Imagine sweeping through green fields, floating five feet above ground, sun on your face as you slide by on track to your destination.

Not a care in the world as you simply lean back and before you know it, you're there.

London to Birmingham from just £16 each way.

Avanti West Coast.

Feel good travel.

Exclusions and limitations apply.

Full terms and conditions can be found at avantiwestcoast.com.

U.K. forward slash plan.

Hello. Hello and welcome to Stories of Scotland,

a podcast about the history, nature and folklore of Bonnie Scotland.

I'm Jenny, a sea urchin.

And I'm Annie, an enthusiastic sea snail. Wait, I want to be an enthusiastic sea urchin now.

Okay, then I'm Annie, a miraculous sea snail. In this episode, we're going to be wading out past the low tide line and exploring the watery jungle that is kelp. Scotland's history is intimately tied to its fast and wild coastlines and the dark waters beyond. It's in these dark waters

that huge and beautiful forests of kelp thrive, swaying ceaselessly in the churning currents and relentless tides.

Most of you will know kelp as part of the salty seaweed mat, which washes ashore and dries slowly and somewhat stinkly on our lovely beaches.

Or you'll know it as slimy tentacles brushing against your feet as you paddle in the cold waters of the Atlantic.

But despite these somewhat questionable encounters, kelp is our slimy seaweed friend and it has a surprising history in

Scotland. Throughout the centuries kelp has been an invaluable resource providing sustenance,

medicine and livelihoods to the people who collected it. During the industrial boom, kelp kept entire communities just about afloat, but like a bubble in

the waves, all things must pop. The once thriving kelp industry collapses in Scotland, leaving thousands

of hard-working people near destitute. So let's learn a bit more about that in this episode.

It's a fascinating story of survival, exploitation and soda ash. So let's immerse ourselves into the watery world of kelp.

...