Southport to Whitehaven Coast


Southport to Whitehaven

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This is just incredible.

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500 feet below me on one side is the Irish Sea, and on the other -

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the shifting sands of Formby Point near Liverpool.

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I'm on the brink of a journey along the north-west coast of England.

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This coast is famous as the playground of the industrial North.

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But it's also got many connections abroad.

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A cosmopolitan streak runs right through it, like the lettering in a stick of rock.

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Here to help me explore are the Coast team.

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Alice Roberts discovers the holiday hotels that housed enemy aliens.

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Mark Horton opens the door on Europe's biggest engineering project.

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Miranda Krestovnikoff

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comes face-to-face with the largest sharks in UK waters.

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Hermione Cockburn explores a vanishing coastline with the people who map Britain.

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And yours truly savours the fruits of the Irish Sea.

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-It doesn't get any better than that.

-No.

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The first challenge is to land on the beach, because this is Coast.

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Today's journey takes me from Southport,

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just north of Liverpool, via the Isle of Man, to Whitehaven.

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And the first thing that strikes me here are these amazing beaches.

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Where else would you land planes next to the sea? And I mean right next to the sea.

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Beautiful!

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Thanks, Richard, that was brilliant.

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Now, it's not every day that you land on a beach.

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But when you think about it, it does kind of makes sense because

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here at Southport the sands are very flat and very compact.

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And you can see them

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from miles away - a relief when you're coming into land on a flying motorbike.

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So it's possibly no surprise to find out I'm not the first person to use this as an airstrip.

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In 1910, just seven years after the Wright brothers' maiden flight,

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Claude Grahame-White landed a Farman biplane near the pier at Southport.

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The appearance of a flying machine on the sands caused a sensation.

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Southport's broad beaches quickly became home to some of Britain's pioneer aviators.

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John Mulliner, a former pilot, has studied this astonishing history.

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How perilous or dangerous

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was the early flight that was happening here?

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I don't think it was very dangerous at all,

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from what we read of the records.

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One must bear in mind that aircraft in those days didn't fly very fast,

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35-37 miles an hour maximum.

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If we've got a 10-15 mile-an-hour headwind, you're not going much faster than someone can actually run.

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OK, they had their early prangs, of course, but they tended to walk away from them unhurt.

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They were, though, real pioneers, flight was so new.

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Oh, absolutely. There were... At the time in 1910, there were only 15 qualified pilots in the country.

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Five of them were actually flying here on this coast.

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John Gaunt, our own pioneer, who, like the Wright brothers in America, was a bicycle maker.

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How extraordinary that something as world-changing as flight was pioneered by men who made bikes!

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Yes. It is extraordinary.

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The Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk in America, and they had sand dunes on the beach.

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And very similar to what we've got here.

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The antics of the early pioneers soon gave way to pleasure flights, which peaked in the 1950s.

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But with the coming of affordable flights abroad, demand declined, until Southport Sands fell silent.

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So, has beach aviation been grounded forever?

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Well, no, not quite yet.

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Because on a strip of virgin, pristine Southport sand, plans are afoot.

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Local enthusiasts are determined to bring aeroplanes back to Southport's beaches.

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Today sees the inaugural flight.

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Everything's in place.

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There's a plane, a pilot, an airstrip.

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All we need is a passenger.

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Guess who?

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What sort of a plane is this?

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Well, Neil, it's a DH83 Fox Moth, it was de Havilland's first attempt at building an airliner.

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They were built for starters,

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for small airlines which then progressed into bigger planes.

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Would this sort of plane have flown around here?

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Yes, this is one of the two aircraft that actually flew here on the beach from the mid-1930s to 1950.

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ACEJ spent its working life here.

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In its pleasure-flying heyday, ACEJ offered the ultimate holiday experience.

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TV COMMENTATOR: And one of the finest ways of seeing Southport is from the air.

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Near Pleasureland, a stretch of sand is used as an airfield for delightful pleasure flights.

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Even now, so many people come up and say, "Hey, we didn't know that aeroplane still existed.

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"It's the first aeroplane we had a joy ride in."

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I'm a little bit worried it's been flying for as long as it has.

