0:22:50 > 0:22:57.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29I'm in Moffat Dale in Dumfries and Galloway,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31at the foot of the Grey Mare's Tail.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Now, this isn't the highest waterfall in Scotland,
0:23:36 > 0:23:38but it certainly is one of the most impressive.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41It's a waterfall that's inspired generations of climbers
0:23:41 > 0:23:43to come here in the winter,
0:23:43 > 0:23:47when it's all iced up into this great chute of green ice.
0:23:47 > 0:23:48But it's also a waterfall
0:23:48 > 0:23:51that's inspired generations of writers and poets,
0:23:51 > 0:23:53including Sir Walter Scott.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09I remember coming up here years and years ago,
0:24:09 > 0:24:12and to be perfectly honest, the path was quite dangerous.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15But the National Trust for Scotland, who look after this area,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19have done a really good job in making the path quite effective.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Mildly unaesthetic, I would say.
0:24:22 > 0:24:23But effective.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Sir Walter Scott once said that any poet,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37no matter how poor his attainment, can write about waterfalls.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40And over the years, lots of poets have written
0:24:40 > 0:24:44describing waterfalls and cataracts as the voices of the mountains.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48But maybe the most famous waterfall poem of them all
0:24:48 > 0:24:51is Gerard Manley Hopkins's poem, Inversnaid.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56'His rollrock highroad roaring down,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59'In coop and in Coombe the fleece of his foam
0:24:59 > 0:25:03'Flutes and low to the lake falls home.'
0:25:03 > 0:25:04And that's the poem
0:25:04 > 0:25:08that finishes with that emphatic plea for wildness.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12'Where would the world be if bereft of wet and wildness?
0:25:12 > 0:25:14'Let them be left,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18'O let them be left, wildness and wet,
0:25:18 > 0:25:20'Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.'
0:25:38 > 0:25:42The Grey Mare's Tail is actually the waters of the Tail Burn,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45which fall down from this big, high-level basin
0:25:45 > 0:25:47that holds Loch Skeen.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49And one of the great features of this walk
0:25:49 > 0:25:53is you suddenly come out of the narrow confines of the gulley,
0:25:53 > 0:25:56into the sort of wide-open landscape, with hills all round you.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Now, we won't see Loch Skeen for a wee while,
0:25:58 > 0:26:00but we can see our objective for the day,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03White Coombe, which is that hill away up there.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05And that's where I'm heading for right now.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16It's a completely different walking experience here,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19for a start, there's no Gaelic placenames.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22All the names here have a kind of fundamental earthiness
0:26:22 > 0:26:24that I quite enjoy.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26Not far from here, there's a boggy section,
0:26:26 > 0:26:28and it goes by the name of Rotten Bottom.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31And behind me, there's quite a steep slope
0:26:31 > 0:26:34that goes by the name of Muckle Knees.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36And I tell you, when you descend that and get to the bottom,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38you're suffering from knackered knees.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41And not very far away, by the Meggett Reservoir,
0:26:41 > 0:26:43there's a kind of intriguing placename,
0:26:43 > 0:26:47that goes by the name of Dead For Cauld.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50And I'd love to know the story behind that particular name.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03You see Loch Skeen down behind me.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Well-frozen.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07Sir Walter Scott described it as,
0:27:07 > 0:27:12"Dark Loch Skeen, where eagles scream from shore to shore."
0:27:12 > 0:27:14I think there's a wee bit of poetic licence there,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17but I'm sure you'll agree with me that it's a wonderful area.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20These South Tweedsmuir hills have so much to offer,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23and it almost surprises me that so many walkers
0:27:23 > 0:27:25head south for the Lake District down the M74.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27The other direction, people head north
0:27:27 > 0:27:30intent on getting to the Highlands, and miss out this marvellous area.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40I can see the summit appearing now.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42And thank goodness!
0:27:42 > 0:27:44When we started off it was springtime.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Up here, it's back into winter again.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01Here we've got the summit of White Coombe.
0:28:01 > 0:28:062,696 feet above sea level.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09And it's a bitterly cold summit today,
0:28:09 > 0:28:11but with extraordinarily clear views, it's wonderful,
0:28:11 > 0:28:14I can see away across to the Cheviot,
0:28:14 > 0:28:17away across to the Northumberlands, all covered in snow,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19and then you can see the start of the high Pennines,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21and away across the Solway Firth there,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24the snow-covered tops of the Lake District.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27And to the north, it really is quite remarkable.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Just across the border hills, a great big line of white mountains,
0:28:31 > 0:28:33almost looks like the distant Himalayas from here,
0:28:33 > 0:28:35I kid you not.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37It's the Highland Line, the Highlands of Scotland.
0:28:37 > 0:28:39It's fantastic, so you can see from the Highlands
0:28:39 > 0:28:41right down into England.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43But, aye, it's too cold to linger today,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46so what I'm going to do is head back down,
0:28:46 > 0:28:49find myself a nice little tea shop, and get warm again.
0:28:49 > 0:28:50So see you next time.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd