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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:03,950 --> 00:00:09,590 Right across our planet, there is an incredible variety of astonishing 2 00:00:09,590 --> 00:00:10,590 landscapes. 3 00:00:14,710 --> 00:00:20,810 One of the most beautiful anywhere in the world is the Scottish Highlands. 4 00:00:32,810 --> 00:00:35,770 A rugged but astonishingly beautiful landscape. 5 00:00:38,730 --> 00:00:40,290 Mountain ranges. 6 00:00:42,130 --> 00:00:46,770 A jagged coastline that reveals picture -perfect beaches. 7 00:00:53,370 --> 00:00:55,490 Locks deeper than the sea. 8 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:02,540 But it creates a kind of shimmer. When you see that on a loft like this, you 9 00:01:02,540 --> 00:01:05,860 see why people think there's something in there, there's something mysterious 10 00:01:05,860 --> 00:01:06,860 going on there. 11 00:01:09,820 --> 00:01:11,680 A geologist's paradise. 12 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:18,140 What we get to see in the Northwest Highlands is a fascinating snapshot into 13 00:01:18,140 --> 00:01:22,640 something that is very deep within the planet and other parts of the world. And 14 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:23,640 so we're really lucky. 15 00:01:26,860 --> 00:01:31,080 A history of rebellion and Neolithic sophistication. 16 00:01:33,500 --> 00:01:37,560 The largest assemblage of Neolithic art anywhere in the UK. 17 00:01:37,820 --> 00:01:42,000 In fact, there's been more Neolithic art found at the Ness than every other site 18 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:43,640 combined in the UK. 19 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:50,400 We're going to take you on a journey through the Scottish Highlands to admire 20 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,860 its wonders and discover its secrets. 21 00:02:09,449 --> 00:02:12,770 Our journey begins in the most northerly city in the UK. 22 00:02:17,390 --> 00:02:22,130 Inverness is sheltered from the rough waters of the North Sea by the great 23 00:02:22,130 --> 00:02:24,990 natural barrier of the Murray Firth Inlet. 24 00:02:30,830 --> 00:02:35,870 Via the River Ness, Inverness is joined to a genuine natural wonder. 25 00:02:40,650 --> 00:02:47,210 Loch Ness was formed after the last ice age, when a vast glacier tore its way 26 00:02:47,210 --> 00:02:48,850 through a fault line in a rock. 27 00:02:54,890 --> 00:03:01,630 When the Earth warmed 11 ,000 years ago, unimaginable quantities of water gushed 28 00:03:01,630 --> 00:03:03,750 into the space left by the ice. 29 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,320 This Loch reaches twice the average depth of the North Sea. 30 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,980 Seen from space, it resembles an unfeasibly long natural runway. 31 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:25,500 It holds more water than every lake in England and Wales put together. 32 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:35,500 Tourists flock every year in the hope of glimpsing the Loch Ness Monster. 33 00:03:37,260 --> 00:03:41,820 And for centuries, artists and writers have been drawn here too. The painter, 34 00:03:41,900 --> 00:03:47,600 Turner. Poets, Wordsworth and Coleridge, even the ultimate Londoner, Dr. Samuel 35 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:48,600 Johnson. 36 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:59,600 Trouble writer Kathy Kamleitner is following in the footsteps of giants. 37 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,720 It's one of those tourist hotspots, but I've really come to love it for even 38 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:10,330 its... quieter sites and the less known spots and there's lots of them you can 39 00:04:10,330 --> 00:04:15,110 easily escape the crowds when you come to Loch Ness and it's just such a 40 00:04:15,110 --> 00:04:21,750 peaceful place not only in the mornings but really all year round it's such a 41 00:04:21,750 --> 00:04:28,690 beautiful place to come and enjoy the nature along the south side of 42 00:04:28,690 --> 00:04:32,910 the loch a string of enticing pathways lead right down to the water 43 00:04:35,530 --> 00:04:40,870 We are now getting to one of my favourite views of Loch Ness here on 44 00:04:40,870 --> 00:04:47,070 Beach, where you can really see all the way down to the southern tip of the loch 45 00:04:47,070 --> 00:04:48,930 near Fort Augustus. 46 00:04:53,250 --> 00:04:58,730 Loch Ness is about 23 miles long and only a mile wide, but what is really 47 00:04:58,730 --> 00:05:01,090 fascinating to me is how deep it is. 48 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:06,320 and how much water there is in it. And because there's so much water, it 49 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:08,040 actually never freezes over. 50 00:05:08,340 --> 00:05:12,500 The cold water always sinks to the bottom and the warm water rises up, but 51 00:05:12,500 --> 00:05:16,160 there's never enough cold water at the surface to actually make it freeze over. 52 00:05:22,180 --> 00:05:28,000 So when the warmer water of the Loch rises up and hits the really cold winter 53 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,600 air, what it creates is a kind of shimmer. 54 00:05:31,230 --> 00:05:33,570 just on the horizon, a distortion of the horizon. 55 00:05:34,230 --> 00:05:38,590 And when you see that, normally you would see that on a hot road or maybe in 56 00:05:38,590 --> 00:05:42,250 desert. When you see that on a loch like this, you can see why people think 57 00:05:42,250 --> 00:05:45,350 there's something in there, there's something mysterious going on there. 58 00:05:51,410 --> 00:05:57,770 Loch Ness gathers water from 700 square miles of higher ground and six major 59 00:05:57,770 --> 00:05:58,770 rivers. 60 00:06:04,170 --> 00:06:06,830 Atlantic salmon flourish here in these rivers. 61 00:06:07,450 --> 00:06:12,010 Every year, around late autumn, they make their way from the sea to spawn 62 00:06:13,710 --> 00:06:17,670 Once the young salmon have hatched, they stay here to build strength for two 63 00:06:17,670 --> 00:06:20,330 years before heading out to sea themselves. 