student discovered an affinity for Scotland's native tongue.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03Since then, she's become a champion of the language, dedicating her
0:29:03 > 0:29:08adult life to learning, teaching and writing in Gaelic.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13I remember my father saying to me, "Do you think Gaelic has any philosophy?"
0:29:13 > 0:29:21I think he felt it wouldn't be as deep or as culturally wide as doing a major European language.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25But I have found that it has taken me on a very interesting journey.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29If you think what an unnatural thing it is not to teach your own child
0:29:29 > 0:29:32your native language, it sort of felt,
0:29:32 > 0:29:36not of laziness but that a terrible violence had been done
0:29:36 > 0:29:39to your culture through the education system.
0:29:39 > 0:29:44I think we owe it to Scotland, and in a way we owe it to
0:29:44 > 0:29:49humanity to preserve what is a distinct window in the world.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53Meg's an accomplished poet, and she's taking me on a pilgrimage
0:29:53 > 0:29:58to the spiritual home of one of our foremost poets, Sorley MacLean.
0:29:58 > 0:30:04We've come to the eastern shore of Raasay and the site of one of his most famous works, Hallaig.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08To many people, Hallaig seems like an evocation of the horrors
0:30:08 > 0:30:11of the clearances with its famous first lines, "The window is nailed
0:30:11 > 0:30:14"and boarded through which I saw the West."
0:30:14 > 0:30:18But Meg told me that there's far more to this poem than that.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21It's a work rooted deep in Celtic culture and its landscape.
0:30:21 > 0:30:26I think he's working with very old Gaelic ideas
0:30:26 > 0:30:31in that poem about the other world, and about circular time.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36Although in Gaelic culture, the clearances
0:30:36 > 0:30:41are a terrible tragedy in linear time I think in that poem, because of
0:30:41 > 0:30:48the redemptiveness of art, I think he does reach some sort of
0:30:48 > 0:30:52acceptance of what has happened, because
0:30:52 > 0:30:55he has had this vision
0:30:55 > 0:31:00of the continuing significance of people who are no longer there.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04And anyone who reads the poem can share that vision.
0:31:05 > 0:31:12In circular time, what was past can also be present and can also be future. Like the stars we see now.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15We think they're there but they're in the past.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18He wrote a lot about landscape. Why?
0:31:18 > 0:31:22Well, I think poetry is a sensuous language.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27It's not the same as academic writing. It's not working
0:31:27 > 0:31:34by ideology, it's working by something that becomes an emotional trigger for someone else to feel.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37I think the landscape
0:31:37 > 0:31:42gives Sorley the plastic quality he needs to describe
0:31:42 > 0:31:44his emotions.
0:31:44 > 0:31:50So it makes agonising poetry, and I think he expresses that agony
0:31:50 > 0:31:53through this landscape.
0:31:53 > 0:31:58This landscape becomes the rollercoaster of his imagination.
0:31:58 > 0:32:03I think Sorley has made what might have been a sort of
0:32:03 > 0:32:09frightening, wild landscape into an epic landscape of human striving.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12A sort of moral landscape.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16Meg, could you describe to me what Raasay means to you?
0:32:16 > 0:32:19In English, and then tell me again in Gaelic.
0:32:21 > 0:32:28For me, Raasay is just shot through with Sorley's symbolism.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33The power of beauty to let us see beyond tragedy.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38And maybe Sorley, being the first one to open my eyes
0:32:38 > 0:32:44to the possibility that we don't have to think of the last thing that happened as the final word on it.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47Now I have to say that in Gaelic!
0:32:47 > 0:32:50SHE SPEAKS GAELIC
0:33:04 > 0:33:08Back on Skye, and I'm about to start on the second half of this magnificent walk...
0:33:08 > 0:33:12first through the heart of the Cuillins to Loch Coruisk, then round the coast
0:33:12 > 0:33:16and up to one of the finest summits in Scotland, Bla Bheinn.
0:33:16 > 0:33:21From there we descend to the cleared villages of Suisnish and Boreraig
0:33:21 > 0:33:25before a final walk to journey's end at Broadford.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28But right now, I'm heading southwest along the shore of Loch Sligachan.
0:33:28 > 0:33:34It's about three miles to the Sligachan Hotel and one of the best-known views in Scotland.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39And that's no small feat from an island boasting magnificent scenery at every turn.
0:33:39 > 0:33:44Yet since the 1950s, when electricity first came to this part of Skye,
0:33:44 > 0:33:48that view's been blighted by unsightly poles.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51But in a remarkable initiative between the electricity company
0:33:51 > 0:33:55and the local community, that's all about to change.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59It's pouring with rain, the mist is low, there's a howling wind,
0:33:59 > 0:34:03but today's the day the poles are finally coming down.
0:34:03 > 0:34:09I think it will improve one of the most iconic views in Scotland markedly.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12Where did the idea come from to get rid of the poles?
0:34:12 > 0:34:15Well, this is really a side effect of a large initiative on the
0:34:15 > 0:34:21part of a community group based on the Isle of Skye
0:34:21 > 0:34:27to commemorate two of the early pioneering climbers in the Cuillins,
0:34:27 > 0:34:30Norman Collie and John MacKenzie.
0:34:34 > 0:34:40What we intend to do, on a wee knoll over there, is to create a bronze sculpture
0:34:40 > 0:34:44to the two men, MacKenzie and Collie,
0:34:44 > 0:34:49and it did seem to us that the thing would be really improved if
0:34:49 > 0:34:52the poles were removed as part of this.
0:34:54 > 0:35:00Once the poles are down, this view of the majestic Cuillin will be restored to its former glory.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02This is iconic. I mean, there are a lot of
0:35:02 > 0:35:05other things going on here as well with the park and statue,
0:35:05 > 0:35:07but the views of the Cuillins from here...
0:35:07 > 0:35:11This is exactly the kind of projects we'd want to do.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13It's a great one to be involved in.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26- You're obviously delighted by all of this.- Oh, yes.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29It's a bit of a pet project for you.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32It does make me feel a lot happier...
0:35:32 > 0:35:35Seeing that we've benefited, not only myself
0:35:35 > 0:35:38but future ramblers.
0:35:38 > 0:35:43And of course, Norman Collie and John MacKenzie will now have an unobstructed view of the Cuillin.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46That's right, yes. There's a lot of history here.
0:35:46 > 0:35:48It's a fantastic thing to have done.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55CHEERING
0:35:56 > 0:36:00Sorry! I'm not overcome by emotion.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04I'm overcome by the Skye weather, I'm afraid.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09Not much of a day for walking, so instead, I'm heading inside
0:36:09 > 0:36:14to dry out in a place that has often been called the cradle of Scottish mountaineering.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23I'm looking through an old register in the Sligachan Hotel,
0:36:23 > 0:36:29and it's amazing how many names of climbers you see recorded here.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31But you know, it's maybe not that surprising because
0:36:31 > 0:36:38the Sligachan Hotel has always been recognized as one of the spiritual homes of Scottish mountaineering -
0:36:38 > 0:36:41situated, as it is, below what Sorley MacLean
0:36:41 > 0:36:45once beautifully described as the antlered profile of the Cuillin.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50And it was here that one of the great enduring partnerships of Scottish mountaineering
0:36:50 > 0:36:55was formed, between two men of quite contrasting backgrounds.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59Professor Norman Collie was an eminent Victorian scientist.
0:36:59 > 0:37:05His great friend and mountain guide, John Morton MacKenzie, was born just along the road here
0:37:05 > 0:37:11in Sconser, and between them they mapped the Cuillin, the climbed lots of new routes in the Cuillin,
0:37:11 > 0:37:16they explored the Cuillin, and became very firm friends.
0:37:16 > 0:37:21MacKenzie pre-deceased Collie, and after Collie's death he was buried
0:37:21 > 0:37:26beside his old mountain guide, just along the road at Struan churchyard.
