1 00:00:08,807 --> 00:00:11,844 NEIL OLIVER: There are hundreds of islands along Scotland's West Coast, 2 00:00:11,927 --> 00:00:14,077 each one its own little world, 3 00:00:14,167 --> 00:00:18,479 connected to the neighbours by a great highway, the Atlantic Ocean. 4 00:00:20,367 --> 00:00:23,996 I'm traveIIing up the West Coast far into the North AtIantic, 5 00:00:24,087 --> 00:00:29,400 further than we've ever been before, beyond our shores to foreign isIands 6 00:00:29,487 --> 00:00:32,957 in search of a way of Iife we've aII but Iost. 7 00:00:34,287 --> 00:00:39,042 My objective, the Faroe Islands, where, for over a thousand years, 8 00:00:39,127 --> 00:00:43,723 the descendants of Viking settlers have struggled to survive and thrive. 9 00:00:43,807 --> 00:00:46,401 (ALL CHEERING) 10 00:00:46,487 --> 00:00:50,446 I'll explore the forgotten bond between Britain and the Faroes. 11 00:00:50,527 --> 00:00:54,759 Island people united by war and love. 12 00:00:54,847 --> 00:01:00,160 PeopIe remember what went on here, they remember the kindness of the soIdiers. 13 00:01:01,567 --> 00:01:06,004 On my island-hopping adventure northwards, I'm joined by my fellow Coasters. 14 00:01:07,807 --> 00:01:12,119 On Skye, Alice Roberts discovers a remarkable use for seaweed. 15 00:01:12,607 --> 00:01:15,360 This is brown goId. 16 00:01:16,687 --> 00:01:22,319 Newcomer to Coast, Kate Rew is on the hunt for a tiny creature that eats whalebones. 17 00:01:22,447 --> 00:01:26,201 It is what some peopIe caII the bone-eating snot-fIower. 18 00:01:26,967 --> 00:01:32,439 And Nick Crane attempts to measure the length of the very wiggly British coastline. 19 00:01:32,527 --> 00:01:34,165 Ninety-one, 92. 20 00:01:34,247 --> 00:01:38,479 -Are you on the home straight now? -(LAUGHS) I'm concentrating. 94. 21 00:01:38,567 --> 00:01:41,639 This is our Coast and beyond. 22 00:02:07,127 --> 00:02:10,005 OLIVER: Our journey north continues from Wales and England 23 00:02:10,087 --> 00:02:12,396 into Scotland and beyond. 24 00:02:12,487 --> 00:02:16,685 In fact, all the way up to the Faroe Islands, high in the wild Atlantic. 25 00:02:18,487 --> 00:02:22,878 But we're starting our adventure at Loch Linnhe, just east of the Island of Mull. 26 00:02:29,367 --> 00:02:32,996 The entrance to the loch is guarded by Glensanda Castle, 27 00:02:33,087 --> 00:02:38,115 once home to the McClain clan, descendants of the Vikings who roamed these waterways. 28 00:02:39,767 --> 00:02:44,204 A thousand years ago, the isIands of the West Coast were ruIed by Vikings, 29 00:02:44,287 --> 00:02:46,596 more Norwegian than Scottish. 30 00:02:46,727 --> 00:02:50,766 In fact, the name of this pIace GIensanda is oId Norse, 31 00:02:50,847 --> 00:02:53,520 and it means the gIen of the sandy river. 32 00:02:59,047 --> 00:03:01,845 But it's not the sand that's drawn me here, 33 00:03:01,927 --> 00:03:03,121 it's the rock. 34 00:03:06,927 --> 00:03:11,205 This tanker is about to be Ioaded with 85,000 tonnes of granite 35 00:03:11,287 --> 00:03:13,755 from Europe's biggest super quarry. 36 00:03:13,847 --> 00:03:17,635 It's the rock that wiII make the roads of Britain roII. 37 00:03:20,167 --> 00:03:25,446 It's quite terrifying actuaIIy, just the sheer mass of it, just a big steeI cIiff. 38 00:03:29,127 --> 00:03:34,759 Glensanda quarry sits at the mouth of the Great Glen Fault, an area rich in granite. 39 00:03:36,487 --> 00:03:40,765 Although the quarry is on the mainland, it might as well be an island. 40 00:03:43,527 --> 00:03:47,202 You can't get here by road, because there aren't any. 41 00:03:47,287 --> 00:03:53,044 But who needs roads when you have the sea, and water deep enough for huge ships? 42 00:03:57,247 --> 00:04:00,478 Europe's biggest super quarry relies on the coast. 43 00:04:00,567 --> 00:04:04,560 Rock and machinery all come and go by sea, 44 00:04:04,647 --> 00:04:07,605 a challenge for Deputy Manager David Lamb. 45 00:04:08,607 --> 00:04:10,677 -David. -HeIIo, NeiI, weIcome to GIensanda. 46 00:04:10,767 --> 00:04:11,802 -Thanks. -Nice to meet you. 47 00:04:11,887 --> 00:04:13,286 That was aII very exciting with the boat. 48 00:04:13,367 --> 00:04:15,278 -It certainIy was, wasn't it? -I was most impressed. 49 00:04:15,367 --> 00:04:16,436 OLIVER: So where does it aII happen? 50 00:04:16,527 --> 00:04:19,121 It aII starts at the top of the hiII, basicaIIy at the top of the mountain. 51 00:04:20,327 --> 00:04:26,641 It's 2,000 feet from sea level to summit, but suddenly I get the full picture. 52 00:04:30,527 --> 00:04:33,166 WeII, from here you reaIIy do get a sense of super quarry. 53 00:04:33,247 --> 00:04:35,397 You certainIy do. It's a big hoIe, isn't it? 54 00:04:35,487 --> 00:04:38,718 OLIVER: How much of the mountain have you aIready taken away? 55 00:04:38,807 --> 00:04:41,924 LAMB: Out of this area, we've aIready taken one hundred miIIion tonnes. 56 00:04:42,007 --> 00:04:44,919 And how much remains to be taken? 57 00:04:45,007 --> 00:04:47,601 There's stiII aImost eight hundred miIIion tonnes Ieft to go. 58 00:04:47,687 --> 00:04:50,360 Right, so you're kind of scratching the surface at the moment. 59 00:04:50,447 --> 00:04:53,439 A big scratch, but onIy a scratch so far. 60 00:04:53,527 --> 00:04:56,360 -Can we go and bIow things up? -We certainIy can, NeiI. Come on. 61 00:04:56,447 --> 00:04:57,436 (CHUCKLES) 62 00:05:01,847 --> 00:05:06,716 One hundred million tonnes of rock extracted in 20 years. 63 00:05:06,807 --> 00:05:11,801 Now, with 18 tonnes of explosives primed, I'm about to see how they do it. 64 00:05:17,247 --> 00:05:18,282 Oh! 65 00:05:21,847 --> 00:05:24,486 -That's fantastic! -It's very impressive, isn't it? 66 00:05:24,567 --> 00:05:26,922 Can we do that again? Right now? 67 00:05:27,007 --> 00:05:29,396 If you're happy to wait another few days, yes. 68 00:05:29,487 --> 00:05:34,402 Wow! It's the way it's just the sIow motion...rippIe. 69 00:05:37,167 --> 00:05:40,796 OLIVER: Where does aII this materiaI go, I mean, who uses it? 70 00:05:40,887 --> 00:05:44,675 LAMB: An awfuI Iot of the rock goes into road buiIding, into the construction industry, 71 00:05:44,767 --> 00:05:47,327 sub-bases for roads, your motorways. 72 00:05:47,407 --> 00:05:50,558 AImost aII the rock for the EngIish side of the ChanneI TunneI 73 00:05:50,647 --> 00:05:52,922 was suppIied from GIensanda. 74 00:05:59,727 --> 00:06:03,640 The granite here is hard enough to withstand the pounding of trucks and trains 75 00:06:03,727 --> 00:06:05,843 under our roads and railways. 76 00:06:05,927 --> 00:06:10,284 But what's really special is this quarry's coastal location. 77 00:06:10,367 --> 00:06:15,202 The rock's crushed, graded and washed before it even gets to the key side. 78 00:06:15,287 --> 00:06:20,486 There, it's loaded straight onto huge ships to be sent anywhere in the world. 79 00:06:25,207 --> 00:06:27,437 The rock might not stay around long, 80 00:06:27,527 --> 00:06:31,406 but the workers can sometimes live here for weeks on end. 81 00:06:31,487 --> 00:06:33,443 At least they've got some big toys to play with. 82 00:06:33,527 --> 00:06:35,279 It's Iike Jurassic Park in here. 83 00:06:39,607 --> 00:06:41,802 -Do you Iike it here? -Yes, very nice. 84 00:06:41,887 --> 00:06:44,003 Why? Is it the big toys? 85 00:06:44,087 --> 00:06:46,476 -The big toys and the views on a good day. -Big toys. 86 00:06:46,567 --> 00:06:48,319 The views on a good day are nice. 87 00:06:48,407 --> 00:06:50,477 OLIVER: How much do you pay for a set of tyres on there? 88 00:06:50,567 --> 00:06:52,364 Eight thousand a tyre. 89 00:06:52,447 --> 00:06:57,077 So, 32,000 for four tyres. So it's not the sort of vehicIe you'd keep for a hobby, is it? 90 00:06:57,167 --> 00:06:58,600 No. 91 00:06:58,687 --> 00:07:00,643 OLIVER: Kind of feeIs Iike the wiId west out here. 92 00:07:00,727 --> 00:07:02,479 (WORKERS LAUGHING) 93 00:07:02,567 --> 00:07:04,683 -You get used to it? -You get used to it, yeah. 94 00:07:08,287 --> 00:07:11,359 Hard-working IifestyIes are nothing new on the West Coast, 95 00:07:11,447 --> 00:07:15,565 but this amount of machinery is new, it's on a whoIe different scaIe. 96 00:07:15,647 --> 00:07:19,606 New connections to the wider worId are changing these communities. 97 00:07:28,447 --> 00:07:33,043 To discover just how life and leisure is moving on out here 98 00:07:33,127 --> 00:07:37,166 we're heading to the Inner Hebrides' most westerly island. 99 00:07:44,527 --> 00:07:48,520 This is Tiree and it's one of the windiest pIaces in the UK! 100 00:07:48,607 --> 00:07:50,086 (WHOOPING) 101 00:07:59,847 --> 00:08:03,522 I'm HeIen Thompson, I'm from Tiree. I'm a professionaI kite surfer. 102 00:08:03,607 --> 00:08:05,563 I've been windsurfing since I was eight 103 00:08:05,647 --> 00:08:08,684 and I thought that flying about in the air looks like much more fun, 104 00:08:08,767 --> 00:08:10,325 so I took up kite surfing. 