All language subtitles for Scotlands Sacred Islands with Ben Fogle S01E01 1080p HEVC

Over 800 islands
dot the British coastline...

..with many of the most spectacular
around Scotland.

This awe-inspiring landscape

has been a sacred destination
for over 1,600 years.

It was here that
Christian pilgrims first arrived,

establishing a new faith
over a century

before it took hold
across the Scottish mainland.

That spiritual legacy
is still an important part

of these islands today.

Here, you are forced to relate
to something outside of yourself,

and that's the beginning of faith.

My name is Ben Fogle.

20 years ago, I lived on
a remote Scottish island for a year

with 35 others
for a TV show called Castaway.

Like those early Christian pilgrims,

I formed a deep and enduring
connection to this landscape.

Now I'm returning to discover

how their sacred history
still resonates today...

These islands are steeped in faith.

It's in their blood.
It's in the rocks.

..and to explore whether
the physical aspect of the landscape

makes it easier
to make spiritual connections.

I am just blown away. Look at this!

On this journey,
I travel across the Inner Hebrides.

Love this. I love exploring islands.

I meet people whose history
is woven into the land.

I think it's very hard
to sit somewhere like this

and not get a sense that
there's something bigger than you.

I follow the ancient sea roads

and explore Scotland's cradle
of Christianity.

Columba must have been
pretty disciplined

to use these
to spread the word of God.

Join me on a 1,000-mile journey

across 20 of Scotland's magical,
sacred islands.

I'm beginning this leg
of my journey by ferry -

a very modern way
to begin a pilgrimage.

Setting off from Oban,
I'm sailing down the Sound of Mull

and heading to my first destination,
the Isle of Tiree.

It's the most westerly island
of the Inner Hebrides.

So, this is the whole arc
of my journey.

Just ahead of us is Tiree,
where my journey begins,

before I head around
to neighbouring Coll,

then scoot across the water
to the Treshnish Islands.

And then hidden around the corner

is probably the most important
island for me, Iona -

the island that I named
my daughter after.

I feel like a little child
in a sweet shop right now

because I'm going to islands
that I've heard so much about,

I've seen photographs,
I've read the stories,

but I've never actually
been to them.

There's something magical about the
sight of an island on the horizon.

These are the very seas that
early Irish missionaries crossed

to reach remote islands,
build monasteries

and establish a new faith.

I want to explore the story
of early Christianity in Scotland

and find out what it means
to live on these sacred islands.

Just imagine, 1,500 years ago,

those early pilgrims
heading across these waters

to these remote islands.

Dead calm today.

We're almost in the summer,
although it's still really cold,

but I'm imagining huge oceans,
tiny boats.

They were truly brave adventurers.

I get the luxury of the huge ferry.

So, here we are,
first port of call - Tiree.

Tiree is well known
for its secluded sandy beaches.

Thanks to the Gulf Stream,

the island basks
in more hours of sunlight

than any other part
of the British Isles.

It's 10 miles long
and is home to 650 people.

Each island has
such a unique personality,

and this is just expansive and flat.

And the flatness doesn't mean
boring, cos look at this.

I mean, this is just unbelievable!

There's no town here as such.

Instead, the landscape is scattered
with houses and crofts.

Surprisingly, this exposed island
is incredibly fertile.

The shell sand that sweeps across
combined with soil

to make rich earth
known as the machair.

In the sixth century,
crops were so abundant

that Tiree provided grain to
Irish monks on neighbouring islands.

There are now over 250 crofts,
and this one, in Caolas,

run by Rhoda, has been here
for over 100 years.

So, this was built in 1891.
Who did that?

My great-great-grandfather
built this house.Wow. Yeah.

I just find...
I actually find that really moving.

Not many people get
to live in the house

that their grandfather
built themselves.

Yeah, I think there's...

There's always a sense
that the family is kind of there,

that there's a past there,

and I find that really important
for me. It's grounding.

I've always felt a connection
to this house.

I was about seven years old
and I said to my dad,

"I'm going to move back here,
fix up the house, I'm going to...

"You know, I'm going to do it."
And there was a wry smile.

And it took until my 30s
to manage it, but I did.

I do feel a responsibility
to keep some of that tradition going

and to kind of...

I don't know what it is.
It's that connection to land.

Here we go. Some of your livestock.

I don't want to hold Rhoda back
from her work,

so we're heading off
to check on the sheep.

They're growing up.
They're getting more independent.

I always like to go and make sure
that nothing's gone amiss.

I call myself a trainee crofter,
you know,

because I didn't grow up with it,
and what I knew when I started

could be written on the back
of a postage stamp.

And I think, what I know now,
we've maybe got to a matchbox.

Never stop learning.

