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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:13,360 Scotland is one of the most beautiful 2 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:16,520 and most photographed countries in the world. 3 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,600 Wow! Look at that rainbow. 4 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,000 That's spectacular. 5 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,600 It's a place that seems shaped to be seen from the sky. 6 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:35,240 Oh, yes, look at that. 7 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,120 Pictures taken from above 8 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,680 have the power to astound and to amaze. 9 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:45,960 What a stunning landscape! 10 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,360 The view from above isn't just about 11 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:52,200 spectacular mountains and dramatic castles. 12 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:54,760 The view from above 13 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,920 offers a whole new way of understanding our history. 14 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,480 I'm James Crawford and I want aerial photography 15 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,400 to take you on a unique journey. 16 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,800 I'll be using everything, from fascinating old imagery, 17 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,760 to modern aerial footage, to uncover the secrets of our past. 18 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:22,080 In this film, I am looking down on Scotland's coast. 19 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:25,800 For many of our communities, it was the place where it all began. 20 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,080 The coast, it's where we look to for food and for trade. 21 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:33,840 It's where we built many of our first homes. 22 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,920 It's where we watched the arrival of refugees, 23 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,160 of invaders, of war. 24 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,440 Scotland's coast is awash with stories 25 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,360 and the promise of adventure. 26 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,880 Oh, like some half-sunk medieval castle, in the water. 27 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:55,320 It's breathtaking. It's sometimes terrifying. 28 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,000 And all along it are tantalising clues... 29 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,880 Whoo. Whey! Nice one. 30 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,480 ..to the way we used to live. 31 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,080 This is the story of Scotland's coast. 32 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:09,080 A story told from the sky. 33 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,040 I understand the appeal of fishing. 34 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:28,600 Fresh air, beautiful scenery, getting back to nature. 35 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,200 But I just have to confess that I'm not very good at it. 36 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:36,640 Well, that was a good one. 37 00:02:36,640 --> 00:02:38,880 That went well. 38 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,400 People who know what they're doing say fishing with a rod and a line, 39 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:45,920 well, it's all about patience. 40 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:49,000 About casting out, time and time again. 41 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,040 But in the past, if you wanted to feed a family 42 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:57,720 or even a whole community, they needed a bit more of an edge. 43 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:03,480 A way of fishing that some might just call cheating. 44 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:08,960 To find out exactly how it worked, 45 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,000 I'm on the southern bank of the Beauly Firth, 46 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,400 four miles west of Inverness. 47 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,000 This is going to be interesting. 48 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:20,560 HE LAUGHS 49 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:22,360 I think it's going to be OK. 50 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,800 Joining me on a tricky and slippy trudge out over the mud flats 51 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:30,800 is archaeologist Tom Dawson. 52 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,040 A kilometre of this could take a while. 53 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:37,160 Yeah. 54 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,560 If you risked a broken ankle to walk along here, 55 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,240 you might wonder why someone has gone to a lot of bother 56 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,400 to build a huge line of stones. 57 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,600 But when you look down on those stones, 58 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:57,920 their shape becomes clear. 59 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,720 It's a giant man-made hook. 60 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,880 The purpose of that hook was, very fittingly, to trap fish. 61 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,520 Tom, this is clearly a huge construction, 62 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:18,520 how did these fish traps work? 63 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:22,080 Well, certain fish like to swim quite close to the coast 64 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:24,960 and the fishermen would place obstructions in the way, 65 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,160 so that as the fish are coming down the coast, 66 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,040 they would hit this solid wall, come along the wall 67 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,520 and get funnelled into the corner just here 68 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,960 and at this corner there would be a net or a piece of basket work 69 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:37,920 and the fish would go into that. 70 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,440 And the whole key behind this is the tide. 71 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,040 The fish are following the tide and as the water comes out, 72 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,160 the fish will follow the tide down the wall 73 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:47,680 until they get into that net just there. 74 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:53,600 People have been making fish traps for some 8,000 years, 75 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,600 but this one is only 200 or 300 years old. 76 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:02,320 And it's one of a pair of traps, built to double the efficiency. 77 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:05,960 You don't have the same tidal range every single day, 78 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,520 so sometimes in the neat tides this trap would work, 79 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:10,880 but in a spring tide, where the tide goes right, right out, 80 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,120 you need to have a second trap in order to catch all the fish 81 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,680 and that's what that second trap over there is doing. 82 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,200 And was it a very efficient way of catching fish? 83 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:24,680 Incredibly efficient. 84 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:26,920 It would absolutely catch everything in there. 85 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:29,080 And why have fish traps fallen out of use? 86 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:34,120 Well, it's probably because they were so successful. 87 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:36,400 It led to a number of court cases. 88 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:38,800 There was an example over at Loch Broom, 89 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:40,920 where a fish trap was so successful 90 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,800 that they took away 1,000 baskets of fish in one day 91 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:45,840 and then still left some fish behind 92 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:48,040 and unfortunately, those fish rotted 93 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:51,240 and ended up polluting the whole of that area of the loch. 94 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,760 Building fish traps was banned by Parliament in 1860. 95 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,920 In aerial photographs, their shapes still stand out, 96 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:06,600 often crystal clear. 97 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,240 But the traps are fading fast. 98 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:13,800 And will one day disappear forever. 99 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,720 Our coastline is continually changing. 100 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,480 So photographs and film are vitally important. 