64 00:06:30,610 --> 00:06:35,730 Towards the western edge of Loch Ness is a waterfall that the painter Turner, no 65 00:06:35,730 --> 00:06:37,130 less, stopped to sketch. 66 00:06:46,970 --> 00:06:52,290 So we are now at the Falls of Spires, which is a very special place here in 67 00:06:52,290 --> 00:06:53,189 Great Glen. 68 00:06:53,190 --> 00:06:55,930 It's on the quiet south side of Loch Ness again. 69 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:01,600 and it's a very popular place to visit still, but you kind of need to know that 70 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,920 this is here in order to make your way to the Falls of Foyers. 71 00:07:05,580 --> 00:07:12,500 In Gaelic, the falls are called Esna Smudhia, which kind of means something 72 00:07:12,500 --> 00:07:13,780 the Smoking Falls. 73 00:07:34,410 --> 00:07:37,330 The Falls of Foyer is absolutely spectacular today. 74 00:07:38,190 --> 00:07:42,770 The amount of water just coming down, the depth of it, the depth of the pool, 75 00:07:42,930 --> 00:07:47,750 the shape of the falls bending left and right as they navigate the rocks, the 76 00:07:47,750 --> 00:07:53,810 really dark rock and the really dark water, which is kind of in reference to 77 00:07:53,810 --> 00:08:00,610 what Robert Burns called the boiling cauldron of the Falls of Foyer, that 78 00:08:00,610 --> 00:08:06,950 shape. Rock face around the pool and the fall. It's just absolutely stunning and 79 00:08:06,950 --> 00:08:10,190 you can imagine Why so many people came here? 80 00:08:12,010 --> 00:08:17,510 Most travelers just pass through But Kathy decided to stay preferring the 81 00:08:17,510 --> 00:08:24,130 highlands landscape to the Austrian Alps where she grew up People often ask me 82 00:08:24,130 --> 00:08:28,030 about you know, why did you move to Scotland if you've come from a country 83 00:08:28,030 --> 00:08:29,030 the Alps? 84 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,860 What I really love about the mountains in Scotland is the dark rock, the 85 00:08:32,860 --> 00:08:35,080 mysteriousness, but also the roughness. 86 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,440 And it's easy to get lost in views like this. 87 00:08:40,140 --> 00:08:43,659 And I'm just very grateful that I get to call this my home. 88 00:08:52,180 --> 00:08:55,800 Loch Ness is just the start of a geological fault line. 89 00:08:56,190 --> 00:08:58,350 that slices right through the highlands. 90 00:08:59,090 --> 00:09:04,670 The Great Glen Fault was formed as two mighty tectonic plates shifted across 91 00:09:04,670 --> 00:09:07,270 each other hundreds of millions of years ago. 92 00:09:08,230 --> 00:09:13,710 For millennia, the northern side carried on creeping northeast across the 93 00:09:13,710 --> 00:09:14,710 southern side. 94 00:09:14,990 --> 00:09:19,590 A chain of locks then formed along the fault line at the end of the last ice 95 00:09:19,590 --> 00:09:24,050 age, almost connecting the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. 96 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:28,420 It was up to mankind to finish the job. 97 00:09:30,420 --> 00:09:36,460 In the early 1800s, work started on a chain of canals and locks to enable 98 00:09:36,460 --> 00:09:39,940 to pass from one side of Scotland to the other. 99 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:42,900 The Caledonian Canal. 100 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:51,340 Where the canal meets the sea, an awesome sight comes into view. 101 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:02,340 Ben Nevis loomed 1 ,300 meters above sea level. 102 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:15,040 350 million years ago, its granite rocks were the molten core of a huge volcano, 103 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:17,960 which reared even higher into the sky. 104 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:26,800 Ben Nevis is topped with snow and ice most of the year round. 105 00:10:31,020 --> 00:10:36,880 Climbing this mountain is only for the intrepid. Every year, people perish on 106 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:37,880 these slopes. 107 00:10:43,420 --> 00:10:49,080 The North Face is the most spectacular approach, but also the most challenging. 108 00:10:50,460 --> 00:10:53,640 One misplaced step could be your last. 109 00:11:07,790 --> 00:11:11,910 At the summit, many climbers find themselves in a sea of cloud. 110 00:11:17,690 --> 00:11:23,290 From time to time, some climbers will witness cloud inversion, where warm, dry 111 00:11:23,290 --> 00:11:28,250 air at higher altitudes traps colder, moist air below it, pushing the cloud 112 00:11:28,250 --> 00:11:30,670 level far below the peak of the mountain. 113 00:11:40,680 --> 00:11:46,100 on a clear day from the summit, it's possible to see out for 120 miles. 114 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:56,640 Our journey will now take us north, where the highlands display even greater 115 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:57,640 splendors. 116 00:12:00,820 --> 00:12:05,840 We will travel along the West Highland Railway line, through hills and valleys 117 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:07,360 with a famous history. 118 00:12:10,380 --> 00:12:16,960 The Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 began right here, when Charles Stuart, better 119 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:21,220 known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, believing the crown had been stolen from 120 00:12:21,220 --> 00:12:26,940 family, started to build an army, which would fight to win back the throne. 121 00:12:35,980 --> 00:12:40,220 Seen from above, the challenges of crossing this thicket of ridges and 122 00:12:40,220 --> 00:12:41,880 are all too clear. 123 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:45,440 But it was no match for Victorian engineers. 124 00:12:48,340 --> 00:12:54,020 They blasted no fewer than 11 tunnels through the mountains and built six 125 00:12:54,020 --> 00:12:59,760 viaducts between Fort William and Malay. The most iconic is the Glenfinnan 126 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:05,120 Viaduct, famously crossed by the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter 127 00:13:11,370 --> 00:13:15,170 It took four years to build the viaduct's 21 arches. 