105 00:08:12,047 --> 00:08:16,677 Tiree is probably one of the best venues to kite surf in the world. 106 00:08:16,767 --> 00:08:21,795 We're very exposed to the wind, so we have very good wind statistics all year around. 107 00:08:21,887 --> 00:08:24,560 We also are positioned very nicely in the Gulf Stream, 108 00:08:24,647 --> 00:08:28,037 so we get some very nice, balmy weather in the summer. 109 00:08:28,127 --> 00:08:30,846 The beaches are absolutely stunning on Tiree. 110 00:08:30,927 --> 00:08:35,239 You can see all the basking sharks and the whales and dolphins that visit. 111 00:08:35,567 --> 00:08:37,717 It's basicaIIy a kite surfer's dream. 112 00:08:41,487 --> 00:08:44,923 So this is a basic guide to kite surfing, you need six things. 113 00:08:45,007 --> 00:08:50,479 You need a board, you need a kite, a pump for the kite, a harness, 114 00:08:50,567 --> 00:08:53,127 a bar, and a warm wetsuit. 115 00:08:54,167 --> 00:08:55,646 (PUMPING) 116 00:08:56,687 --> 00:08:58,439 Kite surfing can be quite difficuIt to Iearn. 117 00:08:58,527 --> 00:09:01,803 It's very much mind over matter and keeping on with it. 118 00:09:01,887 --> 00:09:04,242 The most difficult part is getting up on the board. 119 00:09:04,327 --> 00:09:05,919 That's always a sticking point. 120 00:09:06,007 --> 00:09:07,565 But if you just keep at it, 121 00:09:07,647 --> 00:09:10,844 and learn to dive the kite a little bit harder and be a bit braver, 122 00:09:10,927 --> 00:09:13,361 then you'll get up and riding quite quickly. 123 00:09:13,447 --> 00:09:14,926 (WHOOPING) 124 00:09:16,047 --> 00:09:18,003 Oh, I nearIy didn't get round there. 125 00:09:25,887 --> 00:09:28,606 After a long day of kite surfing on Tiree, 126 00:09:28,687 --> 00:09:32,839 we like to relax and have a nice barbecue at the beach, bonfire with friends. 127 00:09:35,447 --> 00:09:39,998 It's just always such amazing sunsets and big skies and just... 128 00:09:40,087 --> 00:09:41,725 Oh, it's absolutely beautiful. 129 00:09:49,847 --> 00:09:54,204 OLIVER: The waters of the Inner Hebrides aren't only a kite surfer's paradise, 130 00:09:54,287 --> 00:09:57,518 they're also teeming with wildlife, 131 00:09:57,607 --> 00:10:01,043 from the smallest to the biggest creatures. 132 00:10:01,127 --> 00:10:03,880 Whales roam these seas close to the Islands. 133 00:10:07,887 --> 00:10:11,960 Tobermory is the embarkation point for many a whale-watching trip. 134 00:10:14,687 --> 00:10:19,397 But wild swimmer Kate Rew is hitching a ride on an expedition like no other. 135 00:10:22,007 --> 00:10:25,886 I've aIways Ioved the idea that I might be swimming cIose to a whaIe in open water, 136 00:10:25,967 --> 00:10:28,879 and I'm keen to find out more about their remarkabIe Iives. 137 00:10:28,967 --> 00:10:31,879 So it's wonderfuI to be here to join this expedition to expIore 138 00:10:31,967 --> 00:10:36,006 one of their most mysterious secrets, what happens to whaIes when they die. 139 00:10:40,407 --> 00:10:42,159 REW: Whales of all shapes and sizes 140 00:10:42,247 --> 00:10:45,717 swim between the islands of the West Coast of Scotland. 141 00:10:45,807 --> 00:10:48,162 These waters are a whale's super-highway, 142 00:10:48,247 --> 00:10:51,842 a migration route spanning the world's oceans. 143 00:10:53,567 --> 00:10:56,400 They're out there all right, just not that easy to spot. 144 00:10:59,567 --> 00:11:01,762 -Very nice to meet you. -Very nice to meet you, too. 145 00:11:01,847 --> 00:11:03,041 HeIIo. 146 00:11:03,127 --> 00:11:07,120 But today, I'm meeting marine biologists Adrian Glover and Kim Last. 147 00:11:07,207 --> 00:11:09,118 -WeII, weIcome aboard. -Thank you very much. 148 00:11:09,207 --> 00:11:12,643 They know exactly where one whale is, or part of it anyway. 149 00:11:18,767 --> 00:11:22,476 We're heading 15 miles out to sea to recover some whalebones 150 00:11:22,567 --> 00:11:27,322 they placed on the seabed 15 months ago, part of an extraordinary experiment. 151 00:11:28,327 --> 00:11:29,680 It's something that is very new, reaIIy. 152 00:11:29,767 --> 00:11:33,362 Just in the Iast few years we started to understand 153 00:11:33,447 --> 00:11:36,883 what animaIs wouId eat a whaIe, and in particuIar whaIebones, 154 00:11:36,967 --> 00:11:39,276 which is reaIIy what this experiment is aII about. 155 00:11:43,167 --> 00:11:46,159 REW: When whales die they fall to the bottom of the ocean, 156 00:11:46,247 --> 00:11:50,843 becoming a hearty meal for sea life that strips the flesh from the bones. 157 00:11:55,287 --> 00:11:59,405 Once the flesh is completely eaten, you'd think the story would all be over, 158 00:11:59,487 --> 00:12:00,602 but it's not. 159 00:12:02,487 --> 00:12:07,515 The whale skeleton also provides a whole host of animals with a rich source of food, 160 00:12:09,727 --> 00:12:14,437 and it's one of these bone-eating creatures that Adrian is particularly interested in. 161 00:12:15,367 --> 00:12:19,804 We're hoping to find some of these strange animaIs that we caII Osedax, 162 00:12:19,887 --> 00:12:24,039 which we have a picture of one here, dissected out of a whaIebone. 163 00:12:24,127 --> 00:12:29,884 It is what some peopIe caII the bone-eating snot-fIower. Rather pecuIiar name. 164 00:12:29,967 --> 00:12:33,277 I've got to say it's beautifuI Iooking. When you toId me we were Iooking for 165 00:12:33,367 --> 00:12:36,564 a bone-eating snot-fIower, I wasn't expecting anything as pretty as this. 166 00:12:36,647 --> 00:12:41,721 Yeah, I think maybe we gave it a wrong name. It is a bit of a misnomer. 167 00:12:41,807 --> 00:12:45,516 It's actuaIIy a worm, it's actuaIIy a poIychaete worm. 168 00:12:45,607 --> 00:12:48,280 It's highIy adapted to Iiving on this weird environment, 169 00:12:48,367 --> 00:12:51,439 so these fIowers that you see, these red fIowers are actuaIIy 170 00:12:51,527 --> 00:12:54,360 there to get oxygen into this weird structure you see at the base, 171 00:12:54,447 --> 00:12:58,963 which is actuaIIy a root which is inside the whaIebone. 172 00:12:59,047 --> 00:13:02,244 WiII we actuaIIy see any of these with the naked eye? Are we going to be seeing... 173 00:13:02,327 --> 00:13:06,286 Oh, they stick out to a centimetre or so out of the whaIebone. 174 00:13:09,127 --> 00:13:12,881 REW: What perplexes scientists is how the tiny bone-eating snot-flowers 175 00:13:12,967 --> 00:13:15,435 travel the ocean seeking whalebones to feed on. 176 00:13:18,567 --> 00:13:22,355 Adrian has a theory that they hop from whalebone to whalebone. 177 00:13:25,487 --> 00:13:27,682 GLOVER: If these things are concentrated aIong certain areas 178 00:13:27,767 --> 00:13:30,600 they can use them as sort of stepping-stones in the deep, 179 00:13:30,687 --> 00:13:34,362 so putting down this experiment, even though it's reaIIy quite a smaII experiment 180 00:13:34,447 --> 00:13:35,800 that we're Iooking at today, 181 00:13:35,887 --> 00:13:39,675 is reaIIy important in Iooking at the whoIe dispersaI of deep-sea organisms. 182 00:13:43,367 --> 00:13:47,360 For over a year, 50 metres down in the cold dark Atlantic, 183 00:13:47,447 --> 00:13:49,836 the whalebone has been waiting. 184 00:13:49,927 --> 00:13:53,556 The team are hoping exotic bone-eating creatures have moved in. 185 00:13:53,647 --> 00:13:57,401 Only now will the scientists find out if it's all been worth it. 186 00:14:00,767 --> 00:14:02,598 But there's a problem. 187 00:14:04,207 --> 00:14:09,201 The whalebone should be attached to a large mooring buoy, but it's nowhere to be seen. 188 00:14:10,567 --> 00:14:14,765 No buoy means no bone. Over a year's work could be lost. 189 00:14:15,647 --> 00:14:19,845 We've had a Iot of storms or maybe a trawIer has come through 190 00:14:19,927 --> 00:14:22,487 and picked it up, dragged it away, 191 00:14:22,567 --> 00:14:25,320 so we're a IittIe bit on tenterhooks at the moment. 192 00:14:25,407 --> 00:14:27,762 Working at sea is very unpredictabIe. 193 00:14:29,887 --> 00:14:33,277 Their only hope is to spot the much smaller back-up buoy or pellet. 194 00:14:35,767 --> 00:14:38,440 But there's little hope of seeing it until the tide turns. 195 00:14:39,087 --> 00:14:42,796 What happens is the current actuaIIy drags them under water, 196 00:14:42,887 --> 00:14:46,004 so they may just pop up when the tide goes sIack. 197 00:14:49,047 --> 00:14:53,404 After a nail-biting wait, the pellet finally reveals itself. 198 00:14:57,167 --> 00:14:59,123 Our bone might still be recovered. 199 00:15:00,607 --> 00:15:02,643 Whenever you bring up something from the deep ocean, 200 00:15:02,727 --> 00:15:06,515 you aIways find interesting things, so we're guaranteed interesting things. 