101 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,760 They are often the only clues to the many mysteries 102 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:35,680 our ancestors left behind. 103 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:44,360 Millions of those photographs are stored in the vaults 104 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,720 where I work, at Historic Environment Scotland. 105 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:52,280 Based in Edinburgh, 106 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:55,520 it's Europe's largest collection of aerial photography. 107 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:02,600 These photographs are a unique record 108 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,120 of how we have lived and worked next to the sea, 109 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,000 from the massive coastal defences and airfields 110 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:09,640 of the Second World War, 111 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,320 all the way back to the enigmatic shapes left in the landscape 112 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,360 by our early ancestors... 113 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:25,440 ..like these. Strange circles, halos of tumbledown rock. 114 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,720 Built by people we hardly know. 115 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,360 One of Scotland's greatest historical mysteries. 116 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:39,640 The one I have always wanted to visit is in Shetland... 117 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:42,680 ..on the tiny Island Of Mousa. 118 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,960 An ancient and remarkable building, called a broch. 119 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:58,000 Scotland was once home to 120 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,720 many hundreds of these mysterious towers... 121 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,120 ..and Mousa is the best preserved. 122 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:13,120 I've come to see it for myself, and you can't help but be amazed. 123 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,480 I know that this broch is 2,000 years old... 124 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:26,160 ..but what I don't know, what no-one really knows, 125 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,600 is who built or lived in this amazing structure. 126 00:08:33,680 --> 00:08:37,000 The construction's stone on stone, there is no mortar, 127 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,400 nothing binding these great slabs and blocks together. 128 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:47,240 And from directly above, 129 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,800 you can see that it is not just one tower, but two. 130 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,120 One inside the other, with a staircase filling the gap, 131 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,400 perhaps Scotland's oldest surviving staircase. 132 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:01,240 We think they had roofs. 133 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:03,680 This is Scotland after all, but none remain. 134 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:14,640 Scotland's got more brochs than it's got football stadiums, 135 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,000 and for centuries, some of the greatest minds in the country 136 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,320 have been studying them, yet, to this day, 137 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,320 we still don't know, with any degree of certainty, 138 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:25,360 exactly what they were for. 139 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:33,800 Archaeologist Val Turner sees two main possibilities. 140 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,000 They may have been defensive 141 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:43,000 and, indeed, some of them have massive great ditches around them. 142 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,240 So it looks like a really serious attempt 143 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,240 to keep someone in or someone out. 144 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,400 But, other people suggest, at the other end of the spectrum, 145 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:55,240 that they were really the impressive houses of chiefs. 146 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:01,120 An interesting thing about them is that they tend to be inter-visible, 147 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,120 so you can see from one to another, in a chain, 148 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:05,920 which suggests that there was 149 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,840 a reason that they wanted to kind of see each other, 150 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:10,720 send signals perhaps to each other... 151 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,600 Brochs appear to have originated in Shetland and Orkney 152 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:20,560 and then spread south. 153 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:25,280 They were all built to nearly the same height. 154 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:27,120 And it's a tantalising prospect 155 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,400 that they were intended as coastal beacons or connected watchtowers. 156 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,040 Perhaps a system for communicating over large distances? 157 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:40,760 It's a fascinating theory. 158 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:42,560 But still just a guess. 159 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,480 Brochs are a uniquely Scottish enigma. 160 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,800 Nobody else, anywhere else, has them. 161 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,080 Perhaps one day we will work out what they were for, 162 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:57,160 but I wouldn't bet on it. 163 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,840 And maybe it is better if we never do. 164 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,080 Over 1,000 years after the brochs, 165 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:13,280 it was castles that told the locals who was boss... 166 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,800 ..and told outsiders where to go. 167 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,400 But for all those centuries of defensive posturing, 168 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:26,440 there has never been any shortage of people coming to visit, 169 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:28,280 or to stay for good. 170 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:34,960 From Ireland, early Christians made their mark 171 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:39,160 on Scotland's landscape with a network of religious buildings. 172 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:44,560 They sought sanctuary in the most remote locations 173 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:48,120 and there's one in particular that even today 174 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:51,040 is monumentally difficult to get to. 175 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:02,120 And I'm heading there now, 176 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:04,040 to get a sense of what life would have been like 177 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:06,240 in such an isolated community. 178 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:15,000 And while the early Christians travelled in the tiniest boats, 179 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,640 we've got something a little more powerful, 180 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:23,120 with former fisherman Billy Simmons at the wheel. 181 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:29,480 If you had been navigating these waters without GPS, 182 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,200 without an engine, would you have fancied that? 183 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,040 No. I mean, we can do it, because it is all done through habit, 184 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,440 but to come in here, through uncharted waters... 185 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,360 ..the guys that did that were just legends, 186 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:41,840 as far as I'm concerned, like. 187 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,680 We're sailing just to the south of the Isle of Skye, 188 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:51,560 heading to the most westerly of the Small Isles, Canna. 189 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,240 1,500 years ago, a Christian community came to this island 190 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:59,320 and built a place of worship. 191 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:03,560 Today, it is one of the most remote, 192 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:07,080 most inaccessible religious sites in Scotland. 193 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:12,480 Can you imagine what it must have been like, 194 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,080 the first time you saw that island? 195 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,560 Oh, like some half-sunk medieval castle, in the water. 196 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:21,600 I suppose it would have been quite rewarding. 