But, yeah, it's lifestyle and
it's very much a part of who I am.

I see a few, though.
They're almost sunbathing. Yeah.

SHE SHOUTS IN GAELIC

What are you calling?

Trobhad - come.
Trobhad in Gaelic.

Trobhad! Here's Vader.

Lord Vader or just Vader?
Just Vader.

Vader, trobhad!

Hey. How are you? Nice to meet you.
Hello, Vader.

Now, look, I need a coat like this.
It's incredible, isn't it?

When you live on an island,

that's what you need
to keep the weather out.

Wow. Yeah.
He's more sofa than sheep, that one.

What does it take to be a crofter?

Grit, I think. Determination.

Realism.

You know, things go wrong
all the time,

and you're never going
to beat nature.

You can't be afraid of hard work
and heartbreak.

You know, things die, things fail.

And, I guess, resilience
is a key thing to crofting.

You've got to...

You've got to bounce back.
You don't have a lot of choice.

And I'm assuming crofting,

especially on
a small island like this,

relies on the spirit of community.

It always has,
and people also have other jobs.

You know, I work remotely
in technology, in tech.

Whoa, whoa! I love this.

What would your grandfather make
of these two kind of worlds?

I think he'd have kind of liked it.

I don't know if the computer part
would have made sense,

but he was a Baptist minister,
he was a crofter,

he was a boat builder,
he was a blacksmith.

He did incredible things.

He was, you know, multi-skilled,
and that, I think,

is very much a way forward
for the islands,

is that, you know, we have
the opportunity to work remotely.

I admire Rhoda's dedication
to carrying on her family's croft,

having one foot in the old world
and another in the new.

I'm really fond of this spot.

There are so many stories
that I can see from here. I love it.

And these stories, are they written?

Is this all oral history

that has been shared
from generation to generation?

Increasingly,
it's being written down.

My dad's making a real point
of writing down

the history of this croft,

but also this part of the island,

which is so important,
because we're losing that.

Where we're sitting right now
is called Creag na Manach,

which is the Rock of the Monk,

and it kind of runs
the whole rocky bit we've got here.

And, you know, the story goes
that there may have been

a specific rock
that was the kind of pulpit

where the monk preached.

We don't know what rock it was,
we don't know if there was a monk,

but you have
that tradition of story,

and it comes from somewhere.

There will have been someone
who was the monk, you know?

And, again, it's language.
It's telling us part of the story.

Religion in this part of the world

almost seems to be a part
of the culture and the history.

Is that fair?
It threads through a lot of things.

You know, whether you're personally
religious or not, I think it's...

I think it's very hard
to sit somewhere like this

and not get a sense
of being quite small,

that there's something bigger
than you, you know,

that the history's bigger than me,
the culture's bigger than me,

the view's bigger than me, and
I'm just a really tiny part of that.

Isn't it amazing?
I'm still on Rhoda's croft here.

It drops off into the ocean.

And I love the fact
that it's largely unchanged

from her father
and her grandfather before that.

There is a real sense of connection
to your history

when you live on an island
like this,

but when you live in a big city,
when you live on the mainland,

where there's a density of people,
it's much harder to...

..feel the tangibility of it.

I love the idea of a monk
preaching on Rhoda's croft.

Spirituality resonates so strongly

through stories
people have preserved here.

I'm following the coast road
three miles south

to visit the medieval ruins
at Kirkapol.

Tiree attracted Irish saints
throughout the sixth century.

It was easy to land on by boat,
fertile,

and close to neighbouring
Celtic settlements.

The monastery here, of course,
has long gone,

but 800 years later,
these chapels were built

in honour of the most famous saint
of all, Columba.

He arrived here nearly 50 years

after the first Christians
reached Tiree.

Just below the ruins

is the beautiful two-mile-long beach
at Gott Bay.

I'm still imagining those pilgrims,

those early settlers arriving here
in tiny little boats.

What was it that attracted people?
Was it the isolation?

Was it the safety of this island?

Was it the religious pull?

I suppose that's what I'm here
to try and get to the bottom of.

Today, three-quarters
of people on Tiree

consider themselves religious.

I want to know if living here
can strengthen faith.

I'm at the old harbour in Hynish
to meet Ishbel,

a local teacher who's part
of the Baptist Church.

Her father was a local minister.

I find a spiritual draw
to island life. Mm.

Now, I haven't been to Tiree.
This is my first time.

I can already feel calmer.

I know, in Celtic tradition,

they sort of talk about Tiree
being a thin place.

I don't know
if you've heard of that.

And it seems to be
one of these places where

you have a closerness to God,
if that makes sense.

The sun feels a lot stronger here.

THEY LAUGH

In all seriousness!
It's not always like this!

