Galway to Baltimore
For thousands of years, the west coast of Ireland has been gnawed and
mauled by the Atlantic. But this relentless pneumatic drilling by gales,
wind, waves and rain has helped carve a coastline of truly majestic beauty聟.
 Galway
and Columbus
The Gulf Stream carries these huge beans on an astonishing journey
to shores of the British Isles all the way from Costa Rica. The same warm
water current also helped carry Columbus back from America.
Neil Oliver discovers how Columbus actually set off looking for China!
 The
Burren
The beautiful petrol blue Spring Gentian famously thrives in the strange
limestone landscape of the Burren. It聮s odd because the Spring Gentian
is normally only found at altitude, such as high in the Alps, yet in the
Burren it grows all the way down to near sea level. Just one of the botanical
mysteries Alice unravels in this magical location.
 The
Aran Island
The Aran Islands off Galway Bay are home to some remarkable ancient
coastal forts.
Perched on top of dramatic 300ft cliffs this is Dun Aonghusa聳 acknowledged
to be one of the finest prehistoric monuments in Western Europe. Why on
earth were such fortifications built right on the edge of mighty sea cliffs?
Neil finds some clues at Dun Duchathair, 聭The Black Fort聮 which
has been the victim of an age old battle between land and sea.
Shannon Estuary 聳 Dolphins
The Shannon Estuary is a good site to spy a dolphin. But Miranda hasn聮t
just brought her binoculars. She goes to the Shannon to eavesdrop on their
high-pitched chatter.
Valencia Island
 This
is the site of the old 聭Cable Station聮 on Valencia Island. It
was the hub of a communications network established in 1866, when 2,500
miles of telegraph cable were laid across the Atlantic between Valencia
and Newfoundland 聳 allowing messages to be sent in Morse Code between
the Old World and the New.
They called it 聭the 8th wonder of the world. 聮聭The Atlantic
is dried up,聮 said The Times. So why did the Transatlantic Cable
that united two continents split the community of Valencia in two?
 Skellig
Islands
Monks built a monastery on Skellig Michael, the larger of the two Skellig
Islands, as long as 1500 years ago.
Since then, pilgrims have seen the island as a bridge between this world
and the next. Alice follows in the pilgrim聮s footsteps in search
of the extraordinary monastery that was once one of the last footholds
of Christian learning in Europe.
 Seaweed
Miranda has a close encounter with the seaweed of Roaring Water Bay and
discovers why you聮re likely to find it in a remarkable range of products,
everything from ice cream to beer.
Would you like to know what
music was used in this programme?
We're very sorry this programme was cancelled
in England, Wales and NI on Sunday 8th July.
Viewers outside Scotland can now see the programme on Tue 24th July at
9 pm.
The repeat on Sat 14th July will be an earlier show from the series.
We're very sorry for the disruption, which is due to sports commitments
over the summer.
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