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PAUL MURTON: The lochan-studded
expanse of Rannoch Moor -
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00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:11,640
an icon of the untamed.
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00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:14,280
A true wilderness.
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00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,280
And once a place
of thieves and wild men.
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00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,520
For generations, the West Highlands
were considered to be
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a dangerous place.
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00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:25,040
A country to be tamed.
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First the first militarily came,
and then the engineers
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and they built roads and railways,
and harnessed the power of nature.
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Lochs are Scotland's gift
to the world
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and are the product of an element
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that we have
in spectacular abundance -
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00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:43,840
Water.
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It has been estimated that
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00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,480
there are more than
31,000 lochs in Scotland.
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They come in all shapes and sizes,
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from long fjord-like sea lochs,
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great freshwater lochs
of the central Highlands -
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00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,320
to the innumerable lochans
that stud the open moors.
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00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:05,800
In this series,
I'm on a loch-hopping journey
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across Scotland, discovering
how they shape the character
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00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:11,960
of the people who live
close to their shores.
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For this grand tour,
I'm taking a walk on the wild side.
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My journey starts on
the beautiful banks of Loch Tulla,
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crosses Rannoch Moor,
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and then by Loch Rannoch
and Loch Tummel I will go.
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It reaches journey's end
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on a faery mountain.
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Loch Tulla lies on the southern edge
of the great Rannoch Moor.
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This wild country was first settled
thousands of years ago.
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To see the evidence of habitation
for myself,
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I'm being ferried out
to a tiny island
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called Eilean Stalcair,
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where some of the first people
to lead settled lives
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00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:08,480
in this part of Scotland
made their home.
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It's known as a crannog -
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that's an artificial island built
to keep the occupants safe
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from wild animals
and from their human enemies
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raiding and plundering.
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Back in the Iron Age,
over 2,000 years ago,
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the crannog would have been
a defensive home
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to an extended family,
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living in a thatched timber house
sitting on wooden stilts
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above the water.
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Crannogs were once very common.
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At least 600 have been identified
by archaeologists
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in Scotland's lochs.
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The earliest belong to the Stone Age.
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Others were used
for hundreds of years.
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This crannog was occupied
up until the 14th century
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00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,600
by Clan MacGregor, who once
dominated this whole area.
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When they lost it to the Campbells,
their bard wrote a lament
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recalling their "happy days
on the shores of Loch Tulla,"
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and I can see why
they were sad to leave it.
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It's amazing to think
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that during the last ice age,
the whole of Rannoch Moor
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was covered by a great icecap.
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As the glaciers melted,
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they created
the loch-studded landscape
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we're familiar with today.
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Most of the moor lies
over 400 metres above sea level.
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In winter, its many lochans
are covered in ice,
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which makes the prospect of
taking a dunk in one of them -
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even in summer -
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less than appealing.
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I meet Calum MacLean
on the banks of Loch Ba.
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He's a devotee of wild swimming -
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a rather grand name for something
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that people have been doing
for years.
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Calum blogs about
his watery adventures,
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which take him to
some extreme locations,
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including an icebound lochan
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high in
the frozen Cairngorm mountains.
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Today he invites me
to take a plunge in water
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that is thankfully ice-free.
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Do you ever actually measure
the temperatures scientifically?
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Oh, I never measure the temperature
with an actual thermometer.
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I think that's far too
scientific for me I think.
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I usually stick my toe in
and depending on how much it hurts
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and how much I scream, that's
how cold the water is that day.
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Are we going to be
screaming, do you think?
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When we get in,
it's going to hurt,
that's usually what happens.
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It never gets easier.
Heart-stopping?
Possibly, yeah.
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00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:36,960
Is there a gradation of wildness
you're looking for?
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How does this compare, Loch Ba?
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Where we are here,
it's quite calm you know.
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We're not too far from the road.
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But yeah, I've been to some
more extreme places, you might say.
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The Gulf of Corryvreckan
between Jura and Scarba.
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That was a particularly fun one
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where the current sweeps through.
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It's one of the biggest whirlpools,
I think, around.
(LAUGHTER)
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Luckily, it was a slack tide
so we were OK.
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But were you not scared?
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I wasn't scared, no.
I was excited more than scared.
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So, it's adrenaline
rather than just pure fear?
That's right, yeah.
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Ah, I'm ready for this.