Do you think it is just down to
the beauty of these islands?

Perhaps it is
that sort of remoteness

and maybe more
tranquillity and peace

and time to think about
these things.

You are able to slow down
a little bit more

and actually consider
life's big questions

or, you know, what it's all about.

Ishbel, what's your connection
to Tiree? Were you born here?

Well, my family were living here
when I was born.

We moved around quite a lot,

and then was in Glasgow
to study for a few years.

So, what was it that drew you back?

My husband and I
were in jobs teaching.

We'd said to each other, you know,
"Och, it would be nice

"to move out of Glasgow
a little bit,"

but hadn't thought of Tiree at all.

And there happened to be two jobs,
so we thought,

"Let's go. Let's give it a shot."

If we look at the context

of many of these islands
here in the Inner Hebrides,

they've got a long history
of pilgrims being drawn to them.

For you, as a Christian,
I'm wondering

what this island gives you,
provides for you.

Well, I mean, you can see around.
It just...

It never fails to amaze me,
just the creation here,

the vastness of the skies
and the landscape.

I love running, and I just
love getting out in nature

and just, to me, it just helps me
appreciate my Creator...more,

just what he's given us

and whether I'm on top of a
hill or down on the beach,

it just... It never gets old.

I don't think I'd heard this
concept of a thin place.

My interpretation of that is
somewhere that's very close

to something that isn't this.

It's another place,

whether that is one of...

..in a religious context,

in a spiritual context.

I suppose it's like
a portal to another world,

and I like that.

Time to put Ishbel's
advice into practice.

9km in at Crossapol Beach,

and the landscape has
taken me to another place.

I'm overwhelmed by the
extraordinary beauty of this place.

It does make you think.

I love exercise.
It doesn't have to be a run.

We live such a fast life

that you just don't have that moment

with no distractions, no phone.

No nosy film crew all around me

asking me what I'm thinking.

It's kind of my time.

And to do it in a place
like this, on an island,

genuinely I think gives me...

..another version of that island.

I love that feeling after a run.

The sense of achievement
leads to a wave of optimism

and excitement for the
next leg of my journey.

I'm heading back to Scarinish
to jump on another ferry.

The crossing to the more rugged
isle of Coll is short and sweet.

At their closest point,
they're only two miles apart.

As neighbouring islands that
are almost touching one another,

the arrival point where the ferry
comes in is identical

but, already, this has a real heart
to it,

and that's not to say
Tiree didn't have a heart

but it was quite spread out.

This is Arinagour,
the main village on the island.

White cottages look
across Loch Eatharna,

forming a bay that
stretches out into the sea.

Not a bad spot to live.

It feels, on Coll, that this is
the heart of the community,

and because of that,
it already feels very different.

It feels like a
people-led island.

It's incredibly quiet.

Around 200 people
live on the island,

although I'm not sure where
everyone's hiding today.

Coll's 13 miles long and,
at Hogh Bay,

the coastline is rocky

but the sandy beach is pristine.

Sixth-century Irish monks travelled
to remote islands

not only to spread the word of God

but to live alongside communities.

They shared literacy skills

and knowledge of the land.

There's a modern equivalent
of passing on wisdom

happening on Coll today.

Since 1967, Project Trust has
welcomed young volunteers

to the island to live
with its residents

and train for overseas aid work.

But what is it about
this particular place

that sets them up for
their journey ahead?

Maria and Heather are locals who
have experienced this first-hand.

Wow, look at this.

Looks like we have a seal out there.

We've got a wee visitor.

Luckily for me,
they both love to go kayaking.

Oh, my goodness. This is a lovely
bay. What's it called?

Breachacha Bay.Breachacha. Yeah.

It's great to get out on the water

and take in the stunning landscape.

Oh, my goodness, this is beautiful.

So, Maria, tell me a little
bit about Project Trust.

What is it?

Project Trust is a charity that
sends 17- to 18-year-olds abroad

to various different countries,
many different continents.

And what is the connection to Coll?

The volunteers come over here
to be selected

and you get put with a host family

and live with that
host family on Coll.

So, does that mean,
as a Coll resident,

that you and your family hosted
people over the years?

Yeah, so... I mean, it was amazing.

We met, as kids,
so many different, young,

16- and 17-year-olds from
all over the UK and abroad.

Yeah, random people who
all kind of had the same

sort of passion of travel.

And you applied to go overseas
yourself? I did, yeah.

For a long time, I was like, "I
can't do it. I don't want to do it.

"I feel like I
couldn't do it myself,"

but the support that Project Trust
gives people overseas

is really amazing.

I love all the seals
around us, by the way.

You know we're being watched.

They're just surrounding us.

And what about you, Heather?
Yeah, I loved it.