197 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:24,640 Many times as a fisherman, we were caught out in The Minch 198 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:27,920 with poor, poor weather, and it was certainly our sanctuary. 199 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,280 So, who knows, did they find it through, you know, 200 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:33,880 poor weather, and it was the closest point of land? 201 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:37,280 But, it was certainly, from a 30 year period, 202 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:39,760 it was our sanctuary, our safe haven, 203 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:41,680 many, many a welcome night, like, you know? 204 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:48,720 Canna remains a place of escape. 205 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:51,840 Its permanent population is just 18 people. 206 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:55,920 Those who visit this harbour today 207 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:58,680 mostly come in search of peace and nature. 208 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:03,160 My trip promised to be a little more vigorous. 209 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:10,520 For the second stage of the journey, 210 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:13,120 I'm heading west along Canna's only road... 211 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:19,480 ..becoming ever more terrifying. 212 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:28,440 It's ridiculously bad and not for the faint-hearted. 213 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:41,080 This was a three mile drive I wouldn't forget in a hurry. 214 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:52,320 Well, that was pretty wild. 215 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,000 I couldn't help but notice that the 60 foot drop down the cliff 216 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:56,920 was on the passenger side. 217 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,640 Anyway, this is as far as we could go by the Land Rover, 218 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:01,480 so the rest of the way is a bit of a hike. 219 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:10,960 After four hours of travelling, I'm now closing in on my target. 220 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,600 In Gaelic, they called it Sgorr Nam Ban-naomha. 221 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:20,640 "The Slopes Of The Holy Women." 222 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,800 Some believe that early Christian visitors built a nunnery 223 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:33,400 at the base of these terrifying cliffs. 224 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:38,920 And there is only one way to get down and see it... 225 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:45,320 ..with the help of my new best friend, mountain guide Jonah Jones. 226 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,280 Hi there, Jonah. Hi. Good to see you. You too. 227 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:51,640 How's the descent looking? 228 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:55,560 It is looking quite greasy and quite bouldery and quite eroded ground. 229 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:58,320 So, what we are going to do is, we're going to control the descent 230 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:02,360 from the top, put you on a static line and lower you from the top. 231 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,920 Harness. OK. That's the front of the harness. 232 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:08,160 Are we safe? You can still breathe? It's not tight? No. 233 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:09,880 I can still breathe. 234 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:12,640 OK, we'll put the line through, so it'll be at the front 235 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:14,520 and we're ready to go. Excellent. Let's go. 236 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,720 And so with a little trepidation and a few deep breaths, 237 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,240 I find myself heading for the edge. 238 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:31,560 Working down a slippery, slimy cliff face, 239 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:35,280 I could still enjoy spectacular views of the island. 240 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,000 But any descent like this carries a risk. 241 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:55,600 Just ask the person below me, Alistair - our camera operator. 242 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,480 He lived to film another day. 243 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:06,400 Has it stopped? Yeah, it's stopped. 244 00:17:12,120 --> 00:17:15,480 Below the cliffs, the final stage of my journey... 245 00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:21,800 ..to an almost unvisited section of Scotland's coast. 246 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,200 What might have been Scotland's most remote nunnery 247 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,720 isn't easy to spot amidst the undisturbed bracken... 248 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:37,440 ..but from the air, the site is revealed in all its glory. 249 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,880 It's a massive 37 metre wide dry-stone enclosure. 250 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,040 It contains the remains of small huts 251 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,480 where pilgrims came for enlightenment or a cure. 252 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:10,040 And at its centre is another circular structure, 253 00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,320 believed to be a chapel... 254 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,880 ..with the remains of an ancient altar sitting alongside. 255 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,280 It was within the rubble of this broken altar 256 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:25,680 that archaeologists found stones 257 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,440 inscribed with early Christian crosses. 258 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:32,240 The theory is that this site was linked to a larger monastic site 259 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,080 at Canna's main bay. 260 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,040 If that wasn't remote enough for you, 261 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:39,240 you'd come here, to a near inaccessible refuge, 262 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,440 with only the sea birds and the waves for company. 263 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:03,880 I think it is hard to understand today, 264 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:05,600 why you would come to somewhere like this. 265 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,320 We're so obsessed with being connected, 266 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:10,440 with our phones, with Wi-Fi, 267 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,240 the concept of remoteness, of having time to yourself, 268 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:16,960 isn't something we really understand, but coming here, 269 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:19,640 you get a sense of what they were looking for. 270 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:23,800 Peace, tranquillity, absolute solitude. 271 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:25,520 It's a haunting sight. 272 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:37,480 Scotland's coast has always been an enticing source of inspiration. 273 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:40,960 Magnificent and wild. 274 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,320 The communities who lived along the coast needed to tame its waters. 275 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:05,120 They built harbours like this one in Catterline in Aberdeenshire... 276 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:07,360 ..as a shield from stormy seas... 277 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:11,600 ..a safe haven for their boats. 278 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,280 People have been bringing fishing boats in and out of here 279 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:23,240 for over 1,000 years. 280 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,320 All along our coastlines, you will find stone built piers 281 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:28,760 like this, big or small. 282 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:33,240 They're physical monuments to one of the longest lasting relationships 283 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,280 in our history, between people and the sea. 284 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:46,040 From above, the bizarre geometry of Scotland's harbours 285 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,120 is a moving testimony to our determination 286 00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:51,360 to carve a living out of the sea. 287 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,560 Borderlands leading to the tempestuous waters beyond. 288 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:05,120 I've come to what was one of Scotland's 289 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:07,280 most important fishing harbours... 290 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:13,400 ..in the town of Wick, 100 miles north of Inverness. 291 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,960 This is an edition of the Illustrated London News 292 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:21,800 from August, 1875. 