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Flimsy is the word which springs to mind. It looks like a pair of old tights for wings.

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It's actually cotton that's covered with stuff like nail varnish, that makes it tight and waterproof.

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But it's very strong and light, which it must be for flight.

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But what about taking off and landing on a beach? That doesn't sound right either.

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That is pretty unusual nowadays.

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Today, we seem to be clear of deck chairs, and the buckets and spades have gone home.

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So it's ideal. Nice clear beach and an onshore breeze.

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You make it sound so straightforward.

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I'm going thousands of feet in the air, in something made of sticks and old tights.

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It's not right.

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I feel the need of a safety briefing. There are two engines on this plane!

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-There's no life vest under your seat.

-You guys OK?

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I'm very well, thank you.

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-Where's the drinks trolley?!

-Not here!

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The new runway on Southport Sands may never recapture the thrills of the 1920s.

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But, once airborne, you can see how high-flying dreams and the coastal landscape can be a perfect match.

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Across the Ribble Estuary is this coast's most celebrated seaside town -

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Blackpool.

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Blackpool is a resort with global aspirations.

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It's bidding to join the Pyramids and the Great Wall Of China as a World Heritage Site.

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It's claimed that it's the world's first working-class seaside resort.

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But one visitor not here for donkey rides and ice-cream is Hermione Cockburn.

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She may be an earth scientist but, like me, she can't avoid aircraft on this coast.

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The plane just landing behind me never leaves UK airspace.

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It belongs to the Ordnance Survey Flying Unit.

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The Ordnance Survey

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makes over 150 sorties a year from their base in Blackpool.

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I've come into town to meet Trevor Hilton, one of the unit's aerial surveyors. So, why Blackpool?

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Well, we map the whole of the country.

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Blackpool is the airport nearest to the centre of Britain.

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Another thing is the lovely weather.

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This stretch of coast gets very good weather, a lot of sunshine.

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So, we're not going to be fog-bound many days.

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What are you actually doing?

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Britain has one of the most comprehensive mapping databases in the world.

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And we update that by various means, mainly on the ground but sometimes it's more efficient to do it by air.

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The OS use a super-high-resolution camera, a whopping 128 mega pixels.

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The photographs are processed at their Southampton HQ.

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But software still needs help with detailed variations,

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like new housing, roads or coastal changes.

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These are traced in by hand.

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This then becomes the basis for the standard OS maps we rely on.

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Now, as somebody who has flown the entire coastline of Britain, what's your favourite stretch?

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I've a few. Probably the west coast of Scotland is my favourite.

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There are some dramatic sights, like the Cuillins, rising, on Skye,

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straight out of the sea.

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Cornwall as well, you can see this clear blue water, white beaches.

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You see these people as specks, and sometimes I wish I was down there enjoying myself

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and not stuck 5,000 feet up working.

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Trevor's favourite aerial views are at opposite ends of the country.

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But one of the Ordnance Survey's biggest challenges is right on their doorstep.

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Formby Sands, just south of Blackpool, is the most dynamic dune system in England.

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Here, whole features have been wiped off the map.

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The OS are going up to photograph Formby's changing coastline.

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But with no spare room in the plane, I have come to meet coastal engineer

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Paul Wisse to discover what's happening on the ground.

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Paul, I'd say this is a fairly typical coastal-dune system.

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Yes, but what's striking about this coastline

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is the speed it's rolling back.

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25 years ago, this was a caravan park where we are standing.

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Literally, the dunes have rolled back inland and engulfed and...

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-Buried beneath us are caravans.

-So do sometimes caravans get exhumed?

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There haven't been any yet, but in the next couple of years

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it's very likely that some will pop out onto the beach.

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Can you see any evidence of the caravan park?

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You can see just below us an edge where the foundations of the car park were.

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We've got the children over in the distance helping pick up some of the

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rubble which has been washed out by the erosion.

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5,000 feet up, Trevor is taking pictures that will show us how Formby's dunes are shifting.

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Meanwhile, Paul and his team have taken me out to get the perspective from sea level.

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Paul, how fast are the dunes along this coastline changing?

