0:00:12 > 0:00:13This is just incredible.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18500 feet below me on one side is the Irish Sea, and on the other -
0:00:18 > 0:00:21the shifting sands of Formby Point near Liverpool.
0:00:21 > 0:00:26I'm on the brink of a journey along the north-west coast of England.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35This coast is famous as the playground of the industrial North.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38But it's also got many connections abroad.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42A cosmopolitan streak runs right through it, like the lettering in a stick of rock.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Here to help me explore are the Coast team.
0:00:47 > 0:00:52Alice Roberts discovers the holiday hotels that housed enemy aliens.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Mark Horton opens the door on Europe's biggest engineering project.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Miranda Krestovnikoff
0:00:59 > 0:01:03comes face-to-face with the largest sharks in UK waters.
0:01:03 > 0:01:10Hermione Cockburn explores a vanishing coastline with the people who map Britain.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13And yours truly savours the fruits of the Irish Sea.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16- It doesn't get any better than that. - No.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21The first challenge is to land on the beach, because this is Coast.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50Today's journey takes me from Southport,
0:01:50 > 0:01:55just north of Liverpool, via the Isle of Man, to Whitehaven.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02And the first thing that strikes me here are these amazing beaches.
0:02:02 > 0:02:08Where else would you land planes next to the sea? And I mean right next to the sea.
0:02:08 > 0:02:09Beautiful!
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Thanks, Richard, that was brilliant.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Now, it's not every day that you land on a beach.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35But when you think about it, it does kind of makes sense because
0:02:35 > 0:02:40here at Southport the sands are very flat and very compact.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42And you can see them
0:02:42 > 0:02:47from miles away - a relief when you're coming into land on a flying motorbike.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52So it's possibly no surprise to find out I'm not the first person to use this as an airstrip.
0:02:56 > 0:03:01In 1910, just seven years after the Wright brothers' maiden flight,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05Claude Grahame-White landed a Farman biplane near the pier at Southport.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10The appearance of a flying machine on the sands caused a sensation.
0:03:11 > 0:03:17Southport's broad beaches quickly became home to some of Britain's pioneer aviators.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22John Mulliner, a former pilot, has studied this astonishing history.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24How perilous or dangerous
0:03:24 > 0:03:27was the early flight that was happening here?
0:03:27 > 0:03:30I don't think it was very dangerous at all,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32from what we read of the records.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37One must bear in mind that aircraft in those days didn't fly very fast,
0:03:37 > 0:03:3935-37 miles an hour maximum.
0:03:39 > 0:03:45If we've got a 10-15 mile-an-hour headwind, you're not going much faster than someone can actually run.
0:03:45 > 0:03:51OK, they had their early prangs, of course, but they tended to walk away from them unhurt.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55They were, though, real pioneers, flight was so new.
0:03:55 > 0:04:02Oh, absolutely. There were... At the time in 1910, there were only 15 qualified pilots in the country.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05Five of them were actually flying here on this coast.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11John Gaunt, our own pioneer, who, like the Wright brothers in America, was a bicycle maker.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16How extraordinary that something as world-changing as flight was pioneered by men who made bikes!
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Yes. It is extraordinary.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23The Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk in America, and they had sand dunes on the beach.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26And very similar to what we've got here.
0:04:26 > 0:04:33The antics of the early pioneers soon gave way to pleasure flights, which peaked in the 1950s.
0:04:33 > 0:04:41But with the coming of affordable flights abroad, demand declined, until Southport Sands fell silent.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46So, has beach aviation been grounded forever?
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Well, no, not quite yet.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Because on a strip of virgin, pristine Southport sand, plans are afoot.
0:04:58 > 0:05:04Local enthusiasts are determined to bring aeroplanes back to Southport's beaches.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Today sees the inaugural flight.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Everything's in place.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11There's a plane, a pilot, an airstrip.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14All we need is a passenger.
0:05:14 > 0:05:15Guess who?
0:05:17 > 0:05:19What sort of a plane is this?
0:05:19 > 0:05:25Well, Neil, it's a DH83 Fox Moth, it was de Havilland's first attempt at building an airliner.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27They were built for starters,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30for small airlines which then progressed into bigger planes.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34Would this sort of plane have flown around here?
0:05:34 > 0:05:40Yes, this is one of the two aircraft that actually flew here on the beach from the mid-1930s to 1950.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43ACEJ spent its working life here.
0:05:43 > 0:05:49In its pleasure-flying heyday, ACEJ offered the ultimate holiday experience.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53TV COMMENTATOR: And one of the finest ways of seeing Southport is from the air.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58Near Pleasureland, a stretch of sand is used as an airfield for delightful pleasure flights.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03Even now, so many people come up and say, "Hey, we didn't know that aeroplane still existed.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06"It's the first aeroplane we had a joy ride in."
0:06:06 > 0:06:09I'm a little bit worried it's been flying for as long as it has.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14Flimsy is the word which springs to mind. It looks like a pair of old tights for wings.
0:06:14 > 0:06:20It's actually cotton that's covered with stuff like nail varnish, that makes it tight and waterproof.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23But it's very strong and light, which it must be for flight.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28But what about taking off and landing on a beach? That doesn't sound right either.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30That is pretty unusual nowadays.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35Today, we seem to be clear of deck chairs, and the buckets and spades have gone home.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38So it's ideal. Nice clear beach and an onshore breeze.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41You make it sound so straightforward.
0:06:44 > 0:06:49I'm going thousands of feet in the air, in something made of sticks and old tights.
0:06:51 > 0:06:52It's not right.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01I feel the need of a safety briefing. There are two engines on this plane!
0:07:02 > 0:07:05- There's no life vest under your seat.- You guys OK?
0:07:05 > 0:07:06I'm very well, thank you.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09- Where's the drinks trolley?! - Not here!
0:07:30 > 0:07:35The new runway on Southport Sands may never recapture the thrills of the 1920s.
0:07:35 > 0:07:43But, once airborne, you can see how high-flying dreams and the coastal landscape can be a perfect match.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05Across the Ribble Estuary is this coast's most celebrated seaside town -
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Blackpool.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18Blackpool is a resort with global aspirations.
0:08:18 > 0:08:24It's bidding to join the Pyramids and the Great Wall Of China as a World Heritage Site.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29It's claimed that it's the world's first working-class seaside resort.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37But one visitor not here for donkey rides and ice-cream is Hermione Cockburn.
