PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): My name is Peter Davison.

I've always loved classic cars and getting stuck in under the bonnet.

Well, I think I fixed that now.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): I'm Christopher Timothy.

I have a passion for the past and exploring bygone eras.

I love nostalgia Yeah.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: I just-- I love it.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Chris and I first met 40 years ago.

Just take it easy, will you?

Relax, Jim.

Enjoy yourself.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): We've been friends ever since our All Creatures Great and Small Days.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: But you are a bit of a speedster.

I enjoy driving a car with a certain velocity, I suppose.

[laughs] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Now we're motoring 1930s style again.

PETER DAVISON: Whoa!

Look at that.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): And going on a series of classic road trips.

[tires squeal] PETER DAVISON: I like that squeal.

That was me.

You should try it.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): It was an era long before motorways.

- It's a motorway.

- Yeah.

- We're on a bloody motorway.

- Yeah.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Or sat navs.

Look.

Look!

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): And we're sticking two fingers up to both.

Chris, this is the big adventure.

[gentle ragtime music] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Today, we're off on an epic journey across the stunning Scottish Highlands, traveling east to west from Inverness to the magical Isle of Skye, along roads that took 1930s petrolheads heads into the UK's last great wilderness.

Along the way, we'll fire up Britain's first production car.

Faster.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Yay.

Yay.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): We'll take on the most challenging road either of us have ever been on.

Why is there water coming in at my feet?

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): And have a little trouble boarding a ferry.

Oh, Jesus Christ, I knew that would happen.

♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): But before our 100-mile journey can begin, I've got to pick up Chris near Inverness.

Our plan is to follow what are known as the military roads from one side of Scotland to the other.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): As someone who loves driving, taking a road trip across one of Britain's most beautiful landscapes is on my bucket list.

This is just very exciting because I have never been this far north.

I was brought up in the London suburbs, and it's a bit like we're about to enter an untamed wilderness.

[chuckles] Bring it on.

[jazzy music] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Chris hasn't been to the Highlands either, so this is an adventure into the unknown for us both.

We're meeting at one of the military road's most dramatic landmarks.

Right.

So this is Fort George, which is 20 miles east of Inverness.

[playful instrumental music] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Dating from 1748, Fort George is still garrisoned by the Black Watch Regiment.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Morning, men.

- Morning.

- Morning.

♪ ♪ CHRIS TIMOTHY: Impressive or what?

Whoa.

Oh, it's fantastic, isn't it?

It's almost like the castles you had as a kid, isn't it?

The wooden forts but sheesh.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Leading out from this awesome fortification is a network of some 1,000 miles of military road, stretching across Scotland.

The fort and the roads were built to suppress rebellious Highland clans and to open a part of the UK that, until less than 300 years ago, had been virtually inaccessible frontier country.

♪ ♪ I have a feeling that Peter and I are in for one hell of an adventure.

Subtle little entrance.

♪ ♪ Good morning, my man.

PETER DAVISON: That's the quickest I can get out of this car.

How are you?

CHRIS TIMOTHY: I'm good.

Nice to see you.

Nice to see you, too.

[jazzy music] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Our set of wheels for the road ahead is a Morgan 4/4.

Designed in 1936, it's got a wooden frame and puts out 138-brake horsepower, just the sort of roadster we need to cross the Highlands old school style.

♪ ♪ How long is it going to take you to get in that car?

Have I got time for a cup of tea?

I don't like the way you think.

Oh, it's going to take bloody hours.

Can you-- excuse me.

[peter laughs] It keeps you supple.

All right, I'm set.

Here we go.

[gentle upbeat music] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): The 100-mile route were taking leads southwest from this fort, down the length of the iconic Loch Ness and through the Great Glen, then up to the Western Highlands, over the Ratagan Pass and onto the coast.

From there, we'll go over the sea to Skye.

♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON: So do you think you're going to enjoy the trip, east to west across Scotland?

Yeah, listen, I already am enjoying it.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to do it, right?

And it's nice to see me again.

Exactly, exactly.

Exactly.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Construction of the roads we are following began in 1726, under the direction of the British Army Commander, General Wade.

They were the first roads ever built in the Highlands and are still marked on the map as "military."

But prior to that, people were advised to make their will before they ventured into the Highlands.

And so-- CHRIS TIMOTHY: When the roads were built, there hadn't been any roads there before.

No, obviously, there were probably some kind of tracks that went from-- Yeah, but the Romans, who were famous for their roads, never even tried.