201 00:15:06,607 --> 00:15:08,962 LAST: I think that's one of the exciting things about this science, 202 00:15:09,047 --> 00:15:11,003 you never know what you're going to get. 203 00:15:12,207 --> 00:15:14,516 -It's there, it's there, it's there. -Yes, that's it! 204 00:15:14,607 --> 00:15:17,201 -There's the bone. -REW: Oh, my god. 205 00:15:17,287 --> 00:15:19,676 -GLOVER: They haven't faIIen off. -They haven't faIIen off. 206 00:15:20,647 --> 00:15:24,276 LAST: There's one Iarge vertebra and we've got a few smaIIer ones. 207 00:15:24,367 --> 00:15:26,278 GLOVER: ...and a minky whaIe next to it, you can see. 208 00:15:26,367 --> 00:15:28,927 -That's right. -So it's Iike a sweet assortment, 209 00:15:29,007 --> 00:15:31,521 -but for whaIes. -That's right. 210 00:15:31,607 --> 00:15:33,165 Yeah, pop it in there. 211 00:15:33,567 --> 00:15:36,525 REW: Kim and Adrian are quick off the mark to get to their bone, 212 00:15:37,687 --> 00:15:40,645 and they certainly seem excited about something. 213 00:15:42,567 --> 00:15:46,685 We've got bacteriaI bracts, that's the white stuff there, we've got gastropods, 214 00:15:46,767 --> 00:15:51,124 we've got bryozoans, we've got nudibranchs, sea sIugs, we've got moIIuscs. 215 00:15:52,007 --> 00:15:53,918 REW: Have you found any snot-fIowers? 216 00:15:54,007 --> 00:15:58,159 No snot-fIowers yet. We've found quite a few interesting animaIs though. 217 00:15:58,247 --> 00:16:01,080 -LittIe something we've been picking out. -Oh, wow! 218 00:16:02,767 --> 00:16:05,042 REW: Wow, Iook at that, it's Iike a mini Iobster. 219 00:16:05,127 --> 00:16:08,483 GLOVER: Squat Iobsters, we have sea urchins. 220 00:16:08,567 --> 00:16:11,479 You're missing out this guy, I mean, what's this strange creature in the middIe? 221 00:16:11,567 --> 00:16:16,800 This is a spider crab. AII these animaIs are things which Iive on hard substrates, 222 00:16:16,887 --> 00:16:21,642 the hard things in marine environment, so we've got quite a Iot of organisms here 223 00:16:21,727 --> 00:16:25,276 abIe to use the whaIebone as if it was a kind of a reef, reaIIy. 224 00:16:25,367 --> 00:16:28,086 I mean no one's done this experiment so no one knows, 225 00:16:28,167 --> 00:16:30,317 so whatever we get is interesting. 226 00:16:35,247 --> 00:16:39,081 Even though I haven't seen any bone-eating snot-flowers today, 227 00:16:39,167 --> 00:16:42,364 my eyes have been opened to a new world, 228 00:16:42,447 --> 00:16:45,166 that something as barren looking as a whale skeleton 229 00:16:45,247 --> 00:16:49,081 is actually an island home to a whole community of extraordinary creatures. 230 00:16:52,207 --> 00:16:57,440 Just off our coast, deep on the seabed, there's a delicate eco-system at work 231 00:16:57,527 --> 00:16:59,358 that we know so little about. 232 00:17:03,807 --> 00:17:05,877 OLIVER: On their restless journey through the oceans 233 00:17:05,967 --> 00:17:11,837 whales navigate their way past these islands, but I can't resist a stop at Canna. 234 00:17:19,487 --> 00:17:22,604 I'm always captivated by these clumps of rock and grass 235 00:17:22,687 --> 00:17:24,837 that seem to defy the surrounding sea. 236 00:17:26,207 --> 00:17:31,486 Each of these isIands is unique, it's own IittIe worId, a miniature eco-system 237 00:17:31,567 --> 00:17:35,560 where peopIe, pIant and animaIs have to Iearn to Iive together. 238 00:17:35,647 --> 00:17:37,763 But things haven't aIways gone smoothIy. 239 00:17:41,847 --> 00:17:47,319 The sea eagles, which used to soar high above these cliffs, were hunted to extinction. 240 00:17:47,407 --> 00:17:50,797 By 1918 there wasn't a sea eagle to be seen on Canna. 241 00:17:57,967 --> 00:18:03,883 Since then, many people have left too, there's only about 20 full-time residents now, 242 00:18:03,967 --> 00:18:07,084 but the sea eagles have been brought back. 243 00:18:07,167 --> 00:18:09,727 It's Abbie Patterson's job to watch over them. 244 00:18:12,247 --> 00:18:15,956 Canna is a good pIace because it's a very wiId and remote isIand, 245 00:18:16,047 --> 00:18:21,075 there's pIenty of food here, pIenty of rabbits for the eagIes to actuaIIy feed on. 246 00:18:21,167 --> 00:18:23,681 And it's aIso a pIace that isn't disturbed very much, 247 00:18:23,767 --> 00:18:26,235 very few peopIe come to this corner of the isIand, 248 00:18:26,327 --> 00:18:29,080 so the birds are Ieft aIone, and that's reaIIy what they need, 249 00:18:29,167 --> 00:18:30,759 no disturbance and pIenty of food. 250 00:18:33,567 --> 00:18:35,842 OLIVER: The sea eagles may feel at home on Canna, 251 00:18:35,927 --> 00:18:39,397 but they had to be re-introduced from Norway. 252 00:18:39,487 --> 00:18:45,084 Back in 1975, RSPB volunteers were scaling Norway's mountains. 253 00:18:45,167 --> 00:18:46,998 As the eagles were doing well there 254 00:18:47,087 --> 00:18:50,079 it was safe to remove a number of the enormous chicks. 255 00:18:51,167 --> 00:18:52,919 The chicks were then flown to Scotland 256 00:18:53,007 --> 00:18:56,283 and released on the Island of Rum, right next to Canna. 257 00:18:57,047 --> 00:18:59,686 At that time, no one could have anticipated 258 00:18:59,767 --> 00:19:02,679 how successful the reintroduction was going to be. 259 00:19:03,407 --> 00:19:08,083 PATTERSON: Overall in Scotland there's probably about 200 at this present time. 260 00:19:08,167 --> 00:19:10,761 And how many of those are on Canna? 261 00:19:10,847 --> 00:19:15,443 WeII, we have two pair here, they've been here since probabIy the Iate '80s 262 00:19:15,527 --> 00:19:18,724 and probabIy came from Rum and moved across to Canna, 263 00:19:18,807 --> 00:19:22,561 and they've been fairIy successfuI since then, 264 00:19:22,647 --> 00:19:26,083 one pair better than the other pair, as you aIways get. 265 00:19:26,287 --> 00:19:30,724 And is there anywhere here that we can see signs of sea eagIes today? 266 00:19:30,807 --> 00:19:35,437 Yes, there is, just on the cIiff up behind me we shouId hopefuIIy see some signs anyway. 267 00:19:35,527 --> 00:19:37,358 CIiff. That sounds ominous. 268 00:19:40,887 --> 00:19:45,642 OLIVER: In this exposed terrain, finding any sign of the sea eagles isn't easy. 269 00:19:45,727 --> 00:19:48,082 We're going to check a recently vacated nest 270 00:19:48,167 --> 00:19:50,476 to see if they're eating well enough to survive. 271 00:19:52,967 --> 00:19:57,324 What I hadn't bargained on was the nest being halfway up this cliff. 272 00:19:59,487 --> 00:20:01,318 You do a Iot of this, do you? 273 00:20:01,407 --> 00:20:05,036 OccasionaIIy, not too much these days, but in the oId days I did quite a Iot. 274 00:20:07,007 --> 00:20:08,565 OLIVER: You know I've never done this before, don't you? 275 00:20:08,647 --> 00:20:11,445 -Aye, I know. -I'd Iike you to know that I'm quite Iiking it, 276 00:20:13,047 --> 00:20:14,241 but mostIy I'm hating it. 277 00:20:14,327 --> 00:20:15,476 (PATTERSON CHUCKLES) 278 00:20:17,567 --> 00:20:22,118 This is not the best fun I've ever had, Iet me assure you. 279 00:20:24,567 --> 00:20:26,000 (BREATHES HEAVILY) 280 00:20:26,087 --> 00:20:31,161 Oh, I'm here! I'm here! Oh, I'm so pIeased. 281 00:20:32,527 --> 00:20:34,757 Great. JoIIy good. 282 00:20:35,967 --> 00:20:36,956 Okay. 283 00:20:39,247 --> 00:20:44,924 I have to say that, at first sight, this does not Iook Iike a bird's nest as such to me. 284 00:20:45,007 --> 00:20:49,000 Is this standard issue? Just a fIattened pIatform of debris? 285 00:20:49,087 --> 00:20:50,805 This is it, yes. 286 00:20:52,127 --> 00:20:55,836 Quite often it's buiIt up at the beginning of the season and Iooks a Iot better, 287 00:20:55,927 --> 00:20:58,919 you know, there's a Iot of sticks and seaweed and various other things, 288 00:20:59,007 --> 00:21:02,920 and then it Iines it a IittIe bit with heather and various things Iike that. 289 00:21:03,007 --> 00:21:05,885 By the end of the season, of course, the birds have been here, 290 00:21:05,967 --> 00:21:09,198 you know, for severaI months, so by the time they're finished with this, 291 00:21:09,287 --> 00:21:11,039 it's as you see it now. 292 00:21:12,567 --> 00:21:15,604 What is that? It's a jawbone. 293 00:21:15,687 --> 00:21:18,565 This is a jawbone, yes, it's not human I can say, 294 00:21:18,647 --> 00:21:22,162 but what this is, it's herbivore, and that's a smaII Iamb. 295 00:21:22,247 --> 00:21:23,646 OLIVER: That's a Iamb, right. 296 00:21:23,727 --> 00:21:27,117 'Cause that is the kind of prey you kind of, in your mind's eye, that's what I think about 297 00:21:27,207 --> 00:21:28,686 something Iike a sea eagIe taking. 298 00:21:28,767 --> 00:21:32,442 Yes, that's right. There's a tendency that, you know, 299 00:21:32,527 --> 00:21:35,599 obviousIy the sea eagIes are not Iiked by shepherds, et cetera, 300 00:21:35,687 --> 00:21:39,600 because they are taking Iamb, and in some of these areas 301 00:21:39,687 --> 00:21:44,044 financiaI schemes have been set up to try and offset some of these costs. 302 00:21:44,127 --> 00:21:48,200 But here on Canna, Iooking at the actuaI dietary requirements of the eagIe, 303 00:21:48,287 --> 00:21:54,476 there's onIy something Iike 0.2 percent of Iamb amongst everything that it has eaten. 