0:08:37 > 0:08:44She may be an earth scientist but, like me, she can't avoid aircraft on this coast.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49The plane just landing behind me never leaves UK airspace.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52It belongs to the Ordnance Survey Flying Unit.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55The Ordnance Survey
0:08:55 > 0:08:59makes over 150 sorties a year from their base in Blackpool.
0:08:59 > 0:09:06I've come into town to meet Trevor Hilton, one of the unit's aerial surveyors. So, why Blackpool?
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Well, we map the whole of the country.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Blackpool is the airport nearest to the centre of Britain.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14Another thing is the lovely weather.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18This stretch of coast gets very good weather, a lot of sunshine.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21So, we're not going to be fog-bound many days.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23What are you actually doing?
0:09:23 > 0:09:28Britain has one of the most comprehensive mapping databases in the world.
0:09:28 > 0:09:34And we update that by various means, mainly on the ground but sometimes it's more efficient to do it by air.
0:09:35 > 0:09:42The OS use a super-high-resolution camera, a whopping 128 mega pixels.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46The photographs are processed at their Southampton HQ.
0:09:46 > 0:09:50But software still needs help with detailed variations,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53like new housing, roads or coastal changes.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55These are traced in by hand.
0:09:55 > 0:10:00This then becomes the basis for the standard OS maps we rely on.
0:10:00 > 0:10:06Now, as somebody who has flown the entire coastline of Britain, what's your favourite stretch?
0:10:06 > 0:10:11I've a few. Probably the west coast of Scotland is my favourite.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15There are some dramatic sights, like the Cuillins, rising, on Skye,
0:10:15 > 0:10:17straight out of the sea.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21Cornwall as well, you can see this clear blue water, white beaches.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25You see these people as specks, and sometimes I wish I was down there enjoying myself
0:10:25 > 0:10:28and not stuck 5,000 feet up working.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34Trevor's favourite aerial views are at opposite ends of the country.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38But one of the Ordnance Survey's biggest challenges is right on their doorstep.
0:10:38 > 0:10:44Formby Sands, just south of Blackpool, is the most dynamic dune system in England.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48Here, whole features have been wiped off the map.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58The OS are going up to photograph Formby's changing coastline.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03But with no spare room in the plane, I have come to meet coastal engineer
0:11:03 > 0:11:05Paul Wisse to discover what's happening on the ground.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10Paul, I'd say this is a fairly typical coastal-dune system.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Yes, but what's striking about this coastline
0:11:13 > 0:11:14is the speed it's rolling back.
0:11:14 > 0:11:1825 years ago, this was a caravan park where we are standing.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23Literally, the dunes have rolled back inland and engulfed and...
0:11:23 > 0:11:27- Buried beneath us are caravans.- So do sometimes caravans get exhumed?
0:11:27 > 0:11:30There haven't been any yet, but in the next couple of years
0:11:30 > 0:11:33it's very likely that some will pop out onto the beach.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Can you see any evidence of the caravan park?
0:11:36 > 0:11:40You can see just below us an edge where the foundations of the car park were.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44We've got the children over in the distance helping pick up some of the
0:11:44 > 0:11:48rubble which has been washed out by the erosion.
0:11:53 > 0:12:005,000 feet up, Trevor is taking pictures that will show us how Formby's dunes are shifting.
0:12:00 > 0:12:06Meanwhile, Paul and his team have taken me out to get the perspective from sea level.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11Paul, how fast are the dunes along this coastline changing?
0:12:11 > 0:12:15On average, over the last 100 years, they have eroded by five metres a year.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19Sefton Coast is mainly made of sand, which is readily eroded by the
0:12:19 > 0:12:25coastal processes, such as the waves, the tides, the wind. There used to be
0:12:25 > 0:12:29- a cafe on Formby Point which has been lost to erosion.- Oh, really?
0:12:29 > 0:12:34- Yes, I've got some photos. This is the cafe in 1958.- Right.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Just three years later in 1961.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Oh, my goodness, so that was wave action?
0:12:40 > 0:12:44That has been undermined by the coastal erosion. It's just collapsed.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46What happened to the cafe?
0:12:46 > 0:12:50According to my GPS, it's right beneath us.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Beneath us here? But we are what, 100 metres or so...
0:12:54 > 0:12:55100 metres offshore.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00Oh, look, there's the plane going over.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03The OS are taking our aerial survey.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07So, you were saying, this coastline has been eroding for 100 years.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12- Where would the coastline have been back then?- Keith...
0:13:18 > 0:13:21- We're going an awfully long way out.- Yes.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Another 350 metres.
0:13:24 > 0:13:30- Really?- So right about where we are now is where the coast was in 1906.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32That is incredible.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35- We are half a kilometre from the dunes.- Yes.
0:13:38 > 0:13:44That's half a kilometre of Lancashire coast wiped off the map in just 100 years.
0:13:44 > 0:13:50The dramatic erosion here at Formby is a combination of the soft sand and high tidal range.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57What I want to know is how the Ordnance Survey's aerial photographs
0:13:57 > 0:14:00capture the history of this eroding coastline.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03- Hi, Trevor.- Hiya.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06So how did you get on? How is Formby Sands from the air?
0:14:06 > 0:14:11- We've got a couple of photos here that we took earlier of Formby. - Right.- It was a beautiful morning.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Oh, it looks fantastic.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20You can really see the line of the dunes there along the beach.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23We've got an earlier shot here taken back in 1978.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28- And you can see here a caravan park. You see this bend here.- Yes.
0:14:28 > 0:14:35- And that bend there.- That's the caravan park which is now buried by these dunes?- Indeed, yes.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40How soon before we can expect to see these changes on these kind of maps?
0:14:40 > 0:14:41Each week we produce new sheets.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46An individual sheet, it will be a number of years depending on rates of change.
0:14:46 > 0:14:54So, next time you're on the beach and a plane flies overhead, it may be adding you to the map of Britain.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03There are changes happening around our coast that don't show up on the map.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07The recent influx of migrant workers is one of them.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11My name is Rafal Sekulski. Everyone calls me Raf, it's shorter.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15I come from Poland and I work on Big One.