When I was in primary school,
loved that my parents done it.

Especially when I was the only one,

my siblings had all gone,

and it was just me at home.
Yeah, it was a great thing.

Do you think it helped
you, in some ways,

not feel like you were
missing out on things

because people were coming to you

and you were hearing other people's
perspectives and stories?

Yeah, it definitely gave you an
urge for travelling

and wanting to do what they had
done,

and excited about it.

I love this fact that you're both
talking about your love of travel

but you're both here.

THEY LAUGH

When's all this travel happening?

By the way, I don't see why you
would want to leave

on a day like this.

We have...we have detached
ourselves at some point.

I'm starting to see Coll
differently.

For such a small island,

it has big aspirations.

Here, you can meet people from
all over AND travel the world.

Maria, do you think,

had you not done the Project Trust
and gone off to Nepal

or if it hadn't been
part of island life,

with people coming here,

do you think you would be the
rounded person,

the individual who is
in front of me now?

Do you think it is part of who you
are? Yes, definitely.

A Coll person is very different
to someone

who hasn't had the
experiences we've had.

We've been extremely lucky,
as children, growing up here.

I'm imagining my own children
here... Aw.

..and this would be
a pretty idyllic place.

How old are your children?

They are 10 and 11, and they
would just love all of this.

Do you think it is a pretty idyllic
place to bring up children?

Yeah. Yeah, definitely.

I certainly wanted to come back home

and have my family here,

and I'm glad I have.
They absolutely love it.

I think it's such a nice community
and everyone socialises together.

I think that's a huge, huge plus.

Here's the thing, do you think those
on the mainland,

those in the cities, are missing
out on something? Probably.

I think if they came out
and brought their young families,

they would see why we live here
and why we enjoy it and...

It's good to go to the mainland.
I think you need your time away,

but a few days is probably enough

and you're always longing
to come back.I can see why.

This is magnificent.

There's something really
beautiful about being out,

especially on calm water like that,
seals popping up.

This is a very
outward-looking island.

It's no surprise that you can see
so many different islands here

because the world
also comes to Coll.

One of the things that put me off,
as a parent,

moving to an island myself
with my children

was that I worried that they
wouldn't get that understanding

of the wider world,

but just the fact that
people from all over the UK

come here for a couple of weeks
of residential,

to live with islanders,

is a beautiful thing, isn't it?
Because that's how you share values.

I'm 400 miles from home
on a remote island,

but Coll's sense of community
certainly doesn't feel isolating.

This place isn't
what I was expecting.

Walking up from the beach,
sand becomes machair,

machair becomes rock, and rock
becomes a single-track road

that snakes back to Arinagour.

Even if you don't have a faith,

ideas like common humanity
and helping one another

are vital to the success
of remote communities.

Someone who's experienced
that first-hand is Julie.

Coming to live on Coll sparked
a kind of enlightenment for her.

I have to say, I'm already
loving the feeling of this island.

As soon as you step off the ferry,

that...just hits you, you know,

it just calms you down.

So, what's your connection
to the island?

Away back in the '60s,
my grandfather was a guard

on the Stirling
to Oban mail train

and he met a couple
from the isle of Coll,

and he got really
friendly with them,

and he started coming on holiday.

So the family followed
a couple of years later.

We used to play in the silage pit
at Gallanach Farm.A silage pit!

Yes, and that's
a really early memory,

jumping off the wall
into the silage,

and all of these things
we never forgot.

Do you think it was
quite a free childhood?

It was a free childhood.

I was OK, and then
I started to realise

that my life was a bit different
from the rest of the kids,

and I remember doing some art in
the art class in primary school

and the girl that was
sitting beside me said,

"Oh, you've got such
small, lanky hands.

"These are girls' hands."

And I remember that
meaning something to me.

I liked what she had said.

Is it correct to kind of say you
were confused about your identity?

Absolutely, absolutely.

Remember, I was just
a wee child at this point

and I just didn't know
why I was different.

I would be hanging around
with the girls, not the boys.

When did you finally feel

kind of free and comfortable
enough to be who you are?

I spent a lot of my life trying to
run away from

what was probably the inevitable

and it was here, in about 2004,

where I just got to
the stage and said,

"I cannot run away
from this any longer."

And I went to the local doctor here
and told her about it.

I think a lot of people might think

that small islands can actually be
quite conservative with their values

and that this might actually be
a harder place to be the real you.

I suppose, to start with,
that was the case,

because, especially out here,

people had never heard
of transgender

or anything like that,

but when it became much more known,
just on the island,

that that's what was
happening to me,

they began to see, "Oh,
this is not as bad after all."

I think that people were
the most important thing.

They came round and they started
to nurture me and look after me.

And I couldn't have
done it without that.