304 00:21:54,567 --> 00:21:56,080 Now, that's not a Iarge amount. 305 00:22:00,207 --> 00:22:03,085 OLIVER: We know from the nest the eagles are feeding well enough, 306 00:22:03,167 --> 00:22:05,681 which promises well for their future, 307 00:22:05,767 --> 00:22:07,883 but still no sign of the birds. 308 00:22:07,967 --> 00:22:09,923 Until, finally... 309 00:22:17,767 --> 00:22:20,486 OLIVER: It's iconic, isn't it, to see it against the coIour of the sky? 310 00:22:20,567 --> 00:22:23,286 -Yeah, absoIuteIy. -OLIVER: What a backdrop. 311 00:22:23,367 --> 00:22:25,403 PATTERSON: WeII, you couIdn't get a finer backdrop. 312 00:22:25,487 --> 00:22:27,125 It's going to come right past us. 313 00:22:28,647 --> 00:22:32,720 PATTERSON: Just to be certain on a day's visit, to catch a sight Iike that is fantastic. 314 00:22:36,407 --> 00:22:39,126 OLIVER: So, just how big is that bird that we're Iooking at? 315 00:22:39,207 --> 00:22:41,516 WeII, it's the Iargest bird of prey we've got in the UK, 316 00:22:41,607 --> 00:22:44,565 and that's an eight-foot wingspan approximateIy, 317 00:22:44,647 --> 00:22:48,879 so that is huge, and it's often described as a fIying barn door, you know. 318 00:22:48,967 --> 00:22:51,242 OLIVER: WeII, it is the size of a door in somebody's house, isn't it? 319 00:22:51,327 --> 00:22:56,845 (LAUGHING) It's very big, but it's aIso very broad, a very, very broad wing. 320 00:22:56,927 --> 00:22:58,485 So they're absoIuteIy massive birds 321 00:22:58,567 --> 00:23:01,127 and there's different sizes between maIe and femaIe. 322 00:23:01,207 --> 00:23:04,040 You find a femaIe is a much bigger bird than the maIe. 323 00:23:05,487 --> 00:23:07,284 -OLIVER: That was amazing. -That was great. 324 00:23:07,367 --> 00:23:09,085 I didn't think we'd see anything. 325 00:23:09,167 --> 00:23:13,683 WeII, I was a IittIe bit dubious myseIf, but I'm reaIIy happy that it's come by for us. 326 00:23:24,927 --> 00:23:29,000 OLIVER: The sea eagle chicks aren't the only Norwegians to make their home in Scotland. 327 00:23:29,087 --> 00:23:33,922 The Hebrides were ruled by the Vikings for over 250 years. 328 00:23:36,687 --> 00:23:39,679 In fact the GaeIic name for the isIands, Innse Gall, 329 00:23:39,767 --> 00:23:42,076 means ''the IsIands of the Foreigners''. 330 00:23:42,167 --> 00:23:46,399 But the Norwegians here today haven't come to conquer, they've come to work. 331 00:23:49,287 --> 00:23:53,326 I'm hitching a ride north on a boat based here in the West Coast of Scotland. 332 00:23:53,407 --> 00:23:57,480 It's operated by a Norwegian company who farm Atlantic salmon here, 333 00:23:57,567 --> 00:23:59,523 mostly for the UK market. 334 00:24:00,807 --> 00:24:03,037 The boat's skipper, Roy Willie Hansen, 335 00:24:03,127 --> 00:24:06,039 doesn't seem to mind being far from Norwegian shores. 336 00:24:07,727 --> 00:24:14,166 It's quite interesting to see how the peopIe and the coast are very much the same. 337 00:24:14,247 --> 00:24:20,561 PeopIe Iiving near the coast, seems to me Iike being very much the same peopIe. 338 00:24:20,647 --> 00:24:24,560 So this pIace, this coastIine makes you feeI at home? 339 00:24:24,647 --> 00:24:28,037 Yeah, it does actuaIIy. Yeah, I feeI home. 340 00:24:31,367 --> 00:24:35,599 OLIVER: Age-old Viking bones run deep amongst the seafaring folk here, 341 00:24:35,687 --> 00:24:38,520 but the modern world is forcing change on these islands. 342 00:24:39,487 --> 00:24:44,641 Try taking a trip out to the Isle of Skye and you'll see concrete signs of progress. 343 00:24:47,727 --> 00:24:50,799 The bridge reaching out to one of Scotland's most famous islands 344 00:24:50,887 --> 00:24:54,596 has only been here since 1995. 345 00:24:54,687 --> 00:24:59,124 It's just a thin ribbon of road, but it's a permanent connection to the mainland. 346 00:25:01,047 --> 00:25:04,517 It begs the question, is Skye an island any more? 347 00:25:08,087 --> 00:25:12,046 Members of the local community own and run a ferry further down the coast 348 00:25:12,127 --> 00:25:15,881 for those who prefer going over the sea to Skye. 349 00:25:15,967 --> 00:25:17,798 Alice Roberts is one of them. 350 00:25:19,447 --> 00:25:21,403 (BARKING) 351 00:25:22,367 --> 00:25:26,246 WeII, the boats have changed over the years, but this journey stiII connects back 352 00:25:26,327 --> 00:25:31,481 to the age-oId tradition of the isIes, when everything, peopIe, goods, animaIs 353 00:25:31,567 --> 00:25:33,558 had to come across on the water. 354 00:25:37,247 --> 00:25:39,636 ROBERTS: I'm meeting Donald John McLeod, 355 00:25:39,727 --> 00:25:45,006 who brought the mail across this narrow stretch of water for 50 years. 356 00:25:45,087 --> 00:25:50,798 He's witnessed first-hand how Skye has changed since the arrival of the bridge. 357 00:25:50,887 --> 00:25:57,201 When an isIand is connected by a causeway or a bridge, the isIand changes. 358 00:25:57,287 --> 00:26:00,438 An isIand community, they're dependent on each other, 359 00:26:00,527 --> 00:26:04,042 but now you can get off it 24-7, 360 00:26:05,647 --> 00:26:07,842 go to wherever in the worId. 361 00:26:07,927 --> 00:26:10,646 And you used to bring the maiI over to Skye? 362 00:26:10,727 --> 00:26:15,164 Yes, I did, up to WorId War II, very few houses had teIephones. 363 00:26:15,247 --> 00:26:17,636 So everything came by maiI. 364 00:26:17,727 --> 00:26:20,400 So it sounds Iike your boat was a bit of a IifeIine for peopIe on Skye. 365 00:26:20,487 --> 00:26:24,765 Oh, yes, it was at that time, at that time, absoIute IifeIine, yes. 366 00:26:25,847 --> 00:26:27,997 ROBERTS: And how important are boats now, do you think? 367 00:26:28,087 --> 00:26:30,123 (LAUGHS) Tourist attractions. 368 00:26:32,887 --> 00:26:36,675 This stretch of water wasn't just a lifeline for communication, 369 00:26:36,767 --> 00:26:39,918 it was once essential for industry, too. 370 00:26:43,407 --> 00:26:47,958 Running any kind of enterprise on the isIes used to reIy on sea trade, 371 00:26:48,047 --> 00:26:52,120 and 200 years ago the business on the boats was booming. 372 00:26:53,647 --> 00:26:58,357 The island looks so unspoilt. Hard to believe that the smog of pollution 373 00:26:58,447 --> 00:27:04,716 once hung over these shores, and that an entire industry was born and died here, 374 00:27:04,807 --> 00:27:07,401 all based on the stuff under my feet. 375 00:27:08,567 --> 00:27:12,765 This is brown goId, seaweed, 376 00:27:12,847 --> 00:27:16,726 and, as strange as it seems, there are chemicaIs in this 377 00:27:16,807 --> 00:27:21,358 that, 200 years ago, were cruciaI to the gIass-making industry. 378 00:27:23,767 --> 00:27:26,406 To make glass you need soda ash. 379 00:27:26,527 --> 00:27:31,282 Until the late 1700s Britain's main source for that was Spain. 380 00:27:31,367 --> 00:27:36,043 But then came war with Napoleon, and all imports stopped. 381 00:27:36,127 --> 00:27:38,925 Shattering news for the glass industry. 382 00:27:39,767 --> 00:27:44,238 Except, you can aIso get soda ash from burning seaweed 383 00:27:44,327 --> 00:27:47,364 and that was the start of the brown goId rush. 384 00:27:51,167 --> 00:27:55,558 The beaches of the Western Isles are abundant in this seaweed or kelp. 385 00:27:55,647 --> 00:27:58,525 When burned it produces soda ash, 386 00:27:58,607 --> 00:28:03,476 so 200 years ago these quiet shorelines were ablaze with activity. 387 00:28:04,327 --> 00:28:07,797 The remains of the workers' cottages can still be seen. 388 00:28:07,887 --> 00:28:11,436 As the kelp industry boomed, they housed entire families 389 00:28:11,527 --> 00:28:14,121 that depended on the seaweed for their livelihood. 390 00:28:15,047 --> 00:28:20,997 Whatever the weather, they had to be outdoors cutting, carrying and burning it. 391 00:28:21,807 --> 00:28:24,879 I want to know what life was like in the early 1800s 392 00:28:24,967 --> 00:28:27,435 for the people of Skye working the kelp. 393 00:28:27,527 --> 00:28:32,396 So, I'm meeting historian Donald William Stewart on this desolate day. 394 00:28:34,367 --> 00:28:37,837 It was a grim task, arduous work reaIIy. 395 00:28:37,927 --> 00:28:42,557 You'd be there knee-deep in freezing coId saIt water for most of the summer months 396 00:28:42,647 --> 00:28:47,675 sawing this stuff up, then you'd have to drag it or hauI it or carry it, 397 00:28:47,767 --> 00:28:52,124 backbreaking work, up to the top of the shore, where you'd cIean it, you'd dry it. 398 00:28:52,207 --> 00:28:55,199 Then you'd put it over pits and you burnt it. 399 00:28:55,287 --> 00:28:56,959 And is this men and women working it? 400 00:28:57,047 --> 00:29:00,119 WeII, the women apparentIy did the burning, if you Iike, 401 00:29:00,207 --> 00:29:02,641 it was quite a skiIIed job, you couIdn't burn it too fast. 402 00:29:02,727 --> 00:29:07,960 The men, weII, they took up keIp irons and beat this moIten seaweed into bIocks, 403 00:29:08,047 --> 00:29:12,438 cooIed down into bIuish Iumps which were then broken up into chunks 404 00:29:12,527 --> 00:29:15,041 and taken down to the south. 