0:15:15 > 0:15:22This is the biggest roller coaster in Europe, it's 235 feet, up to 85 miles an hour when you go on it.
0:15:22 > 0:15:28Part of my job is to make sure that people are safe on Big One. And they're having fun.
0:15:28 > 0:15:34The first time I came here, I didn't really want to go on it because I was really scared of heights.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36But they pushed me in the train.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42SCREAMING
0:15:46 > 0:15:49And I was really scared the first time.
0:15:49 > 0:15:54When I went out of the train, my legs were shaking, they were shaky.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59But now it's OK. They are about 7-8,000 Polish in Blackpool.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Sometimes when I walk on the prom, every second person is speaking Polish.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06I turn around, "Oh, my God, so many of them."
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Sometimes I get the feeling like I am on the Baltic Sea.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13And the English are the foreigners who came abroad.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19# I read the news today, oh boy... #
0:16:20 > 0:16:258,000 Poles in Blackpool, Lancashire, who'd have thought it?
0:16:27 > 0:16:32In fact, Blackpool attracts six million visitors every year.
0:16:32 > 0:16:36But just up the coast, its neighbour Morecambe
0:16:36 > 0:16:37isn't so lucky.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50# Trudging slowly over wet sands... #
0:16:50 > 0:16:56Last time I was in Morecambe, I was out on the sands with Cedric Robinson and a party of tourists,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00finding out where you can walk, and where you really shouldn't.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03# This is the coastal town
0:17:04 > 0:17:08# That they forgot to close down
0:17:12 > 0:17:17# Every day is like Sunday... #
0:17:17 > 0:17:23Walking the streets of Morecambe today, you can see that the place has struggled to free itself
0:17:23 > 0:17:28from the dog days of the '60s and '70s when it was abandoned for warmer climes.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30But it wasn't always like this.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36Morecambe was named after the bay on which it relied for trade and fishing.
0:17:36 > 0:17:42Then workers from the industrial cities started to holiday here, and it got a new nickname.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44Bradford-on-Sea.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Famed for its smog-free air and wonderful views, it became
0:17:48 > 0:17:53a place of escapism, with everyday cares left inland.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57Then we began to go abroad on holiday.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59And the British seaside paid the price.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05But rumours of Morecambe's death may have been exaggerated.
0:18:05 > 0:18:11Because here, where the pier meets the central promenade, is what looks like a demolition site.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13But, in fact, it's anything but.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18Underneath all that scaffolding is an internationally-renowned architectural masterpiece.
0:18:18 > 0:18:24It's also an icon that has always been the barometer for Morecambe's health and well-being.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26That is the Midland Hotel.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34Commanding the seafront, the Midland is Morecambe's celebrated centrepiece.
0:18:35 > 0:18:41Built by a railway company in 1933, the hotel, like the town, first boomed...
0:18:41 > 0:18:48and then bust. When developers Urban Splash started to redevelop it in 2003, it was almost derelict.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53But site manager Kieran Gardner sees beyond the shell.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56So, this is an Art Deco masterpiece, is it?
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Yes. Work-in-progress at the moment.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02And what does survive in terms of original features?
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Here you can see we've got some of the original artwork.
0:19:06 > 0:19:12This here is an Eric Gill piece, which is probably the most famous piece within the hotel itself.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15It's made out of Perrycot Portland stone.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18It depicts Neptune coming out of the sea.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22The inscription is quite nice here.
0:19:22 > 0:19:23It's from Homer's The Odyssey.
0:19:23 > 0:19:28"There is good hope that thou mayest see thy friends."
0:19:28 > 0:19:30That's right, which is a nice touch for the hotel.
0:19:30 > 0:19:36And I can't help but notice this coastline is the path I'm taking.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38I started out at Southport.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41And I'm following that line. That's a cracker as well.
0:19:41 > 0:19:47This is another Eric Gill piece, it was done with his son-in-law, Denis Tegetmeier.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51- There is something very optimistic about the style of it. It's so bright.- Yeah.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56I have always found there is a certain amount of optimism comes with being on the coast.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00The coastal dwellers have that, and I very much believe that.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11The Midland's design reflected the modernist movement seen abroad
0:20:11 > 0:20:16with its aim of achieving unity in decoration and architecture.
0:20:18 > 0:20:25When the hotel first opened in the depression of the 1930s, optimism was badly needed.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30Its Art Deco architecture was an extravagant gesture of hope.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35And it worked. Morecambe became an international destination for the sophisticated holidaymaker.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38How are you doing?
0:20:38 > 0:20:43Have a seat. 'Harry Adams remembers the hotel in its heyday.'
0:20:43 > 0:20:45When did you work at the Midland, Harry?
0:20:45 > 0:20:49- From 1936 to 1939. - And what was your job?
0:20:49 > 0:20:55First job was a page boy, but I sometimes worked as a junior porter.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58The chef was a French man, a Mr Massey.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00The head waiter was Italian,
0:21:00 > 0:21:07the manager was a Swiss - Mr August, the head wine waiter was English,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10the other page boy with me was a Spanish boy.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14- A continental mix for the northwest of England in the '30s.- That's right, yes.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16What about the guests?
0:21:16 > 0:21:20- What kind of people came to the hotel?- Mostly moneyed people.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23They stopped a week, two weeks, the month.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27The evening was best, when the gents were dressed up in their tuxedos,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30the ladies in their gowns, coming down that wonderful staircase.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33I used to love that.
0:21:33 > 0:21:39I hadn't been there very long and a gentleman beckoned me, "Would I take a message to room number so and so?"
0:21:39 > 0:21:45I went up, knocked on the door, a lady answered. I said, "A page boy, madam, with a message for you."
0:21:45 > 0:21:47She said, "Come in."
0:21:47 > 0:21:51I went in, opened the door, and there she stood in bra and knickers.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54I was 15 years old. I'd never seen anything like that before in my life.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57- What did you do? - I got out as quick as possible!
0:21:57 > 0:22:00I can't say I would do it now.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03- Any regrets?- No, no, no!
0:22:03 > 0:22:08The restoration of the Midland isn't a throw-back to the 1930s.
0:22:08 > 0:22:15When it re-opens in 2008, it will be re-fitted throughout, right up to the roof terrace.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24But while the building can be regenerated, what about the town?