I thought Julie's story
was actually really moving

and I love that Coll
gave her the confidence

to find her real identity.

I'm really loving
the vibe of this island,

so I am actually a
bit sad to leave it

but I'm particularly
excited about tomorrow

because I'm heading that way.

You can see the silhouette
of the Treshnish Islands

and by all accounts,
it's a very, very special place.

It's an early start this morning.

I want to follow the ancient
sea route to Iona,

which became the main hub for Irish
missionaries in Scotland

1,500 years ago.

My route passes a chain
of uninhabited islands.

Morning.

I'm hitching a lift with a local
skipper and tour guide, John,

and his deckhand Amelia.

Can I come aboard? Of course.
Thank you very much.

John has been sailing these
waters for nearly 50 years,

so I'm in safe hands.

My journey takes me ten miles east
of Coll to the Treshnish Isles.

I'm just a little bit excited.

I'm following the advice
of St Columba,

who sailed these waters
in the sixth century.

Out here, little has changed.

He warned his monks of terrifying
monsters in the deep sea.

To avoid them, he suggested
stopping off at this archipelago

of rugged islands.

John is now taking me
to the largest - Lunga.

What a magnificent place.

Oh, you can't beat it.

You've got these guys coming
in to say hello.

That is actually a sea stack, and
you can get right round the back.

Kittiwake nesting
on the cliffs to the foreground,

a lot of fulmar as well,

and guillemot on that sloping
edge there.

And then we've got razorbill puffin
on the more grassy areas up there.

It's a fantastic spot.

Some people have said that
the Treshnish Islands were almost

a stepping stone between
Coll and Tiree and the mainland.

Yeah, potentially.
It's just, as we'll find today,

it's not an easy place to land here.

It may look calm,
but there's a big Atlantic swell.

This gully
is the only place we can land.

John's manoeuvring around rocks
hidden beneath the waves.

There's just a tiny gap
between the boat and sharp rocks.

I'm helping Amelia tie
the stern line.

And I'm relieved we've made it in.

I was worried that was going to...

No, so was I.
..compress too much. Likewise.

THEY LAUGH

Safely on dry land,
I say goodbye to John.

And here's the main thing -
am I going to be marooned here

for a year? Well...

THEY LAUGH

I could tell you a story about that!

Well, I might not be
marooned for a year,

but I certainly have a few hours
to explore on foot.

That's what I'd probably
describe as a sketchy landing.

I think
I had a very good captain there.

I'm at Corran Lunga,
a rocky beach to the north.

Although the island is deserted,

I'm looking for clues to what
once existed here.

It looks like there's a sort
of path, there's certainly a wall.

I'm going to hazard a guess that the
actual community was

up on the top, on the flat.

I love this.
I love exploring islands.

It's my Robinson Crusoe moment.

Until the 1820s,
Lunga had a population of around 20.

Throughout the Treshnish Isles,

people lived here
as far back as the early Vikings.

Imagine calling this your home.

I almost envy them.

There's a pure freedom that can come
with living in such a remote place.

First impressions are just wow.

It's like a mini lost world.

Because it's not grand, like some
of the islands that I've been to,

but it has...

..it has this kind
of ethereal, ancient feel to it.

This is Harp Rock,
a 30-metre-high sea stack.

Peering over the edge into the
vast and terrifyingly narrow chasm,

it's teeming with life.

Lunga is a protected bird reserve,

with nearly 50 different species.

It's thrilling to be this
close to them.

I'm overwhelmed on this island.

It's kind of a...

..metaphor for life, isn't it?

Everyone's crowding onto one rock,

all fighting for space.

I've spent my life as a nomad,

going from one place to the other,

trying to find a place
that I belong.

I think probably the reason
that I find this

so powerful is
a combination of the unexpected...

..full of life, it's a Sunday...

Make what you will of that.

I'm away from my family -

always feel a bit sad.

And I think
that's what a pilgrimage

is supposed to do, isn't it?

It's supposed to elicit
all emotions.

When I talk about
my place of worship...

..I can't really...

I don't think I really need
to explain why I find this

so powerful and energising
and uplifting.

Because there is so much life.

It was John Muir who said,
"I'd rather be in the mountains

"thinking about God than in a church
thinking about mountains."

In a place like this,
I couldn't agree more.

Back on the shore...

..a beautiful 32-foot-long sailboat,
the Birthe Marie,

is waiting to pick me up.

I've been rescued.

Look at my onward journey. Wow!

This is when I slip and humiliate
myself.

What an adventure.

I love this.

And we're in! Brilliant.

Oh, look at that.

Mark and his wife Anja
lovingly restored this 80-year-old

Scandinavian fishing boat and run
trips around the Inner Hebrides.