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You ready?
Ready for anything.
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Right.
How does it feel so far?
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It's fine, I'm wearing a wet suit.
(CHUCKLES)
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The plan today is for Calum
to swim the length of Loch Ba.
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I'm going to try my best
to keep up with him,
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at least as far as the nearby island
of Eilean Mollach.
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Perhaps I should have
brought my rubber ring.
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But at least my wet suit means
I shouldn't die of hypothermia.
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Well, it's really quite cold
out here I have to say, Calum.
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Thank you so much for bringing me out
for this wonderful experience.
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(LAUGHS)
But the views are amazing.
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They are.
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It's like a kind of trout's eye view.
It is.
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But yeah, it's a fantastic way
to see this beautiful landscape
around us.
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And we're in the middle
of Rannoch moor.
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Who would have thought it?
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Exactly, lots of people
come here for walking, hiking.
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How many people come here to swim?
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Very few. I wonder why?
(CHUCKLES)
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My problem is that
I've only ever really swam
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a maximum of about 10 lengths before
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00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,120
and what we're proposing to do
must be a good bit more than that,
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00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:14,040
about 10 times more than that.
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So I'm not sure I'd be able
to make it all the way.
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I think you might be right.
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I reckon it's about half
a kilometre or so.
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Urgh, well I'm getting
a bit tired now.
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Oh, look, I can stand up!
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Oh!
(LAUGHS)
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There's no need to panic at all.
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I can literally walk
to this island if I need to.
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That's right, yeah.
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You've invited me here for a swim
but it's a bit more of a walk.
We could walk the whole way.
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I'm going to stroll over this way,
if you don't mind.
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Unfortunately,
our reception committee onshore
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is a swarm of vicious midges.
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Oh, wade the last few feet
to the shore.
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00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:53,600
Well, Calum, I'm afraid I'm not
going to be able to make it,
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I'm just a bit too peched,
so, if you don't mind,
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I think I'll just wait for a boat.
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So, good luck, my friend.
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OK, well, I'll leave
you with the midges then, Paul.
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Happy wild swimming.
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There he goes. Good luck, Calum.
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(BUZZING)
These midges really are horrendous.
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It's time to move on.
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Fleeing the swarms of
miniature blood-sucking beasties,
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I leave Loch Ba, and follow
the old road west, across the moor.
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It was built by the great
18th century engineer Thomas Telford
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and follows the route
of an older military road
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built to suppress
the lawless and rebellious clans
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who had made this
wild stretch of country their home.
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Nearing the high point
on Telford's road,
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I'm looking for
a little-known monument
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to a remarkable man.
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Much of the western half
of Rannoch Moor
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has been owned for many years
by the Fleming family.
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Now, the most famous member
of the family has to be Ian Fleming,
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the author and creator
of James Bond 007.
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But what a lot of people don't know
is that Ian had an older brother
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who, at one time, was much
the more famous of the two.
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Long before Ian Fleming
had put creative pen to paper,
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Peter Fleming was already
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a successful travel writer
and novelist.
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During the war, he worked
for British intelligence
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and drew on his experience
to write a spy thriller.
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The Sixth Column
was described by critics
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as the blueprint for
his younger brother's Bond story,
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Casino Royale.
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Despite the similarities,
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Peter encouraged
Ian's literary endeavours
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and even suggested
the name 'Miss Moneypenny'.
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He loved the outdoors
and was an enthusiastic sportsman
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with a passion for shooting.
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But it was out here on the wilds
of Rannoch Moor
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that he suddenly and unexpectedly
died of a heart attack.
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And this cairn marks
the exact spot where he fell -
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a memorial to a remarkable life
and an unsung literary hero.
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Journeying into the heart
of Rannoch Moor,
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I encounter
its biggest loch by far -
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Loch Laidon.
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A faint path follows the shoreline.
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And after a 14-mile hike,
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I come across
an unexpected sight -
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a railway station apparently
in the middle of nowhere.
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Rannoch station is one of
the remotest in the country.
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Despite this,
trains from London stop here.
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Hi! Paul.
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To find out about the line
that crosses Rannoch Moor,
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I'm meeting up with railway historian
and photographer Norman McNab.
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00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:53,120
Now, Norman, why build a railway line
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through such a desolate expanse
of moorland?
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Well, there was a need
to open up the West Highlands.
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It was a particular desire
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00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,760
to get a connection from Glasgow
to Fort William and then onward
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00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:05,440
from Fort William
to the west coast sea,
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00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:08,720
to tap into
the lucrative herring industry.
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00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,600
And you've got to remember
that the road across Rannoch Moor
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00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:15,200
to the west by Corrie Ba
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00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:16,720
was a very, very...
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00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:18,920
It was nothing much more
than a rough track,
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00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,120
as it was in the days
of the stagecoach.
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00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:23,440
So getting to Fort William
was very hard.
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00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:26,800
Over the course of eight years,
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00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,840
5,000 navvies toiled
in horrendous conditions
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00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,040
to build the railway across the moor,
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00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,600
where deep peat banks forced
the engineers to float the line
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00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,120
on rafts of brushwood and ash.
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00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,480
The first passenger services
eventually began in 1894.
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00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,800
What's interesting to me,
to celebrate the opening of the line,
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00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,480
this wonderful book here,
Mountain, Moor And Loch,
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00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,400
was produced when this line
was opened,
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00:10:55,560 --> 00:10:58,320
presumably to encourage
a wealthier sort of visitor.
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00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:00,360
Yep, yeah, yes. Absolutely.
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00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,920
It's a beautifully
illustrated book as well.
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00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:06,920
The poetry of it all
was bound to enthuse people.
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00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:08,960
"From the window of
a railway carriage,
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00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,200
"it is the reverse of wearisome."
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00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:13,800
As true today as it was
when it was written.
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00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,400
And of course, you can tell
the character of a person,
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00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:19,080
man or woman, by their attitude
to crossing Rannoch Moor.
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00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:21,960
Now, they're either stimulated
and excited by it,
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00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:23,600
and wondrously so,
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00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:25,480
or they find it a boring place.
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00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:27,160
How do you find it?
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00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,800
Well, I find it
a very stimulating place.
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00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:38,960
Norman and wants to get a shot
of the London sleeper train
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00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:42,760
crossing the famous Rannoch Viaduct,
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00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:45,760
so we set off over the heather
to get into position.
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00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,680
It's a great view of the viaduct.
Yep.
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00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,680
This is absolutely ideal, Paul.
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00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:53,240
All we want is the light.
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00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:54,880
What are you looking for
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00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:57,440
when you come to choose a location
to take a photograph?
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00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,480
Well, I'm looking for composition
which sets the train
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00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:04,120
within the landscape,
so the train is just part of it.
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00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:09,040
Its primarily to give the impression
of the scenery and the location.
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00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:15,760
Particularly to bring over
this aspect of the wild openness.
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00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:18,240
And it's something unique
to the West Highland Line
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00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:19,880
as it crosses over Rannoch moor.
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00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:21,680
It has real drama.
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00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:24,520
With the lighting
and the clear visibility
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00:12:24,680 --> 00:12:26,360
it can be quite fantastic.
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00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:30,520
(TRAIN BLOWS HORN)
242
00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:33,640
OK, after all the waiting,
here comes the train.
OK.
243
00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,080
Check the lens cap is off
and the power is on.
244
00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:37,520
This is very exciting!
245
00:12:37,680 --> 00:12:40,720
And this is the moment, Paul.
This is what we've been waiting for.
246
00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:43,640
Yeah.
One, two... You getting this? Three.
247
00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,920
That's brilliant.
Yeah.
Whoa!
248
00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,960
Do you wave at trains, Norman?
Yes, you do!
249
00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:51,360
Hey!
250
00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:53,280
They're waving back, look.
251
00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:55,560
Yes, I'm not sure
about that gesture though, Norman.
252
00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:57,000
(LAUGHS)
253
00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,120
Having got our shot of the train -
254
00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:03,720
suitably invested with
the drama of a desolate location -
255
00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:08,160
I leave Norman
and explore the loch-studded moor,
256
00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:10,240
where I'm fascinated to see
ancient tree roots
257
00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,520
protruding from the dark peat.
258
00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:17,000
All across the moor,
you come across roots like this
259
00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:18,960
sticking out of the peat.
260
00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,840
These are the remains
of a once-great forest
261
00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,200
that covered this desolate expanse
thousands of years ago.
262
00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,160
Many of the roots are pine trees.
263
00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,040
Early victims of climate change.