0:22:24 > 0:22:30Why Morecambe? With the best will in the world, it seems quite a punt to take on a depressed area.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34You only have to look out across the bay at the view we have here.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36It's outstanding.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40It's a fabulous bay, and it is probably Morecambe's biggest asset.
0:22:40 > 0:22:46Do you think the presence of this hotel will be enough to bring new life back?
0:22:46 > 0:22:51People have seen the hotel more as a mirror for the fortunes of the town.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54With the works that we're intending to do here,
0:22:54 > 0:23:00they see it as a renewed faith or confidence in Morecambe itself.
0:23:36 > 0:23:42Question. Which landmass lies right at the heart of the British Isles but is not part of the UK?
0:23:42 > 0:23:46Has its own Celtic language, but was ruled for 200 years by the Vikings,
0:23:46 > 0:23:55and - according to legend - is protected by a cloak-like mist summoned by the sea god Manannon.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Where else, but the Isle of Man?
0:24:00 > 0:24:04The Isle of Man is just 16 miles off the mainland.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12But it's independent of the United Kingdom and the European Union.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21That stretch of Irish Sea really does make all the difference.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24It never ceases to amaze me.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27I spend all this time travelling around the British Isles, but I keep
0:24:27 > 0:24:32finding whole places that I've never been to, and this is one of them.
0:24:33 > 0:24:40The port of Douglas has a perfect seafront, like a child's picture book.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47But I've an appointment in a more ancient settlement - Castletown.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57The guide books tell you that the Isle of Man has the oldest
0:24:57 > 0:25:03parliament in the world, the Tynwald, founded in 979.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05But who does it represent?
0:25:05 > 0:25:06Who are the Manx people?
0:25:06 > 0:25:10And what is that weird symbol I'm seeing everywhere?
0:25:12 > 0:25:19If anyone knows, it'll be Butch Buttery - fisherman, chef and Manxman.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22Butch, what is it that makes this place tick?
0:25:22 > 0:25:25It's the independence, I think.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28It's the fact that we're not English,
0:25:28 > 0:25:29not Irish, not Scottish.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32We're very much our own people here.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36We're not big on natural resources - only ever had farming and fishing.
0:25:36 > 0:25:41The economy is driven by the difference in taxation. Our taxation is lower than the mainland.
0:25:41 > 0:25:48Our income tax is only 10%, so we have a lot of financial services here, insurance services.
0:25:48 > 0:25:54I suppose, historically, our tax rates on brandy and tobacco were lower than those in the UK,
0:25:54 > 0:25:59so vessels would put in here, unload cargos, which would be smuggled back to the mainland.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02What is it with the three-legged symbol?
0:26:02 > 0:26:09It's an ancient Norse symbol but to me and to Manx people, it's our flag, it's a symbol of our nation.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12It means, "Whichever way you throw me, I will stand."
0:26:12 > 0:26:19- It symbolises resourcefulness of the Manx people.- It's not just about giving everyone a good kick.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23- It's nothing to do with giving everyone a good kicking, no. - When I go on holiday,
0:26:23 > 0:26:29- one thing I think about is good food. Is there good food here? - Fantastic. Particularly the seafood.
0:26:29 > 0:26:36The warm currents of the Gulf Stream create a rich supply of plankton round the island,
0:26:36 > 0:26:42ideal for raising the shellfish known locally as "queenies", and to you and me as queen scallops.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46I'm about to get a cookery lesson in the style of Mad Manx.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51It's a serious burner you've got there, Butch.
0:26:51 > 0:26:57There's no point in fiddling around with camping stoves, is there? Let's get the show on the road.
0:26:57 > 0:26:58Olive oil.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01A bit of garlic.
0:27:01 > 0:27:02Two shallots.
0:27:02 > 0:27:08They don't need to be cooked for more than two minutes, a minute and a half, something like that.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12We have got purity laws here on beer, ice-cream, and the food that we produce.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16They're very restrictive about what you can do with them.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19You can't use chemicals. ..A little bit of parsley.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26And then, really to finish it, when they are as done as you want them to be,
0:27:26 > 0:27:28a wee bit of wine.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30It's all my favourite things, all in the same place!
0:27:36 > 0:27:37Have a fork.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47- Doesn't get any better than that. - That's gorgeous.
0:28:07 > 0:28:12Moving west, we come to a resort popular since Victorian times.
0:28:21 > 0:28:28Port Erin lies in a tranquil bay but, like other holiday destinations on the island, it has a darker past.
0:28:28 > 0:28:35With the coming of the Second World War, its hotels became home to a different kind of visitor.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38Alice Roberts uncovers their story.
0:28:38 > 0:28:43Port Erin is a picturesque seaside town but those coming in 1940
0:28:43 > 0:28:47weren't arriving at a holiday resort, they were coming to prison.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53In that summer of 1940, a German invasion of Britain was expected daily.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57Amid fears of a fifth column of enemy sympathisers,
0:28:57 > 0:29:03German, Austrian and Italian immigrants to Britain were rounded up all over the country.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07They were brought to the Isle Of Man for internment.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18This is a photograph of people being rounded up
0:29:18 > 0:29:21from their homes and brought here in 1940.
0:29:21 > 0:29:27You just wonder what was going through their minds as they arrived here and faced an uncertain future.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Rosemary Wood's parents were Austrian.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34In 1940, she was just 14 and living in London with her mother and sister.
0:29:34 > 0:29:39Rosemary, when did you first find out that you were going to be
0:29:39 > 0:29:42moved to the Isle of Man and interned here?
0:29:42 > 0:29:47When my mother heard it on the radio, the next morning, two policemen
0:29:47 > 0:29:52came to the door and said, "You know what we've come for?"
0:29:52 > 0:29:55My mother said, "Yes, do you expect me to leave the house
0:29:55 > 0:29:58"and the children, and the cat and the dog?"
0:29:58 > 0:30:03And they said, "We'll come back in an hour's time if that suits you."
0:30:03 > 0:30:05You had an hour to pack everything?
0:30:05 > 0:30:10Yes. We went into the police car and then they took us on to board the train for Liverpool.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13Walking through the streets was the worst part
0:30:13 > 0:30:17because there were angry bystanders shouting, "Hang the lot of them."
0:30:17 > 0:30:22Other people threw missiles, but luckily nothing hit us.