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On average, over the last 100 years, they have eroded by five metres a year.

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Sefton Coast is mainly made of sand, which is readily eroded by the

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coastal processes, such as the waves, the tides, the wind. There used to be

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-a cafe on Formby Point which has been lost to erosion.

-Oh, really?

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-Yes, I've got some photos. This is the cafe in 1958.

-Right.

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Just three years later in 1961.

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Oh, my goodness, so that was wave action?

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That has been undermined by the coastal erosion. It's just collapsed.

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What happened to the cafe?

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According to my GPS, it's right beneath us.

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Beneath us here? But we are what, 100 metres or so...

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100 metres offshore.

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Oh, look, there's the plane going over.

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The OS are taking our aerial survey.

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So, you were saying, this coastline has been eroding for 100 years.

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-Where would the coastline have been back then?

-Keith...

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-We're going an awfully long way out.

-Yes.

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Another 350 metres.

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-Really?

-So right about where we are now is where the coast was in 1906.

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That is incredible.

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-We are half a kilometre from the dunes.

-Yes.

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That's half a kilometre of Lancashire coast wiped off the map in just 100 years.

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The dramatic erosion here at Formby is a combination of the soft sand and high tidal range.

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What I want to know is how the Ordnance Survey's aerial photographs

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capture the history of this eroding coastline.

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-Hi, Trevor.

-Hiya.

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So how did you get on? How is Formby Sands from the air?

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-We've got a couple of photos here that we took earlier of Formby.

-Right.

-It was a beautiful morning.

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Oh, it looks fantastic.

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You can really see the line of the dunes there along the beach.

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We've got an earlier shot here taken back in 1978.

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-And you can see here a caravan park. You see this bend here.

-Yes.

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-And that bend there.

-That's the caravan park which is now buried by these dunes?

-Indeed, yes.

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How soon before we can expect to see these changes on these kind of maps?

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Each week we produce new sheets.

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An individual sheet, it will be a number of years depending on rates of change.

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So, next time you're on the beach and a plane flies overhead, it may be adding you to the map of Britain.

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There are changes happening around our coast that don't show up on the map.

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The recent influx of migrant workers is one of them.

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My name is Rafal Sekulski. Everyone calls me Raf, it's shorter.

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I come from Poland and I work on Big One.

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This is the biggest roller coaster in Europe, it's 235 feet, up to 85 miles an hour when you go on it.

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Part of my job is to make sure that people are safe on Big One. And they're having fun.

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The first time I came here, I didn't really want to go on it because I was really scared of heights.

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But they pushed me in the train.

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SCREAMING

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And I was really scared the first time.

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When I went out of the train, my legs were shaking, they were shaky.

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But now it's OK. They are about 7-8,000 Polish in Blackpool.

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Sometimes when I walk on the prom, every second person is speaking Polish.

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I turn around, "Oh, my God, so many of them."

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Sometimes I get the feeling like I am on the Baltic Sea.

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And the English are the foreigners who came abroad.

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# I read the news today, oh boy... #

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8,000 Poles in Blackpool, Lancashire, who'd have thought it?

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In fact, Blackpool attracts six million visitors every year.

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But just up the coast, its neighbour Morecambe

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isn't so lucky.

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# Trudging slowly over wet sands... #

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Last time I was in Morecambe, I was out on the sands with Cedric Robinson and a party of tourists,

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finding out where you can walk, and where you really shouldn't.

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# This is the coastal town

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# That they forgot to close down

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# Every day is like Sunday... #

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Walking the streets of Morecambe today, you can see that the place has struggled to free itself

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from the dog days of the '60s and '70s when it was abandoned for warmer climes.

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But it wasn't always like this.

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Morecambe was named after the bay on which it relied for trade and fishing.

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Then workers from the industrial cities started to holiday here, and it got a new nickname.

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Bradford-on-Sea.

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Famed for its smog-free air and wonderful views, it became

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a place of escapism, with everyday cares left inland.

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Then we began to go abroad on holiday.

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And the British seaside paid the price.

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But rumours of Morecambe's death may have been exaggerated.

