BBC's Great British Journeys
Tuesday, August 14 2007
Nick Crane, Geographer, adventurer and former enthusiast presenter of the rewarded series BBC Coast, was in the Scottish Highlands near Loch Maree following the footsteps of the famous Welsh explorer Thomas Pennant, who travelled the Highlands and Islands in 1772. Pennant, a rich Welshman, charted areas in the Western Highlands and Hebrides and also visited Islay and Jura on his journeys. These were however hard times in the Highlands. Pennant wrote: "While each shore appeared pleasing to humanity, there were people starving." Nick Crane said: "But while he was struck by the beauty of these places he was horrified by the poverty of the people," insists Crane. "Pennant finds to his dismay populations hit by famine and worn down by poverty following the Highland Clearances."
Pennant is one of eight of Britain's greatest but "somewhat uncelebrated" explorers about to be commemorated in a new BBC2 series, Great British Journeys, although he was one of few who visited Islay and Jura. The other seven explorers were HV Morton, Gerald of Wales, John Leland, Daniel Defoe, Celia Fiennes (the only woman), William Gilpin and William Cobbett. Travelling by foot, horse, bicycle, canoe and in a 1930s car, from the remotest parts of the Highlands to East Anglia, presenter Crane retraces the routes of these pioneering travellers, each of whom published detailed records of their journeys. In the next eight weeks Nick Crane will tell you more about these famous explorers and will take you to some of the remotest areas in Scotland and England. The first episode will start tonight at 8pm on BBC2.
Update: I have just watched the first episode of this new series and it's brilliant. Nick starts off at Jura where he climbs one of the Paps, then travels to Islay where he spends some time with a farmer on the west coast trying to find the holes Pennant was writing about, where fugitives could hide in. Then he sets off for Canna, Skye and ends with a 20 mile journey on foot across one of the last wildernisses in Scotland north of Loch Maree (picture). The footage is absolutely stunning. If you have missed this episode don't worry, BBC2 will repeat this episode on Thursday 16 August at 7pm. A must if you're interested in Islay, Jura and the Wester Highlands!
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