264
00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,040
Just after the last ice age,
265
00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,120
the climate is thought to have been
warmer and drier than now,
266
00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:42,520
encouraging the spread
of forest cover.
267
00:13:42,680 --> 00:13:44,000
But then things changed.
268
00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:48,760
It got wetter and cooler,
and moss thrived,
269
00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:51,200
which developed into layers of peat.
270
00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:53,840
This eventually
suffocated the forests,
271
00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:55,960
but preserved the remains of trees
272
00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,360
which once grew here
thousands of years ago.
273
00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:01,680
My old railway guide,
Mountain Moor And Loch,
274
00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,120
mentions the curious sight
of so many old tree roots
275
00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:07,360
on an otherwise treeless moor
276
00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:10,880
and goes on to explain
that local folk
277
00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:13,480
used to use this peat pine
as candles.
278
00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:16,560
They would dry it out,
break it into little splinters
279
00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,400
and then light the splinters
which made excellent candles
280
00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:21,440
to spin wool by.
281
00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:23,360
Not that the local folk
had much choice
282
00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:25,520
in the matter of their illumination
283
00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,200
because candles
were far too expensive.
284
00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:35,640
Reaching the road,
I pick up a push bike and pedal west,
285
00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:40,680
following the River Gaur as it
makes its way down to Loch Rannoch,
286
00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:45,640
which, in the days of the Jacobites,
was an unruly place indeed.
287
00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,600
This was a wild country
without roads,
288
00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,000
presided over by a warrior chief.
289
00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:54,960
Alexander Struan Robertson
is the only man
290
00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:59,040
known to have taken part
in all three Jacobite risings.
291
00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,520
But Struan Robertson
had gentler beginnings.
292
00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,320
He was actually a divinity student
at St Andrew's University
293
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:12,520
when he joined the first
Jacobite rebellion in 1689,
294
00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:17,280
In 1715, he was captured
at the Battle of Sheriffmuir,
295
00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:19,840
but then escaped to France.
296
00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:24,200
And then in 1745, at the age of 75,
297
00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,760
the old warrior marched off to join
Bonnie Prince Charlie,
298
00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:31,520
whose defeat at Culloden
cost him dear.
299
00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:36,080
The estates of Struan Robertson
were forfeited,
300
00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,000
and he lived out the rest of his days
in a cottage
301
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,160
close to the great
Black Wood of Rannoch.
302
00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:44,920
Today, the Black Wood is one of
the largest areas
303
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,640
of ancient Caledonian pine forest
left in the country.
304
00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,840
The Scots pine
is the dominant tree species here.
305
00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,440
In Latin it's known as
Pinus sylvestris,
306
00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,360
but you have to be very careful
how you pronounce it
307
00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,560
if you want to avoid offence.
308
00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:06,480
And I'm being as careful as I can.
309
00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,680
Pinus, or Pinus sylvestris
as it's known,
310
00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,480
has recently been voted
as Scotland's national tree.
311
00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:15,680
And here in the Black Wood of Rannoch
312
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:17,760
are many fine old specimens,
313
00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:22,000
including this one which must
have been a mere sapling
314
00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:24,000
when Struan Robertson lived here.
315
00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:27,560
Amazing to think
of all that history it has seen.
316
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,320
Struan Robertson wouldn't recognise
my next destination.
317
00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:38,240
Nestling beneath the peak
of Schiehallion is Kinloch Rannoch.
318
00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,080
It's a quiet, respectable
sort of place.
319
00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,760
But when the old clan chief
was alive,
320
00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,400
this area was at the heart
of a rebellious community.
321
00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:49,920
When the Jacobites
were finally defeated,
322
00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:54,520
it became a refuge
for desperate hungry men on the run.
323
00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:58,560
Because the people were starving,
the retuning warriors
324
00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:01,600
had to resort to theft to keep their
families alive,
325
00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,280
and soon Rannoch
acquired a reputation
326
00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,040
for cattle rustling and lawlessness.
327
00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:10,960
A captain of the army
of the occupation wrote,
328
00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:14,560
"The people of this country are
the greatest thieves in Scotland
329
00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,120
"and were all in the late rebellion."
330
00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:22,720
But within a few years the village
of Kinloch Rannoch was established.
331
00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:24,480
Schools and churches were built
332
00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,440
in an attempt to civilise
the wild clans folk.
