A Wild Walk on Beinn Tianavaig Wild Walks


A Wild Walk on Beinn Tianavaig

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I'm in the tiny hamlet of Camastianavaig on the east coast of the Isle of Skye.

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Today, I'm going to do something I've never done before.

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I'm going to climb a hill for the Adventure Show on which

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I have never ever set foot in my life before.

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If you don't mind giving me just a few moments,

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I have to check the map just to find out

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how I get from here through the houses onto the hill itself.

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Aha! That's a good clue.

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So why am I taking on a walk that I've never done myself?

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Sometimes it's nice to climb a hill, not because it's a Munro

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or a Corbett or on any of the mountain lists,

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but because you simply just fancy it.

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It takes your fancy. This hill - Beinn Tianavaig

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on the east coast of Skye, I've seen it so many times

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and I've always thought, "I must climb that wee hill one day."

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Wow, that's steep.

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Beinn Tianavaig is part of a long basalt escarpment

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that rises beyond the tip of the Trotternish Peninsula.

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It follows the peninsula right down past Portree

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and goes right down to the shores

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of Loch Sligachan in the south.

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The slopes rise fairly gently up from the west, get to a peak,

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then fall precipitously right down here into the Sound of Raasay.

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It means, when you do this walk, you can follow this cliff line

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all the way up to the summit and it's very, very dramatic.

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Beinn Tianavaig is only 1,355ft.

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It's pretty miniscule in terms of the mountains here on Skye.

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If you took this hill and you put it on, say, in the Lake District,

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then I bet there'd be dozens and dozens of people on it every day.

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The Braes was the locality for what some people would say

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was the last battle on British soil.

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That took place in 1882.

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There had been longstanding disputes with crofters over grazing rights

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and the landowner became frustrated and brought 50 policemen north

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from the City of Glasgow police force to try to sort out these disputes.

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What occurred was a raging battle with crofters on one side

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with sticks and stones and the policemen on the other with their truncheons.

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Five men were arrested and taken to Inverness

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and a number of people were injured.

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Really, the outcome of that battle was a public inquiry

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called for by Prime Minister Gladstone.

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The result of that was a document called the Napier Report

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which really more or less defined crofting as we know if today.

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Beinn Tianavaig will be familiar

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to most people as the big mountain

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that dominates the south side of Portree Bay.

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Indeed, you can see Portree and the bay from the summit on a clear day.

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You can look right down almost into the town.

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Portree used to be called Kiltraglen

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but the name was changed in 1540 after a visit by King James V.

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The town and the bay were re-named

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Port-an-Righ which is the "port of royalty"

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or the "port of the kings".

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Looks like the summit just ahead.

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At last!

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Well, here we are.

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1,355ft above sea level

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and this mountain seems almost twice that height.

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On a day like this when it's misty and cloudy, you can't see very much,

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there's false summit after false summit

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and you never think you're getting to the top.

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I was mighty relieved to see this old trig point

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on the actual summit.

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I wish I could tell you a wee bit about the views, but I can't see very much.

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Trotternish is that way.

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I know that and the Cuillins down that way. Rasaay is behind me.

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Other than that, I can't see too much today.

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But for the moment, we're up here in the cloud

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and there is a silver lining to this particular cloud.

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It means that I'm going to have to come back

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and climb this hill again on a good day so I can get the views.

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Not that I need an excuse to some and climb a hill for a second time,

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but that's as good as excuse as any.

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Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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