293 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:27,240 It describes Wick as the largest fishing station in the world, 294 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:31,160 with a staggering 800 boats cramming this harbour, 295 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,880 dedicated to the pursuit of just one thing. 296 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:35,920 Herring. 297 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,560 The magazine included this special illustration. 298 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:49,240 It shows the chaotic cram of boats in the harbour. 299 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:51,640 It was said that you could walk from one end to the other, 300 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,000 just stepping across their decks. 301 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:01,240 Much quieter now. I'm on that same quayside, 302 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:04,400 chatting with Harry Gray - a local historian, 303 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:08,120 his mother and grandmother worked in the herring industry. 304 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:10,360 Can you give me a sense of the scale of the operation? 305 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:14,640 Oh... That was the greatest thing that ever happened to this town. 306 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,560 They planned to have a village for 1,000 people 307 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,560 and a harbour for 300 boats. 308 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,320 In hindsight, which is always very clever, 309 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:24,480 they should have built the village for 3,000 people 310 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:26,800 and the harbour for 1,000 boats. 311 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:31,080 But people flocked into town to get a piece of the action. 312 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:32,840 Where were they selling it to? 313 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:37,960 Well, the big customers in those days were Russia, 314 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,120 the Baltic and Germany. 315 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:41,680 Germany was a huge market, 316 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,240 so schooners were setting sail for Wick across the sea 317 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:49,240 to these countries all the time, with loads of barrels of herring. 318 00:22:57,920 --> 00:22:59,160 Alongside the fishermen 319 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,400 were thousands of what were then called herring girls. 320 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,640 Stories of their work have been handed down 321 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,160 through the family of Maureen Ross. 322 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:13,320 The gutters, what they did was, 323 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:16,320 they would set to picking the herring 324 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:19,160 and it was just one action, it was in the throat and... 325 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:20,600 MIMICS SLICE 326 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:22,480 ..and out with the gut. 327 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:26,240 And these girls, they worked so fast, 328 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:33,160 it's said that when they were filmed at one point... 329 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,200 ..it was just a blur. Their hands were a blur. 330 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,640 40-60 herrings would be gutted in a minute. 331 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,200 And that's an amazing speed. 332 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,680 The herring girls worked the length of Britain's coast. 333 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:58,360 From Shetland to Great Yarmouth, they followed the fleets. 334 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,160 And there is one particular view from above 335 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,120 that shows how hard their work could be. 336 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,040 An inlet below the village of Whaligoe, 337 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,120 seven miles south of Wick. 338 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:21,040 These steps, all 365 of them, 339 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:25,600 led some 250 feet up the cliff to the village. 340 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,640 Whatever was caught out there, had to be carried up here. 341 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:33,720 Today, it's a picturesque walk. 342 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:37,200 But for the herring girls, climbing Whaligoe's flagstone steps 343 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,400 was gruelling, painful work. 344 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:48,520 On their backs, they were weighed down with heavy baskets of the fish 345 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,200 they'd gutted on the quayside. 346 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:55,200 78, 79, 80, 81, 82... 347 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,400 The very existence of such an unlikely harbour at Whaligoe 348 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:03,520 is testament to the remarkable scale of the business... 349 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,680 93, 94, 95, 96, 97... 350 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:11,040 ..a business that would disappear when its biggest clients, 351 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:14,920 Germany and Russia, exploded into war and revolution. 352 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:22,720 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257... 353 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:26,800 By the 1950s, Scotland's herring industry 354 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:28,960 was little more than a memory. 355 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,480 These steps are a monument to Thrownness. 356 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:37,200 The fish may have gone, 357 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,880 but they remain as an enduring symbol 358 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,480 of the women who worked the herring. 359 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,000 Scotland's coast has long been shaped by the people 360 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:55,200 who worked it. 361 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,880 Their stories often told by the buildings they left behind. 362 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:03,960 Harbours, lighthouses, boathouses, shipyards. 363 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,120 Yet, sometimes the evidence of what we've done 364 00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:09,880 and where we've done it is a little harder to find. 365 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,320 This isn't a place I'd recommend for a visit. 366 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,760 It's a muddy southern bank of the River Clyde. 367 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:33,400 A dangerous place if you don't know the tides, and even if you do. 368 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,800 I'm heading east to a creek running into the River Clyde 369 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,440 at Newshot Island, opposite Clydebank. 370 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,440 Joining me, squelching across the mud 371 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:50,680 is archaeologist Ellie Graham. 372 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:58,640 She has come to guide me, safely, I hope, to a quite incredible sight. 373 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:00,200 A ship's graveyard... 374 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:06,240 ..discovered, almost by accident, by a view from above. 375 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:12,240 It was actually first brought to our attention 376 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,360 by a member of the local community who was exploring the area 377 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:17,600 and the river bank through Google Earth 378 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:21,280 and he spotted this collection of wooden boats 379 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:23,440 on a high resolution Google Earth image 380 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,200 and, uh, got in touch with us 381 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:28,440 because he thought they might be of interest. 382 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,520 What did you find when you came to investigate the site? 383 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:35,840 Well, we found a massive group, actually, of wooden barges that... 384 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:38,680 We call them mud punts, because they were actually initially moved 385 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:40,760 by punting around the river. 386 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,880 They worked in partnership with steam dredgers 387 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:46,920 and then later with the diving bells 388 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,800 and they just removed the spoil that they excavated from the river banks, 389 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,640 because the problem with the River Clyde 390 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:54,800 is that it was naturally a very, very shallow river, 391 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:57,920 so in order to allow big boats to come up and down, 392 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,040 to trade and then later for the big boats that were built on the Clyde, 393 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,000 they had to put in a lot of effort to deepen the river. 394 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:09,680 Braving the worst of the mud, 395 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:13,720 it's possible to get closer to Glasgow's forgotten fleet 396 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:15,960 and to identify individual vessels. 397 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:24,280 Alongside the wooden barges is a distinctive bullet-shaped boat... 398 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,360 ..designed to support a primitive diving bell. 399 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:32,320 So, where are we standing right now? 400 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,680 Well, this is the business end of the diving bell barge. 401 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:36,520 This cut out here in the stern 402 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:38,840 is actually where the diving bell was mounted 403 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:40,440 and they were for the carriage 404 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:43,200 where the diving bell itself was actually raised and lowered 405 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,080 from here, down to the river bed. 406 00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:51,520 Working often many feet below the boat, 407 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,160 the bottom of the diving bell was completely open, 408 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,720 the water kept out by air pressure. 409 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:04,240 It allowed the men to use picks and shovels to work on the riverbed. 410 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,480 It was extremely dangerous, but it was crucial 411 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:13,680 to Glasgow's development as the world's shipbuilding capital. 412 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:17,920 When some of the biggest ships in the world, 413 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,120 like the Queen Mary and the Lusitania 414 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:22,360 were constructed at Clyde Yards, 415 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,640 this was still working, using that sort of very basic technology, 416 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,160 still, to achieve those depths that were needed 417 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,200 for these great big ships to be built 418 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:32,280 and then launched down the Clyde. 419 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,920 So, hugely important then, in historical terms? Absolutely, yes. 420 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:36,280 We think as far as we know, 421 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,040 it's the earliest surviving dive support vessel 422 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:40,840 that we know of anywhere in Britain. 423 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:45,680 It's a very important piece of diving history, 424 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,240 not only for the history of civil engineering, 425 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:50,760 but also for the history of Glasgow as well, 426 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,760 because without the dredgers and the diving bells 427 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:56,160 and the barges that laboured to deepen the river, 428 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:58,760 there is no way Glasgow could have become the city that it did, 429 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:00,800 the sort of powerhouse of shipbuilding. 430 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,280 The lucrative transatlantic trades that helped build Glasgow 431 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:08,720 all disappeared. 432 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:17,040 But Scotland's harbours have never stopped finding new things to do. 433 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,520 In the north-east, the dolphins have come out to play 434 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:27,000 at the mouth of Aberdeen Harbour. 435 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:40,200 From tiny fishing boats to massive oil support vessels, 436 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:44,240 this is a business that has been reinvented time and again. 437 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:48,760 And it is one with an impeccable pedigree. 438 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:53,600 With a more than credible claim 439 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:55,840 to have the oldest business in Britain. 440 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:03,200 Aberdeen Harbour was officially established in 1136 441 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:07,000 when King David granted the local bishops the right to tax ships 442 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,760 going in and out. It's an amazing history. 443 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:12,320 It has been attacked by everyone from the Vikings 444 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:15,960 to the German Luftwaffe. Not many companies can say that. 445 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,280 I'm on a pilot boat heading into Aberdeen Harbour, 446 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:27,080 past a truly fascinating range of ships. 447 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:36,800 You can see how Aberdeen Harbour is the centre of this city. 448 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:38,880 How the buildings seem to grow outwards 449 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,360 and away from the waterfront. 450 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:44,880 Keith Young is the harbour's engineering director. 451 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:46,640 So, Keith, this is a harbour 452 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:50,600 that has supported many different industries down the years. 453 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:52,800 Well, I'm from Aberdeen, I grew up here, 454 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,800 so it used to be that when you were a boy you could come down here, 455 00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:59,120 be on the quayside and you saw the fishing vessels coming in, 456 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,520 you'd be able to walk in amongst the fish market. 457 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:11,040 The earliest maps of the harbour date to the 1600s 458 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:14,480 and show a tidal base at the mouth of the River Dee 459 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:16,360 with three large islands. 460 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:22,440 Those islands gradually gave way to shipping 461 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:26,720 and were replaced with the Victoria Dock, completed in 1848. 462 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:35,600 20 years later, the River Dee itself was diverted to the south. 463 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:40,320 And, in 1870, the new Albert Basin was built in its place... 464 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,920 ..seen here in this 1949 aerial photograph, 465 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:47,440 filled with fishing boats... 466 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,080 ..a generation before the Aberdeen oil boom. 467 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:02,200 RADIO: OK, you can let go and travel through... 468 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:12,960 But as the oil industry peaks and wanes, 469 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:17,160 this old harbour is looking for new business. 470 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:19,880 We're travelling out to see work under way 471 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:22,480 on the massive 200 metre long breakwater 472 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:25,920 for Aberdeen's new South Harbour at Nigg Bay. 473 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:34,400 A project that will take millions of cubic metres of rock, 474 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,320 creating one-and-a-half kilometres of quay. 475 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:43,560 Big enough for a new generation of cruise liners, 476 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:46,320 bringing thousands of tourists to the north-east. 477 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:52,080 So this is the latest chapter in Britain's oldest business. 478 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,360 Exactly, yes. We've been around for almost 900 years 479 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,840 and some of the staff maybe feel like they've been here that long, 480 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:02,040 but we know that we are looking after the harbour 481 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:04,160 and there is a great sense of pride 482 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:06,560 amongst the harbour staff for what we're doing. 483 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:14,920 Harbours, ferries, fishing boats... 