0:37:26 > 0:37:31If you ever get a chance to come in to Sligachan Hotel, have a look at the museum. It's well worth a browse
0:37:31 > 0:37:37and especially on a day like today, when it's pouring wet outside, you can spend a happy hour in here.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48What a difference a day makes.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51Yesterday, when the engineers were taking the poles down,
0:37:51 > 0:37:55you couldn't even see the mountain, but look at it today...mountain perfection.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57This is the sort of view people come to Skye to see.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59It's fantastic.
0:37:59 > 0:38:03I'm going to take this opportunity to take a picture without these dreadful poles.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Great stuff.
0:38:21 > 0:38:27Having enjoyed the hospitality of the Sligachan Inn, it's back into the wilds again.
0:38:27 > 0:38:32I'm going to head down Sligachan with the Red Cuillin on one side and the Black Cuillin
0:38:32 > 0:38:38on the other, and I'm going to cut over to one of my favourite places in Scotland, Loch Coruisk.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41But though the weather has been fantastic this morning, I've got a feeling that
0:38:41 > 0:38:46the sky clouds are gathering, and it may not be so nice this afternoon.
0:38:59 > 0:39:05Sometimes you kind of realise what a privilege it is just to be amongst the Scottish mountains.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07On a day like this morning,
0:39:07 > 0:39:11it's just great to be here with the looming presence of Sgurr nan Gillean
0:39:11 > 0:39:15on one side of the glen, and this great mountain called Marsco.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18It's marvellous just to be here.
0:39:18 > 0:39:23I've been trying to remember the first time I came to the Cuillin.
0:39:23 > 0:39:31I'm pretty sure it was around 1965, and I was just a lad at school
0:39:31 > 0:39:35and I had gone on a course to Glenmore Lodge in the Cairngorms -
0:39:35 > 0:39:37the national mountaineering centre -
0:39:37 > 0:39:41and it was a course organised by Glasgow Corporation education department.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44I went for a month, and it cost 19/6.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50It was probably the best 19/6 I've ever had in my life.
0:39:50 > 0:39:56We had a week at the lodge learning some rope work, learning some navigation and then they brought
0:39:56 > 0:40:00us over here to Skye and the Cuillin and we travelled over in the back of
0:40:00 > 0:40:03an open lorry with a big tarpaulin covering the back.
0:40:03 > 0:40:05It was tremendous.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07We walked round from Glenbrittle round
0:40:07 > 0:40:12to Coruisk, round the coastline, we climbed up the ridge, we climbed Inaccessible Pinnacle,
0:40:12 > 0:40:16we climbed Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Bastier, Bruach na Frithe...
0:40:16 > 0:40:19a fantastic experience.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23So it's kind of great to remember back at those times.
0:40:23 > 0:40:28I think that experience was probably my first taste of the freedom of the Scottish hills.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47It's been a long, long walk
0:40:47 > 0:40:50down a very waterlogged Glen Sligachan.
0:40:50 > 0:40:56But you know, as I splashed my way along the Glen, a curious thing has happened.
0:40:56 > 0:41:03In these sombre surroundings, just started gazing down at my feet, I allowed my mind to open,
0:41:03 > 0:41:09and I have sort of remembered, in extraordinary clarity, some of the old tales of our Celtic heritage.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13And then coming down here and into this cradle in the mountains
0:41:13 > 0:41:18that holds Loch Coruisk, with the river just running past to my
0:41:18 > 0:41:24left and out to sea, it's as though I have come down into the stronghold of Finn MacCool.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26It really is an marvellous place.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30But when you think of the peaks up there, and you think of
0:41:30 > 0:41:34hillwalking and first ascents and bagging peaks,
0:41:34 > 0:41:37it all seems so unimportant in a place like this.
0:41:37 > 0:41:43It's good just to sit here and soak in the heritage of this place...
0:41:43 > 0:41:47probably the grandest place in the whole of Eilean a' Cheo.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50It's marvellous. What I want to do is just to
0:41:50 > 0:41:55sit here for a while and connect with this landscape a wee bit.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57If you would like to go and have a look at some of the
0:41:57 > 0:42:05great views round about here and leave me be for just a few minutes, and then I'll join you very shortly.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35From Loch Coruisk, I'm heading southeast to Camasunary -
0:42:35 > 0:42:39but before I get there, there's one small barrier to negotiate.