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Because here, where the pier meets the central promenade, is what looks like a demolition site.

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But, in fact, it's anything but.

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Underneath all that scaffolding is an internationally-renowned architectural masterpiece.

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It's also an icon that has always been the barometer for Morecambe's health and well-being.

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That is the Midland Hotel.

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Commanding the seafront, the Midland is Morecambe's celebrated centrepiece.

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Built by a railway company in 1933, the hotel, like the town, first boomed...

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and then bust. When developers Urban Splash started to redevelop it in 2003, it was almost derelict.

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But site manager Kieran Gardner sees beyond the shell.

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So, this is an Art Deco masterpiece, is it?

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Yes. Work-in-progress at the moment.

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And what does survive in terms of original features?

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Here you can see we've got some of the original artwork.

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This here is an Eric Gill piece, which is probably the most famous piece within the hotel itself.

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It's made out of Perrycot Portland stone.

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It depicts Neptune coming out of the sea.

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The inscription is quite nice here.

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It's from Homer's The Odyssey.

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"There is good hope that thou mayest see thy friends."

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That's right, which is a nice touch for the hotel.

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And I can't help but notice this coastline is the path I'm taking.

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I started out at Southport.

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And I'm following that line. That's a cracker as well.

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This is another Eric Gill piece, it was done with his son-in-law, Denis Tegetmeier.

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-There is something very optimistic about the style of it. It's so bright.

-Yeah.

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I have always found there is a certain amount of optimism comes with being on the coast.

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The coastal dwellers have that, and I very much believe that.

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The Midland's design reflected the modernist movement seen abroad

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with its aim of achieving unity in decoration and architecture.

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When the hotel first opened in the depression of the 1930s, optimism was badly needed.

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Its Art Deco architecture was an extravagant gesture of hope.

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And it worked. Morecambe became an international destination for the sophisticated holidaymaker.

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How are you doing?

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Have a seat. 'Harry Adams remembers the hotel in its heyday.'

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When did you work at the Midland, Harry?

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-From 1936 to 1939.

-And what was your job?

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First job was a page boy, but I sometimes worked as a junior porter.

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The chef was a French man, a Mr Massey.

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The head waiter was Italian,

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the manager was a Swiss - Mr August, the head wine waiter was English,

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the other page boy with me was a Spanish boy.

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-A continental mix for the northwest of England in the '30s.

-That's right, yes.

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What about the guests?

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-What kind of people came to the hotel?

-Mostly moneyed people.

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They stopped a week, two weeks, the month.

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The evening was best, when the gents were dressed up in their tuxedos,

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the ladies in their gowns, coming down that wonderful staircase.

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I used to love that.

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I hadn't been there very long and a gentleman beckoned me, "Would I take a message to room number so and so?"

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I went up, knocked on the door, a lady answered. I said, "A page boy, madam, with a message for you."

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She said, "Come in."

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I went in, opened the door, and there she stood in bra and knickers.

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I was 15 years old. I'd never seen anything like that before in my life.

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-What did you do?

-I got out as quick as possible!

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I can't say I would do it now.

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-Any regrets?

-No, no, no!

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The restoration of the Midland isn't a throw-back to the 1930s.

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When it re-opens in 2008, it will be re-fitted throughout, right up to the roof terrace.

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But while the building can be regenerated, what about the town?

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Why Morecambe? With the best will in the world, it seems quite a punt to take on a depressed area.

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You only have to look out across the bay at the view we have here.

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It's outstanding.

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It's a fabulous bay, and it is probably Morecambe's biggest asset.

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Do you think the presence of this hotel will be enough to bring new life back?

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People have seen the hotel more as a mirror for the fortunes of the town.

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With the works that we're intending to do here,

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they see it as a renewed faith or confidence in Morecambe itself.

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Question. Which landmass lies right at the heart of the British Isles but is not part of the UK?

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Has its own Celtic language, but was ruled for 200 years by the Vikings,

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and - according to legend - is protected by a cloak-like mist summoned by the sea god Manannon.

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Where else, but the Isle of Man?

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The Isle of Man is just 16 miles off the mainland.

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But it's independent of the United Kingdom and the European Union.