484 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:18,400 ..the coast has always been a place of work. 485 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,040 But in the 20th century, 486 00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:24,040 it gradually came to be seen as a place for fun and leisure. 487 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,040 And in the 1930s, an extremely unlikely craze 488 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:37,840 swept Scotland's coast. 489 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,560 Remnants can be found in the north-east, 490 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,480 on the Moray Firth... 491 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:49,560 ..in a little bay in a place called Tarlair. 492 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,520 It all began when local authorities all across the country 493 00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,640 started building something that may surprise anyone 494 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,920 who has ever dipped a toe reluctantly in a Scottish sea. 495 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:05,280 Huge outdoor swimming pools... 496 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:06,720 ..known as lidos. 497 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:21,120 Tarlair Lido opened in the summer of 1930... 498 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:26,400 ..and was an immediate hit with the locals. 499 00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:36,760 Carved into an Aberdeenshire cliffside, 500 00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:38,960 Tarlair was an Art Deco marvel. 501 00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:44,440 Inspired by a famous Parisian swimming pool, 502 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:46,240 it was the height of fashion, 503 00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:48,080 and ingeniously designed. 504 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:54,240 That side was for boats and this side was for swimming. 505 00:35:54,240 --> 00:35:56,200 It was built as a tidal pool. 506 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:58,640 Every day it was replenished 507 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:02,160 by the invigorating waters of the North Sea. 508 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:10,160 These days, we're used to cheap foreign holidays, 509 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:13,280 sun and sea and sand just a few hours flight away, 510 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:16,400 but back then most people had no choice. 511 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:19,640 They had to find their slice of paradise a little closer to home. 512 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:25,960 Hugh Gordon played in the pool as a boy and later worked here, 513 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,080 one of the last supervisors before the lido's closure. 514 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:34,360 What was this like on a summer's day? 515 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:37,120 Packed. Packed. Mobbed. 516 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:41,960 Erm... There was people everywhere sitting, picnic area up here, 517 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:45,040 you could hardly get a place to sit. 518 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:47,680 You know, people came from Huntly, Keith, 519 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:52,640 Pier Head, Fraserburgh, all around the countryside 520 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:54,720 and they used to come here at the weekends. 521 00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:57,200 And during the week, when the summer holidays went out, 522 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:00,160 you would get bus parties coming through here as well. Yeah. 523 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:05,760 The fashion for lidos didn't last. 524 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:08,120 The pools were expensive to run and maintain 525 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:10,200 and local councils no longer had the money 526 00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:12,800 or the enthusiasm to keep them going. 527 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:20,720 Tarlair lasted longer than most, but closed in 1996. 528 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:26,080 How did you feel when it closed? 529 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:29,720 I'm sad, I'm sad. 530 00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:35,000 Because along with a lot of people, we had a lot of fun down here. 531 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:37,560 Tarlair was THE place. 532 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:40,040 Yeah. We had a lot of fun down here. 533 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:42,200 A lot of people not here now that did enjoy it. 534 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:48,440 Do you think there is a future for it? 535 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:51,640 As a swimming pool, I'm afraid it's finished. 536 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:55,080 Yeah. Kids nowadays don't want to swim outdoors. 537 00:37:56,720 --> 00:37:58,120 THEY LAUGH 538 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:01,600 I've been working in the pool up the road for 30-odd years. No. 539 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:03,240 This is alien to them. 540 00:38:03,240 --> 00:38:06,080 They don't want to come and swim in fresh water. 541 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:07,480 Why is that, do you think? 542 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:08,640 Too damn cold! 543 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:15,840 But from the ruins, 544 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:19,880 Tarlair emerged once again as a place for people to play. 545 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:29,440 The concrete Art Deco curves were a perfect training ground 546 00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:31,160 for local skateboarders. 547 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:38,520 Among them, Rhys Archibald. 548 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:42,160 He grew up in the town of Banff, just two miles from Tarlair. 549 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:45,680 He is now one of Britain's top freestylists. 550 00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:51,400 Me and my buds would skate after school, 551 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:53,600 and just as kids we would roam around, 552 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:55,360 trying to find the next best thing. 553 00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:01,480 It was out of the way, no-one would interrupt us, 554 00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:04,080 they would allow us to skateboard here. 555 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:06,320 We weren't doing anything destructive, 556 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:08,640 we were just having fun on skateboards. 557 00:39:09,720 --> 00:39:12,280 I guess it's a bit unfortunate that it's a bit of a forgotten bit, 558 00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:13,720 but it's also a bit of a pro 559 00:39:13,720 --> 00:39:16,160 that nobody would come and move us along from this. 560 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:24,520 So this is really where you honed your skills? 561 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:26,600 Yeah, yeah. Getting down my skills, 562 00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:29,400 the peace and quiet just allowed me to concentrate 563 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:31,800 on what I was feeling, what I was thinking. 564 00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:34,120 It was a good area for creating stuff 565 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:36,240 and after landing a really cool trick, 566 00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:38,120 it was nice to look out to the sea 567 00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:40,520 and think, "Oh, this is very peaceful and nice." 568 00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:51,000 I'm determined to try out Tarlair for myself. 569 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,680 I'd never learned to ride a skateboard... 570 00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:55,760 ..so there's only one option. 571 00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:58,600 In northern Scotland, 572 00:39:58,600 --> 00:39:59,720 in October. 573 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:05,640 There's a campaign to reopen Tarlair and you can understand why. 574 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:08,080 It's such a spectacular setting. 575 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:09,360 So spectacular in fact, 576 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:12,600 that I have decided I want to take a dip for myself. 577 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,280 I mean, how cold can it be? 578 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:16,760 Don't answer that! 579 00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:27,440 It's bitterly, bitingly freezing. 580 00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:34,760 I told myself that generations of Aberdeenshire schoolchildren 581 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:36,600 had done just this. 582 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:38,400 Maybe without a wet suit. 583 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:46,440 And stepping out, the film crew were as supportive as ever. 584 00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:48,680 Whoo! Whey! Nice one. 585 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:49,720 Take two? 586 00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:53,000 That was a good rehearsal. 