Open Country

The Plock


Listen Later

The Plock of Kyle is a promontory on the North West coast of Scotland, beside the Skye Bridge and close to the villages of Plockton and Kyle of Lochalsh. This old community parkland is a striking landscape with native woodland, meadows and rocky coastline, but it is an area tourists tend to just drive through to get to Skye. Helen Mark discovers how a local community trust is working on projects designed to put Plock on the map. There are plans to reconstruct a village, based on archaeological evidence of the Vikings presence in the area. Park ranger, Heather Beaton, gives Helen a tour of the Plock's newly restored meadows, ponds and nature trails. She extols the benefits of scything and gives Helen a lesson on how to improve her skills. Heather aims to hold an annual scything festival.

Helen also ventures under the Skye Bridge, to the small island of Eilean Ban, which was the final home of naturalist and writer Gavin Maxwell, author of The Ring of Bright Water. Otters are regularly spotted around the island and a small museum maintained by a local trust commemorates his life story.

Many local people still recall the heady days of protests over the cost of tolls on the impressive Skye Bridge when it opened in 1995. Helen talks to leading rebel and Highland councillor, Drew Millar, who remembers driving sheep across the new bridge in protest and spending a night in jail for non-payment. Thirty people were convicted of non-payment. After nearly a decade of dissent, the protestors finally won and the tolls were dropped. Drew says the protest shows that peaceful civil disobedience can be successful.

Produced by Kathleen Carragher

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Open CountryBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

83 ratings


More shows like Open Country

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,437 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,831 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,801 Listeners

Scotland Outdoors by BBC Radio Scotland

Scotland Outdoors

238 Listeners

Farming Today by BBC Radio 4

Farming Today

66 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

500 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,756 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,067 Listeners

Ramblings by BBC Radio 4

Ramblings

150 Listeners

Gardeners' Question Time by BBC Radio 4

Gardeners' Question Time

273 Listeners

Gardeners' Corner by BBC Radio Ulster

Gardeners' Corner

98 Listeners

Desert Island Discs by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs

2,040 Listeners

The Food Programme by BBC Radio 4

The Food Programme

267 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,959 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,049 Listeners

Gardening with the RHS by Royal Horticultural Society

Gardening with the RHS

259 Listeners

The Plodcast by Our Media

The Plodcast

107 Listeners

The English Heritage Podcast by English Heritage

The English Heritage Podcast

217 Listeners

Wild Tales | Nature Podcast by National Trust

Wild Tales | Nature Podcast

103 Listeners

Americast by BBC News

Americast

761 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,030 Listeners

BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast by Immediate Media

BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Podcast

297 Listeners

As the Season Turns by Ffern

As the Season Turns

203 Listeners

grow, cook, eat, arrange with Sarah Raven & friends by Sarah Raven

grow, cook, eat, arrange with Sarah Raven & friends

211 Listeners

A Life More Wild by Canopy & Stars

A Life More Wild

17 Listeners