They didn't dare come up into the Highlands.

This was truly the wild unknown.

[dramatic instrumental music] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Roads up here have to cross some of the most rugged terrain in Europe.

And right from the start of the Golden Age of Motoring, these challenging mountain highways attracted adventurous petrolheads looking for an extreme driving experience.

You know, the route that we're going to be going is the route that was used when the motoring pioneers started to explore the Highlands.

[big band music playing] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): To get a sense of what it was like for the petrolheads of the '30s, I've got a few old motorist guidebooks to consult.

And they offer a warning to those venturing along the military roads.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Now, the Everyman Guide, which was published originally in 1934, says, "The road surface varies from county to county."

PETER DAVISON: Could you say that again with a very posh accent?

Yes, yes, all right.

"The road surface varies from county to county but, on the whole, is hardly up to the English standard."

Absolutely not.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: "In the remotest"-- could you keep the car steady because I can't read?

PETER DAVISON: Sorry.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: "In the remotest districts of the Highlands, the roads are narrow, tortuous, and seldom tarred."

- Oh, really?

- Yeah.

OK.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): When the first cars came exploring down these old roads, most were little more than rough tracks.

The adventurous motorist was advised to carry petrol, provisions, and spare tires.

PETER DAVISON: Are you any good at changing tires?

As a matter of fact, Peter, I am quite good at changing tires.

- Are you really?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Oh.

I know what a jack is.

Yeah, I haven't done it for a long time.

That's increased my confidence no end.

No, but I do know how to do it.

OK.

Yeah, but then you do, too, don't you?

I do, I do know, yeah.

Well, between us.

Yeah, between us, we're going to be fine.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Yeah, we are.

Where's the spare tire in this car, do you know?

It's on the back, Chris.

Oh, yeah.

It's quite visible, yeah.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Well, if I wasn't nervous before, I am now.

But despite untarred roads and the need for spare tires, at the start of the 20th century, Scotland led the way in car production.

10 miles into our trip, we're stopping off to see one of the first British-made production cars.

We're just popping off the road for a moment to visit Culloden House, which is this big house.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Wow.

PETER DAVISON: And we're going to meet a man called Marcus who's going to show us his Arrol-Johnston.

Really?

Yes, it's not what you think.

[uptempo jazz music] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): The Arrol-Johnston Dog Cart was put into production in 1901 and boasted dustlessness, absence of vibration, and smallness of repair bill.

This is Marcus, and his Dog Cart is one of only 12 left in the world.

I'm Christopher.

MARCUS: Hi, Chris.

- And this is Peter.

- Hi.

Christopher, Peter.

How are you?

- Very well, thanks.

- Good.

MARCUS: Just getting the old girl ready.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: It's an amazing, amazing vehicle.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): The Dog Cart has been in Marcus' family for four generations, taking the expression, "one careful owner" to extremes.

PETER DAVISON: Tell us everything you can about this vehicle.

Bought new by my great-grandfather in the spring of 1903.

PETER DAVISON: I noticed the registration number.

It's SA3.

Yes.

PETER DAVISON: What's the significance of that?

MARCUS: Well, it was the third number issued in Aberdeenshire.

Wow.

On the 11th of December, 1903, because when my great-grandfather bought this car, there were no registration numbers.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: What would you prefer to drive, this or one of your modern cars?

I love driving this for a short distance.

Then you get into a modern car and you think, wow.

[laughs] What a difference!

You don't just jump in and turn the ignition on in a car like this.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): The original way to fire up the Dog Cart was by pulling on a rope to turn over the engine.

MARCUS: You have to get right down and pull it right up over your head.

Come on.

You can do it.

But, no, no, no, not these days.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): After a few last-minute checks.

MARCUS: I now tickle the carburettor.

Quite literally.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): The best way now to fire up the 115-year-old Dog Cart is with the assistance of a slightly more modern car.

MARCUS: Come on, a bit more.

Faster!

♪ ♪ Not that fast.

Yay!

[clapping] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Once fired up, there's a final procedure to observe.

Several liters of water need to be poured into the coolant tank, and the excess drained off before we can get underway.

MARCUS: The pail, the pail.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Oh.

PETER DAVISON: Come on, Chris, the pail.

♪ ♪ Come on!

- Here I come.

Fear not!

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): So definitely not a car you start by turning on the ignition.

And the controls are a bit different, too.

MARCUS: That's the throttle.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Oh, right.