587 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:54,360 Shall we run the next time? 588 00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:14,360 The craze for lidos, begun in the 1930s, lasted scarcely 50 years. 589 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:18,960 But there's one use of our coast that's endured 590 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:20,480 for thousands of years. 591 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:23,400 Protecting Scotland from its enemies. 592 00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:31,680 Tucked away in the South West of Scotland, 593 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:34,040 Loch Ryan might seem an unlikely location 594 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:37,280 for those hunting remains of a war against Germany. 595 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:42,720 This is a place best known today 596 00:41:42,720 --> 00:41:45,600 for getting the ferry to Northern Ireland. 597 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:51,880 But look hard enough 598 00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:55,520 and you can discover how this sea loch played a pivotal role 599 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:57,640 in defending Britain's coast. 600 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:02,800 I'm on the western side of the loch. 601 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:06,360 The ferries come and go from the other side, over there at Cairnryan. 602 00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:08,400 and beside me is what looks like 603 00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:11,000 a totally unremarkable field of cattle. 604 00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:13,880 You'd never know that this was a military landscape, 605 00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:17,000 designed and built on an incredible scale. 606 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:19,440 At least, not from down here you wouldn't. 607 00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:33,520 From above, you can see the remains of 60 concrete parking stands 608 00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:35,360 and a network of taxiways. 609 00:42:39,880 --> 00:42:44,840 Built around 1942, this site may look like an airport, 610 00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:48,200 but it's not. At least not in the conventional sense. 611 00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:52,440 There's no runway, for a start. 612 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:54,560 But then, you didn't need one... 613 00:42:56,200 --> 00:43:00,600 ..because this was Britain's biggest space for seaplanes. 614 00:43:07,720 --> 00:43:12,400 Amazing, colossal aircraft like the mighty Sunderland, 615 00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:17,280 used to defend vital British convoys and to attack German submarines. 616 00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:24,920 The Sunderland could stay on patrol for 14 hours, 617 00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:26,640 remarkable for the time. 618 00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:35,280 This concrete maze was their base, 619 00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:38,600 and they took to the water down this massive slipway. 620 00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:44,840 Donnie Nelson grew up here, and as a young boy 621 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:48,120 he would watch these monstrous seaplanes come and go. 622 00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:53,640 There is a lovely photograph of a Sunderland 623 00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:56,440 being towed along the road, as usual. 624 00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:59,880 They would bring it up this road here, onto this slipway here, 625 00:43:59,880 --> 00:44:02,560 but somewhere along the road it met the local bus 626 00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:05,240 from Kirkcolm village into Stranraer. 627 00:44:05,240 --> 00:44:08,360 So, there just wasnae enough room for the pair of them. 628 00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:10,280 They stopped the Sunderland at the side 629 00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:13,200 and the bus slowly crept past. Double-decker bus. 630 00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:14,680 And this photograph was taken, 631 00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:17,320 shows it in beneath the wings of the Sunderland. 632 00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:19,360 And that happened regularly. 633 00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:25,800 In 1949, Donnie enlisted in the Air Training Corps 634 00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:29,160 and he and his pals got a chance to take to the skies. 635 00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,120 The first time I was on one was after the war 636 00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:36,520 when I was old enough to join the ATC. 637 00:44:36,520 --> 00:44:38,840 And I can remember on one occasion, 638 00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:41,520 there was 86 boys aboard a Sunderland. 639 00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:44,040 And do you remember the sights and sounds in the aircraft? 640 00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:47,160 Oh, it was tremendous, noisy. Very noisy, the Sunderland was. 641 00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:51,960 And then when it actually started to move 642 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:55,360 on the run down the loch prior to take-off, it got worse, 643 00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:58,840 because you were getting the waves, the noise of the sea. 644 00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:05,520 And all of a sudden it went all quiet again and just lifted... 645 00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:15,840 ..and we flew across to the Isle of Man and then across to England. 646 00:45:15,840 --> 00:45:19,040 Followed the railway line back to Stranraer. It was great fun. 647 00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:21,360 It was lovely to fly in. Beautiful. 648 00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:31,240 And Loch Ryan's military importance went far beyond seaplanes. 649 00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:36,640 On the eastern side of the loch, 650 00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:41,360 a 1942 aerial photograph shows the village of Cairnryan 651 00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:43,320 in the midst of construction works. 652 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:48,000 What was being constructed was a massive pier, 653 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:49,880 700 metres long. 654 00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:57,920 One of three that were built, 655 00:45:57,920 --> 00:46:01,080 only this one survives, and only just. 656 00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:08,000 It was assembled entirely by the Army at a breakneck pace. 657 00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:11,040 It was to be operational, as soon as humanly possible. 658 00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:21,680 The port had a sombre purpose. 659 00:46:21,680 --> 00:46:24,480 It was built as Britain prepared for the worst. 660 00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:27,600 If harbours on the Mersey and the Clyde were destroyed, 661 00:46:27,600 --> 00:46:31,680 then Cairnryan's three huge piers stood ready to take over... 662 00:46:31,680 --> 00:46:36,600 ..bringing in food, supplies and fuel from across the Atlantic. 663 00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:40,160 We should be very grateful that in the end we didn't need it. 664 00:46:56,040 --> 00:46:58,800 The wartime threat of invasion has gone... 665 00:46:59,880 --> 00:47:03,760 ..but patrols continue around Scotland's coast. 666 00:47:03,760 --> 00:47:07,600 No longer hunting German U-boats... 667 00:47:07,600 --> 00:47:10,440 ..but fishermen, working in restricted areas, 668 00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:14,440 catching young fish and threatening the future of the industry. 669 00:47:17,560 --> 00:47:20,200 So how do you find where a boat is working... 670 00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:25,360 ..somewhere out in the vast seas around Scotland? 671 00:47:33,240 --> 00:47:37,560 The answer is to be found in an aircraft hangar near Inverness. 672 00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:43,960 This small plane, callsign Watchdog 65, 673 00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:47,600 carries a huge array of cameras and radar... 674 00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:49,640 ..on the lookout for fishermen 675 00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:52,720 who are doing things they shouldn't be doing. 676 00:47:54,680 --> 00:47:56,760 We're there, we don't try and hide. 677 00:47:56,760 --> 00:47:59,520 It's like the policeman on the side of the road 678 00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:02,920 in his fluorescent jacket with his radar gun. 679 00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:05,920 The colours of the aircraft alone would tell you 680 00:48:05,920 --> 00:48:08,920 that we're not frightened about being seen. 681 00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:13,400 Paul Warriner is the systems operator onboard Watchdog 65, 682 00:48:13,400 --> 00:48:15,880 and he invited me to join him and the crew 683 00:48:15,880 --> 00:48:17,440 on a night-time mission. 