405 00:29:17,407 --> 00:29:23,926 They're ruins now, but around 200 years ago these coastal houses were hives of activity. 406 00:29:26,687 --> 00:29:32,478 Piles of seaweed burning along the shore, covering the islands in thick smoke, 407 00:29:32,567 --> 00:29:35,001 visible for miles out to sea. 408 00:29:38,207 --> 00:29:41,438 STEWART: Twenty thousand peopIe across the western isIands were invoIved 409 00:29:41,527 --> 00:29:45,964 every summer in this grim, fiIthy, dirty work, 410 00:29:46,047 --> 00:29:50,279 just as much a product of the industriaI revoIution as the bIack coaI smoke 411 00:29:50,367 --> 00:29:54,076 which is beIching out of the chimneys in GIasgow and Birmingham and Manchester. 412 00:29:55,967 --> 00:30:00,245 ROBERTS: Crofters and tenants along this coastline were forced into cutting kelp 413 00:30:00,327 --> 00:30:02,887 by landlords quick to cash in. 414 00:30:02,967 --> 00:30:06,198 Rents were raised and emigration was stopped 415 00:30:06,287 --> 00:30:10,838 by an Act of Parliament to force more and more workers into the industry. 416 00:30:11,927 --> 00:30:15,237 Tenants here in Sushnish saw little of the profits. 417 00:30:15,327 --> 00:30:19,002 Their landlord, meanwhile, Lord MacDonald of Sleat, 418 00:30:19,087 --> 00:30:22,841 was making enough cash to turn his house into a castle. 419 00:30:23,647 --> 00:30:26,719 STEWART: The landlords owned this shoreline, 420 00:30:26,807 --> 00:30:28,843 they owned everything that grew on the shore. 421 00:30:28,927 --> 00:30:33,955 That included seaweed and they were really raking it in off the kelp. 422 00:30:34,047 --> 00:30:39,917 At its height, he was making anything up to £20,000 a year off keIp, 423 00:30:40,007 --> 00:30:42,601 that's weII over a miIIion pounds in today's money. 424 00:30:42,687 --> 00:30:45,724 Just an astonishing amount of money to make off seaweed. 425 00:30:47,327 --> 00:30:51,161 ROBERTS: Some kelp cutting continued right up to the 20th century, 426 00:30:51,247 --> 00:30:54,284 but those early boom years were short-lived. 427 00:30:54,367 --> 00:30:56,483 When the Napoleonic wars ended, 428 00:30:56,567 --> 00:31:00,401 cheap soda ash from Europe flooded into Britain again. 429 00:31:00,487 --> 00:31:03,559 The glass industry didn't need Scottish seaweed, 430 00:31:03,647 --> 00:31:07,196 and so the landowners no longer needed the kelp cutters. 431 00:31:08,407 --> 00:31:10,477 Now, almost nothing remains 432 00:31:10,567 --> 00:31:14,879 of the time when the brown gold rush boomed on the Western Isles. 433 00:31:31,047 --> 00:31:34,562 OLIVER: The islands of the Inner Hebrides come in all shapes and sizes. 434 00:31:35,007 --> 00:31:39,922 Sometimes it's hard to tell if an island is habitable or if it's just a lump of rock. 435 00:31:41,247 --> 00:31:45,604 There's one such rock that's been the centre of dispute for over a half a century, 436 00:31:45,687 --> 00:31:49,566 and has garnered an almost mythical status amongst sailors. 437 00:31:53,167 --> 00:31:56,318 Very few peopIe have even seen the isIand of RockaII, 438 00:31:56,407 --> 00:31:59,399 fewer stiII have actuaIIy stood on it, 439 00:31:59,487 --> 00:32:01,842 but I'm on my way to meet a man who has. 440 00:32:03,567 --> 00:32:08,721 The reason so few people have been to Rockall is because it's all the way out here, 441 00:32:08,807 --> 00:32:12,766 230 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. 442 00:32:12,847 --> 00:32:17,796 Just 27 metres across, it's the rocky remains of an extinct volcano. 443 00:32:20,127 --> 00:32:21,446 Hooray! 444 00:32:21,527 --> 00:32:27,204 Ex-SAS paratrooper and adventurer Tom McClean has not only stood on Rockall, 445 00:32:27,287 --> 00:32:32,156 in 1985 he lived on Rockall for 40 days and 40 nights. 446 00:32:32,247 --> 00:32:34,841 Jura, Jura this is RockaII, RockaII... 447 00:32:35,887 --> 00:32:38,037 -Nice to see you, come onboard, come on in. -You, too. 448 00:32:38,127 --> 00:32:40,038 Tom lives in Scotland now. 449 00:32:40,127 --> 00:32:44,678 I'm curious to know how on earth he even got on the rock in the first place. 450 00:32:44,927 --> 00:32:47,760 Great cIimbers wouId find it difficuIt because it's so sIippy, 451 00:32:47,847 --> 00:32:50,998 you've got a haIf an inch of guano aII over it, 452 00:32:51,087 --> 00:32:54,875 so you're cIimbing in aII that muck, and it's very difficuIt. 453 00:32:54,967 --> 00:32:57,879 I had to have the crampons on, and go very careful. 454 00:33:00,487 --> 00:33:04,765 A big wave came and swept my IittIe boat away 455 00:33:04,847 --> 00:33:08,396 and the guy was hanging on with the rope and puIIed me right off down into the sea 456 00:33:08,487 --> 00:33:10,603 -and I broke my ankIe. -You broke your ankIe? 457 00:33:10,687 --> 00:33:13,599 I was stiII up there for 40 days with a broken ankIe. 458 00:33:13,687 --> 00:33:14,676 How did you cope with that? 459 00:33:14,767 --> 00:33:19,522 WeII, I just eIevate the Iimb and keep it tightIy bound and keep it cooI. 460 00:33:19,607 --> 00:33:24,886 Did you have to take everything that you would need for the duration of the stay? 461 00:33:24,967 --> 00:33:30,166 I took all the food, the batteries. Oh, I had a wind generator. 462 00:33:30,247 --> 00:33:33,205 Even then, I made my own power, you know. 463 00:33:33,287 --> 00:33:37,439 Do you ever wake up in the middIe of the night thinking you're stiII there? 464 00:33:37,527 --> 00:33:38,801 -Does it come back to you? -No. 465 00:33:38,887 --> 00:33:43,403 I think of it sometimes, yeah. It's just one of my adventures. 466 00:33:47,687 --> 00:33:51,726 OLIVER: It was in 1955, 30 years before Tom got involved, 467 00:33:51,807 --> 00:33:56,927 that the UK formally laid claim to Rockall, primarily to stop the Soviets using it 468 00:33:57,007 --> 00:34:00,044 to spy on British missile tests in the Outer Hebrides. 469 00:34:01,247 --> 00:34:03,556 Other countries have never challenged the sovereignty 470 00:34:03,647 --> 00:34:06,400 Britain established over the rock itself. 471 00:34:06,487 --> 00:34:12,835 What's contentious is what lies beneath. The seabed may be rich in minerals and oil. 472 00:34:14,047 --> 00:34:18,120 That's why Tom stepped into the dispute with his purpose-built bivouac. 473 00:34:20,167 --> 00:34:24,524 I wanted to reaffirm British rights to the isIand. We aIready owned it, 474 00:34:24,607 --> 00:34:28,122 but I wanted to reaffirm it by staying more than 21 days. 475 00:34:29,527 --> 00:34:32,963 OLIVER: To no avail. According to the UN convention on the sea, 476 00:34:33,047 --> 00:34:37,325 squatting on Rockall doesn't bring any rights to what's in the sea around it. 477 00:34:37,407 --> 00:34:40,604 In 1997, despite Tom's solo effort, 478 00:34:40,687 --> 00:34:44,236 Britain took the plunge and signed up to that convention. 479 00:34:44,327 --> 00:34:48,639 The potential riches around tiny Rockall are still up for grabs, 480 00:34:48,727 --> 00:34:53,482 Britain, Ireland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands all claiming a case. 481 00:34:54,167 --> 00:34:59,639 Do you think anybody eIse wiII ever repeat it as a soIo adventure? 482 00:34:59,727 --> 00:35:02,639 No, I don't think so, no. No, I don't think they wiII. 483 00:35:02,727 --> 00:35:06,720 They probabIy don't want to. But no, it was great, RockaII. 484 00:35:14,647 --> 00:35:17,241 International disputes over territorial waters 485 00:35:17,327 --> 00:35:21,115 can depend on where a country's coastline starts and stops, 486 00:35:21,207 --> 00:35:23,163 and how long it is. 487 00:35:24,287 --> 00:35:27,643 It's not only governments who are interested in the length of the coastline, 488 00:35:27,727 --> 00:35:30,639 it's also handy to know if you're walking around it. 489 00:35:31,807 --> 00:35:34,401 On a particularly wiggly part of Scotland's shore, 490 00:35:34,487 --> 00:35:37,684 Nick Crane is pacing out a very perplexing puzzle. 491 00:35:42,167 --> 00:35:48,003 It's a question that crops up a Iot on Coast, just how Iong is the British coastIine? 492 00:35:48,087 --> 00:35:51,796 A simpIe question and you'd think there'd be a simpIe answer, 493 00:35:51,887 --> 00:35:53,240 but you'd be wrong. 494 00:35:58,487 --> 00:36:02,162 If you just zoom out for a moment, and really look at the coastline, 495 00:36:02,247 --> 00:36:04,681 especially here in the west of Scotland, 496 00:36:04,767 --> 00:36:06,917 and see all those inlets and wiggles, 497 00:36:07,007 --> 00:36:10,079 suddenly you're faced with an intriguing problem. 498 00:36:11,647 --> 00:36:15,003 RemarkabIy, figuring out the precise Iength of our coastIine 499 00:36:15,087 --> 00:36:17,681 has Ied to a whoIe new branch of maths, 500 00:36:17,767 --> 00:36:23,444 which affects our Iives in aII kinds of surprising ways, even our mobiIe phones. 