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That stretch of Irish Sea really does make all the difference.

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It never ceases to amaze me.

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I spend all this time travelling around the British Isles, but I keep

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finding whole places that I've never been to, and this is one of them.

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The port of Douglas has a perfect seafront, like a child's picture book.

0:24:330:24:40

But I've an appointment in a more ancient settlement - Castletown.

0:24:420:24:47

The guide books tell you that the Isle of Man has the oldest

0:24:530:24:57

parliament in the world, the Tynwald, founded in 979.

0:24:570:25:03

But who does it represent?

0:25:030:25:05

Who are the Manx people?

0:25:050:25:06

And what is that weird symbol I'm seeing everywhere?

0:25:060:25:10

If anyone knows, it'll be Butch Buttery - fisherman, chef and Manxman.

0:25:120:25:19

Butch, what is it that makes this place tick?

0:25:190:25:22

It's the independence, I think.

0:25:220:25:25

It's the fact that we're not English,

0:25:250:25:28

not Irish, not Scottish.

0:25:280:25:29

We're very much our own people here.

0:25:290:25:32

We're not big on natural resources - only ever had farming and fishing.

0:25:320:25:36

The economy is driven by the difference in taxation. Our taxation is lower than the mainland.

0:25:360:25:41

Our income tax is only 10%, so we have a lot of financial services here, insurance services.

0:25:410:25:48

I suppose, historically, our tax rates on brandy and tobacco were lower than those in the UK,

0:25:480:25:54

so vessels would put in here, unload cargos, which would be smuggled back to the mainland.

0:25:540:25:59

What is it with the three-legged symbol?

0:25:590:26:02

It's an ancient Norse symbol but to me and to Manx people, it's our flag, it's a symbol of our nation.

0:26:020:26:09

It means, "Whichever way you throw me, I will stand."

0:26:090:26:12

-It symbolises resourcefulness of the Manx people.

-It's not just about giving everyone a good kick.

0:26:120:26:19

-It's nothing to do with giving everyone a good kicking, no.

-When I go on holiday,

0:26:190:26:23

-one thing I think about is good food. Is there good food here?

-Fantastic. Particularly the seafood.

0:26:230:26:29

The warm currents of the Gulf Stream create a rich supply of plankton round the island,

0:26:290:26:36

ideal for raising the shellfish known locally as "queenies", and to you and me as queen scallops.

0:26:360:26:42

I'm about to get a cookery lesson in the style of Mad Manx.

0:26:420:26:46

It's a serious burner you've got there, Butch.

0:26:480:26:51

There's no point in fiddling around with camping stoves, is there? Let's get the show on the road.

0:26:510:26:57

Olive oil.

0:26:570:26:58

A bit of garlic.

0:26:590:27:01

Two shallots.

0:27:010:27:02

They don't need to be cooked for more than two minutes, a minute and a half, something like that.

0:27:020:27:08

We have got purity laws here on beer, ice-cream, and the food that we produce.

0:27:080:27:12

They're very restrictive about what you can do with them.

0:27:120:27:16

You can't use chemicals. ..A little bit of parsley.

0:27:160:27:19

And then, really to finish it, when they are as done as you want them to be,

0:27:220:27:26

a wee bit of wine.

0:27:260:27:28

It's all my favourite things, all in the same place!

0:27:280:27:30

Have a fork.

0:27:360:27:37

-Doesn't get any better than that.

-That's gorgeous.

0:27:440:27:47

Moving west, we come to a resort popular since Victorian times.

0:28:070:28:12

Port Erin lies in a tranquil bay but, like other holiday destinations on the island, it has a darker past.

0:28:210:28:28

With the coming of the Second World War, its hotels became home to a different kind of visitor.

0:28:280:28:35

Alice Roberts uncovers their story.

0:28:350:28:38

Port Erin is a picturesque seaside town but those coming in 1940

0:28:380:28:43

weren't arriving at a holiday resort, they were coming to prison.

0:28:430:28:47

In that summer of 1940, a German invasion of Britain was expected daily.