Hello, Anja. Hiya.
Nice to meet you.

A vessel like this is hard work.

It's all hands on deck
to get the sails up.

The wind is very light.I know.

We're heading
for their home island - Iona.

It's a place I've never been to
but always wanted to visit.

There's something quite
romantic about sailing. Yes.

What do you think it is?
What appeals to you guys?

Well, I'm definitely
a romantic at heart.

It's a lot about the aesthetics
for me.

I really love the working history
of these kind of boats

and I love this kind of landscape
and seascape.

Don't you think it is amazing to
kind of think back

to 1,500 years ago or so, and those
people that would have been

arriving on some of these
islands on tiny little open boats?

It's a common assumption that the
boats in those days

weren't very capable,
but I think, actually,

they were more capable than we give
them credit for.

It was much quicker to
travel by sea than

to travel by land in those days.

How did Iona in particular
get this powerful

significance for pilgrims travelling
from all over the world?

Why Iona?

They do credit Columba with being
a major influence in bringing

Christianity into Scotland.

It offers different things
to different people.

Some of them will tell you that Iona
is a place where, you know,

ley lines intersect
or it's a powerful place.

Some people will just
say it's a place of amazing light.

I've heard this term
"a thin place" -

have you heard that before?

It's that tissue-thin boundary

between reality
and the spiritual.

You know, I think
being close to the Earth, yeah.

I wouldn't call myself
a devout Christian,

but I feel very, very strongly

about this place
and about the people.

And I don't think I've ever had that
feeling anywhere else.

You're originally from Germany,
is that right? That's right, yeah.

I grew up in Eastern Germany,
so I was 17 and the wall had just

fallen when I came to Iona,

a very impressionable age,
I suppose.

It was amazing coming here.

I just loved it.

I loved the countryside,
I loved the people.

And I always wanted to come back,
and I did that in 1999,

to come and work for a summer,
and I never left.

I'm seven miles from Iona,

and we're sailing past
the incredible island of Staffa.

Formed millions of years ago
by a volcanic eruption,

the columns of basalt are like
pipes from a mighty organ.

This is another
of the iconic islands -

people flock here to see this,
Staffa.

I mean, if ever there's
a representation of the power

of Earth to just create these
wondrous places, this is it.

Pretty stunning.

The uninhabited island is home
to Fingal's Cave.

It's inspired musicians, artists

and poets for hundreds of years.

In 1818, Keats referred to it
simply as

"the cathedral of the sea".

I wonder what the Irish monks would
have made of it as they passed by.

Can't believe I'm finally getting

to an island
I've heard so much about.

And there she is -
the isle of Iona.

It's been quite a journey.

I've travelled 100 miles by sea

and I'm now on the final approach.

I've been dreaming about this
place for a long time.

It has a real
significance in my house

because we called our daughter Iona.

She's so beautiful.

I'm really
excited to finally get ashore.

Wow. Thank you so much.

Perched on the south-west edge
of Mull is the tiny island of Iona.

This is Ballymore,

the only settlement
and known locally as "the village".

It provides the essentials
for the island's 120 residents.

There are very few cars, yet Iona
welcomes 130,000 visitors a year,

many on their own pilgrimage.

But before I head off to explore,

I want to let my daughter
know I'm here.

LINE RINGS

Hello, Iona! Hello.

Guess where I am? Where?

I am on the island of Iona. Really?

Yeah. Have a look at the beach.

I'm on the shore now.
Look how calm the water is.

Is there anyone on the island called
Iona?That's a really...

You know what?
I haven't asked yet.

I would imagine there are some
Ionas on Iona,

but I haven't asked around.

Are we going to come
on a Daddy-Iona trip up here?

Yeah.It's pinkie promise.

OK. OK.

Love you. Love you, Daddy. Bye.

Bye, monkey.

CALL ENDS

Sweet. So nice.

I feel
I should be here with her, really.

But life isn't perfect, is it?

There's always sacrifices that you
have to make.

I'll be back.

Iona is described as the cradle
of Christianity.

There's one place that looms large
over the landscape that

I want to visit.

I'm walking along Iona's
only road north.

Even though it was 1,500 years ago,

everywhere I look,
I'm reminded of Columba's legacy.

He built his monastery
near the grounds of what is now

the Benedictine Abbey.

It became a centre
of learning and art.

It's thought the Book Of Kells,

an illuminated manuscript
of the gospel,

was created here by monks.

From Iona, Columba's
missionaries left to spread

Christianity across Scotland -

a religion that has shaped
the world we live in today.

CHOIR SING NA NZELA NA LOLA

BELL RINGS

It's a long time
since I've been to a church service,

but the grand wooden door is open,
inviting me in.

The world belongs to God.