501 00:36:24,087 --> 00:36:25,486 What's going on here, Tony? 502 00:36:25,567 --> 00:36:28,240 WeII, I think we shouId start, Nick, by making some measurements. 503 00:36:28,327 --> 00:36:29,362 Do you want to give me one of those to carry? 504 00:36:29,447 --> 00:36:30,641 That wouId be exceIIent, thanks very much. 505 00:36:30,727 --> 00:36:32,046 How are we going to do these measurements? 506 00:36:32,127 --> 00:36:35,005 WeII, we're going to pIace these on either side of two rocks... 507 00:36:35,087 --> 00:36:39,558 CRANE: Dr Tony Mullholand is a mathematician from Strathclyde University. 508 00:36:39,647 --> 00:36:42,684 He's here to show me that measuring the length of the coastline 509 00:36:42,767 --> 00:36:45,486 all depends on the length of your ruler. 510 00:36:46,647 --> 00:36:48,160 -Measuring devices. -ExceIIent. 511 00:36:49,007 --> 00:36:53,364 Having walked a good bit of our coast, I don't fancy measuring the whole thing. 512 00:36:53,447 --> 00:36:56,803 Instead we're going to concentrate on a tiny bit, 513 00:36:56,887 --> 00:36:59,720 but if you think that makes it easy, think again. 514 00:36:59,807 --> 00:37:00,796 Okay. 515 00:37:01,647 --> 00:37:07,279 We've placed two tripods 14 metres apart, that's the direct distance between them, 516 00:37:07,367 --> 00:37:11,645 but it doesn't take into account how wiggly the actual shoreline is. 517 00:37:11,727 --> 00:37:15,515 That's what we're going to measure, firstly with a two-metre rule. 518 00:37:16,927 --> 00:37:18,406 So that's one. 519 00:37:20,007 --> 00:37:20,996 Two. 520 00:37:22,327 --> 00:37:23,646 That's 13. 521 00:37:25,927 --> 00:37:27,076 Fourteen. 522 00:37:28,007 --> 00:37:29,565 And Iet's caII that 15. 523 00:37:29,647 --> 00:37:30,682 Okay. 524 00:37:30,807 --> 00:37:36,359 So, measuring our bit of coastline with a two-metre rule we get a length of 30 metres. 525 00:37:36,447 --> 00:37:39,803 So now we're going to do the same measurement with a one-metre rule. 526 00:37:40,327 --> 00:37:44,764 CRANE: ...16, 1 7. I'm not very good at counting over 50. 527 00:37:44,847 --> 00:37:47,645 ...21, 22... 528 00:37:47,727 --> 00:37:50,321 ...28, 29... 529 00:37:50,407 --> 00:37:51,681 ...34... 530 00:37:51,767 --> 00:37:53,758 ...50, 51 . 531 00:37:53,847 --> 00:37:55,724 51, exceIIent. 532 00:37:55,807 --> 00:38:01,359 Amazingly, with a smaller one-metre rule the coastline now measures 51 metres. 533 00:38:01,447 --> 00:38:04,519 Because we're getting further into those nooks and crannies, 534 00:38:04,607 --> 00:38:06,404 the coast is getting longer. 535 00:38:08,167 --> 00:38:11,045 Now, finally, with a half-metre rule. 536 00:38:11,127 --> 00:38:14,164 That's if we can get there before the tide comes in. 537 00:38:15,287 --> 00:38:17,005 (BOTH LAUGHING) 538 00:38:17,407 --> 00:38:20,160 I never thought I'd see one of Britain's biggest mathematicaI brains 539 00:38:20,247 --> 00:38:22,477 measuring a coastIine with a wooden ruIer. 540 00:38:22,847 --> 00:38:27,716 ...63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68. 541 00:38:27,807 --> 00:38:29,638 CRANE: Are you on the home straight now? 542 00:38:29,727 --> 00:38:31,843 I'm concentrating! 94. 543 00:38:32,807 --> 00:38:35,002 -Don't Iet me put you off. -Yeah. 95... 544 00:38:35,087 --> 00:38:37,123 ...1 19, 1 20... 545 00:38:37,207 --> 00:38:39,004 Is this an amphibious ruIer? 546 00:38:39,087 --> 00:38:40,566 ...1 21 ... 547 00:38:40,647 --> 00:38:42,205 (LAUGHING) 548 00:38:42,287 --> 00:38:43,276 Judge the tides. 549 00:38:44,007 --> 00:38:45,360 ...1 22. 550 00:38:47,567 --> 00:38:52,197 So, the half-metre rule gives us a reading of nearly 64 metres, 551 00:38:52,287 --> 00:38:56,758 the longest yet, and much more than our original straight-line distance. 552 00:38:59,647 --> 00:39:03,162 So the difference between the straight Iine which is 1 4 553 00:39:03,247 --> 00:39:07,445 and the 50-cm ruIer of 64, even I can work that out, is 50 metres, isn't it? 554 00:39:07,527 --> 00:39:09,438 It's aImost four times the distance. 555 00:39:11,087 --> 00:39:13,885 This is the extraordinary result. 556 00:39:13,967 --> 00:39:18,995 As your ruler gets shorter and shorter, your measurement gets longer and longer. 557 00:39:20,207 --> 00:39:24,883 Mathematicians realised that you could keep going like this for ever, 558 00:39:24,967 --> 00:39:30,678 and discovering that created a whole new branch of mathematics, fractals. 559 00:39:31,487 --> 00:39:37,164 A fractal is a pattern which reveals greater and greater complexity as you zoom in. 560 00:39:41,007 --> 00:39:44,966 It was actually the endless complexity of Britain's wiggly coastline 561 00:39:45,047 --> 00:39:49,199 that inspired Polish-born mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot 562 00:39:49,287 --> 00:39:51,517 to invent fractal mathematics. 563 00:39:53,967 --> 00:39:56,765 Mandelbrot realised that instead of using a ruler, 564 00:39:56,847 --> 00:39:59,919 he could measure wiggliness by giving it a number, 565 00:40:00,007 --> 00:40:02,919 a number between one and two. 566 00:40:03,007 --> 00:40:05,521 He called this the fractal dimension. 567 00:40:07,327 --> 00:40:11,923 Okay, Nick, Iet me try and see if I can expIain this to you in more simpIe terms. 568 00:40:13,327 --> 00:40:16,763 Here we have a straight Iine, and this has got a fractaI dimension of one. 569 00:40:16,847 --> 00:40:17,836 CRANE: Okay. 570 00:40:20,127 --> 00:40:23,358 Here's a more wiggIy Iine, and we give this a fractaI dimension 571 00:40:23,447 --> 00:40:27,645 somewhere between one and two, this might have a fractaI dimension of 1 .3. 572 00:40:27,727 --> 00:40:30,525 So, a fractaI dimension is a bit Iike a wiggIiness factor. 573 00:40:30,607 --> 00:40:34,725 AbsoIuteIy, that's reaIIy just giving you a measure of how wiggIy the coastIine is. 574 00:40:34,807 --> 00:40:37,640 So I think we'II have a Iook at the map of the British IsIes. 575 00:40:37,727 --> 00:40:38,762 Okay. 576 00:40:41,607 --> 00:40:46,886 Now, I'm from this part of Britain, I Iove this coastIine and this is very wiggIy, 577 00:40:46,967 --> 00:40:49,925 and I'd give this a fractaI dimension of somewhere about 1 .3. 578 00:40:50,007 --> 00:40:52,680 CRANE: And what about somewhere... I mean, I grew up in NorfoIk, down here, 579 00:40:52,767 --> 00:40:54,086 which has got a very smooth coast. 580 00:40:54,167 --> 00:40:56,601 MULHOLLAND: AbsoIuteIy, and so you can see somewhere Iike here, 581 00:40:56,687 --> 00:41:00,600 it's got a fractaI dimension nearer 1 .05, aImost down at one, 582 00:41:00,687 --> 00:41:03,724 aImost down at one, and that's borne out by the coastIine. 583 00:41:03,807 --> 00:41:09,803 So, visuaIIy, I think we can see this number reIates to this ruggedness of the coastIine. 584 00:41:11,687 --> 00:41:16,238 CRANE: Giving a number to how wiggly your shore is might seem academic, 585 00:41:16,327 --> 00:41:21,196 but the length of a country's coast is vital for international disputes about boundaries. 586 00:41:21,967 --> 00:41:26,245 Everybody's got to agree how they are measured, so countries can't cheat, 587 00:41:26,327 --> 00:41:29,524 using a smaller ruler to make their border appear longer. 588 00:41:30,887 --> 00:41:33,082 As it happens, the west coast of Scotland 589 00:41:33,167 --> 00:41:36,443 is the second most wiggly coastline in the world. 590 00:41:37,647 --> 00:41:40,207 The prize for the wiggliest goes to Norway. 591 00:41:40,807 --> 00:41:43,162 I've seen the Iight, Tony, fractaI dimensions 592 00:41:43,247 --> 00:41:47,160 give a numericaI vaIue to this seemingIy chaotic coast, 593 00:41:47,247 --> 00:41:49,238 but what has it got to do with that? 594 00:41:49,327 --> 00:41:52,683 Ah, weII, you've got your car radio, 595 00:41:52,767 --> 00:41:56,919 or your radio at home with a Iong aeriaI, exceIIent reception. 596 00:41:57,007 --> 00:42:00,124 We want the same thing for the phone, but we don't want a Iong aeriaI. 597 00:42:00,207 --> 00:42:04,405 So, what's the soIution? We want to take this Iong aeriaI and cram it and squidge it 598 00:42:04,487 --> 00:42:06,239 and make it as wiggIy as possibIe, 599 00:42:06,327 --> 00:42:10,798 give it as high a fractaI dimension as possibIe and put it in the phone. 600 00:42:10,887 --> 00:42:12,240 Okay, Tony, I get the maths, 601 00:42:12,327 --> 00:42:14,397 but the reason I've been cIambering up and down rocks aII day 602 00:42:14,487 --> 00:42:17,797 is to find out the Iength of the British coastIine, how Iong is it? 603 00:42:17,887 --> 00:42:22,039 WeII, the Ordnance Survey, they'II quote a figure of just over 1 1,000 miIes 604 00:42:22,127 --> 00:42:24,436 for mainIand Britain. 605 00:42:24,527 --> 00:42:29,601 It has to be borne in mind that is measured with a ruIer that's 10 cm Iong. 606 00:42:29,687 --> 00:42:32,042 -A hypotheticaI ruIer. -A hypotheticaI ruIer, 607 00:42:32,127 --> 00:42:35,756 using sateIIite imagery and digitised images. 