0:42:44 > 0:42:49I'm just approaching the infamous bad step.
0:42:49 > 0:42:54Now, one of the legends of Skye suggests that even seasoned mountaineers will jump into
0:42:54 > 0:43:00Loch Scavaig here and swim around the obstacle rather than cross it, but it really is just a legend.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02It's actually not that bad.
0:43:02 > 0:43:07Although I would suggest if you don't have a head for heights, it could just be a tad formidable.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20In the dry, the step is pretty straightforward,
0:43:20 > 0:43:24but in conditions like these, it requires just a little more care.
0:43:27 > 0:43:28Safe at Camasunary...
0:43:28 > 0:43:31and it's time to head onto the tops.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34At 3,044 feet, Bla Bheinn attains
0:43:34 > 0:43:38Munro status, and is one of the finest mountains in Scotland.
0:43:38 > 0:43:43I'm heading up the southern ridge with Alasdair MacPherson, who works for the conservation organisation
0:43:43 > 0:43:47the John Muir Trust, managing the three estates on the island.
0:43:47 > 0:43:52Alasdair is a native of Skye, but like so many other Highlanders, moved away to work.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57Now he's back on the island where his forefathers have lived and worked for generations.
0:43:57 > 0:44:03Well, I was born in Heast, which is about 20 miles away from here and my mother's people are from Elgol.
0:44:04 > 0:44:09My grandfather was a shepherd here for many years on the estate,
0:44:09 > 0:44:13and he was actually born over on Marsco, on the base of Marsco.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17It's the only ruin there within about a radius of 5 to 6 miles.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20- He was born in a black house there? - Right, you can still see the ruins.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23They're about a foot high, but not much more than that.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26There's actually a funny story about the christening in Marsco.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29It's a famous one. I don't know if you've heard of it?
0:44:29 > 0:44:32Because the children had been born there, they hadn't seen
0:44:32 > 0:44:35anyone in their lives walking past there - no walkers then -
0:44:35 > 0:44:41the minister was called from Portree to come and baptise them, christen them,
0:44:41 > 0:44:45and the father had to physically come and drag them out from under
0:44:45 > 0:44:48the bed and cupboards because they had never seen anyone before.
0:44:48 > 0:44:52The minister threw the water on them and they were back where they came from.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55That's quite a famous story in Skye circles.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57What does this landscape mean to you?
0:44:57 > 0:45:01How do you feel when you come up and see this sort of landscape?
0:45:01 > 0:45:03I suppose you feel a lot of freedom.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07After being away for a long time down south, it's good to come home,
0:45:07 > 0:45:10and the freedom you've got here is sort of boundless.
0:45:10 > 0:45:12When you're working here, the beauty is
0:45:12 > 0:45:14part of your job.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16Two bonuses in one.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18I think I enjoy being out and about.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22I'm not an office fella and I don't think you can be in this kind of job.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25I enjoy the stalking on the hill and I enjoy the forestry.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28The forestry takes up probably 70% of my time.
0:45:28 > 0:45:33Working in the wood, getting rid of the conifers and replanting with broad leaves,
0:45:33 > 0:45:37going back to the natural woodlands in the area, biodiversity.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42I enjoy that, and you can see the changes over the years you've been here already.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46A fine viewpoint as this may be, I know it gets better the further up the hill you go,
0:45:46 > 0:45:49- so I think we should head up there. - HE SPEAKS GAELIC
0:45:49 > 0:45:51- Pardon me?!- Er...shall we go?
0:45:51 > 0:45:53Oh, right! Good, good.
0:46:09 > 0:46:10Look at that, look at that.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21What is it, Alistair, about grown men when they see something like
0:46:21 > 0:46:23a golden eagle like that
0:46:23 > 0:46:27and say "Oh, wow!" It sends us off into euphoria.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30I think it's a fact that they were so rare years ago
0:46:30 > 0:46:33and now we've seen three in the space of two minutes.