And this is governor, and that's a handbrake, totally useless.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Along with not much braking power, there's something else the Dog Cart doesn't have.

Who copes with the MOT and all that?

The what?

CHRIS TIMOTHY: MOT.

MARCUS: It doesn't have an MOT.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): The MOT, or Ministry of Transport test, was enforced in 1960.

Any vehicle dating from before this is exempt, which puts Marcus' car in the clear by 57 years.

PETER DAVISON: Just love the idea of invention.

They have this engine.

They have basically what is a carriage without a horse.

They go, now, how do we make this come together?

I know.

We'll put the brake up there, or we'll put the starting handle on a rope there.

I think it's kind of madness, but what it is is the missing link, the missing link between the horse and carriage and the motor car, as we know it.

[beeps horn] Thank you.

♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Leaving Marcus and the trailblazing Dog Cart behind, we continue down the military road towards one of the most famous stretches of water in the world, Loch Ness.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Of all the things that-- of all the places in Scotland, as a layman, if you like, why haven't I been to Loch Ness before?

Exactly.

I've thought about it a lot.

But as you say, I've never, just never quite got round to doing it.

But then I've never got round to doing quite a lot of things.

So this is just another one, another tick on the old bucket list.

Bucket list, yeah.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Chris and I have been friends for 40 years, ever since working on All Creatures Great and Small together.

So who better to see Loch Ness with for the first time?

PETER DAVISON: There it is.

I see it.

Do you?

Yeah, yeah, it's just down there.

It's gone again now.

[exciting music] ♪ ♪ Now, the thing about Loch Ness, of course, is we have all sorts of expectations of Loch Ness because, of course, Loch Ness Monster.

Funnily enough, the legend of the Loch Ness Monster only really started with the advent of the motor car.

[old-timey gentle music] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): In 1933, the road next to Loch Ness had just been upgraded, and tourist traffic was on the increase.

A couple, up from London on a driving holiday, claimed to have seen a strange creature.

This was followed by more sightings from the road of something in the loch.

The press went mad for the story.

And every time a new eyewitness tale appeared in print, the road alongside the loch would be crammed with cars.

It's a phenomenon that still draws a motorist's eye to the water.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: I can't keep these on because, otherwise, because if I do a sighting-- PETER DAVISON: With your glasses on, you can't see anything.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: They're reading glasses.

If I spot something-- Yes!

You mean by-- by "spot something," you mean the Loch Ness Monster?

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Or something.

PETER DAVISON: We have to just stop and ask someone.

Where is the best place to see the monster?

[waves lapping] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): The legacy of the first motorist sightings of the monster back in the '30s led one man to make a serious life choice.

On the banks of Loch Ness sits an old mobile library.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Since 1991, it's been the home of monster hunter Steve Feltham.

He's someone I am very keen to meet and hear his story.

I was in a job that I didn't like, installing burglar alarms in Dorset.

Right.

And every day, you have a cup of coffee with a different retired person with a burglar alarm.

And each of those would say, oh, when I was your age, I wish I'd gone and climbed mountains or gone and swam the Channel or whatever.

And I was in my mid 20s, thinking, oh, what am I going to say when I get to their age?

What am I going to look back on my life and wish I'd done?

Do you believe that there is a Loch Ness Monster?

I would say, I possibly don't think we've got long-necked dinosaurs like we used to be hunting for.

Could be big fish.

We don't know.

We only know that, in this particular body of water, people keep seeing something.

Have you ever seen it?

One thing, which you couldn't tell what it was, the waves were as big as they are today.

And something went through like a torpedo.

PETER DAVISON: Yeah.

Almost like a jet ski, without the jet ski, so that spray of water, less than 10 seconds, and this was in year one.

[laughs] This was in year one.

And I stood outside the van, and I thought, this job's easy.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): And that was over 25 years ago.

Steve has never caught a glimpse of Nessie since.

But in that time, he seems to have adapted to the temperature.

Can I just say, I really admire your being there in a shirt and a top, but I am bloody freezing.

Can we go and get warm, please?

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Fortunately, Steve has warmth close at hand.

His cozy home, complete with wood stove, kitchen, and a cat, is a 1970 Commer Walk Thru Van.

It used to take him to various monster sighting spots around the loch during the early years of his quest.

But two decades ago, it failed its MOT, and it's been stationary ever since.

STEVE: I've not run the engine this century.

But it doesn't mean it wouldn't go with the right kicks and prods.