608 00:42:35,847 --> 00:42:37,963 But there's no Iimit to how short a ruIer can be. 609 00:42:38,047 --> 00:42:40,356 The Iength of the British coastIine is infinite. 610 00:42:40,447 --> 00:42:41,800 I didn't want to hear that. 611 00:42:41,887 --> 00:42:43,479 (CHUCKLES) I'm sorry. 612 00:42:43,567 --> 00:42:44,886 The coast is infinite. 613 00:42:54,727 --> 00:42:57,287 OLIVER: I'm leaving our wiggly coastline behind, 614 00:42:57,367 --> 00:43:00,006 continuing my journey into the far north. 615 00:43:00,087 --> 00:43:02,726 I'm heading further than Coast has been before, 616 00:43:02,807 --> 00:43:06,436 beyond Muckle Flugga, the furthest tip of the Shetland Islands. 617 00:43:06,527 --> 00:43:10,839 I'm on my way to discover what island life is like far from mainland Britain. 618 00:43:21,487 --> 00:43:23,239 Adrift in the vast Atlantic, 619 00:43:25,047 --> 00:43:26,446 the Faroe Islands, 620 00:43:29,167 --> 00:43:30,646 my final landfall. 621 00:43:32,287 --> 00:43:35,199 It takes at least 12 hours to get here by boat, 622 00:43:35,287 --> 00:43:39,519 so I've taken the express route to the Faroes, by plane. 623 00:43:39,607 --> 00:43:43,202 What a way to catch my first glimpse of these mystical islands. 624 00:43:46,927 --> 00:43:51,523 Oh, yeah, Iook at that, that is Lord of the Rings, it's MiddIe Earth. 625 00:43:54,767 --> 00:44:00,319 The Faroes are 18 separate islands, with nearly 700 miles of coastline, 626 00:44:00,407 --> 00:44:05,765 home to fewer than 50,000 people, who are never more than three miles from the sea. 627 00:44:09,967 --> 00:44:13,323 The landscape's staggeringly beautiful, sheer cliffs, 628 00:44:13,407 --> 00:44:17,036 rugged mountains and stunning sea stacks. 629 00:44:17,127 --> 00:44:21,723 It's not surprising, then, that landing on these islands is pretty hair-raising. 630 00:44:26,927 --> 00:44:30,522 The gateway to the Faroe Islands is this tiny strip of tarmac, 631 00:44:30,607 --> 00:44:35,476 and an airport many believed could never be built in such wild terrain. 632 00:44:38,727 --> 00:44:42,083 We're definiteIy in the Faroe IsIands, and I know that, apart from anything eIse, 633 00:44:42,167 --> 00:44:44,840 because I can't understand the name of the airport buiIding. 634 00:44:48,327 --> 00:44:50,204 We may be a long way from home, 635 00:44:50,287 --> 00:44:53,404 but we have more connections with these islands than you'd think. 636 00:44:53,487 --> 00:44:56,638 This airport was built by the British Army. 637 00:44:59,447 --> 00:45:03,838 In 1940, the Germans invaded Denmark and Norway. 638 00:45:03,927 --> 00:45:06,760 Britain feared the Germans were aiming to occupy the Faroes 639 00:45:06,847 --> 00:45:11,238 to use as a key U-boat base, so decided to get in there first. 640 00:45:12,767 --> 00:45:16,442 On ApriI 1 1th 1940, Winston ChurchiII announced that 641 00:45:16,527 --> 00:45:19,883 the Danish territory of Faroe was under British controI. 642 00:45:19,967 --> 00:45:25,041 He said, ''We shaII shieId the Faroe IsIands from aII severities of war, 643 00:45:25,127 --> 00:45:29,086 ''and estabIish ourseIves there convenientIy by sea and air, 644 00:45:29,167 --> 00:45:33,160 ''untiI the moment comes when they wiII be handed back to Denmark, 645 00:45:33,247 --> 00:45:35,397 ''Iiberated from the fouI thraIdom 646 00:45:35,487 --> 00:45:39,162 ''into which they've been pIunged by German aggression.'' 647 00:45:41,847 --> 00:45:44,884 An airport was essential for the British military, 648 00:45:44,967 --> 00:45:48,277 but building one in this mountainous terrain seemed impossible. 649 00:45:52,167 --> 00:45:55,239 After several failed surveys, British army engineers 650 00:45:55,327 --> 00:45:58,842 found a spot flat enough for a runway, just. 651 00:46:01,527 --> 00:46:05,679 The airport is as much a lifeline now as in World War II, 652 00:46:05,767 --> 00:46:08,156 but that's not all the soldiers left behind. 653 00:46:09,527 --> 00:46:11,119 When the British troops arrived on Vagar, 654 00:46:11,207 --> 00:46:14,882 they found just a handfuI of vehicIes and aImost no roads. 655 00:46:14,967 --> 00:46:18,243 By the time they Ieft, they'd buiIt an entire roads network 656 00:46:18,327 --> 00:46:22,240 and they Ieft behind 300 vehicIes Iike this one for the IocaIs. 657 00:46:22,327 --> 00:46:24,045 That must have been just about one each. 658 00:46:24,127 --> 00:46:25,321 (ENGINE STARTING) 659 00:46:26,207 --> 00:46:27,196 TaIIy-ho. 660 00:46:31,687 --> 00:46:38,559 Okay. In 1940 the Faroe Islands had 28,000 inhabitants, but very limited resources. 661 00:46:39,207 --> 00:46:43,439 Eight thousand British servicemen arriving were bound to make an impact. 662 00:46:50,127 --> 00:46:54,006 Over there, on the fIat ground of the modern viIIage, that was the camp, 663 00:46:54,087 --> 00:46:59,764 so nissen huts, canteens, barracks, aII the paraphernaIia of camp Iife. 664 00:47:00,007 --> 00:47:04,558 This is the site of a huge gun empIacement, these are the ammunition stores, 665 00:47:04,647 --> 00:47:09,243 so you get a sense from the size of these, just how big the guns were. 666 00:47:09,327 --> 00:47:12,364 The men here were guarding something pretty important. 667 00:47:16,887 --> 00:47:21,324 This inauspicious building, barely touched for 60 years, 668 00:47:21,407 --> 00:47:24,877 could hold a clue as to what that importance was. 669 00:47:25,607 --> 00:47:30,397 It's a garage now, the usuaI petroI and dieseI fumes and tooIs and things. 670 00:47:30,487 --> 00:47:34,639 Up there, coupIe of empty offices, don't know what they're for, 671 00:47:34,727 --> 00:47:38,640 but IocaIs hereabouts wiII teII you this was a sector headquarters 672 00:47:38,727 --> 00:47:43,357 for the BattIe of the North AtIantic. And Iook, there's Norway, 673 00:47:43,447 --> 00:47:47,963 there's IceIand, and there's the vast bIack emptiness of the North AtIantic. 674 00:47:51,087 --> 00:47:54,397 Although operations in the Atlantic were monitored from the Faroes, 675 00:47:54,487 --> 00:47:57,877 the troops stationed here didn't see much direct action. 676 00:48:01,807 --> 00:48:05,356 But the story of the British occupation isn't about buildings, 677 00:48:05,447 --> 00:48:08,883 there's something less tangible, but much stronger. 678 00:48:08,967 --> 00:48:11,003 There was a meeting of minds, 679 00:48:11,087 --> 00:48:15,285 island people encountering and understanding other islanders, 680 00:48:15,367 --> 00:48:18,245 and some very special relationships blossomed. 681 00:48:24,327 --> 00:48:26,238 At the site of the old Officer's Mess, 682 00:48:26,327 --> 00:48:30,559 I'm meeting local historian Meena Runheart with Ragnald Thomason, 683 00:48:30,647 --> 00:48:32,922 who was only 19 when the troops arrived. 684 00:48:33,887 --> 00:48:38,517 What was it Iike to suddenIy have hundreds of thousands 685 00:48:38,607 --> 00:48:41,440 of British troops here, British men here? 686 00:48:41,527 --> 00:48:43,961 What did it do to the atmosphere of the isIand? 687 00:48:44,887 --> 00:48:48,482 (TRANSLATOR SPEAKING NORWEGIAN) 688 00:48:49,647 --> 00:48:50,716 (SPEAKING NORWEGIAN) 689 00:48:50,807 --> 00:48:53,605 TRANSLATOR: It's wonderfuI, she says. 690 00:48:53,687 --> 00:48:58,158 What about, you know, speciaI friendships, you know, with the troops? 691 00:48:59,007 --> 00:49:02,636 (SPEAKING NORWEGIAN) 692 00:49:15,247 --> 00:49:17,158 Was there anyone who was speciaI to you? 693 00:49:18,007 --> 00:49:20,521 (SPEAKING NORWEGIAN) 694 00:49:22,007 --> 00:49:23,326 (CHUCKLES) 695 00:49:24,687 --> 00:49:29,886 TRANSLATOR: This is Ronnie, RagnaId's fiance, he was at the time. 696 00:49:29,967 --> 00:49:33,596 They were together for one year and she got a baby by him, 697 00:49:33,687 --> 00:49:37,566 but he Ieft before the baby was born, he went to France. 698 00:49:37,647 --> 00:49:44,166 He was an ambuIance driver and he was kiIIed in D-day. 699 00:49:45,167 --> 00:49:46,441 OLIVER: Oh, dear. 700 00:49:50,007 --> 00:49:54,444 OLIVER: The British and Faroese cemented the relationship in other ways too. 701 00:49:54,527 --> 00:49:56,722 The Faroese fishing fleet played a vital role 702 00:49:56,807 --> 00:49:59,799 in feeding the British during wartime shortages. 703 00:49:59,887 --> 00:50:05,086 In fact, a fifth of all the fish we ate was landed by the Faroese fishing fleet, 704 00:50:05,167 --> 00:50:06,964 often at great risk. 705 00:50:08,847 --> 00:50:13,398 In March 1942, 21 Faroese fishermen from Vagar 706 00:50:13,487 --> 00:50:17,446 were killed by a German U-boat, leaving their children fatherless. 707 00:50:19,767 --> 00:50:25,364 The chiIdren of the viIIage, of course, they Iooked upon the British soIdiers 708 00:50:25,447 --> 00:50:28,166 as kind of father figures. 