684 00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:26,080 Flying fast and low into the night, 685 00:48:26,080 --> 00:48:29,360 in search of any boats doing anything fishy. 686 00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:41,240 Paul and I are squeezed into economy class at the back of the plane. 687 00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:45,960 His role is to direct the pilots towards his target 688 00:48:45,960 --> 00:48:49,280 and track them with his toy box full of gadgets. 689 00:49:16,280 --> 00:49:19,560 Half an hour after take-off, flying north of Wick, 690 00:49:19,560 --> 00:49:22,160 we're in sight of our first fishing boat. 691 00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:37,200 Paul's job is to shoot video 692 00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:40,760 that can identify the registration number of the ship... 693 00:49:40,760 --> 00:49:42,960 ..good enough to be produced as evidence 694 00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:45,320 if there is a suspicion of foul play. 695 00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:54,880 And it's not an easy task at 200mph, 3 miles distant and in the dark. 696 00:50:15,600 --> 00:50:17,920 The target continued to evade us. 697 00:50:26,480 --> 00:50:30,400 It was time for Paul to explain the aircraft's secret weapon. 698 00:50:40,920 --> 00:50:42,520 More than an hour into the mission 699 00:50:42,520 --> 00:50:44,960 with thoughts turning towards a warm dinner, 700 00:50:44,960 --> 00:50:48,240 Paul's plotting a course for one final attempt. 701 00:51:17,920 --> 00:51:20,280 Paul's film will go straight to Edinburgh 702 00:51:20,280 --> 00:51:23,440 and will be compared with vessel logs and GPS data 703 00:51:23,440 --> 00:51:25,400 to see if anything illegal has happened. 704 00:51:28,240 --> 00:51:30,040 A surreal experience. 705 00:51:30,040 --> 00:51:33,800 I feel like I have just taken part in an elaborate video game. 706 00:51:33,800 --> 00:51:35,400 It's pitch dark out there, 707 00:51:35,400 --> 00:51:38,040 you can only really see the control panels 708 00:51:38,040 --> 00:51:41,640 and it's all about circling these ships 709 00:51:41,640 --> 00:51:45,440 and just trying to get their name, to get their reference number, 710 00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:47,600 as evidence that they're there. 711 00:51:47,600 --> 00:51:49,160 They may not be doing anything wrong, 712 00:51:49,160 --> 00:51:51,480 but they may be and that's the crucial thing. 713 00:51:51,480 --> 00:51:54,080 But that's the game, that is what they are doing. 714 00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:55,760 It's fascinating to be part of it. 715 00:52:02,040 --> 00:52:05,800 The fishing patrols are just the latest chapter in the story 716 00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:08,600 of how we've watched over our coasts. 717 00:52:13,480 --> 00:52:16,200 But in recent years, there has been a twist in that tale. 718 00:52:17,920 --> 00:52:21,080 The very coast that we've been defending... 719 00:52:21,080 --> 00:52:23,360 ..is now on the attack. 720 00:52:26,120 --> 00:52:31,160 Today, climate change and coastal erosion are a genuine danger... 721 00:52:31,160 --> 00:52:35,200 ..to homes, communities and our historic buildings. 722 00:52:35,200 --> 00:52:37,040 Buildings like this. 723 00:52:37,040 --> 00:52:38,120 Fort George. 724 00:52:45,920 --> 00:52:48,480 It was engineered to be impregnable, 725 00:52:48,480 --> 00:52:50,560 built for the forces of George II 726 00:52:50,560 --> 00:52:54,520 in the years after Bonnie Prince Charlie's failed rebellion. 727 00:52:55,800 --> 00:52:58,960 But there was one foe its designers didn't count on. 728 00:52:58,960 --> 00:53:00,200 The sea. 729 00:53:10,680 --> 00:53:11,960 I'm taking a walk round 730 00:53:11,960 --> 00:53:14,320 the perimeter of the fort with David Harkin, 731 00:53:14,320 --> 00:53:18,240 a colleague of mine from Historic Environment Scotland. 732 00:53:20,680 --> 00:53:23,640 David is an expert on the impact of climate change 733 00:53:23,640 --> 00:53:25,840 on our most precious buildings. 734 00:53:27,680 --> 00:53:30,160 What potentially could happen to somewhere like Fort George 735 00:53:30,160 --> 00:53:32,280 over the next 100, 200 years? 736 00:53:32,280 --> 00:53:35,320 Fort George is really on the firing line for things like coastal erosion 737 00:53:35,320 --> 00:53:38,760 and sea level rise, so there could be damage to parts of the fort. 738 00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:44,160 The section that's seen the most damage is here 739 00:53:44,160 --> 00:53:47,760 on the northern flank, facing straight onto the sea. 740 00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:54,360 And while these mighty walls may seem invincible, 741 00:53:54,360 --> 00:53:58,120 the sand and soil supporting them is looking the worse for wear. 742 00:54:01,240 --> 00:54:03,200 So, David, what is it we can see here? 743 00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:05,200 I mean, this is a great example 744 00:54:05,200 --> 00:54:07,800 of why this part of the coastline is so vulnerable. 745 00:54:07,800 --> 00:54:09,920 You've got quite a thin layer of topsoil 746 00:54:09,920 --> 00:54:12,960 and then you've got a raised beach deposit down here. 747 00:54:12,960 --> 00:54:15,320 So if you look quite closely, you can see it's sand 748 00:54:15,320 --> 00:54:18,840 supporting sort of pebbles and gravel and whatnot. 749 00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:22,320 It's quite a soft deposit and that's why it's so vulnerable 750 00:54:22,320 --> 00:54:24,360 to the impacts of wave action. 751 00:54:24,360 --> 00:54:28,040 And how much potentially are we losing of this every year here? 752 00:54:28,040 --> 00:54:29,600 There's sort of anecdotal evidence 753 00:54:29,600 --> 00:54:32,680 from people that work around the site and visitors and whatnot 754 00:54:32,680 --> 00:54:35,760 that suggest that we are losing, some winter seasons, 755 00:54:35,760 --> 00:54:41,200 up to a metre of ground is lost because of successive winter storms. 756 00:54:46,160 --> 00:54:48,920 And the evidence is more than just anecdotal. 757 00:54:50,640 --> 00:54:55,200 In 1941, an RAF officer took this aerial photograph, 758 00:54:55,200 --> 00:54:58,080 showing the land below the northern wall. 759 00:55:00,880 --> 00:55:02,600 Today, seen from a drone, 760 00:55:02,600 --> 00:55:05,680 the retreat of this coastline is clear. 761 00:55:09,320 --> 00:55:12,560 Coastal erosion and sea-level rise are very much natural processes. 762 00:55:12,560 --> 00:55:15,000 They have always happened and they will always happen, 763 00:55:15,000 --> 00:55:16,960 but what makes it different now 764 00:55:16,960 --> 00:55:19,520 and what makes it different with climate change 765 00:55:19,520 --> 00:55:21,960 is the rate at which this change is happening. 766 00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:26,840 So, in the past 20 years or so, sea levels in Scotland have been rising 767 00:55:26,840 --> 00:55:29,320 by about three millimetres a year. 768 00:55:29,320 --> 00:55:31,240 That's higher than the UK average 769 00:55:31,240 --> 00:55:33,680 which is around about 1.4 millimetres a year 770 00:55:33,680 --> 00:55:37,640 for the 20th century. So what that shows us is in the past 20 years, 771 00:55:37,640 --> 00:55:40,680 the rates of sea level have gone up. That it's getting faster. 772 00:55:47,960 --> 00:55:52,000 Do you think that the idea that people could lose their history 773 00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:55,160 will impact on their ability to change their behaviours? 774 00:55:55,160 --> 00:55:59,000 What people need is they need to react to something that they love. 775 00:55:59,000 --> 00:56:02,120 And who doesn't love coming to historic sites like this? 776 00:56:02,120 --> 00:56:04,480 And, in Scotland, we are incredibly lucky 777 00:56:04,480 --> 00:56:08,160 to have such a rich and diverse historic environment. 778 00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:11,760 It's part of our everyday lives, it's part of our DNA, essentially. 779 00:56:11,760 --> 00:56:13,800 It's who we are as a nation. 780 00:56:13,800 --> 00:56:16,040 And people love coming to sites like this. 781 00:56:16,040 --> 00:56:20,120 So, I think if people know that the impacts of climate change 782 00:56:20,120 --> 00:56:22,480 means that they might lose this, 783 00:56:22,480 --> 00:56:25,240 then that is potentially what they need 784 00:56:25,240 --> 00:56:27,480 to sort of inspire them to take action. 785 00:56:30,520 --> 00:56:33,960 The experts agree. Over the next century, 786 00:56:33,960 --> 00:56:38,680 Scotland will almost inevitably lose some of its historic coastal sites. 787 00:56:40,280 --> 00:56:42,720 The only question is how many. 788 00:56:57,480 --> 00:57:00,640 Take any beach, bay, dune or cliffside 789 00:57:00,640 --> 00:57:04,520 and you will find the traces of us, of people. 790 00:57:05,600 --> 00:57:09,480 These shorelines have represented opportunity, 791 00:57:09,480 --> 00:57:14,320 survival, threat and adventure over many thousands of years, 792 00:57:14,320 --> 00:57:17,600 but not a day goes by without the inevitable shift 793 00:57:17,600 --> 00:57:19,200 of this physical border. 794 00:57:29,000 --> 00:57:31,560 From the coming and going of the tide 795 00:57:31,560 --> 00:57:36,720 to the never-ending process of erosion, rising sea levels... 796 00:57:36,720 --> 00:57:40,160 ..what we see when we look down on our coast from above 797 00:57:40,160 --> 00:57:44,240 is a landscape rich in history and memory. 798 00:57:44,240 --> 00:57:47,760 But it's also a landscape that never stops changing. 799 00:57:47,760 --> 00:57:52,880 At once enduringly vibrant and dangerously fragile. 800 00:58:03,120 --> 00:58:05,360 Next time on Scotland From The Sky... 801 00:58:07,200 --> 00:58:12,760 ..I use the view from above to find out how we've lived off the land. 802 00:58:12,760 --> 00:58:17,360 Mysterious marks in a field reveal how our Pictish ancestors lived. 803 00:58:19,800 --> 00:58:25,120 We explore how we farm the most spectacular and remote of islands... 804 00:58:25,120 --> 00:58:26,480 Slainte. Slainte. 805 00:58:26,480 --> 00:58:29,160 ..and discover why whisky is our national drink. 68126

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