Steve, forgive me.

Um, where's the steering wheel?

I unbolted it, took it out the back, and buried it.

Do you remember where you buried it, just in case?

STEVE: I know where I buried it, should I ever need it, but I don't want it.

With that view out there, there's no way I'm going to have a steering wheel on here because-- Well, that view is indisputable.

It is stunning.

[waves lapping] When actually asked directly, "is there or is there not," he doesn't actually say, yes, there is.

But he also says there's nothing to prove that there isn't.

That's sort of the implication, isn't it?

And I sort of have to agree with that, even though maybe deep down I'm thinking, "come on."

But I want it.

I'd like it to be true.

How cool would it be if, as I'm doing this, up comes?

Would that be the greatest, most exciting thing?

And he'd really be out here with his camera, and he'd become even more famous than he is now.

I'm really glad we came.

I'm really glad we met him.

I'm really glad.

♪ ♪ CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): We might have not had a sighting of Nessie.

But meeting a man who's followed a dream, like Steve has, is inspiring.

♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Back in our trusty roadster, we motor on down the military road, hugging the southern shore of Loch Ness.

The loch is part of a massive geological fault line that slices southwest across the Highlands.

It's a natural route for the military road to follow through the mountains, and this was the first section built in the 1720s.

200 years later, motorists came down this road in search of adventure.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Well, look at that, fantastic.

PETER DAVISON: This must have been an epic journey at the birth of the car.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: We're not even halfway along the loch yet.

- Right.

- So it's big, isn't it?

Yeah, it's big.

It's 23 miles long and a mile wide.

Wow.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): This still mostly single-track road was only tarmacked in the 1950s.

But even today, it's rarely used, mainly because it's so blooming narrow.

Single-track road with passing places.

Hmm, very narrow.

This is backing up if you come across some.

I've never been-- I am not good-- PETER DAVISON: Backing up.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Reversing, no.

And it's something to do with my neck.

- Your neck?

- Yeah, it's something to do.

It doesn't turn very well.

It doesn't turn as well as it used to.

[laughs] PETER DAVISON: Oh, no, look, here's a bloody great-- all right, OK, I'm going to just let this thing come through here.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Yeah.

No, it's not.

PETER DAVISON: That bus doesn't look like he's going to stop, does he?

CHRIS TIMOTHY: No.

He waved, though.

- He waved.

Very friendly bus driver.

That's nice.

[upbeat jazzy music] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): The military road might be a little tricky today, but it's nothing compared to how challenging it was 80 or 90 years ago.

Narrower and rough as hell, motoring enthusiasts in the 1920s saw the roads in the Highlands as the perfect setting for Rally Trials.

♪ ♪ Halfway down Loch Ness, one particularly tortuous set of hairpin bends can be found at a place called the Inverfarigaig Corkscrew.

This footage, shot in 1925, sees rally drivers struggling with the corkscrew's bends.

[old-timey frantic music] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Now, we've arrived at the foot of the corkscrew and are going to have a crack at it ourselves.

[engine revs] The switchbacks will take us up over 120 feet in under half a mile.

[grunting] And it's at the corners where you feel the gradient.

PETER DAVISON: I should have probably been in first gear for that.

Whoopsie daisy!

Whoa, you missed that rock.

PETER DAVISON: What?

I don't know.

I'm-- I'm slightly preoccupied at the moment.

♪ ♪ CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Back in 1925, one roadster seems to have handled the corkscrew's tight hairpins with relative ease, an early three-wheeled predecessor of our Morgan 4/4.

[peter sighs] That's fun, isn't it?

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Ha!

I did nearly lose my lunch.

But at the top of the corkscrew, we're meeting someone who can drive it even faster.

Vintage petrolhead Tom has built his own customized three-wheeled rally car, inspired by the early Morgan racer.

So-- so tell us about this.

Well, this is built from a spaceframe.

It's got Citroen 2CV running gears.

I modified it and put a Moto Guzzi engine on it.

And can you explain the name, Snotamog?

TOM: Well, I'll bounce that one back to you because you're in a Mog.

People think it is a Mog.

- Ah!

Everybody-- Everybody comes up and says to me, "is it a Morgan?"

So I named it, "Snotamog."

And have you ever had a Morgan?

I have.

And what was that one called?

Well, it was called "Tisamog."

[chuckles] CHRIS TIMOTHY: Yes.

TOM: Yeah.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Do you and your wife travel in it on holiday?

My wife doesn't come with me quite so often.