0:30:22 > 0:30:27My mother said, "Just look down at the floor and don't take any notice."
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Sounds like quite a traumatic journey.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33You must have been relieved when you got here.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37Yes, there was a sense of relief that we'd reached the end of the journey.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45Around 15,000 foreign nationals were interned on the island.
0:30:45 > 0:30:50Men were housed in camps on Douglas and Ramsey.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54Port Erin was designated for women and children.
0:30:54 > 0:30:59In the men's camps, hotels and guest houses were requisitioned
0:30:59 > 0:31:02with barbed-wire running along the promenades.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07In Port Erin, the women and children internees
0:31:07 > 0:31:11were allowed to move around freely, albeit under police supervision.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16What happened when you arrived in Port Erin?
0:31:16 > 0:31:20We were met at the railway station
0:31:20 > 0:31:25by several policewomen and they grouped us off
0:31:25 > 0:31:31- into batches of about 22 people and marched us up this promenade.- Right.
0:31:31 > 0:31:36We were told to follow this Sergeant Pike, who was a big burly woman.
0:31:36 > 0:31:41When we got to about this point, my mother said to her, "How much further have we got to go?
0:31:41 > 0:31:43"We are tired carrying all this luggage."
0:31:43 > 0:31:48And she said, "We are going right up to those houses in the distance, you see."
0:31:48 > 0:31:55We lingered at the back of this group of 22, and at the next turning on the right here,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58my mother said, "We are turning down here."
0:31:58 > 0:32:05I was terrified of disobeying this policewoman but she said to stay around here out of sight.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08We hovered there for a while and then my mother looked round.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10When they were over the hill and out of sight,
0:32:10 > 0:32:14she turned round and knocked on the door of the Eagle Hotel.
0:32:14 > 0:32:15That was what used to be here?
0:32:15 > 0:32:19That's right. They demolished the hotel, the original building.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22The landlady, Miss Booth, asked us what we wanted
0:32:22 > 0:32:26and my mother said, "We have lost our guide, can you give us accommodation here?"
0:32:26 > 0:32:32The Eagle Hotel became Rosemary's home for the next year because her Austrian mother
0:32:32 > 0:32:35took the bold decision to ignore their police escort.
0:32:35 > 0:32:40On the other side of the island, the men had no such freedom.
0:32:40 > 0:32:45Yvonne Cresswell has researched the internment camps' history.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48So this is another Isle of Man camp, is it?
0:32:48 > 0:32:52That's it. This is the Mooragh camp in Ramsey and it is fairly typical.
0:32:52 > 0:32:59You have a section of hotels on the promenade, and just barbed-wire put round them.
0:32:59 > 0:33:05Guards sat at all the entrances and exits, as you can see here in Hutchinson camp.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09It looks like a concentration camp, doesn't it? With the barbed wire.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12That's the terrifying thing when we look at them now.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16- Did they have jobs to do while they were here?- Well, no.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18Boredom is the biggest threat.
0:33:18 > 0:33:26Artists painted, writers wrote, and places like Hutchinson was known as the camp university
0:33:26 > 0:33:33because there were so many German and Austrian academics, but several camps also produced their own newspapers.
0:33:33 > 0:33:37This is a cartoon of where the Isle of Man is in relation
0:33:37 > 0:33:41to the rest of Europe and the three-legged symbol with barbed wire around it.
0:33:41 > 0:33:47That's it. It truly was an island of barbed wire at that time.
0:33:47 > 0:33:52As the threat of an invasion receded, the public mood changed
0:33:52 > 0:33:55and many foreign internees were released.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59But Rosemary Wood and her mother were in no hurry to return to London.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03They had come to the Isle of Man expecting a prison.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06What they'd found was a haven from the war.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14I can't believe how lucky we were, looking back.
0:34:14 > 0:34:19The sun seemed to shine every day. We had swimming costumes, we were in and out of the water,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22sitting on the beach, chatting to the other internees.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24The scenery here is so beautiful.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29We could walk up to the hill, we could walk to Port St Mary.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34We were so lucky because it must have been the cushiest camp in the world.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38How do you feel about it now, coming back all these years later
0:34:38 > 0:34:41to this place where you were actually kept a prisoner?
0:34:41 > 0:34:45We were away from the Blitz, we were safe, we had a roof over our head
0:34:45 > 0:34:50and food, not luxurious food but we were housed and fed,
0:34:50 > 0:34:55knowing that so many people on the Continent were in far worse circumstances.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59We just counted ourselves very lucky.
0:34:59 > 0:35:05Release finally came for Rosemary in 1942, and a reluctant return to wartime London.
0:35:11 > 0:35:17From Prison Island to Fantasy Island, the latest turn of the tide for the Isle of Man.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22The last decade has brought over 80 films and TV dramas here.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26What filmmaker could resist stunning scenery and spectacular tax breaks?
0:35:26 > 0:35:32Films like Waking Ned in Cregneash, Churchill The Hollywood Years in Castletown,
0:35:32 > 0:35:36and Stormbreaker in Port Erin have attracted a galaxy of stars -
0:35:36 > 0:35:41Penelope Cruz, Christian Slater, Ewan McGregor, Johnny Depp.
0:35:41 > 0:35:47But for every big name, the Isle of Man has many more just waiting to break through.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51Hello. My name is Charlie Henry and for a day job,
0:35:51 > 0:35:55I am duty manager for the shipping line which runs to the Isle of Man.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58But I have a very interesting sideline
0:35:58 > 0:36:02in the active film industry within the island,
0:36:02 > 0:36:09where I am a film extra and I have now been fortunate to appear in over 40 productions.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13This is from the film Keeping Mum, which had Rowan Atkinson.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16I was in it as a footballer.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20Also in this particular movie is Patrick Swayze.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22This is taken from Piccadilly Jim.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26The main star was Brenda Blethyn.
0:36:26 > 0:36:31She is such an amazing professional and also she is such a nice person.
0:36:31 > 0:36:37I had one good night out at one of the nightclubs, and Brenda was giving it as much as everyone else.
0:36:37 > 0:36:42She was really enjoying it. This is a shot from the film Colour Me Kubrick.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46On that film was Mr John Malkovich.