128 00:13:17,710 --> 00:13:23,970 The local stone proved too hard to shape, so instead Victorian concrete was 129 00:13:23,970 --> 00:13:25,910 poured into giant moulds. 130 00:13:26,170 --> 00:13:28,110 There's no steel frame inside. 131 00:13:28,550 --> 00:13:31,070 It's held up by geometry alone. 132 00:13:37,870 --> 00:13:42,310 The West Highland Line then twists its way onwards, eventually reaching a 133 00:13:42,310 --> 00:13:43,870 bewildering coastline. 134 00:13:44,970 --> 00:13:51,090 Around Marat, it twists around jagged peninsulas and sea locks that carve deep 135 00:13:51,090 --> 00:13:52,830 indentations into the land. 136 00:13:56,830 --> 00:14:02,130 Over the millennia, the complex interactions of land and sea have 137 00:14:02,130 --> 00:14:03,990 extraordinary surprises. 138 00:14:09,740 --> 00:14:15,140 The silver sands of Mara stretch for miles along the coast, as if transported 139 00:14:15,140 --> 00:14:17,340 here from a tropical island. 140 00:14:19,540 --> 00:14:24,780 The secret to how this stunning scenery was created lies below the surface of 141 00:14:24,780 --> 00:14:25,780 the waves. 142 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,100 Merle is a pink and purple coral like seaweed. 143 00:14:32,460 --> 00:14:37,580 When Merle dies, it leaves a hard, white skeleton rich in lime. 144 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,840 Fragments crushed by the waves turn into sand. 145 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:51,360 The merle beds are also a vital habitat for hundreds of species of marine plants 146 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:52,380 and animals. 147 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,240 Their protective spikes provide shelter. 148 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:03,400 This makes them ideal nurseries for fish to breed. 149 00:15:10,190 --> 00:15:16,030 And despite overfishing and plastic, Scotland's welcoming waters, plankton 150 00:15:16,030 --> 00:15:21,450 and warmed by currents from the south, are still home to over 6 ,000 different 151 00:15:21,450 --> 00:15:22,450 species. 152 00:15:25,430 --> 00:15:31,610 Between April and October, you might even spot a bathking shark, a severely 153 00:15:31,610 --> 00:15:33,730 threatened but magnificent species. 154 00:15:34,470 --> 00:15:38,750 They are the second largest sharks of all, up to 11 metres in length. 155 00:15:39,290 --> 00:15:42,470 and with 1 ,500 tiny teeth. 156 00:15:44,690 --> 00:15:49,870 But they don't eat unlucky swimmers, just enormous quantities of plankton. 157 00:15:52,810 --> 00:15:56,750 When autumn comes, they leave for warmer waters. 158 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:15,920 For people on these shores, control of these seas was key to who ruled the 159 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:21,040 highlands, as Vikings invaded and Scottish clans struggled for supremacy. 160 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:27,620 800 years ago, three intersecting sea locks became a vital strategic point. 161 00:16:29,140 --> 00:16:35,060 King Alexander of Scotland built a castle here in the 1200s to defend 162 00:16:35,060 --> 00:16:36,060 the Vikings. 163 00:16:37,710 --> 00:16:40,650 Ellen Donan sits where the three locks meet. 164 00:16:41,890 --> 00:16:48,030 A century later, Robert the Bruce sheltered here, just a few years before 165 00:16:48,030 --> 00:16:52,250 defeated English invaders at the Battle of Bannockburn. 166 00:16:54,530 --> 00:16:58,310 Ellen Donan is not the only strategic point in these seas. 167 00:16:58,670 --> 00:17:03,370 A short stretch of water separates the mainland from the next point in our 168 00:17:03,370 --> 00:17:05,410 journey, an island... 169 00:17:05,950 --> 00:17:10,890 of astonishing natural beauty, the Isle of Skye. 170 00:17:15,530 --> 00:17:20,109 Skye was where Bonnie Prince Charlie came to hide when his Jacobite rebellion 171 00:17:20,109 --> 00:17:25,630 failed. His armies had been defeated at the Battle of Culloden, and he fled for 172 00:17:25,630 --> 00:17:28,850 his life, an event remembered in song. 173 00:17:30,390 --> 00:17:33,510 Speed, Bonnie Boat, like a bird on a wing. 174 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:36,120 Onward the sailors cry. 175 00:17:37,140 --> 00:17:43,700 Carry the lad that's born to be king over the sea to Skye. 176 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:50,620 Bonnie Prince Charlie fled to one of the most bewitching places on earth. 177 00:17:51,460 --> 00:17:57,640 At the southern end of Skye are the Kulin Mountains, with jagged peaks and 178 00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:58,640 plunging valleys. 179 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:05,820 What we see today are the remnants of volcanic lava formed 60 million years 180 00:18:05,820 --> 00:18:11,180 in Scotland's split from North America as the Atlantic Ocean was torn into 181 00:18:11,180 --> 00:18:12,180 existence. 182 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:20,400 The cooling lava and millions of years of water erosion have created some 183 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:26,920 extraordinary rock formations, like the ones seen around the aqua blue fairy 184 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:27,920 pool. 185 00:18:33,830 --> 00:18:39,190 Legend has it that a chief from the clan Macleod married a fairy princess and 186 00:18:39,190 --> 00:18:42,810 gave many places in Skye a fairy name. 187 00:18:45,710 --> 00:18:50,850 At the foot of the hills is Loch Corish, fabled to be the home of another shape 188 00:18:50,850 --> 00:18:52,490 -shifting mythological group. 189 00:18:53,270 --> 00:18:59,930 In accounts, tell of boatmen refusing to sail on the lake alone for fear 190 00:18:59,930 --> 00:19:01,590 of falling into its fangs. 191 00:19:07,340 --> 00:19:12,420 At the opposite end of sky, the northern side, is a very different landscape. 192 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:19,520 Here you can almost imagine you have left Earth altogether for a harsher 193 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,540 some way off in the solar system. 