0:28:490:28:53

Amid fears of a fifth column of enemy sympathisers,

0:28:530:28:57

German, Austrian and Italian immigrants to Britain were rounded up all over the country.

0:28:570:29:03

They were brought to the Isle Of Man for internment.

0:29:030:29:07

This is a photograph of people being rounded up

0:29:140:29:18

from their homes and brought here in 1940.

0:29:180:29:21

You just wonder what was going through their minds as they arrived here and faced an uncertain future.

0:29:210:29:27

Rosemary Wood's parents were Austrian.

0:29:270:29:30

In 1940, she was just 14 and living in London with her mother and sister.

0:29:300:29:34

Rosemary, when did you first find out that you were going to be

0:29:340:29:39

moved to the Isle of Man and interned here?

0:29:390:29:42

When my mother heard it on the radio, the next morning, two policemen

0:29:420:29:47

came to the door and said, "You know what we've come for?"

0:29:470:29:52

My mother said, "Yes, do you expect me to leave the house

0:29:520:29:55

"and the children, and the cat and the dog?"

0:29:550:29:58

And they said, "We'll come back in an hour's time if that suits you."

0:29:580:30:03

You had an hour to pack everything?

0:30:030:30:05

Yes. We went into the police car and then they took us on to board the train for Liverpool.

0:30:050:30:10

Walking through the streets was the worst part

0:30:100:30:13

because there were angry bystanders shouting, "Hang the lot of them."

0:30:130:30:17

Other people threw missiles, but luckily nothing hit us.

0:30:170:30:22

My mother said, "Just look down at the floor and don't take any notice."

0:30:220:30:27

Sounds like quite a traumatic journey.

0:30:280:30:31

You must have been relieved when you got here.

0:30:310:30:33

Yes, there was a sense of relief that we'd reached the end of the journey.

0:30:330:30:37

Around 15,000 foreign nationals were interned on the island.

0:30:400:30:45

Men were housed in camps on Douglas and Ramsey.

0:30:450:30:50

Port Erin was designated for women and children.

0:30:500:30:54

In the men's camps, hotels and guest houses were requisitioned

0:30:540:30:59

with barbed-wire running along the promenades.

0:30:590:31:02

In Port Erin, the women and children internees

0:31:040:31:07

were allowed to move around freely, albeit under police supervision.

0:31:070:31:11

What happened when you arrived in Port Erin?

0:31:110:31:16

We were met at the railway station

0:31:160:31:20

by several policewomen and they grouped us off

0:31:200:31:25

-into batches of about 22 people and marched us up this promenade.

-Right.

0:31:250:31:31

We were told to follow this Sergeant Pike, who was a big burly woman.

0:31:310:31:36

When we got to about this point, my mother said to her, "How much further have we got to go?

0:31:360:31:41

"We are tired carrying all this luggage."

0:31:410:31:43

And she said, "We are going right up to those houses in the distance, you see."

0:31:430:31:48

We lingered at the back of this group of 22, and at the next turning on the right here,

0:31:480:31:55

my mother said, "We are turning down here."

0:31:550:31:58

I was terrified of disobeying this policewoman but she said to stay around here out of sight.

0:31:580:32:05

We hovered there for a while and then my mother looked round.

0:32:050:32:08

When they were over the hill and out of sight,

0:32:080:32:10

she turned round and knocked on the door of the Eagle Hotel.

0:32:100:32:14

That was what used to be here?

0:32:140:32:15

That's right. They demolished the hotel, the original building.

0:32:150:32:19

The landlady, Miss Booth, asked us what we wanted

0:32:190:32:22

and my mother said, "We have lost our guide, can you give us accommodation here?"

0:32:220:32:26

The Eagle Hotel became Rosemary's home for the next year because her Austrian mother

0:32:260:32:32

took the bold decision to ignore their police escort.

0:32:320:32:35

On the other side of the island, the men had no such freedom.

0:32:350:32:40

Yvonne Cresswell has researched the internment camps' history.

0:32:400:32:45

So this is another Isle of Man camp, is it?

0:32:450:32:48

That's it. This is the Mooragh camp in Ramsey and it is fairly typical.

0:32:480:32:52

You have a section of hotels on the promenade, and just barbed-wire put round them.