CONGREGATION: The Earth
and all its people.

How good it is, how wonderful.

To love together in unity.

Love and faith come together.

Justice and peace join hands.

Move among us, God, give us life.

This service is run by a modern
ecumenical group,

the Iona Community.

It was founded
by George MacLeod over 80 years ago.

He brought ministers and unemployed
skilled workers to the island

and restored the abbey.

In the 12th-century cloisters,

Catriona, the warden here,

is going to shed some light
on how the community works today.

There's something, for me,
very special about Iona.

It's been a pilgrimage place
for so long

and it just is such an effort to get
here, you know, and it's not

on the way to anywhere else, so you
have to really want to get here.

We have resident community,
just a small bunch of folk,

and we're here on behalf of the
wider Iona Community,

which is
a global, scattered community,

and we welcome guests to stay,

a week at a time,
to share in our community life.

And we offer hospitality -
radical hospitality -

so go out of our
way to make sure that we understand

and listen to the people who come.

So, we try to live the gospel, to
live it, which is often quite tough.

What kind of people come here?

They're looking for
an engaged spirituality.

So, the way that we eat together,

two or three times a day,
we worship together twice a day,

that pattern of life where you,

if you disagreed with each other
at one meal,

the next meal,
you're going to see them,

you're going to see them in church,

you're going to see them
the next day.

So you can't just switch people off.

There's that sort of commitment to
really work that one out.

How does the island make you feel?

I love the landscape,
I love being near the sea.

I also think that Iona is
very remote but highly connected

through its history and through the
Iona Community's work and worship.

Every day, I get up and look out
the window, get out and feel,

whether it's the hail or the wind or
the rain on my face and think,

"Hmm, thank you."

It's amazing that the Iona Community
welcome pilgrims

in the same space that Columba would
have taught his followers.

Just behind the abbey is Dun I.

It's the only hill on Iona,
so I have to get to the top.

It's no Everest,
only a short, steep 100m climb.

I'm hoping the view at the top
will be worth it.

It's breathtaking.

You can see the entire island.

But bring a jumper,
this is Scotland.

From up here, Iona feels remote but

I doubt the early Celts would agree.

This area is actually at the meeting
of sea roads, easily

reached from Ireland and little
distance from mainland Scotland.

It's the perfect launching
point for St Columba.

It's quite an audacious plan,
when you think about it.

Come all the way up from Ireland,

you've landed on
this beautiful island

and you're confronted with that.

And you're not entirely sure
what's beyond, it's the frontier.

And remember, that's just Mull,

we're not even getting into
mainland Scotland yet.

And it's pretty formidable -
those cliffs, the mountains,

and this notion that you've got this
new religion to spread

to pagans and warriors over there.

You had to really believe
and really want.

And there are parallels with being
ambitious with what you want

to do with life, work,
whatever it is.

If you're put off by that,
you're not going to get anywhere.

Dream big or go home.

In their mission to spread
Christianity, Celtic saints

crossed treacherous waters in search
of unknown lands

in currachs and coracles.

It was a commitment to faith.

Some chose to travel
without paddles,

leaving the wind to guide them.

I want a sense of what these
incredible journeys

might have been like.

Jane, a willow weaver,
is taking me to the

perfect spot for a novice like me.

Sheltered from today's wind,

we're heading to Sandeels Bay...
with paddles.

So, here's the thing,
I've been in coracles before... OK.

..on very calm Welsh rivers. OK.

Usually going with the current
for a very short distance.

This is a totally different
proposition.

Yeah, it's a different ask because
these boats are inland boats,

so they're meant for the rivers
and the lochs.

The oceangoing version is the
currach, and that is what St Columba

would have come across in,
and which would have been

at least 17 feet long
and double the width,

more than double the width of this.

Every person on board would be
working like mad

to get these boats to move.

And it's a
very, very physical process

and they'd all be sending up
a prayer for a bit of

divine intervention to help
them land safely.

I'm imagining these would have been
pretty useful to head

further into the islands
and Highlands of Scotland?

Yeah, they're light,
they're easy to carry.

They're very quick to make,
take only three days to make.

The framework is willow or hazel.

Willow grows widespread all over
the west coast of Scotland.

Talk me through the hide, though.
It's almost translucent, isn't it?

It's stunning. If I just lift it up,

and we might get the sun coming
through it.Wow, look at that!

It's just so beautiful, isn't it?
It's just incredible.

You do feel like you're paddling
something quite living, almost.

All right, here we go.

Wish me luck.

It's hard work.Is it?
It's really hard work.OK.

You're doing a figure-of-eight
stroke at the front of the currach.

Yep. And that will draw you along.

And so it's that
figure-of-eight on its side.Yeah.