194 00:19:23,620 --> 00:19:29,520 At the Quarang, we can still see the aftermath of a dramatic geological 195 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:37,430 Landslides. on a vast scale took place here over tens of thousands of years. 196 00:19:41,210 --> 00:19:46,390 They were caused by basalt lava from the island's volcanoes pouring out over 197 00:19:46,390 --> 00:19:48,090 weaker sedimentary rocks. 198 00:19:49,810 --> 00:19:56,150 The weight of the lava made the softer rocks slip, creating the remarkable 199 00:19:56,150 --> 00:19:58,490 and pinnacles we can see today. 200 00:19:59,670 --> 00:20:05,140 Just off the coast, are Meath Falls, which crash directly into the waves. 201 00:20:05,740 --> 00:20:11,380 They're backed by kilt rock, so -called because its volcanic columns resemble 202 00:20:11,380 --> 00:20:14,220 the pleats of a Scottish kilt. 203 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:27,620 Skye's beautiful coast is also treacherous. 204 00:20:30,220 --> 00:20:35,240 At the isle's most westerly point, the wreck of a steamer travelling from 205 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,040 Liverpool to Poland still lies below. 206 00:20:43,220 --> 00:20:46,820 Back on the mainland, we're now heading up the west coast. 207 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:53,160 The view from space reveals the intricate, jagged patterns of this 208 00:20:54,220 --> 00:20:59,280 Our destination is one of the least populated areas in all Europe. 209 00:21:01,420 --> 00:21:05,980 But there is perhaps nowhere on Earth that tells a more extraordinary story 210 00:21:05,980 --> 00:21:09,280 about how the surface of our planet was formed. 211 00:21:11,540 --> 00:21:17,520 The Northwest Geopark is an area which has been given special scientific 212 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:24,500 For Dr. Laura Hamlet, who is a geoarchaeologist, it's paradise. 213 00:21:25,870 --> 00:21:29,430 Where we are, we're actually standing at the edge of a continental collision 214 00:21:29,430 --> 00:21:32,170 that happened in the border between Scotland and England. 215 00:21:32,410 --> 00:21:36,650 So these were two different continents, Avalonia, which was England, and 216 00:21:36,650 --> 00:21:38,110 Laurentia, which was Scotland. 217 00:21:38,550 --> 00:21:44,750 And about 430 million years ago, those two continents collided and the force of 218 00:21:44,750 --> 00:21:48,530 that collision pushed mountains up into the Caledonian and Appalachian mountain 219 00:21:48,530 --> 00:21:51,990 chains. And here at Knock and Crag, we're standing at the edge of that 220 00:21:51,990 --> 00:21:52,990 collision. 221 00:21:54,550 --> 00:21:59,950 Across the park are unusual rock formations that reveal the secret of how 222 00:21:59,950 --> 00:22:01,370 mountains were formed. 223 00:22:02,730 --> 00:22:04,590 We're going to start at the knock and puzzle. 224 00:22:05,250 --> 00:22:08,810 It shows you the relationship between all the different rock types in the 225 00:22:08,810 --> 00:22:09,810 geopark. 226 00:22:10,630 --> 00:22:13,110 They've been deliberately placed here by an artist. 227 00:22:13,790 --> 00:22:17,810 And you can see right at the bottom here are the oldest rocks in the geopark. 228 00:22:19,010 --> 00:22:21,870 So down here you can see there's a kind of stripy rock. 229 00:22:24,370 --> 00:22:28,570 louisian knife it's three billion years old some of the oldest rocks in europe 230 00:22:28,570 --> 00:22:32,990 and then on top of it we've got torridonian sandstone which is what the 231 00:22:32,990 --> 00:22:37,630 mountains here are made out of again it's a billion years old so you can see 232 00:22:37,630 --> 00:22:42,390 we go up it gets younger but the really interesting thing about this puzzle and 233 00:22:42,390 --> 00:22:46,750 the rocks in the northwest highlands is that as you go up the rocks get 234 00:22:46,750 --> 00:22:51,070 gradually younger until these rocks at the very top the moines shifts are a 235 00:22:51,070 --> 00:22:53,490 billion years old again and that's the puzzle 236 00:22:55,150 --> 00:22:59,290 This strange arrangement of rocks can be found on Nock and Crag itself. 237 00:23:00,350 --> 00:23:02,030 You need to come up here and see this. 238 00:23:03,010 --> 00:23:05,110 At the top is your Moinshiff. 239 00:23:05,590 --> 00:23:09,710 This is a billion years old and it was thrust here by the continental 240 00:23:10,050 --> 00:23:15,250 At the bottom is the Derna limestone, 500 million years old. Where did that 241 00:23:15,250 --> 00:23:19,290 go? Isn't that amazing? You can put your hand either side of them and the 242 00:23:19,290 --> 00:23:22,970 contact between is the thing that so fascinated geologists. 243 00:23:23,530 --> 00:23:28,230 Seeing how older rock had been pushed on top of younger rock helped Victorian 244 00:23:28,230 --> 00:23:34,030 geologists work out how mountain chains were created during the collision of two 245 00:23:34,030 --> 00:23:35,030 continents. 246 00:23:35,570 --> 00:23:39,210 Well, if you just follow me along this path, you'll see this absolutely amazing 247 00:23:39,210 --> 00:23:41,810 panorama that opens up across the mountains. 248 00:23:43,070 --> 00:23:47,870 Glaciers from the last ice age also had a part to play in creating this 249 00:23:47,870 --> 00:23:49,370 spectacular landscape. 250 00:23:50,330 --> 00:23:52,450 The shapes of all these mountains. 251 00:23:53,390 --> 00:24:00,010 have been carved out by ice so when ice was there up to the top even beyond of 252 00:24:00,010 --> 00:24:05,650 these mountains this mountain here at the very top of it there's a boulder 253 00:24:05,650 --> 00:24:10,810 of quartzite and that's called a nun attack and it means that that little bit 254 00:24:10,810 --> 00:24:14,290 the mountain was the only thing that was sticking out above the level of the ice 255 00:24:14,290 --> 00:24:20,810 so imagine that ice that thick and we're standing underneath it and over 256 00:24:20,810 --> 00:24:26,240 thousands of years It's ground down the rocks and carved out these landscapes, 257 00:24:26,540 --> 00:24:30,500 forming the shapes of the hills that are so recognisable today. 258 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:36,920 But for Laura, it's an appreciation of the age of the rocks that is most awe 259 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:37,920 -inspiring. 