Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú

The North Highlands of Scotland boast some of the most impressive and remote landscapes in the UK. Their stark beauty is only matched by their timeless, rugged nature. The North Coast 500 is a touring route designed to highlight these qualities and has been described as one of the best in world. Ellie Harrison journeys to one particularly challenging stretch called the Baelach Na Bà - the Pass of the Cattle. This single track road is the highest in Britain - at an altitude of 626 metres - and is famous for its winding bends and switchbacks. Ellie is joined by endurance athlete Mark Beaumont was has cycled the whole NC500 in 38 hour stint. Together they cycle up this mountain while dealing with everything the weather throw at them.

Whilst Ellie explores the western half of the NC500 Joe Crowley is making his way along the east coast. This coastline and the hills leading down to the shore are home to a number of small farmsteads known as crofts. Crofting is particularly hard to get into, especially for young people. Joe meets one such young couple, Tom and Steffi Geldard, who took over a croft earlier this year. They are being helped in their new venture by neighbour, and born and bred crofter, Bertie Boa. Joe also speaks to Maddy Norval from the Young Crofters Group about the challenges facing young people who want to take on their own crofts. 

Adam Henson looks at how specialist crops and other by-products from the farming industry can be used to generate power. In Buckinghamshire, he visits a farm where they are experimenting by growing up to thirty types of willow and other trees that can be used to fuel domestic boilers. Then Adam heads to the Cambridgeshire fens to visit a huge power station fuelled entirely by straw. 

You are more than twice as likely to be killed on rural roads than you would be in urban areas. However, since the start of the millennium, there had been a dramatic fall in the number of people being killed and seriously injured in collisions in the countryside. But, as Tom Heap discovers, in recent years numbers have started to rise again and some believe that trend will continue. Tom looks at the factors that make our rural roads dangerous and asks whether budget cuts could cost lives in the future. 

After the challenges of the Baelach Na Bà, Ellie heads further north along the NC500 to the largest town in Wester Ross – Ullapool. Here she heads out to sea with local salmon farm operator Gilpin Bradley. Salmon farming has long been a controversial industry and Ellie has come to this farm in particular to find what the industry is trying to do to change that perspective. The sea lice that can be found on both wild and farmed fish alike have always been an issue for farmers and conservationists. Traditionally the sea lice on farmed salmon have been treated chemically but Gilpin and his team are trying a new, more natural method. 

As Joe heads south along the NC500 he arrives in one of Scotland’s best arable areas - the Black Isle. Here he meets farmer John McCallum to find out why the Black Isle is so good for arable crops. The soil and climate here are particularly suited to growing one particular crop – spring barley. The barley here is some of the best for producing high quality whisky and Joe meets John's son Mark to find out why.  Then Joe follows the grain to his final final stop along the NC500 – the Glen Ord distillery. Here he joins Alistair MacKenzie to see how the grain goes through the malting process prior to becoming single malt whisky. Distillery Manager Kirsty Dagnan shows Joe around the distillery before Ellie joins Joe to sample a dram and toast their journey around the NC500.