0:46:33 > 0:46:34It's just magnificent.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37- It's still a thrill, isn't it? - Absolute thrill.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39You do see a lot more sea eagles coming in.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42Although they are not nesting on our estates,
0:46:42 > 0:46:45they come in quite often and hover above the office at Streferie.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49And the goldens are doing quite well in our estates as well.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51They're breeding quite successfully.
0:46:54 > 0:46:59The John Muir Trust is named after the famous Dunbar-born conservationist.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01It has achieved a huge amount of success
0:47:01 > 0:47:03in buying tracts of wild land
0:47:03 > 0:47:06and looking after them in a way John Muir would have approved.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10One of the fundamental principles
0:47:10 > 0:47:14is that the land should be allowed to revert to its natural state.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18- Can we stop for a wee minute? - Uh-huh.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23How difficult is it for an organisation like the John Muir Trust
0:47:23 > 0:47:28to come into an area like Skye and be accepted by the locals?
0:47:28 > 0:47:31With conservation bodies, there's always suspicion
0:47:31 > 0:47:35that people don't know what's going on and the suspicion is still there.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38It's always going to be there,
0:47:38 > 0:47:40but I'd like to think we do have a good balance
0:47:40 > 0:47:44with the three crofting communities on our estates.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47There are, not frictions, but there are differences.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51They will always be there, but at the end of the day we can still talk to them.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54It must help an awful lot having someone like yourself
0:47:54 > 0:47:55who's local and Gaelic speaking.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58Yes, I think it does because a lot of the people
0:47:58 > 0:48:01you were in school with and you've grown up with them.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04You've always liked them or you've always not liked them.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16You can't talk about the John Muir Trust without mentioning John Muir.
0:48:16 > 0:48:21How important a figure is John Muir to you and the work you do here?
0:48:21 > 0:48:24The organisation possibly wouldn't be here without him.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27It sounds kind of corny but you wonder who would have the estate
0:48:27 > 0:48:31if it wasn't for him and the fellas that founded the organisation.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34A very important guy all round. Not just for Scotland,
0:48:34 > 0:48:36but possibly the whole world.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40The first man of his kind that came in to the conservation idea.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44Are those principles he had at the end of the 19th century
0:48:44 > 0:48:47still relevant for us in 21st century Scotland?
0:48:47 > 0:48:51I think they are virtually all relevant. Maybe more now than they were then.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55Then, I think he was thought of as possibly a bit of a crank
0:48:55 > 0:48:59and now to certain people, he's almost a demi-god.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01So I think more important than ever.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07You know, Alistair, any argument that says
0:49:07 > 0:49:10this is not the most astonishing landscape is Britain
0:49:10 > 0:49:12is surely indefensible.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16Absolutely. What a day, huh? It's been just cracking.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19Where else in Britain, indeed in Europe,
0:49:19 > 0:49:21can you see anything like this?
0:49:21 > 0:49:23As far as I'm concerned, nowhere.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26The weather has just made it too, of course.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28- Your Celtic gods are looking after us.- I think so.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56I'm wandering through the village of Torrin,
0:49:56 > 0:49:59a place where the traditional ways of making a living
0:49:59 > 0:50:01by crofting and fishing still exist.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06But from here, I'm heading south to the cleared villages
0:50:06 > 0:50:08of Suisnish and Boreraig.
0:50:08 > 0:50:12Till the mid 19th century, these were both thriving communities.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15Then the landlords decided they could make more money
0:50:15 > 0:50:18by removing the people and bringing in sheep instead.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22I've been looking forward to meeting up with an old friend
0:50:22 > 0:50:26and an expert in the Highland Clearances, David Craig.
0:50:26 > 0:50:30David's spent many years seeking out the stories of the evicted people.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33He achieved what many thought was impossible.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37By delving into the memories of the descendents of the cleared people,
0:50:37 > 0:50:41he established an oral history of that cruel period.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44It's been a while since David was last here
0:50:44 > 0:50:48and as we made our way east along the coast to Boreraig,
0:50:48 > 0:50:52it was obvious he was still very emotional about what he'd heard.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55In Mull, I met a woman called Mary Morrison.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58This was 20 years ago. I hope she's still alive.
