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Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of Britain

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of the British Isles

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Open Country: Wizards and steam trains on the West Highland Line

Wizards and steam trains on the West Highland Line

BBC Radio 4 - Open Country, Wizards and steam trains on the West Highland Line

Tales of princes and wizards with musician, Ingrid Henderson, on the West Highland Line.

A journey along the West Highland Line with musician Ingrid Henderson, through mountains, glens and lochs rich with stories of both Bonnie Prince Charlie and Harry Potter.

In 'Wizards and Steam Trains on the West Highland Line', folk musician Ingrid Henderson explores the communities and landscapes which influence her life and work. She lives in Glenfinnan, on the shores of Loch Shiel, where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard before setting off on his much-romanticised, doomed mission to reclaim the English crown for the Stuarts.  But in recent years Charlie has been almost supplanted by a fictional rival - Harry Potter. Thousands of tourists are drawn to the area, eager to see the Jacobite steam train, aka Hogwarts Express, crossing the magnificent Glenfinnan viaduct - an iconic scene in the Potter films.

Ingrid talks to Jacobite historian, Charlie MacFarlane, about this clash of cultures and - up at the viaduct - chats with Harry Potter fans who have travelled from as far afield as China, Brazil and the USA to see the Hogwarts Express.  She finds out about the history of the West Highland Railway Line with museum curator, Hege Harnaes, as it celebrates its 120th anniversary and takes the train to the fishing port of Mallaig, at the end of the line.  It's her home town, where her musical career started.

Former schoolteacher, Denis Rixson, recalls the heyday of the town's fishing industry and Ingrid describes how the coast and waters of this part of Scotland have inspired some of her work.

Produced by Kathleen Carragher

Photo: Alan Wilson, Friends of Glenfinnan station

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