333
00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:30,480
And it seems to have worked.
334
00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:33,120
There's not a rebellious Jacobite
to be seen!
335
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:42,160
Leaving Kinloch Rannoch,
I take the old military road,
336
00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:44,760
following the southern shores
of Loch Tummel.
337
00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:49,680
After its warlike history,
it now seems the epitome of peace.
338
00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:53,040
And what could be more peaceful
than sailing?
339
00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:56,960
Loch Tummel has become
a favourite location
340
00:17:57,120 --> 00:17:58,680
for lovers of water sports,
341
00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:01,120
and dinghy sailing in particular.
342
00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:03,080
Despite the gale that's blowing,
343
00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,320
I throw caution to the wind
344
00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:07,200
and join veteran sailor Jim
345
00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:09,960
and his crew member Amanda,
dodging other boats
346
00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:12,440
as squalls race across the water.
347
00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,040
So, are we going to jibe
or are we going to go about?
348
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,600
Oh, no, we're going to go about
in this weather. (LAUGHS)
349
00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,480
Would you normally be coming out
to the loch in this weather?
350
00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:23,320
Not normally, no.
351
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,680
This is just for
a bit of fun, really.
352
00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:27,880
AMANDA: So, if you look upwind,
353
00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:31,280
you can see dark patches
are sitting on the water
354
00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,280
and some of them have
more ripples the others
355
00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:36,680
and that's generally when
your squalls are coming in,
356
00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:38,960
when your boat will start
to keel over quite quickly.
357
00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:41,040
It could flatten you completely?
Yes.
358
00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:42,560
Which we don't want.
No.
359
00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:44,360
When did you start sailing?
360
00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,160
About 1949.
Good grief! Really?
Yep.
361
00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:49,040
Well, it's done you well, hasn't it?
Yeah.
362
00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,880
So, no disrespect,
but you really are an old sea dog?
363
00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:57,120
Well, I'd hardly say an old sea dog
364
00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:59,240
but we're all wrinkly, anyhow!
365
00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:01,600
You've spent a life time
at the tiller.
366
00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:08,440
As we tack backwards and forwards
across the loch,
367
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,120
Jim tells me
we're sailing over land
368
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:12,920
that was once farmed.
369
00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,040
There are even the ruins
370
00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:17,880
of an ancient Clan Menzies
hunting lodge beneath our keel.
371
00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:22,480
Everything was drowned in the 1950s
when the loch was dammed.
372
00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,600
Intrigued, I leave Jim's boat
and cycle 11km
373
00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,440
to Loch Tummel's famous Queen's View
374
00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,600
to see for myself how the landscape
has been altered
375
00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:35,680
by this man-made flood.
376
00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,160
Now this really is a grand view
377
00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:43,640
and one worthy of royal appreciation,
378
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,880
but you can tell from
this old photograph postcard
379
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:48,800
that was taken in the 1930s
380
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,840
just how much it has been altered
by the rising water levels.
381
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,880
There's a whole area of land here
that's been flooded.
382
00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,320
And the tiny island in
the background is, in the photograph,
383
00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:03,800
nothing more than a wooded hill
beside the River Tummel.
384
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,280
It's all drowned now
385
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,880
but still rather beautiful.
386
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:15,720
Just around the corner
from Queen's View is the Clunie Dam.
387
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:19,520
Built in 1951, it holds back
the weight of Loch Tummel
388
00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,280
and water from a vast catchment area,
389
00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,480
all part of a hugely ambitious
hydro-electric scheme.
390
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:33,040
This archive film from the 1950s
shows the dramatic scale
391
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,920
of the engineering works
that were undertaken
392
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,480
to harness the power of water
and turn it into electricity
393
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,280
for the Highlands and beyond.
394
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:48,400
An army of men toiled
day and night, deep underground,
395
00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:51,320
drilling and blasting their way
through solid rock
396
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:55,840
to divert the flow of water
into a network of dams.
397
00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,640
This is the Clunie Memorial Arch.
398
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:02,080
It actually shares
399
00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:04,480
the same dimensions as the tunnel
400
00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:06,440
that was built to carry water
401
00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:08,840
from the loch to the power station.
402
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,880
And it clearly shows the scale
of the tunnel,
403
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:13,360
which, at the time,
404
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:17,000
was the largest of its type
built in Britain.
405
00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,200
And there are names
inscribed here too, look,
406
00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:21,840
to remind people
407
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,160
of the human cost of the project.
408
00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:28,440
There are seven massive structures
409
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,360
that make up
the huge hydro-electric scheme.
410
00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:36,840
At the nearby Pitlochry dam
I meet up with Gonna O'Donnell,
411
00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,560
one of the famous Tunnel Tigers
412
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:45,040
who collectively dug over 400 miles
of tunnels in Scotland.
413
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:49,440
The first job you went and got
in a tunnel was a spanner man.
414
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:53,400
That's the man that held
the drill for the driller
415
00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:55,400
that was drilling the holes.
416
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:57,400
You held that drill,
417
00:21:57,560 --> 00:21:59,160
but you couldn't wear gloves,
418
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:01,040
no-one had any earmuffs.
419
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:04,400
I was stone deaf,
completely stone deaf.
420
00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:06,840
The men on the tunnels,
they were miners.
421
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:08,760
Some of them were platelayers.
422
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:10,960
That's the men that look after
the railway line.
423
00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,440
They were platelayers and then
you had the powder monkey.
424
00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:16,320
He was looking after the explosives.
425
00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:17,680
Then you had the loco driver.
426
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,040
He was taking in and out
what we called the muck.
427
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,080
That was the gravel and stones.
428
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:23,880
We called that muck.
429
00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:25,640
It must have been
very dangerous work.
430
00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:28,680
Everything is dangerous
when you don't know.
431
00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:31,720
When I went in first,
everybody looked after me
432
00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,200
and anybody that came in after me,
I looked after him,
433
00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:38,520
and if I saw a stone hanging
above you when you were drilling,
434
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,160
if I saw a stone,
435
00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:42,760
maybe a tonne weight
or a half-a-tonne weight
436
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:44,360
or 500 weight,
437
00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:47,280
I would push you
out of the road and point up.
438
00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,760
I mean, it was a waste of time
trying to talk,
nobody could hear you.
439
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:57,080
Gonna lived on-site in a camp
high on the mountainside,
440
00:22:57,240 --> 00:22:59,320
surrounded by hundreds of other men.
441
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:01,560
Many had come from Ireland,
442
00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:03,320
others from Eastern Europe,
443
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,920
having fled the cold war
to work on the hydro scheme.
444
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,600
When you come back to Scotland
and you see these amazing dams,
445
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:13,400
what does that make you feel?
446
00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:16,720
Er, what do I say?
It makes me feel about 18 feet tall.
(LAUGHS)
447
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:18,840
It makes me very proud
448
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,280
that I was a small part of it,
449
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,920
a very small part of it,
but I was there.
450
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,040
In the archive room
at the Pitlochry dam,
451
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:33,240
I meet up with Brian Haslam.
452
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,520
Brian was a young
engineering graduate
453
00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,320
when he first worked on the dams.
454
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,160
I was excited. Um...
455
00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:45,360
I don't know why
but I had faith in my own ability.
456
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:47,160
The engineering
side didn't bother me.
457
00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,160
I felt quite confident,
but I hadn't got a clue.
458
00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,160
When I first went in a tunnel,
I didn't know.
459
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:54,160
I could have been on the moon
for all I knew.
460
00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:56,080
It's a great collective effort.
Oh, yeah.
461
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,000
When we look at some of
these pictures here,
462
00:23:58,160 --> 00:23:59,640
you can see men working together
463
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,480
on really complicated,
difficult tasks.
464
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:03,640
Yeah.
465
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:05,840
Using huge pieces of machinery.
466
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:07,880
That was just
making a machine there.
Yeah.
467
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,240
Now, what's happening here?
This is the Blondin.
468
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:11,840
It's a sort of aerial ropeway
469
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,560
that carried the concrete
across the dam,
470
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,240
named after the guy
who walked over Niagara Falls.
471
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,520
Ah, so you were flying concrete?
472
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:20,720
Yup, yeah.
473
00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:22,640
From one side of the glen
to the other.
474
00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:24,560
Yeah, we were doing just that.
475
00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:27,920
So, what have we got here? We've got
this very precarious business.
(LAUGHTER)
476
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,160
They look like they're about
to disappear into the maw of hell!
477
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:32,800
This is just an example
478
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:35,760
of the health and safety rules
at the time.
479
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:38,080
Which was zilch.
Nonexistent really, yeah.
480
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,440
What do you think is
your most abiding memory
481
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,040
of working on these tunnels?
482
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,080
Four years of...
483
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:48,800
..happiness.
484
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:50,520
Really? Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
485
00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,560
I get quite nostalgic
about this, and um...
486
00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:01,040
I grew up when I came
to the schemes.
487
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,160
I met the big, wide world.
488
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:08,200
I met wonderful people,
was doing a wonderful job
489
00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:09,840
in a wonderful place.
490
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:11,600
I know being inside a tunnel
491
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:13,360
doesn't sound like
a wonderful place.
492
00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:14,720
But the company was good?
493
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:16,880
Somebody once said to me
it was like a family.
494
00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,400
And you were, you looked after
each other. That was it.
495
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:22,560
And that stuck with me.
496
00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:28,920
Leaving the legacy
of dams and tunnels,
497
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,800
which are still
generating electricity
498
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,120
from the wild waters of Rannoch,
499
00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:36,320
I head to my final destination -
500
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:38,680
the shapely peak of Schiehallion.
501
00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:44,360
This mountain was once considered
sacred by the early people
502
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:46,000
who lived in its shadow -
503
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:50,040
a magical place
and the haunt of faery folk.
504
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:54,200
But in the 18th century,
Schiehallion was tamed by science
505
00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:58,560
in a brilliant experiment
to determine the mass of the Earth.
506
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:03,240
To do this, you first needed to work
out the mass of something smaller -
507
00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:05,040
like a mountain.
508
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:09,760
In 1775, the astronomer royal
Nevil Maskelyne
509
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:13,120
and the mathematician
Charles Hutton chose Schiehallion
510
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:14,760
for their experiment
511
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:18,320
because of the mountain's
regular, conical shape.
512
00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,800
If you look at any
OS map you can see quite clearly
513
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:23,640
from the contour lines
514
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,000
just how uniform the mountain is.
515
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:29,440
Now, they're placed
at 10 metres apart, these lines.
516
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:32,520
Interestingly, Charles Hutton,
the mathematician
517
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:34,240
actually invented contour lines
518
00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:36,200
to help him with his calculations
519
00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:38,720
to work out the volume
of Schiehallion.
520
00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:42,480
It's an amazing thought
that the very first contour lines
521
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:45,160
in the world were drawn right here
522
00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,200
and have been used by map makers
and hill walkers ever since.
523
00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:55,960
The contour lines enabled
Maskelyn to calculate the volume,
524
00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:58,320
and then the mass of Schiehallion.
525
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:00,000
And then, by scaling up,
526
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,400
he was able to work out
the mass of the Earth.
527
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:07,160
It took 17 long weeks
to complete the experiment,
528
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,640
partly because the weather
that summer was dreadful.
529
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:12,600
Despite this though,
530
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:15,360
the experiment was considered
to be a great success
531
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,600
and became close to the modern figure
for the mass of the Earth -
532
00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:22,760
5.9 x 10 to the power of 24kg.
533
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,840
However, because the experiment
had taken so long to complete,
534
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:31,160
it bankrupted the Royal Society
which had funded the project.
535
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:35,880
But, as they say, there's no gain
without a wee bit of pain.
536
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:37,960
Onwards and upwards!
537
00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:48,200
Although Schiehallion
had been tamed by science,
538
00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:51,320
its reputation for wildness
continued.
539
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:55,160
The scientists threw a party
on the mountain for the locals
540
00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:57,000
who had helped them
with the experiment.
541
00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:58,880
It was quite a night!
542
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:00,520
The fiddler burnt his fiddle
543
00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,200
and then burnt the bothy
to the ground.
544
00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:06,120
It's hard to be a rock
and not to roll!
545
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:11,360
So here we are,
the summit of Schiehallion -
546
00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,320
the faery mountain
of the ancient Caledonians.
547
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:16,680
And from here you can see my route
548
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,600
all the way from the wilds
of Rannoch Moor,
549
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:24,680
making this the perfect place for me
to end my grand tour.
550
00:28:28,360 --> 00:28:31,080
Join me for my next grand tour
551
00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,200
when I travel into
the secret heart of Knoydart
552
00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:37,560
and search for Jacobite gold.
553
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:40,720
Captions by Red Bee Media
(c) SBS Australia 2019
45318
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