0:50:58 > 0:51:03And she was told the story of the Boreraig clearance by her father.
0:51:03 > 0:51:08When they came in and cleared the people and their gear out,
0:51:08 > 0:51:12and of course the basins were standing ready to make the butter,
0:51:12 > 0:51:14well, they extinguished the fires,
0:51:14 > 0:51:16which might have been on the floor or the hearth,
0:51:16 > 0:51:20by pouring the family stock of milk onto the fires.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24Putting out fires with milk.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27It makes me squirm to think of it.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30- Even the smell must have been horrendous.- That's right.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33You know the smell of burnt milk when the pan boils over...
0:51:33 > 0:51:38It certainly went on up in Suisnish, that we've come through,
0:51:38 > 0:51:40because a postman, Alasdair Mackinnon,
0:51:40 > 0:51:44told me about his Grandmother Robertson and they were evicted
0:51:44 > 0:51:47from Suisnish and walked out through Boreraig
0:51:47 > 0:51:49and walked on by the loch side.
0:51:50 > 0:51:55And he says "The estate officers put us out with the usual cruelty,
0:51:55 > 0:51:59"burning the roofs to make the houses uninhabitable
0:51:59 > 0:52:02"so we could not come back and pouring the basins of milk outside."
0:52:04 > 0:52:07And she had told her little grandson that
0:52:07 > 0:52:12"My mother shed more tears that night than we got milk from the cows."
0:52:21 > 0:52:24Is this the first of the houses I see ahead of us, David?
0:52:24 > 0:52:27That's it. This is the frontier. It feels like a frontier.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31That horrible black rock has finished and it's healthy brown rock again.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33I call this the start of Boreraig.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36There will be more houses to see once we get up there.
0:52:38 > 0:52:39It's a while since I've been here.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42Everything's always bigger than you remember.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45This is five times as big as I remember.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49It's what I call a cradle of civilisation.
0:52:51 > 0:52:54You just enter into it and you suddenly feel easy...
0:52:54 > 0:52:59You've arrived. There's a bit of shelter and a bit of grass...
0:52:59 > 0:53:01the sense of calm,
0:53:01 > 0:53:06of well being that comes into you in such a moment as that.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11Today these villages are deserted,
0:53:11 > 0:53:13but, once, they were teeming with life.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17Children played here, people were born here, people died here,
0:53:17 > 0:53:19there was laughter and, no doubt, tears,
0:53:19 > 0:53:21just like any other village in Scotland.
0:53:21 > 0:53:26Everything was going on here and, for all they knew in the 1840s,
0:53:26 > 0:53:28it was going to go on going on here.
0:53:28 > 0:53:32I mean, they were building a super track up the hill there
0:53:32 > 0:53:35and they used to get their mail left
0:53:35 > 0:53:38under a stone up on the hill for them.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41So they were building a future.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44The place was as likely to have a future as not.
0:53:44 > 0:53:48As like any village we live in today and then bang.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55Who can tell how well it would have gone on living in Boreraig
0:53:55 > 0:53:57had they not been cleared,
0:53:57 > 0:54:00but by the look of it, there's a lot of room
0:54:00 > 0:54:03and a lot of arable ground, a lot of room for beasts
0:54:03 > 0:54:04and we know there is good fishing
0:54:04 > 0:54:07because that rock out there, the big bulge,
0:54:07 > 0:54:09is used as a landmark by lobster fishermen.
0:54:09 > 0:54:14So it's a place that has a lot of resources for life.
0:54:17 > 0:54:19Who knows what it would have been like?
0:54:19 > 0:54:25The manner of the Clearing was so harsh that it's hard to think of.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30You've visited many cleared villages throughout the Highlands.
0:54:30 > 0:54:34How significant is Boreraig and Suisnish compared to these others?
0:54:34 > 0:54:38I think there's so much visible, so much in the way of good building
0:54:38 > 0:54:41and there's spaciousness in both the places.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45The best historian about clearances is called Eric Richards, an Australian professor.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50He says it was a bleak place but it's a matter of taste.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55It's not Bournemouth. It's not Sauchiehall Street.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58Is it bleak? It would look less bleak
0:54:58 > 0:55:02if there was potatoes and oats growing and kale and carrots.
0:55:02 > 0:55:04And if there were children running about.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09When you wrote your book on the crofter's trail,
0:55:09 > 0:55:12you spoke to descendants of the people who were cleared.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15How emotional an experience was that?
0:55:15 > 0:55:18It harrowed me. It made my blood boil.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21At least if the story is passed on,
0:55:21 > 0:55:25we've got pieces of the lives that were lived.
0:55:33 > 0:55:37Throughout this walk I've been aware of the echoes of the past
0:55:37 > 0:55:41round every corner, and even now the route is still steeped in history.
0:55:44 > 0:55:46I'm on the final three or four miles now
0:55:46 > 0:55:49of my journey through the Isle of Skye.
0:55:49 > 0:55:54I'm in Strath Suardal and this today is a very peaceful kind of a glen.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56Sheep grazing in the fields,
0:55:56 > 0:55:58the slopes of Beinn na Caillich rise on one side
0:55:59 > 0:56:02and the slopes of Ben Suardal on the other side.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06But you know, 100 years ago, this was a real hive of industry.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09Marble was quarried from the high slopes of Ben Suardal here,
0:56:09 > 0:56:13brought down into the glen, where it was cut and dressed and prepared
0:56:13 > 0:56:17and taken by narrow gauge railway up the length of the Strath
0:56:17 > 0:56:19to Broadford and Broadford Bay,
0:56:19 > 0:56:21where ships would take it all over the world.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25And it's said that this marble from Strath and Skye was even finer
0:56:25 > 0:56:28than that quarried in Carrara in Northern Tuscany in Italy,
0:56:28 > 0:56:32where Michelangelo and some of the great sculptors got their marble from.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34And the marble here from Strath
0:56:34 > 0:56:38was used in the building of the abbey on Iona.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40The middle of last century,
0:56:40 > 0:56:43the mine workings here fell into disrepair
0:56:43 > 0:56:45but I'm delighted to say the Highland Council
0:56:45 > 0:56:47have taken the route of that narrow gauge railway
0:56:47 > 0:56:49all the way up the Strath to Broadford,
0:56:49 > 0:56:52and that's the route I'm finishing this walk on.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55Three or four miles to Broadford and journey's end.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Seven days, 70-odd miles
0:57:18 > 0:57:21and I'm almost there.
0:57:23 > 0:57:27It's always a bit sad coming to the end of a long walk like this one,
0:57:27 > 0:57:31but in this case the sadness has been tempered by some wonderful memories,
0:57:31 > 0:57:35some great experiences and I think of our high camp above the waves
0:57:35 > 0:57:38at the very tip of Trotternish by Rubha Hunish,
0:57:38 > 0:57:41watching minke whales just offshore,
0:57:41 > 0:57:44or wandering down the long ridge of Trotternish,
0:57:44 > 0:57:48searching for Iceland purslane, that very rare plant.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51I think too of wandering down Glen Sligachan
0:57:51 > 0:57:55with Sgurr nan Gillean rising on one side and Marsco on the other side.
0:57:55 > 0:57:58And that wonderful ascent of Blaven.
0:57:58 > 0:58:04Surely the finest of mountains on this island of fine mountains.
0:58:04 > 0:58:07And at this time, at the end of a journey, I think of
0:58:07 > 0:58:11that great symbol of the Celtic world, the endless knot.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13The knot without beginning nor end.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16As I sit here at the end of this journey,
0:58:16 > 0:58:18I like to think I'm going forward to a new beginning
0:58:18 > 0:58:22and I'll tell you, it's not going to be very long
0:58:22 > 0:58:25before I return again to Eilean a' Cheo, the Isle of Skye.
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