0:32:520:32:59

Guards sat at all the entrances and exits, as you can see here in Hutchinson camp.

0:32:590:33:05

It looks like a concentration camp, doesn't it? With the barbed wire.

0:33:050:33:09

That's the terrifying thing when we look at them now.

0:33:090:33:12

-Did they have jobs to do while they were here?

-Well, no.

0:33:120:33:16

Boredom is the biggest threat.

0:33:160:33:18

Artists painted, writers wrote, and places like Hutchinson was known as the camp university

0:33:180:33:26

because there were so many German and Austrian academics, but several camps also produced their own newspapers.

0:33:260:33:33

This is a cartoon of where the Isle of Man is in relation

0:33:330:33:37

to the rest of Europe and the three-legged symbol with barbed wire around it.

0:33:370:33:41

That's it. It truly was an island of barbed wire at that time.

0:33:410:33:47

As the threat of an invasion receded, the public mood changed

0:33:470:33:52

and many foreign internees were released.

0:33:520:33:55

But Rosemary Wood and her mother were in no hurry to return to London.

0:33:550:33:59

They had come to the Isle of Man expecting a prison.

0:33:590:34:03

What they'd found was a haven from the war.

0:34:030:34:06

I can't believe how lucky we were, looking back.

0:34:100:34:14

The sun seemed to shine every day. We had swimming costumes, we were in and out of the water,

0:34:140:34:19

sitting on the beach, chatting to the other internees.

0:34:190:34:22

The scenery here is so beautiful.

0:34:220:34:24

We could walk up to the hill, we could walk to Port St Mary.

0:34:240:34:29

We were so lucky because it must have been the cushiest camp in the world.

0:34:290:34:34

How do you feel about it now, coming back all these years later

0:34:340:34:38

to this place where you were actually kept a prisoner?

0:34:380:34:41

We were away from the Blitz, we were safe, we had a roof over our head

0:34:410:34:45

and food, not luxurious food but we were housed and fed,

0:34:450:34:50

knowing that so many people on the Continent were in far worse circumstances.

0:34:500:34:55

We just counted ourselves very lucky.

0:34:550:34:59

Release finally came for Rosemary in 1942, and a reluctant return to wartime London.

0:34:590:35:05

From Prison Island to Fantasy Island, the latest turn of the tide for the Isle of Man.

0:35:110:35:17

The last decade has brought over 80 films and TV dramas here.

0:35:170:35:22

What filmmaker could resist stunning scenery and spectacular tax breaks?

0:35:220:35:26

Films like Waking Ned in Cregneash, Churchill The Hollywood Years in Castletown,

0:35:260:35:32

and Stormbreaker in Port Erin have attracted a galaxy of stars -

0:35:320:35:36

Penelope Cruz, Christian Slater, Ewan McGregor, Johnny Depp.

0:35:360:35:41

But for every big name, the Isle of Man has many more just waiting to break through.

0:35:410:35:47

Hello. My name is Charlie Henry and for a day job,

0:35:470:35:51

I am duty manager for the shipping line which runs to the Isle of Man.

0:35:510:35:55

But I have a very interesting sideline

0:35:550:35:58

in the active film industry within the island,

0:35:580:36:02

where I am a film extra and I have now been fortunate to appear in over 40 productions.

0:36:020:36:09

This is from the film Keeping Mum, which had Rowan Atkinson.

0:36:090:36:13

I was in it as a footballer.

0:36:130:36:16

Also in this particular movie is Patrick Swayze.

0:36:160:36:20

This is taken from Piccadilly Jim.

0:36:200:36:22

The main star was Brenda Blethyn.

0:36:220:36:26

She is such an amazing professional and also she is such a nice person.

0:36:260:36:31

I had one good night out at one of the nightclubs, and Brenda was giving it as much as everyone else.

0:36:310:36:37

She was really enjoying it. This is a shot from the film Colour Me Kubrick.

0:36:370:36:42

On that film was Mr John Malkovich.

0:36:420:36:46

John swears by a particular fish restaurant on the Isle of Man,

0:36:460:36:51

which he actually said was the reason he came back to do Libertine.