0:36:46 > 0:36:51John swears by a particular fish restaurant on the Isle of Man,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55which he actually said was the reason he came back to do Libertine.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01Today I'm about to film an advertisement
0:37:01 > 0:37:07- and I am going to play a fisherman. - Action.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12Everybody has the one eye on Hollywood,
0:37:12 > 0:37:20but basically I'm very happy here on the island and enjoying what I'm doing.
0:37:24 > 0:37:29Hollywood royalty crossing the oceans to the Isle of Man is a recent phenomenon.
0:37:29 > 0:37:34But for thousands of years, the island's warm summer waters
0:37:34 > 0:37:37have brought some of the biggest stars of the aquatic world.
0:37:37 > 0:37:43Miranda Krestovnikoff is stalking that most elusive of celebrities, the basking shark.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46Basking sharks can be seen off various parts
0:37:46 > 0:37:50of the British coastline, but the locals here
0:37:50 > 0:37:52reckon they have the absolute top spot
0:37:52 > 0:37:54if you want to catch a glimpse of these marine giants.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58As summer warms our coastal waters,
0:37:58 > 0:38:02basking sharks move up the coastline from Cornwall to the Isle of Man,
0:38:02 > 0:38:05and eventually as far north as the Western Isles of Scotland.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09June and July are supposed to be the best months to see them around the island.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13I've come to try and swim with one of the most spectacular animals
0:38:13 > 0:38:17in British waters, but first I've got to find them.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21John Galpin is one of the island's keenest shark spotters.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28One of the great features of them
0:38:28 > 0:38:32is that you can see an animal which has been on the planet for 200 million years
0:38:32 > 0:38:36and you can watch some of the most amazing things like the mating,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39the courtship behaviour, perhaps even giving birth,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42but you have to put some time into it to see these exciting things.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45I'm fortunate because I have got a tolerant wife
0:38:45 > 0:38:49and she lets me have huge observational binoculars in the bedroom,
0:38:49 > 0:38:52so you see some amazing things at six in the morning.
0:38:52 > 0:38:53Sharks, whales, all sorts.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57But this is a great vantage point for watching basking sharks.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00I tend to do most of my work from the shore.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04You then get a much broader panorama and you can see them doing things.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08I'm particularly interested in their courtship behaviour.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11- Have you seen them courting? - We get them courting here a lot.
0:39:11 > 0:39:16About 150 yards offshore, this pair came together and they came and entwined themselves.
0:39:16 > 0:39:23There was a big churning in the water and there they were, mating sharks, 150 metres off the shore here.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26What have we got out there? Any fins breaking the surface?
0:39:26 > 0:39:28I can't see any fins just at the moment.
0:39:28 > 0:39:35John is not the island's only shark fan. There is even a Shark Watch update on local radio.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37'Manx Radio.
0:39:37 > 0:39:42'You are listening to Manx Radio. Keep those sightings coming this morning,
0:39:42 > 0:39:49'The more sightings we get from you, the more information we put towards the Manx Basking Shark Watch.'
0:39:49 > 0:39:54Jackie Hall is a marine biologist and founder of the Manx Basking Shark Watch.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Hopefully her inside knowledge will get me an encounter with a shark.
0:40:01 > 0:40:07I'm familiar with the Isle of Man as being a real hot spot for basking sharks. What brings them up here?
0:40:07 > 0:40:10The Isle of Man is bathed in warm water
0:40:10 > 0:40:14that's come up from the Atlantic, carried by the Gulf Stream
0:40:14 > 0:40:18and, as the water warms up, we get plankton bloom,
0:40:18 > 0:40:22- and the sharks are here to eat that plankton.- Conditions today?
0:40:22 > 0:40:27Not that marvellous. Because it's not flat, oily calm.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37There is something over there.
0:40:37 > 0:40:38Wow!
0:40:38 > 0:40:42There's his tail as well. Did you see his tail up, that time?
0:40:43 > 0:40:46That's fairly typical, just feeding,
0:40:46 > 0:40:51with his mouth wide open, just under the surface.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54It never ceases to be exciting, does it?
0:40:54 > 0:40:57I've seen lots of basking sharks and you do get excited!
0:40:57 > 0:41:00He's doing that typical, zig-zagged feeding pattern.
0:41:00 > 0:41:05They find an in the water strandline of plankton
0:41:05 > 0:41:08and they just zig-zag feed, backwards and forwards through it.
0:41:08 > 0:41:13- How big do you reckon that one is? - Probably an eight-metre one, but let's wait until we get in closer.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16This is my chance.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25There's nothing like seeing these sharks up close to take your breath away.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28It's only now that their size really hits you.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32They're as big as a bus and twice the weight of an elephant.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36That huge mouth looks daunting, but they don't bite.
0:41:36 > 0:41:42They feed by filtering from the water the minute organisms that make up plankton.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46Sticky mucus on their gills traps the food as it flows by -
0:41:46 > 0:41:48and they can really move.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51A flick of the tail and he's gone.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56That was just so brilliant!
0:41:56 > 0:41:58Wow!
0:41:58 > 0:42:01In the water, right next to me.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03Just beautiful.
0:42:34 > 0:42:35Back on the mainland,
0:42:35 > 0:42:38as I journey along the north shore of Morecambe Bay
0:42:38 > 0:42:42towards Barrow-in-Furness, I've got the Cumbrian hills for company
0:42:42 > 0:42:48and a sense of solitude. But round here that isolation is deceptive.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52There are some places you find on the coast, and this is one of them,
0:42:52 > 0:42:56that give the impression they have never been touched by the outside world.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59But of course that is seldom true.
0:42:59 > 0:43:04That little island there - Peel Island - was given to the people of Barrow as a memorial
0:43:04 > 0:43:09to all the men who were taken and killed in the Great War of 1914 to 1918.
0:43:09 > 0:43:15And it reminds you that, wherever you go, the wider world is really never very far away.
0:43:18 > 0:43:25War, or the prospect of war, has been part of daily life for generations on this tranquil coast.
0:43:25 > 0:43:30This is where many of Britain's most illustrious warships have been built.
0:43:30 > 0:43:36Mark Horton is in Barrow-in-Furness to bring its shipbuilding story up to date.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Messing about in boats is a hobby of mine.
0:43:40 > 0:43:44But, here, building them is a way of life.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48Ships of all kinds have come down the slipways here.