I've not really-- I wonder why.

--why that is.

PETER DAVISON: It's quite cozy, isn't it, for two people in there?

It's pretty friendly, yeah.

You do get to know them.

Mm.

[chuckles] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): And I'm about to get pretty friendly with Tom.

To give me an idea of how well a three-wheeler handles the corkscrew, he's agreed to take me for a spin.

PETER DAVISON: The interesting thing is how the-- the car flexes a good deal more than an ordinary car, doesn't it?

Yes, it's going round one pivot at the back.

Yes.

[tires squeal] And I like that squeal.

[laughs] That was me.

Oh, that-- [engine revs] I think Peter loves it.

Yeah, but he's such an ace driver.

Woo hoo!

TOM: Yeah.

[chuckles] Now you can see why my wife doesn't come with me.

Well, if you drove like that all the time, then, yes.

♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): After that bone-rattling wacky races experience, our epic journey continues.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Oh, falling rocks for four and 1/2 miles.

OK, that's comforting with a soft top.

Isn't it?

And a very windy day.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Reaching the southern end of Loch Ness, we approach the halfway point of our trip and turn west into the heart of the Highlands.

♪ ♪ Tonight's accommodation is a former sporting lodge, a Highland retreat that drew Bertie Wooster types up from London to take pot shots at the local wildlife.

♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON: Imagine, you know, where we are now, what, we're 500 miles from London.

We're sort of in the middle of nowhere in terms of transportation.

And, erm, and, yet, people would manage to get here.

How they did it, I don't know.

What, their chauffeur-driven cars from London?

CHRIS TIMOTHY: It would take days.

Days, yeah.

So if you're thinking of spending the weekend up here, you'd leave London about a week before.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Tomorrow, we're going to tackle a road that hasn't been used by cars for over 60 years.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: We're going to go up that road.

Well, it's that road there.

PETER DAVISON: OK.

Right.

PETER DAVISON: You're a fabulous navigator.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Scotland-- - Has this road got a name?

No.

PETER DAVISON: Wow.

In Scotland for Everyman, it says, "Motorists bound for Skye can take a rough road that climbs 1 in 17 to 1,424 feet before descending 1 in 13."

And that's it.

PETER DAVISON: I think this will be a chance, maybe, to hit the really extreme end of motoring, as it must have been, driving through the Highlands.

It was a fairly adventurous spirit they must have had to do that so.

I feel adventurous.

Yeah, I feel adventurous.

Cheers.

[big bang playful music] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Unfortunately, the weather has taken an atmospheric turn.

♪ ♪ This sodding thing here.

This is going to be fun.

I can't see a bloody thing.

[engine revs] You can't pass me that cloth, can you?

PETER DAVISON: You what?

What?

- That cloth.

- Yeah.

Can I have it this side?

Yeah, you can, here.

Thanks very much, Chris.

Do whatever you like with it.

Can I use that, can I?

That's your hat.

Oh, is that my hat?

Oh, don't use my hat, man.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): In the 19th century, the original military road traversing these mountain ranges was deemed unfit for civilized life.

OK, Chris, this is the big adventure.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): This road was built to replace it and was still used by cars right up until the 1950s, something that seems hard to believe now.

PETER DAVISON: Well, this is the real stuff, though.

I mean, the heck with those modern tarmac roads.

This is the real deal.

This is for men.

Yes!

Alpha males, just like us, Chris.

Exactly.

Ooh!

♪ ♪ Whoopsie daisy, interesting, whoopsie daisy, interesting.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: God, I'm glad I'm not driving, I tell you.

I was just going to say, what about oncoming traffic?

But there isn't going to be any oncoming traffic.

You're not going to get anyone.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: It's really an interesting thing.

I haven't seen any signs saying slow or old people crossing.

I think there won't be any road signs on this stretch of road at all.

No.

PETER DAVISON: I think you are on your own.

That sort of road furniture is very much a thing that we have now.

And what you won't get on this road is any traffic lights either.

No.

In fact, we've only, I think, since we left Inverness, but since we started-- - One pair, wasn't it?

On the military roads, we've only had one set of traffic lights.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Back in London, where we are used to driving, there are over 6,000 sets of traffic lights.

But in the entirety of the Highlands, there are just over 100.

♪ ♪ CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): We're climbing to over 1,400 feet, but it's the deteriorating condition of the road that is going to present a challenge.

Jesus.

♪ ♪ May I remind you?

Yes.

"The road services vary from county to county."

[laughs] "From county to county to county.

But in the remotest districts of the Highlands, the roads are narrow, tortuous, and seldom tarred."

PETER DAVISON: This is the kind of extreme driving that, I guess, would have been just pleasurable, tourist-type driving in the '30s.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: So what do you reckon is the main attraction, bearing in mind the state of the roads?

PETER DAVISON: I think it's just this was an adventure.

This was something you could never have done before.

You could never get in a car, in a self-propelled horseless carriage, and drive into the wilderness.

You just couldn't have done it, so I think that's the attraction.

This is just an adventure.

Actually, I kind of like this.

Whether the car likes it is a different matter.

Yeah, absolutely.

It does, if it's possible, seem to be getting worse.

[dramatic upbeat music] [bang] What was that?

Have we still got our exhaust pipe?

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Why is there water coming in at my feet?

My, my, the rain's coming down now.

♪ ♪ Blimey oh Riley.

What's this?

No!

Well done.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): We've been traveling for over an hour, and we've only covered six miles.

But it's now that we learn why this road hasn't been used since the 1950s.

[laughs loudly] PETER DAVISON: Chris.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Well.

Have you misdirected us here because this road just goes straight into the loch.

Could you look at your map, please?

I don't understand how that happened.

They must have flooded it.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Although our 1930s map shows a complete road, the glen it comes down into was flooded in the 1950s for a hydroelectric dam.

PETER DAVISON: Yeah, I did actually enjoy it.

We've now got to get back.

Yeah.

[swanky big band music] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): There's nothing for it but to double back the way we came.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: On top of everything else, aren't we in midge country?

- Midge country?

- Yeah.

Well, I hope we are because I've just been spraying myself with that midge spray.

Oh, that's what it was.

Well.

I thought that was moisturizer.

I just thought, how sweet when he's going to get in a car with me.

You thought I was just putting a bit of cologne on for you.

Yeah, I thought that's friendship with a vengeance.

♪ ♪ CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): We're beginning to appreciate why this beautiful but forbidding landscape remained virtually inaccessible for as long as it did.

But since the first redcoat marching routes were built here 300 years ago, and even since the time of the 1930s motorists, there have been huge improvements to the road system in the Highlands.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Before we continue our journey towards Skye, I'm jumping out to have a look at a section of the military road that's being upgraded, where a fascinating fragment of the original 1720s General Wade layer can still be seen.

We're basically working right on top of it.

So you've got the ford that runs across the River Tarff.

PETER DAVISON: Oh, yeah, so the bridge is fairly new.

STEVE: Yes.

Oh, yes.

PETER DAVISON: This would have just been a ford.

STEVE: Oh, yes.

You see the edge of the stone.

Yeah, you see the line there.

Oh, wow, it's amazing.

It's amazing.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): The men who built the original early 18th century military roads had little more than spades, pickaxes, and gunpowder to work with.

But at least they didn't have to direct traffic.

There's your apparatus.

OK.

And at the moment, are we in a go mode or stop mode?

We're stopped, aren't we?

We're stopped at the moment.

MAN (ON WALKIE-TALKIE): Any traffic there?

PETER DAVISON: Yeah, I've got a big lorry approaching.

Am I OK to let it through?

MAN (ON WALKIE-TALKIE): I've got one waiting this side.

But you send your lorry first, and then I'll send mine.

The tension is unbearable.

[chuckles] What if you make a mistake, and they meet in the middle?

Um, where did he come from?

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): After all your efforts today, Peter, I'm not surprised you're confused.

We've still got another 20 miles to cover this afternoon, so my turn to take the wheel for a bit.

As we motor on towards the Isle of Skye, we enter the Western Highlands, and the landscape becomes increasingly dramatic.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: We already know how fantastic this looks when the sun is shining, but it also looks bloody fantastic when it's not shining.

Yeah, it does, yeah.

At some point, we're going to look for a petrol station.

It's probably wise to.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Good idea.

It's a very nice road.

Very.

Let's hope it doesn't end in a loch somewhere.

[laughs] Ah, services, petrol station, just coming up.

Pull in.

Are we going to get some petrol, I think?

I think we should.

- Got any money?

Yeah.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): This is the last petrol station we'll see before Skye.

At this stage, nearly 80 miles into our trip, today's motorists can head straight on and drive over a modern bridge to the island.

Fantastic, beautiful, well done.

OK.

[upbeat music] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): But not us.

We're turning off here onto the original route of the military road that will lead us up over a high mountain pass and back down to an old ferry crossing.

Ferries.

Oh, yes, Glenelg, OK.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): The single-track road climbs steeply to a height of 1,100 feet over the evocatively named Mam Ratagan Pass.

What do you know about this road?

It's very narrow.

That's what I know about it.

All right.

♪ ♪ And the code is that people-- If we're going up-- - They give way for us.

- They give way for us, yeah.

That should be the-- that should be the rule.

If they know the highway code.

PETER DAVISON: If they know the highway code, yes.

Well, he wouldn't have done that, would he, because he was zipping-- yeah, don't do that.

He was also going quite fast, I thought.

PETER DAVISON: He was going very fast, yeah.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

Good man.

♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON: We're climbing quite steeply now.

I'm slightly wary because of the speed with which that last car-- CHRIS TIMOTHY: Absolutely.

PETER DAVISON: --came down the hill.

Our ears will start popping soon at the rate we're climbing now.

OK, this, I think, is now a bit like a bit of a hairpin.

♪ ♪ Just keep your fingers crossed, will you, Chris, that we don't meet anything coming down?

OK.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): On reaching the top of the Mam Ratagan Pass, a mountain range called the Five Sisters of Kintail is suddenly revealed in all its glory.

[music fades] Oh.

Oh, it's a joy every time.

Well, that's worth it.

All right.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Look at that.

PETER DAVISON: Yeah, it's stunning.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: That looks like details.

[clears throat] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): The peaks all have Gaelic names, and an old marker stone points them out.

"Scur, an, eged."

I'm so glad I asked you to do this.

That's-- Which one's that one, that one over there?

- The first one, yeah.

- OK.

And then "Glasbe, ben, behin."

I think that's the one-- that's the one the top's hidden in the clouds.

It looks like Glasbehin?

PETER DAVISON: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Which should be over there, shouldn't they?

No?

OK.

PETER DAVISON: "Beinfader."

Yeah.

PETER DAVISON: OK, that one's also a bit lost in the clouds.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Thankfully, the view beats Chris' attempts at Gaelic.

[car doors close] CHRIS TIMOTHY: It's still quite early, isn't it?

[peter sighs] PETER DAVISON: Well, it's 5:25.

Jesus Christ, is it?

Mm.

Bloody hell, I thought it was about 3 o'clock.

Just shows, doesn't it?

That time flies when you're having a good time.

Doesn't it?

[melodic instrumental music] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): As it drops down towards the coast, the old military road follows the course of an ancient cattle drovers' trail.

♪ ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): This section of road wasn't completed until 1755.

And as recently as the 1980s, before improvements were made to the road, the village of Glenelg at its foot was often cut off by winter snows.

♪ ♪ CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): It feels like we're entering a lost world.

This being the military road, and we know what the military road was like, just think how inaccessible it would have been.

Without it.

Without, well, without this newly tarmacked.

It doesn't bear thinking about.

It does not bear thinking about.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): It's the final stretch of military highway we'll follow on this trip, but it leads to Glenelg and the Skye ferry.

PETER DAVISON: OK, we've got livestock in the road, livestock in the road.

Stand by, please.

Look at that.

Sorry, sorry.

Oops.

♪ Dreaming about a place I want to be ♪ PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): We're too late for the crossing tonight, so stop at an old inn and reflect on the day's adventures.

♪ Where the sun splits the skies ♪ ♪ And the heavens can rain down ♪ PETER DAVISON: Yesterday, I did the corkscrew.

And, today, I did a rather larger version of the corkscrew, going up the hill.

You know, where the road goes like that, the road goes like that.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Yeah.

PETER DAVISON: I've had great fun today, yes, and all down to Christopher Timothy, who discovered some route.

And it turned into a 12-mile dead-end road of just the worst possible road you could possibly find.

But it was fun.

I loved driving down it.

MAN: ♪ Trees swaying.

♪ It was a rough old road.

It needed really careful maneuvering.

And Peter Davison's the man to do it.

What I'm finding exciting is learning things that, really, I should have learned years ago.

That's-- you know, it's a fact.

[uptempo instrumental music] PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Two days ago, Chris and I began a journey at Fort George on the other side of the Scottish Highlands.

100 miles later, and we're now almost at our final destination.

♪ ♪ The legendary Isle of Skye.

PETER DAVISON: Are you having a good time, Chris?

Oh, yeah, of course, I am.

Can't you tell?

[chuckles] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): Now to cross over to Skye, we're heading for a very special car ferry, the oldest of its kind in the world.

There it is, the ferry.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): A boat has taken motorists across the 500-meter stretch of water since 1934.

♪ ♪ The old motoring guidebooks offer a warning to the nervous driver about Highland ferries.

PETER DAVISON: There you go.

Whoopsie daisy.

Of course, yeah.

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): That getting your car on and off can be a process of some difficulty, owing to the slope of the jetties.

Here we go.

♪ ♪ [bang] Oh, Jesus Christ, I knew that would happen.

[revs engine] OK, we're stuck.

MAN: Yes, you are.

[bleep] [engine revs] It's jammed.

We've got a problem here.

I think we should get out for a start.

Houston, we've got a problem.

Shit.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: I wasn't driving.

It wasn't me.

We'll take the van in here to push her down a bit.

Just drive the van up here.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): By bringing the weight of another vehicle onto the ramp we're stuck on, we lower the level of the ferry in the water enough for us to release our car and maneuver it off.

[dramatic music] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): And thanks to this boat's turntable boarding ramp, this time, we're given a shallower angle of approach.

♪ ♪ Nice one, Peter.

Woo!

CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): The hand-operated turntable is what's unique about this old ferry.

It can rotate 360 degrees and the boarding ramp placed wherever it needs to be.

PETER DAVISON (VOICEOVER): Following our first attempt to board, we make a show of getting out of the Morgan with as much dignity as possible.

On deck, we meet ferry crew member Jo.

JO: Well done.

Good morning.

[laughing] CHRIS TIMOTHY: Thank you.

PETER DAVISON: I wish you-- CHRIS TIMOTHY: Hello.

PETER DAVISON: I wish you hadn't seen that attempt of us to get out of the car because we want to think we're-- we want you to think we're young and healthy.

JO: It's really low, isn't it that?

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Yeah, really low.

PETER DAVISON: Hi.

How are you?

How are you?

JO: This is the original crossing over the sea to Skye from mainland Scotland.

It's the closest point on the mainland to the island of Skye.

You mean, it's been used for over hundreds of years.

Hundreds and hundreds of years.

It formed part of an old drovers' route, where crofters and farmers would take their cattle down from the Hebrides, through Skye, to here and swim them across.

So it's a really ancient crossing.

[romantic 1930s music] CHRIS TIMOTHY (VOICEOVER): At the dawn of the car era, dozens of small ferries like this transported motorists across the waterways of the West Highlands.

Today, many of those ferries have been replaced by bridges, but this boat is still operating after nearly 60 years.

JO: There were lots of them on the west coast because they don't require very much in the way of infrastructure, just a ramp.

You know, you can just drive on, sometimes easily.

Sometimes easily.

Sometimes, we make a mess of it.

[laughs] But this is the last one now in existence, so she's a really special little boat.

You can't see another one of these anywhere.

We carry about 35,000 passengers every year, some of whom are local people using it to go to the shops.

But most of our customers are visitors and tourists because there's something still really romantic about going over the sea to Skye, isn't there?

Of course.

[dog barking] PETER DAVISON: ♪ At speed, bonnie boat ♪ CHRIS TIMOTHY: ♪ Like a bird on the wing ♪ ♪ Over the seas to Skye ♪ ♪ Carry the lad that was born to be king ♪ ♪ Over the sea to Skye ♪ Then it changes, but we don't know the words after that, Chris.

[chris humming] That's right.

Hum it.

♪ La-da da-da ♪ ♪ Don't know the words to that ♪ ♪ Da, da, da-da, da, da, da, da-da, da ♪ Well, we've made it to Skye.

This is the Isle of Skye.

- We are on Skye.

- Yeah.

Fantastic.

This concludes our journey across Scotland from east to west.

Just time for a spot of lunch.

[chuckles] And we can drive all the way back again.

[upbeat big band music] PETER DAVISON: It's about an 11 and a quarter hour drive to London, you know.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: 600 miles?

PETER DAVISON: 600 miles.

It's eight days, if you'd like to walk.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: 600 miles on 1930s suspension.

PETER DAVISON: Yeah, it's no problem.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Speak for yourself.

PETER DAVISON: You're the new middle age, mate.

CHRIS TIMOTHY: Is that right?

PETER DAVISON: Yeah, absolutely.

[laughs] [old-timey uptempo music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [no speech] [no speech]