So, there's a bit of a lean to get
the paddle straight, because

if the paddle's in at an angle,
it won't create the pull.

I'm with you.

That's it, that's it, that's it,
nice and steady.

Lovely, lovely. Hey, we're off.

Ireland, here we go!There we go.

Well, we know it's going to be
easier getting back in.

Yeah, we just turn round and bring
the paddles on board.

Imagine on the big ocean, though.

Scary, terrifying.Big waves.

I tell you what, Columba must have
been a pretty disciplined to use

these to spread the word of God.

Now, can we also get ashore without
getting wet?

JANE LAUGHS

As the evening draws in, the island
is bathed in golden light.

Long shadows beckon me to the
north end of Iona.

The monks here lived largely
in isolation, to be closer to God.

They had retreats
across remote parts of the island.

It's my final night and I want to
experience this solitude for myself.

A converted shepherd's hut,

tucked away among the rocky
outcrops, is my bed for the night.

HE CHUCKLES

Look at that, there's a fire.

BIRD CROAKS

WHISPERS: Listen to that.

Corncrake.

This tiny hut was built
as a spiritual refuge

for guests visiting the island.

I'm very happy.

HE CHUCKLES

What a magical place.

It's nestled at the foot of Dun I,

and a short distance to
Calva Beach.

It's unbelievably peaceful.

I can't wait to meet
John and Rachel,

who created this wonderful space.

It reflects John's own
experience of monastic life.

This is truly one of the most
magical spots.

It's an extraordinary place to live.

It has this aura about it.

It tends to be...

..a mirror on people's idea of it.

So it embraces all sorts of people,

all faiths, all creeds, non-faiths.

It's a very curious place.

But being here's like being in
a cathedral all the time.

You know, you've got the sky,
you've got the sense of perspective.

George MacLeod said
about Iona being a thin place.

I have a slightly different
take on it.

The thing about islands is,

there's less space between Heaven
and Earth, because of horizons

and because you can see 360 degrees.

Obviously,
there's a huge religious draw here.

I'm wondering if, would you describe
yourselves as religious?

Not particularly. No.

I came here as a kid and spent...

So, it's the formative place of my
life, really.

And certainly
spent the first few years,

until my early 20s, looking for
a faith, Christian faith,

and ended up, in fact, in a monastic
order for a couple of years,

and discovered I had no
faith whatsoever.

But it's funny that I always wanted
to live here,

and I love to be in a kind of
Christian milieu,

living in
an ever-secularising culture,

I'm still drawn to the language
and the ritual of the Church,

even though I don't have a faith.

That's amazing. So you, you were
actually living in a monastic...

Lay monastic order, yeah.

I was lousy at it.

And what's your relationship
with religion now?

I believe in mystery,
I believe in poetry.

And histor... Traditionally, the
figure at the right-hand side of God

was the makar, the creator,
the myth-maker, the poet.

So, I can get that far
up the hierarchy,

the importance of mystery
and poetry and metaphor.

Well, thank you for letting me
stay tonight.

I don't know if the corncrakes are
going to keep me up or wake me up

early, but there's something
very magical about this, wow.

It's just me and the birds.

I have this beautiful place
to myself.

There's something about being
alone in a place like this.

It makes me quite teary,
I don't know why.

It's ridiculous, isn't it?

John in particular articulated
something really obvious,

that lots of landscapes and places

are mirrors to what we
want them to be.

And I probably want Iona to be
a powerful,

spiritual, moving place -
and it is -

but it's a mirror to my own
emotions and sentiments.

And there's this notion that you can
never escape yourself.

So, if you think about it,
we bring emotional baggage with us.

But if you can combine that with
a powerful place

and the story of healing
and the story of empowerment,

it's kind of
the perfect ingredients.

What a journey it's been.

The Inner Hebrides
is an incredible place.

I've learned the importance
of connecting with your heritage.

SHE CALLS TO A DOG

Here, community is everything.

I've sailed the ancient sea roads
of the Celtic saints

and realised that, for some,
these sacred islands have the power

to strengthen faith
and spirituality.

A pilgrimage, in any context, is
about finding yourself, ultimately.

Some people would say it's finding
God, finding another being,

but I think there is an element
of self-enlightenment.

And I have, I think,
throughout this whole journey,

there's been bits about me that,

not necessarily I've discovered,

but that perhaps have
been clarified.

I know I like islands.

I blooming love them!

Join me again, when I'll be
continuing the journey, exploring

faith and spirituality in this
extraordinary part of the world...

Wow!

Look at this!

..discovering astonishing
landscapes...

Sometimes, this is all you need.

The power of nature.

..and meeting people who inspire me.

I feel that I am part of a tradition
that has helped us

think of these islands as sacred.