260 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:43,320 I think what you start to feel when you're out in the mountains, when you 261 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:47,360 little bit of geological knowledge, is just that reverence for the deep time 262 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:48,360 that's all around you. 263 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:50,860 Because the stories that the rocks can tell... 264 00:24:51,450 --> 00:24:53,450 Stretch back three billion years here. 265 00:24:54,330 --> 00:24:57,730 The oldest rocks in the geopark, the oldest rocks in Western Europe, are 266 00:24:57,730 --> 00:24:58,730 Louisian knife. 267 00:24:58,750 --> 00:25:02,250 Those are metamorphic rocks, which means that they've been buried beneath the 268 00:25:02,250 --> 00:25:08,170 Earth's surface and they've been heated and stretched and crushed and washed and 269 00:25:08,170 --> 00:25:09,170 put under lots of pressure. 270 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:14,340 In the Northwest Highlands, we tend to say it's roughly 3 billion years old. 271 00:25:14,340 --> 00:25:17,720 that's three quarters of the age of the planet. The oldest rocks that we know 272 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:22,780 about are around about 4 billion years old. So this is really a huge proportion 273 00:25:22,780 --> 00:25:27,120 of the history of the world represented in our piece of the crust. 274 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:32,500 And it's dynamic. It moves all the time. So although those rocks have been 30 275 00:25:32,500 --> 00:25:36,720 kilometers beneath the Earth's surface at some point, they've naturally moved 276 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:38,940 through cycle. And now they're at the surface. 277 00:25:41,420 --> 00:25:46,100 What we get to see in the Northwest Highlands is a fascinating snapshot into 278 00:25:46,100 --> 00:25:50,580 something that is very deep within the planet and other parts of the world. And 279 00:25:50,580 --> 00:25:54,660 so we're really lucky in this part of the cross to be able to see what we can 280 00:25:54,660 --> 00:25:56,160 see of the Earth's story. 281 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:02,840 The Northwest Coast is an unwelcoming place for many plants and animals. 282 00:26:06,380 --> 00:26:11,900 But all that changes as we take a detour inland, away from the harsh winds of 283 00:26:11,900 --> 00:26:15,940 the coast, to a more sheltered landscape of hills and valleys. 284 00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:23,020 If you'd looked down on this landscape 5 ,000 years ago, very large areas of it 285 00:26:23,020 --> 00:26:24,200 would have been green. 286 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:39,350 After the glaciers melted, Pine trees, birch, hazel and oak gradually took hold 287 00:26:39,350 --> 00:26:42,990 and covered much of the highlands with thick forest. 288 00:26:57,530 --> 00:27:02,310 Across the highlands today, you're more likely to find sheep than pine trees. 289 00:27:03,790 --> 00:27:09,290 There are seven million sheep in Scotland chewing plants down to the soil 290 00:27:09,290 --> 00:27:10,590 saplings can grow. 291 00:27:16,330 --> 00:27:22,930 The sheep took over around 200 years ago during the Highland clearances when big 292 00:27:22,930 --> 00:27:27,230 landowners pushed out farming communities who'd lived on the land for 293 00:27:27,230 --> 00:27:31,150 generations, often using brutal force. 294 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:40,420 Many ended up living in small crops by the coast, where less fertile soil made 295 00:27:40,420 --> 00:27:41,480 it hard to survive. 296 00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:52,680 Many had little choice but to leave Scotland for the New World, Australia or 297 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:53,680 North America. 298 00:27:56,440 --> 00:28:01,040 The sheep don't have it all their own way. There are well over half a million 299 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:02,040 deer here. 300 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:06,880 Their numbers have mushroomed since their predators, including Scotland's 301 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:08,660 wolves, were killed off. 302 00:28:09,700 --> 00:28:15,840 And the Highlands moors are also home to tens of thousands of grouse, carefully 303 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,980 reared and managed for the sport of shooting. 304 00:28:22,020 --> 00:28:26,640 The moors are regularly burned to foster the young heather that grouse like 305 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,620 best, so here too, forest has no chance to take hold. 306 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:37,220 But in recent times, you can sometimes spot rare birds that once flourished in 307 00:28:37,220 --> 00:28:40,340 the forest have been coaxed back in recent years. 308 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:45,880 There are 400 pairs of golden eagles soaring above the highlands. 309 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:52,320 You might see them summer or winter, as they never migrate. 310 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:59,100 As long as there are enough rabbits, hares and large birds to hunt, golden 311 00:28:59,100 --> 00:29:01,140 eagles stand a chance in the highlands. 312 00:29:04,810 --> 00:29:09,310 In times past, the capercaillie was an iconic Scottish bird. 313 00:29:09,690 --> 00:29:15,930 The males as large as turkeys, with red eye markings, wattle, and a sheen of 314 00:29:15,930 --> 00:29:17,050 purple and green. 315 00:29:18,030 --> 00:29:23,010 There are now around a thousand of these magnificent birds back in the Highland. 316 00:29:27,510 --> 00:29:31,710 Highlanders are fighting to restore the forest habitat and give the wildlife 317 00:29:31,710 --> 00:29:35,150 that lives alongside it a better chance to survive. 318 00:29:38,330 --> 00:29:41,410 Allardale Wilderness Reserve is a former hunting estate. 319 00:29:41,850 --> 00:29:46,850 The goal here is to restore the Caledonian forest to its former glory. 320 00:29:51,410 --> 00:29:54,750 Ryan Munro is one of the rangers at Allardale. 321 00:29:57,890 --> 00:30:01,270 We're just coming into where we've done some of our recent planting. 322 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:04,740 And these trees here that are just below us, these are 10 years old. 323 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:09,420 What we're trying to recreate is the old forest used to be here, which you can 324 00:30:09,420 --> 00:30:11,580 see remnants of it way out in the distance there. 325 00:30:12,860 --> 00:30:17,220 So around that forest out there, we've added another 190 ,000 around it. 326 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,780 And in the last 10 years, we've planted just under a million trees. 327 00:30:21,820 --> 00:30:23,940 These trees here are six years old. 328 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:27,500 As you can see, in six years, they haven't grown an awful lot. 329 00:30:27,980 --> 00:30:30,960 They went into the ground at that height, and they're now... 330 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:32,280 that tight after six years. 331 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,740 So it's going to take a long process before you can call this a forest. 332 00:30:35,940 --> 00:30:40,320 You're talking 100 years, so it's not even my generation, it's future 333 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,720 generations after that that are going to benefit of this. 334 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:50,740 At the end of the glen is a remaining patch of the old Caledonian forest. 335 00:30:52,660 --> 00:30:57,560 Down the line, this is hopefully what we want to try and recreate, this mosaic 336 00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:59,280 of birch trees, pine trees. 337 00:31:00,030 --> 00:31:04,350 mature forest, and putting something back for future generations. 338 00:31:04,750 --> 00:31:08,330 That when people are coming out here, they can have a chance of seeing more 339 00:31:08,330 --> 00:31:12,530 things like squirrels, pine martins, black grouse, other sort of birds that 340 00:31:12,530 --> 00:31:16,010 haven't really been here, but hopefully down the line they will be. 341 00:31:17,850 --> 00:31:23,170 Red squirrels, who've lost out to grey squirrels in most of the UK, are already 342 00:31:23,170 --> 00:31:26,790 flourishing here, and their presence could help the forest grow. 343 00:31:28,780 --> 00:31:33,640 So the red squirrel is a good ecological engineer, so they'll effectively, 344 00:31:33,780 --> 00:31:37,560 hopefully, plant the trees for you. So they'll take their seeds and bury them 345 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:41,420 for the winter, and obviously they'll forget about some of them, and that tree 346 00:31:41,420 --> 00:31:44,280 will hopefully regenerate and grow up into new forests. 347 00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:51,260 The last wild wolf in Scotland was hunted down as long as 300 years ago. 348 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:53,940 They killed too many sheep. 349 00:31:54,570 --> 00:31:58,230 But at Allerdale, they want to bring the wild wolves back. 350 00:31:59,290 --> 00:32:05,690 Nature is about balance, and predators have a key function in creating or 351 00:32:05,690 --> 00:32:06,730 maintaining balance. 352 00:32:07,010 --> 00:32:10,810 Just imagine the glen behind me filled with, say, 600 deer. 353 00:32:11,860 --> 00:32:16,200 with a healthy appetite, they will eat everything that they can find, 354 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:17,360 in these winter conditions. 355 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:25,420 So that continuous grazing pressure will prevent any, not just trees, 356 00:32:25,500 --> 00:32:28,480 but any plant species to sort of reestablish itself. 357 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:31,500 A predator would keep those animals on the move. 358 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:33,460 Bring numbers down. 359 00:32:34,940 --> 00:32:37,120 We're looking for a controlled release. 360 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:43,300 of wolves in an area roughly 50 ,000 acres in size. 361 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:46,340 So Allendale itself is not big enough for the idea. 362 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:51,980 We'd need the collaboration of surrounding areas or surrounding 363 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:57,680 One day, this landscape might see roaming wolves once again. 364 00:32:58,940 --> 00:33:04,380 But another predator unique to this land is already well on its way back. 365 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,520 So the Scottish wildcat is the only native family we have in the UK. 366 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:14,880 It's been in Scotland pretty much for forever. 367 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:19,300 You can see that on a lot of Scottish clan crests have got wildcats on them. 368 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,280 So that symbolises that they've been here for a long time and they're heavily 369 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:24,540 respected creatures, you know. 370 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:28,540 Scottish wildcat is now classed as functionally extinct. 371 00:33:29,100 --> 00:33:31,880 It means that there's no real pure ones left in the wild. 372 00:33:32,780 --> 00:33:34,220 And the only ones... 373 00:33:34,570 --> 00:33:36,490 that we have close to purity are left in captivity. 374 00:33:37,530 --> 00:33:42,590 Part of our programme is to try and increase the stronger bred cats in 375 00:33:42,590 --> 00:33:48,190 to create a good population in captivity, and then down the line 376 00:33:48,190 --> 00:33:49,190 released into the wild. 377 00:33:50,050 --> 00:33:54,570 What the wild cattle do in the ecosystem is keep everything in check with the 378 00:33:54,570 --> 00:33:58,890 small animals, so it stops overpopulations of things like mice and 379 00:33:58,890 --> 00:34:02,250 stuff, which could do damage to different habitats, different smaller 380 00:34:02,250 --> 00:34:03,250 species. 381 00:34:11,250 --> 00:34:13,790 So down here we have the main breeding pair, which is just here. 382 00:34:14,370 --> 00:34:16,469 Then we've got another cat just on the right there. 383 00:34:16,710 --> 00:34:19,730 And then the other three cats are just on the bottom side of the enclosure 384 00:34:19,730 --> 00:34:20,730 there. 385 00:34:21,610 --> 00:34:25,090 So I just try to throw some food into the enclosures and just give them their 386 00:34:25,090 --> 00:34:26,090 dinner for the day. 387 00:34:26,909 --> 00:34:31,030 Normally just chuck it in a random sort of way, try and get it to hang up in 388 00:34:31,030 --> 00:34:34,429 trees. Other times I'll go in and hang it in places so they have to go and work 389 00:34:34,429 --> 00:34:35,429 for it. 390 00:34:39,949 --> 00:34:42,889 They're different from domestic cats with their head. 391 00:34:43,250 --> 00:34:44,290 It's slightly broader. 392 00:34:45,030 --> 00:34:50,010 Their aggression, they're always aggressive. They're never not 393 00:34:50,150 --> 00:34:51,510 They're always hissing and spitting. 394 00:34:52,330 --> 00:34:55,150 They say it's the only cat in the world you can't domesticate. 395 00:34:55,409 --> 00:34:59,610 So even if you got a kitten before its eyes were, like, days old, you still 396 00:34:59,610 --> 00:35:00,610 can't domesticate it. 397 00:35:01,970 --> 00:35:06,950 In the last three years, we've bred eight kittens, and they're now in 398 00:35:06,950 --> 00:35:08,170 parks around the UK. 399 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:15,660 A record number of wildcat kittens are being reared across Scotland. 400 00:35:15,900 --> 00:35:19,660 Now they have a chance of growing up to survive in the wild. 401 00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:35,280 Just as we reach almost to the northern tip of mainland Britain, nearly 600 402 00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:37,920 miles from the White Cliffs of Dover, 403 00:35:38,860 --> 00:35:41,480 there is a lesser -known natural wonder. 404 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:52,960 The unsung hero of the highlands landscape, helping to protect our 405 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:54,640 climate, is peat. 406 00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:03,960 At 1 ,500 square miles, this is the largest expanse of rare so -called 407 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:06,580 bog found anywhere in the world. 408 00:36:09,290 --> 00:36:14,810 The peat here has been building up for around 10 ,000 years and is now 10 409 00:36:14,810 --> 00:36:15,810 deep in parts. 410 00:36:20,430 --> 00:36:25,610 The peat is formed from layer upon layer of heather and moth, partially 411 00:36:25,610 --> 00:36:27,550 preserved by acidic water. 412 00:36:30,530 --> 00:36:36,610 It's a vital breeding ground for many bird species, like the hen harrier. 413 00:36:39,020 --> 00:36:40,160 and the Green Shack. 414 00:36:43,100 --> 00:36:49,580 For centuries, peat has also been an integral part of Scottish life, cut and 415 00:36:49,580 --> 00:36:54,640 dried and burned to heat houses, or malt barley to make whiskey. 416 00:36:56,640 --> 00:37:01,480 In the 1970s, blanket bog was drained at a rapid rate. 417 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:07,400 Channels were dug, so this land could become commercial forest. 418 00:37:08,110 --> 00:37:09,110 or farmland. 419 00:37:11,190 --> 00:37:16,830 But scientists have now realized that peat is a vast carbon store. 420 00:37:18,130 --> 00:37:24,070 It covers just 3 % of the world's land surface, but holds twice the amount of 421 00:37:24,070 --> 00:37:26,630 carbon as all the world's forests. 422 00:37:30,110 --> 00:37:37,070 All our futures depend on keeping every square mile of peatland intact. 423 00:37:44,230 --> 00:37:49,790 As we reach the northern tip of mainland Britain, the land finally comes to an 424 00:37:49,790 --> 00:37:52,670 end on a dramatic series of headlands. 425 00:37:55,030 --> 00:38:00,650 At Duncan's Behead, the sea stacks just off the coast have been sculptured over 426 00:38:00,650 --> 00:38:07,450 millennia, slowly eroding away due to the power of wind, rain and the North 427 00:38:07,450 --> 00:38:08,450 Sea. 428 00:38:09,530 --> 00:38:12,030 But our journey does not end here. 429 00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:17,880 For around 6 ,000 years ago, settlers decided to make a voyage from the 430 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:22,980 just seven miles across the sea to the islands of Orkney. 431 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:29,720 Orkney's human settlers survived and thrived here for thousands of years. 432 00:38:34,660 --> 00:38:37,400 The settlers had a dangerous journey. 433 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:42,900 The Pentland Firth is one of the most perilous sea straits in Europe. 434 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:51,840 The water between the principal islands is known as Scarpa Flow. 435 00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:57,520 At the end of World War I, seven German warships were scuttled here. 436 00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:09,060 Alton Cliffs are made of a distinctive red sandstone. 437 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:15,500 The Old Man of Hoy is the tallest sea stack in Britain. 438 00:39:17,700 --> 00:39:24,160 Made from soft Orcadian sandstone, it sits on a lava base, which has so far 439 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:25,760 protected it from the waves. 440 00:39:26,300 --> 00:39:31,340 But it's only a matter of time until these rocks succumb to the power of the 441 00:39:31,340 --> 00:39:32,340 sea. 442 00:39:40,590 --> 00:39:45,770 Around the coastlines of these islands and inland in their rivers, streams, and 443 00:39:45,770 --> 00:39:52,450 lochs, Orkney is home to a tiny population of otters, possibly as few as 444 00:39:53,810 --> 00:39:58,410 Otters don't migrate for long distances. They tend to settle where they can find 445 00:39:58,410 --> 00:40:02,390 fresh water to drink and an abundant supply of food. 446 00:40:02,970 --> 00:40:07,510 Over a kilogram a day of fish, crustaceans, or frogs. 447 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:09,940 or even small mammals and birds. 448 00:40:10,660 --> 00:40:14,980 Otters are not only few in number, they're shy creatures. 449 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:20,380 But if you understand their habits and you're willing to spend the time, you 450 00:40:20,380 --> 00:40:22,320 be lucky enough to spot them. 451 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:34,580 In Orkney, the settlers left behind extraordinary evidence of their 452 00:40:34,580 --> 00:40:35,900 sophisticated life. 453 00:40:36,970 --> 00:40:37,970 and culture. 454 00:40:43,010 --> 00:40:49,770 On the main island is a magnificent ancient monument, the Ring of Brodgar. 455 00:40:56,130 --> 00:41:02,830 In use around the same time as Stonehenge, there were originally 60 456 00:41:02,830 --> 00:41:05,530 surrounded by a massive rock -cut ditch. 457 00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:09,160 Four metres deep and over ten metres wide. 458 00:41:17,320 --> 00:41:22,520 Nick Card is a world expert on Orkney's incredible archaeology. 459 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:33,480 This construct was built by Neolithic ancestors, the first farmers in Orkney. 460 00:41:34,220 --> 00:41:39,300 who arrived here about 4 ,000 years ago, coming across the Pentland Firth, 461 00:41:39,300 --> 00:41:44,400 probably in skin boats, coracle -type boats, bringing not only themselves, but 462 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:49,560 also their families, their livestock, their cereals, their grain, everything 463 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:53,560 that introduced this kind of Neolithic package, the change from the kind of 464 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:59,440 hunter -gatherer lifestyle to something more sedentary, something more complex. 465 00:42:05,670 --> 00:42:09,770 There's been many, many theories about what the Stone Circle's function was. 466 00:42:10,010 --> 00:42:15,310 But I think, apart from perhaps being something to do with observing the sky, 467 00:42:15,310 --> 00:42:20,150 kind of astronomical observatory, which has often been quoted as a function, I 468 00:42:20,150 --> 00:42:23,830 think it was a place where people came together. Maybe not just local people, 469 00:42:24,030 --> 00:42:28,210 maybe people from right the way across Orkney, maybe from much further afield 470 00:42:28,210 --> 00:42:29,210 well. 471 00:42:30,370 --> 00:42:33,630 While hunter -gatherers lived in temporary dwellings... 472 00:42:33,950 --> 00:42:38,750 The farmers of the Neolithic put down roots, building whole villages out of 473 00:42:38,750 --> 00:42:39,750 stone. 474 00:42:40,490 --> 00:42:45,170 This is a village of lots of interconnecting houses, but when it was 475 00:42:45,170 --> 00:42:48,870 built, each one of these houses would have been standing almost in isolation, 476 00:42:49,210 --> 00:42:54,130 very close proximity, but not with all this kind of subterranean appearance. 477 00:42:56,710 --> 00:43:01,050 This is one of the best preserved houses at Scarrowbrae, and it kind of shows 478 00:43:01,050 --> 00:43:03,470 the main structural elements to these buildings. 479 00:43:03,750 --> 00:43:08,750 There's a short entrance passageway just over towards my right, and it opens up 480 00:43:08,750 --> 00:43:14,310 into this relatively spacious room, which would have probably been occupied 481 00:43:14,310 --> 00:43:16,810 family, or an extended family, in fact. 482 00:43:17,190 --> 00:43:21,270 But as you enter, you would have been immediately confronted by this large 483 00:43:21,270 --> 00:43:25,130 square hearth, which would have really been the heart of the house. 484 00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:32,240 And opposite this stone edifice, which has been called a stone dresser, it's 485 00:43:32,240 --> 00:43:36,420 where some people envisage where the Neolithic people kept all their kind of 486 00:43:36,420 --> 00:43:37,540 prized possessions. 487 00:43:41,220 --> 00:43:42,780 In 2002, 488 00:43:43,500 --> 00:43:48,460 archaeologists made the find of a generation when they uncovered a massive 489 00:43:48,460 --> 00:43:54,660 Neolithic complex without parallel in Western Europe, the nest of Brodgar. 490 00:43:56,010 --> 00:44:00,450 When the summer weather makes it possible, excavations continue every 491 00:44:00,650 --> 00:44:02,750 headed up by Nick Card himself. 492 00:44:03,530 --> 00:44:08,230 At its height, this must have been a truly spectacular sight, not only these 493 00:44:08,230 --> 00:44:13,250 massive monumental buildings, but the fact that they were contained or defined 494 00:44:13,250 --> 00:44:18,750 by two massive walls, one at either end, the so -called Great Wall of Brodgar, 495 00:44:18,930 --> 00:44:23,210 which was four to six metres wide and spanned the peninsula here. 496 00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:25,920 It's immaculate, it's breathtaking. 497 00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:31,620 But it's not just the structures, it's every other aspect of the site, all the 498 00:44:31,620 --> 00:44:38,380 signs, a whole range of different materials, stone tools, ceramics, bone, 499 00:44:38,500 --> 00:44:44,300 bone artefacts, but also art, Neolithic art, the largest assemblage of Neolithic 500 00:44:44,300 --> 00:44:46,040 art anywhere in the UK. 501 00:44:46,260 --> 00:44:50,460 In fact, there's been more Neolithic art found at the nest than every other site 502 00:44:50,460 --> 00:44:52,120 combined in the UK. 503 00:44:53,050 --> 00:44:58,050 So I think the nest was really something, a place of innovation, where 504 00:44:58,050 --> 00:45:03,390 new designs of pottery and perhaps even the stone circles themselves initially 505 00:45:03,390 --> 00:45:05,130 being created in Orkney. 506 00:45:07,310 --> 00:45:12,830 Neolithic Orkney was a centre of innovation for ideas that spread out 507 00:45:12,830 --> 00:45:13,830 Britain. 508 00:45:21,130 --> 00:45:25,770 The Scottish Highlands may now be the least populated part of the United 509 00:45:25,770 --> 00:45:32,370 Kingdom, but it has a strong claim to be its very greatest landscape. 47193

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