0:43:48 > 0:43:56But Barrow-in-Furness's real pride is in building boats that go under the sea.
0:43:58 > 0:44:03The Royal Navy's very first submarine was built in Barrow in 1901.
0:44:03 > 0:44:10In the 1960s, they built the Polaris class - Britain's first submarines to carry nuclear missiles.
0:44:14 > 0:44:19Followed, in the 1980s, by their replacement, Trident.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22But then the order book fell empty.
0:44:22 > 0:44:28The shipyard struggled on until, in 1998, came a big new commission.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31This is a very restricted area
0:44:31 > 0:44:33because in here are being built
0:44:33 > 0:44:36some of the world's most advanced submarines.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40I think this is the right place.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44ALARM SOUNDS
0:44:46 > 0:44:48It's absolutely huge.
0:44:54 > 0:44:59As the doors slide open, what hits you is the scale.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03This is the Astute class of attack submarine.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05There's a lot I can't tell you.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09I'm being monitored for reasons of national security.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13But what I can tell you is that they're powered by nuclear energy,
0:45:13 > 0:45:16but do not carry nuclear weapons.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19And they never need to refuel.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24Their reactors create enough energy to power a city the size of Southampton.
0:45:26 > 0:45:32But what underpins all this is the traditional shipbuilding skill of the Barrow workforce.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38What's the guy with the wood there?
0:45:38 > 0:45:41Gavin, he is using what we call a set
0:45:41 > 0:45:44and that is the actual shape of the bit we want to get.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48Something that's been used since...
0:45:48 > 0:45:51- It's just Victorian, isn't it? - Yes, it is.
0:45:55 > 0:46:01As the metal sheets are welded together, it begins to take on the shape of a submarine.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05It's Gary Davies's job to oversee the assembly shop.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09This is the actual hull of the submarine?
0:46:09 > 0:46:12This is the aft for boat three.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14An amazing piece of steel.
0:46:14 > 0:46:19This separates the submariners from the deep, cold icy ocean.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22- Yes, that's all there is. - And how thick is the seal?
0:46:22 > 0:46:24It varies from one end to the other.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27- But you can't tell me exactly? - No, I can tell you that, I'm afraid.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31- National security?- That's right. Top secret.- How deep can it get?
0:46:31 > 0:46:36I can't tell you that either, I'm afraid. That's another secret.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39The steel itself is welded in sections, is it?
0:46:39 > 0:46:42All the white lines there are all the welds
0:46:42 > 0:46:44and all the welds are a full penetration weld,
0:46:44 > 0:46:49so what that means is, it's welded from one side to the other,
0:46:49 > 0:46:53and once all the weld is complete, we X-ray it,
0:46:53 > 0:46:56then the weld is as good, if not better than the steel itself.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00And is the steel bog-standard steel that comes off a rolling mill?
0:47:00 > 0:47:06The steel itself is only made from special material that is only made and only used on our submarines.
0:47:06 > 0:47:11- It is not used anywhere else in the world.- You can't tell me what it's made of?- No.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14- National security?- That's right.
0:47:14 > 0:47:20That's the shell. What goes inside these giant husks - living quarters,
0:47:20 > 0:47:24cabins, control deck, are built as modules outside
0:47:24 > 0:47:29and inserted, complete, into the hull of the boat.
0:47:29 > 0:47:35Commander Paul Knight has agreed to take me aboard the command deck module of HMS Ambush.
0:47:35 > 0:47:40- This is where people will sleep? - Yes, this is the 18-man...
0:47:40 > 0:47:42Bunk space, there we go.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46Here's a bunk, here. Can I go in and try it out?
0:47:46 > 0:47:50- This is one...- Hold my hat.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53Bearing in mind that you could be in there for three months at a time.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55How many months would they stay here?
0:47:55 > 0:47:57As long as the food lasts, in excess of 90 days.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00- The food is the main restricting... - Yes.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04We make our own water, we carry our food, obviously, we make our own oxygen.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06- You have a nuclear reactor to power it all.- Yes.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09So it is simple things like food?
0:48:09 > 0:48:11It is. Simple things like food.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15Food is what keeps morale up on a submarine when we're away for 90 days.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18This goes up to one deck, which is where the control room is.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20This is the sort of business end?
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Yes, this is where we process all the signals that come in.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27- Where's the periscope?- There are no hull-piercing periscopes.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29We don't need them any more?
0:48:29 > 0:48:33We have low-light, infrared TV cameras and they are colour TV.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36And they can go up, and stabilise a picture in a force-eight sea,
0:48:36 > 0:48:39- which is quite fantastic, with a 14-metre wave height.- Amazing.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41And how do you steer the ship?
0:48:41 > 0:48:47The submarine is steered, if you like, from the ship control console
0:48:47 > 0:48:51and, on previous submarines you would have a large wheel.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55On this submarine, you do it with this joystick, here.
0:48:55 > 0:48:56So there I am, captain...
0:48:56 > 0:49:00You wouldn't be there. You would have somebody to do that for you.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02So this entire ship, which is what...?
0:49:02 > 0:49:06- 7,800 tons.- Is steered by that one little joystick?
0:49:06 > 0:49:08Yes.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10Unbelievable.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15The three vessels being constructed here will carry torpedos
0:49:15 > 0:49:22and cruise missiles, enabling them to attack both land and sea targets.
0:49:22 > 0:49:29But do these attack submarines justify the project's £3.5 billion budget?
0:49:29 > 0:49:32In the modern world in which we find ourselves,
0:49:32 > 0:49:37with conflicts like Iraq and so forth on the agenda, how useful are they?
0:49:37 > 0:49:41Very useful because they have huge flexibility in their roles.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45They are attack submarines. They also do a surveillance task as well.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49Of course, you never quite know where a submarine is.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53Absolutely. It can remain undetected under water for months at a time.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55In the Falkland Islands,
0:49:55 > 0:50:00the very threat that one of our submarines was down there kept the Argentinian Task Group away.
0:50:00 > 0:50:07When these amazing boats are handed over to the Royal Navy in 2008,
0:50:07 > 0:50:10the shipyard's job will be done and another chapter
0:50:10 > 0:50:14in Barrow's century-old submarine story will be complete.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48There are many ways to travel along the coast -
0:50:48 > 0:50:52boats, buses, microlights, and along here, you can take the train,
0:50:52 > 0:50:57but if you want to stop here at Seascale, you have to hold your hand up.