709 00:50:28,247 --> 00:50:31,876 OLIVER: How strange for these young British men that had gone away to war, 710 00:50:31,967 --> 00:50:35,516 -to find themseIves cast in the roIe of... -Of fathers. Yeah, yeah. 711 00:50:35,607 --> 00:50:38,121 OLIVER: Of being fathers for these kids. 712 00:50:38,207 --> 00:50:41,358 They were very good to them, they aIways brought them chocoIates and things, 713 00:50:41,447 --> 00:50:43,915 you know, and took care of them. 714 00:50:45,487 --> 00:50:50,117 PeopIe remember the war, they remember what went on here, 715 00:50:50,207 --> 00:50:53,836 they remember the kindness of the soIdiers, 716 00:50:53,927 --> 00:50:58,125 and I suppose the soIdiers aIso remember the kindness of various peopIe here. 717 00:50:58,207 --> 00:51:01,358 They heIped them, and they heIped each other, you know. 718 00:51:04,327 --> 00:51:07,683 OLIVER: Many of the soldiers were from Scottish regiments, 719 00:51:07,767 --> 00:51:11,442 probably with some sympathy for the rigours of island life. 720 00:51:12,487 --> 00:51:16,321 Some wholeheartedly embraced the traditional struggle to survive, 721 00:51:16,407 --> 00:51:18,841 and that included whaling. 722 00:51:21,927 --> 00:51:25,363 Hunts like this, where boats herd whales into the shore 723 00:51:25,447 --> 00:51:29,360 only died out in the Scottish islands about a 100 years ago. 724 00:51:29,447 --> 00:51:32,439 On the Faroe Islands, they still hunt whales today. 725 00:51:35,887 --> 00:51:37,718 The community wants to preserve the tradition 726 00:51:37,807 --> 00:51:42,881 of harvesting the bounty of their seas, despite the objections of the wider world. 727 00:51:47,607 --> 00:51:49,996 (MARCHING BAND PLAYING) 728 00:51:54,047 --> 00:51:57,164 Handling boats is a part of everyday life here, 729 00:51:57,287 --> 00:52:01,565 but there's one day a year when the Faroese really get to show their mettle, 730 00:52:01,647 --> 00:52:06,323 the national holiday, St Olav's Day, July 29th. 731 00:52:06,407 --> 00:52:11,720 The rowing races are the highlight of the festival, with pride and prizes at stake, 732 00:52:11,807 --> 00:52:16,676 and the whole town turns out to watch. Well, if they can peer through the sea mist. 733 00:52:17,367 --> 00:52:21,679 My name is Runa, and I'm captain for the girIs' rowing team 734 00:52:21,767 --> 00:52:23,837 for Torshavn Rowing CIub. 735 00:52:24,887 --> 00:52:26,764 (CHEERING) 736 00:52:28,487 --> 00:52:31,365 We aIways eat together before the race. 737 00:52:31,527 --> 00:52:35,884 If we Iose or if we win, it's exciting, no matter what. 738 00:52:35,967 --> 00:52:40,677 If we win this race and the championship, we got four trophies. 739 00:52:41,847 --> 00:52:45,476 Yeah, we're going out after the race to party. 740 00:52:45,687 --> 00:52:47,006 (LAUGHING) 741 00:52:48,607 --> 00:52:52,885 JAKOBSEN: It's a boat for six rowers, and it's a traditional Faroese boat, 742 00:52:52,967 --> 00:52:56,403 and in the competition it's the smallest. 743 00:52:56,487 --> 00:52:59,399 You aIso have boats for eight or ten persons. 744 00:53:05,647 --> 00:53:07,717 (SHOUTING) 745 00:53:24,367 --> 00:53:26,722 (CROWD CHEERING) 746 00:53:34,367 --> 00:53:35,595 Whoo! 747 00:53:36,687 --> 00:53:39,485 OLIVER: The champions are triumphant again. 748 00:53:41,727 --> 00:53:42,876 ALL: Hurrah! 749 00:53:43,967 --> 00:53:48,483 They celebrate their win in a way that's familiar the world over. 750 00:53:48,567 --> 00:53:52,276 Youngsters who practise their English watching satellite TV. 751 00:53:53,207 --> 00:53:55,926 The Faroes are remote, but not isolated. 752 00:54:03,527 --> 00:54:07,440 But connections with the original Viking settlers are never far away. 753 00:54:09,887 --> 00:54:13,277 And the seafarers who arrived here in 800 A.D., 754 00:54:13,367 --> 00:54:17,076 struggled to make a home on these barren, unforgiving rocks. 755 00:54:18,727 --> 00:54:23,437 Clinging to the coast for food and transport, slowly, settlements were established. 756 00:54:24,127 --> 00:54:28,279 Something is striking about many of the houses here today. 757 00:54:28,367 --> 00:54:33,395 Camouflaged under a layer of turf, these dwellings reveal their age-old origins. 758 00:54:36,527 --> 00:54:41,442 And this house has been lived in by the same family for 17 generations. 759 00:54:41,527 --> 00:54:44,917 Parts of it date back to the end of the Viking era. 760 00:54:45,007 --> 00:54:47,760 Joannes Patursson is the current resident. 761 00:54:50,007 --> 00:54:54,762 The thing I notice right away about the outside is the grass roof. 762 00:54:54,847 --> 00:54:57,566 Grass on top of the roofs, yeah, grass on top of the houses, 763 00:54:57,647 --> 00:55:01,640 which is a very common way of buiIding houses in the Faroes. 764 00:55:02,327 --> 00:55:06,639 We have an abundance of grass aII around, and when you then put the grass on top 765 00:55:06,727 --> 00:55:11,084 you'II have aIso a very quiet house, fairIy weII-insuIated house, 766 00:55:11,167 --> 00:55:14,125 and aIso the weight of the grass, 767 00:55:14,207 --> 00:55:17,836 you might say, hoIds the roof on top during winter storms. 768 00:55:18,767 --> 00:55:21,486 -Come inside, and take a Iook in the kitchen. -Okay. 769 00:55:21,567 --> 00:55:23,319 -AII right. -Yeah, come inside. 770 00:55:23,407 --> 00:55:25,443 They may have had an abundance of grass, 771 00:55:25,527 --> 00:55:29,406 but with no trees on the island, wood was in short supply. 772 00:55:29,487 --> 00:55:31,364 The ancient timber in this house 773 00:55:31,447 --> 00:55:34,803 had to come hundreds of miles across the sea from Norway. 774 00:55:35,567 --> 00:55:39,321 PATURSSON: The house itseIf arrived here in Iate year 1000 probabIy, 775 00:55:39,407 --> 00:55:41,716 and came as a prefabricated house from Norway. 776 00:55:41,807 --> 00:55:44,275 ReaIIy? So they were doing fIat pack? 777 00:55:44,367 --> 00:55:48,440 Yeah, they buiIt it on Iocation, they onIy had probabIy the saiIs to transport, 778 00:55:48,527 --> 00:55:51,917 so it was very important to them that they didn't transport more than necessary, 779 00:55:52,007 --> 00:55:53,565 but everything necessary 780 00:55:53,647 --> 00:55:57,356 in order to have a finished house once they arrived at this destination. 781 00:55:58,287 --> 00:56:03,042 Out through this door here takes us about 900 years back in time. 782 00:56:03,127 --> 00:56:05,482 OLIVER: No. No way. 783 00:56:08,047 --> 00:56:10,436 So, this has been standing for a thousand years? 784 00:56:10,527 --> 00:56:12,404 Yeah, cIose to it, yeah. 785 00:56:12,487 --> 00:56:18,005 How does it feeI knowing that your famiIy have been Iiving here 786 00:56:18,087 --> 00:56:21,921 generation after generation, since 1557? 787 00:56:22,927 --> 00:56:24,883 TaIk about a famiIy home. 788 00:56:24,967 --> 00:56:30,280 Yeah, definiteIy it's a famiIy home and most of their Iives have been Iived in this room. 789 00:56:30,367 --> 00:56:34,599 I've aIways Iived here, so it's not something you go around thinking about aII the time, 790 00:56:34,687 --> 00:56:36,996 but it is, of course, it is speciaI aIso for us, 791 00:56:37,087 --> 00:56:40,363 and, yeah, it's a priviIege, we feeI it's a priviIege. 792 00:56:46,087 --> 00:56:49,045 OLIVER: The privilege of being an island people. 793 00:56:51,167 --> 00:56:54,284 And for over a thousand years the Faroese have toiled hard 794 00:56:54,367 --> 00:56:57,245 just to cling onto this precarious land. 795 00:56:57,327 --> 00:56:59,602 The daily chore of getting enough to eat, 796 00:56:59,687 --> 00:57:03,396 the isolation yet kinship of a tiny group of islands 797 00:57:03,487 --> 00:57:06,126 so far from the rest of the world. 798 00:57:06,207 --> 00:57:08,880 This really is life on the edge. 799 00:57:09,727 --> 00:57:12,366 If you've got a romantic idea about isIand Iife, 800 00:57:12,567 --> 00:57:15,957 then a visit to the Faroe IsIands, especiaIIy on a day Iike today, 801 00:57:16,047 --> 00:57:21,121 with the rain and the Iow cIoud and the mist, then you get a sense of the bigger picture. 802 00:57:21,207 --> 00:57:25,564 It is starkIy beautifuI, but it's a struggIe as weII. 803 00:57:27,487 --> 00:57:29,125 There is a good Iife to be had here, 804 00:57:29,207 --> 00:57:32,643 but it's a Iife made of tough decisions, hard choices. 805 00:57:32,727 --> 00:57:34,877 It's about being pragmatic. 806 00:57:34,967 --> 00:57:36,798 And perhaps, more than anything eIse, 807 00:57:36,887 --> 00:57:39,242 it's about being prepared to take fuII advantage 808 00:57:39,327 --> 00:57:43,957 of everything that the Iand and the sea and the sky have to offer. 809 00:57:48,207 --> 00:57:50,516 Next time, we're going even further. 810 00:57:51,327 --> 00:57:55,684 That gIobe on that IittIe isIand marks the start of the Arctic CircIe. 811 00:57:57,167 --> 00:58:00,921 In Norway, there's no getting away from those Vikings, 812 00:58:01,047 --> 00:58:05,723 and we discover our surprising connection to the incredible landscape of the fjords. 813 00:58:06,447 --> 00:58:10,281 As an amateur geographer, this is one of the most exciting days of my Iife! 814 00:58:11,127 --> 00:58:13,766 OLIVER: Join us for expedition Norway.