0:51:00 > 0:51:02That's what they told me.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14I'm on the last leg of my journey, but there's one more tale to tell.
0:51:14 > 0:51:20It concerns a small town on the north-west corner of England - Whitehaven -
0:51:20 > 0:51:23and the birth of the American Navy.
0:51:27 > 0:51:32Every year a delegation from the US Navy visits the town of Whitehaven.
0:51:32 > 0:51:38These American sailors come to honour a Scot - a man from my home patch, Dumfriesshire.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41His name, John Paul Jones.
0:51:41 > 0:51:46Two centuries ago, he brought the American War of Independence to Whitehaven.
0:51:46 > 0:51:47Welcome to Whitehaven.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51Thank you very much. Appreciate the warm welcome.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55John Paul Jones is a hero of mythical proportions to the people of the United States
0:51:55 > 0:51:58and, even to this day, the value system of the Navy
0:51:58 > 0:52:02is based on what he advocated - honour, courage and commitment.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05John Paul Jones, as far as the UK is concerned, he's a historical nobody.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08He's a rogue, he's a traitor.
0:52:08 > 0:52:09So, what's the truth?
0:52:14 > 0:52:20In November 1777, with the War of Independence in its second year,
0:52:20 > 0:52:27emigre Scot John Paul Jones set sail from Portsmouth, New Hampshire with an outrageous plan -
0:52:27 > 0:52:31to attack the British Empire on its home ground.
0:52:31 > 0:52:36His objective was the town of Whitehaven, then an important trading port.
0:52:36 > 0:52:41It was a place he knew well, serving his sailing apprenticeship there before leaving for the colonies.
0:52:41 > 0:52:48In the early hours of April 23rd, 1778, John Paul Jones was back.
0:52:52 > 0:52:59With his ship anchored off the coast, the plan was to row into the harbour and wreak havoc in the town.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06The group split into two teams. The first, led by John Paul Jones,
0:53:06 > 0:53:09headed south to disable the town's armoury of cannons.
0:53:09 > 0:53:11The second headed north.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15Their mission, to set fire to the town's entire fleet of boats.
0:53:20 > 0:53:26With daybreak, the town of Whitehaven awoke to find it had been invaded by the American Navy.
0:53:26 > 0:53:32And, ever since, arguments have raged about what actually happened that night or 200 years ago.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36Local historian Gerard Richardson has his version.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39Jones took his boat down to the south end of the harbour,
0:53:39 > 0:53:42- probably landed on the beach. - On that beach that we see now?
0:53:42 > 0:53:46And then he took his crew and physically climbed
0:53:46 > 0:53:50into the fort itself, to spike the cannons, to prevent anybody firing.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54The second vessel came along into the harbour itself.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58Legend has it they came up the harbour steps which are just below us.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03The intention of those guys was to actually set fire to all the colliers that were in harbour.
0:54:05 > 0:54:06Talk about sitting ducks.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09A much busier harbour full of coal ships.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13There was a full trading fleet moored in Whitehaven that night -
0:54:13 > 0:54:16wooden sailing ships laden with coal.
0:54:16 > 0:54:21The entire harbour was a tinderbox and John Paul Jones's men had the matches.
0:54:21 > 0:54:26It would take only one good spark for the fire to take hold, creating an inferno.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28In the words of Jones himself,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31"Not a single ship of more than 200 could have escaped,
0:54:31 > 0:54:35"and the whole world would not have been able to save the town."
0:54:37 > 0:54:39But none of this actually happened.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42And why not depends on your point of view.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46I have an account here, the Lloyd's Evening Post,
0:54:46 > 0:54:50and it says that John Paul Jones's men proceeded to Nick Allison's,
0:54:50 > 0:54:53a public house on the old quay, and they made very free with the liquor.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57Nicholas Allison's is below us, this old cottage-looking building.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00Doesn't sound like the behaviour of men intent on invasion.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04- No, it doesn't.- Of course, the Americans see it differently.
0:55:04 > 0:55:09The raid on Whitehaven was not a tactical victory,
0:55:09 > 0:55:11in large part because of the Cumbrian weather.
0:55:11 > 0:55:17A torrential rain, which is not all that unusual here, doused their matches,
0:55:17 > 0:55:20put out their fires, you could not have lit a cigarette.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22John Paul Jones.
0:55:22 > 0:55:28The strategic value of the raid on Whitehaven was that it moved 40 ships of the Royal Navy away
0:55:28 > 0:55:33from the eastern seaboard of the United States to the home waters,
0:55:33 > 0:55:38to counter the fear and anxiety that rebels were right over the horizon.
0:55:38 > 0:55:43That raid was a spectacular failure, an international drunken shambles.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45It achieved absolutely nothing.
0:55:47 > 0:55:50History is what defines us, both individually and as nation states.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54It helps us to understand why we are here and what we are about.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57So let it be known to all men that all grievances
0:55:57 > 0:56:02in connection with this daring raid on this port have been dropped against John Paul Jones
0:56:02 > 0:56:09and his men and we do welcome, for all time, the Navy of the United States, together with their citizens.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12In terms of the UK, John Paul Jones's largely unknown
0:56:12 > 0:56:15and yet, in Whitehaven, we have taken him completely to heart.
0:56:15 > 0:56:19He is a rogue, a lovable rogue, he is our rogue.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22And he single-handedly launched an entire tourist attraction.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24Thank you, John Paul!
0:56:24 > 0:56:29APPLAUSE
0:56:36 > 0:56:39It looks like whoever writes history owns it.
0:56:39 > 0:56:44And what is written on one side of the ocean may be very different on the other.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11The North West coast lies right at the heart of the British Isles.
0:57:11 > 0:57:15But strangely, the flavour here is truly international.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18World events have reached here but at the same time,
0:57:18 > 0:57:22innovations on this coast have impacted on every corner of the globe.
0:57:22 > 0:57:28Early aviation on the beaches at Southport, the melting pots of the internment camps on the Isle of Man,
0:57:28 > 0:57:32the continental sophistication of Morecambe's Midland Hotel.
0:57:32 > 0:57:37You can say a lot about this stretch but one thing it's not is provincial.