0:36:510:36:55

Today I'm about to film an advertisement

0:36:580:37:01

-and I am going to play a fisherman.

-Action.

0:37:010:37:07

Everybody has the one eye on Hollywood,

0:37:090:37:12

but basically I'm very happy here on the island and enjoying what I'm doing.

0:37:120:37:20

Hollywood royalty crossing the oceans to the Isle of Man is a recent phenomenon.

0:37:240:37:29

But for thousands of years, the island's warm summer waters

0:37:290:37:34

have brought some of the biggest stars of the aquatic world.

0:37:340:37:37

Miranda Krestovnikoff is stalking that most elusive of celebrities, the basking shark.

0:37:370:37:43

Basking sharks can be seen off various parts

0:37:430:37:46

of the British coastline, but the locals here

0:37:460:37:50

reckon they have the absolute top spot

0:37:500:37:52

if you want to catch a glimpse of these marine giants.

0:37:520:37:54

As summer warms our coastal waters,

0:37:540:37:58

basking sharks move up the coastline from Cornwall to the Isle of Man,

0:37:580:38:02

and eventually as far north as the Western Isles of Scotland.

0:38:020:38:05

June and July are supposed to be the best months to see them around the island.

0:38:050:38:09

I've come to try and swim with one of the most spectacular animals

0:38:090:38:13

in British waters, but first I've got to find them.

0:38:130:38:17

John Galpin is one of the island's keenest shark spotters.

0:38:170:38:21

One of the great features of them

0:38:250:38:28

is that you can see an animal which has been on the planet for 200 million years

0:38:280:38:32

and you can watch some of the most amazing things like the mating,

0:38:320:38:36

the courtship behaviour, perhaps even giving birth,

0:38:360:38:39

but you have to put some time into it to see these exciting things.

0:38:390:38:42

I'm fortunate because I have got a tolerant wife

0:38:420:38:45

and she lets me have huge observational binoculars in the bedroom,

0:38:450:38:49

so you see some amazing things at six in the morning.

0:38:490:38:52

Sharks, whales, all sorts.

0:38:520:38:53

But this is a great vantage point for watching basking sharks.

0:38:530:38:57

I tend to do most of my work from the shore.

0:38:570:39:00

You then get a much broader panorama and you can see them doing things.

0:39:000:39:04

I'm particularly interested in their courtship behaviour.

0:39:040:39:08

-Have you seen them courting?

-We get them courting here a lot.

0:39:080:39:11

About 150 yards offshore, this pair came together and they came and entwined themselves.

0:39:110:39:16

There was a big churning in the water and there they were, mating sharks, 150 metres off the shore here.

0:39:160:39:23

What have we got out there? Any fins breaking the surface?

0:39:230:39:26

I can't see any fins just at the moment.

0:39:260:39:28

John is not the island's only shark fan. There is even a Shark Watch update on local radio.

0:39:280:39:35

'Manx Radio.

0:39:350:39:37

'You are listening to Manx Radio. Keep those sightings coming this morning,

0:39:370:39:42

'The more sightings we get from you, the more information we put towards the Manx Basking Shark Watch.'

0:39:420:39:49

Jackie Hall is a marine biologist and founder of the Manx Basking Shark Watch.

0:39:490:39:54

Hopefully her inside knowledge will get me an encounter with a shark.

0:39:540:39:58

I'm familiar with the Isle of Man as being a real hot spot for basking sharks. What brings them up here?

0:40:010:40:07

The Isle of Man is bathed in warm water

0:40:070:40:10

that's come up from the Atlantic, carried by the Gulf Stream

0:40:100:40:14

and, as the water warms up, we get plankton bloom,

0:40:140:40:18

-and the sharks are here to eat that plankton.

-Conditions today?

0:40:180:40:22

Not that marvellous. Because it's not flat, oily calm.

0:40:220:40:27

There is something over there.

0:40:340:40:37

Wow!

0:40:370:40:38

There's his tail as well. Did you see his tail up, that time?

0:40:380:40:42

That's fairly typical, just feeding,

0:40:430:40:46

with his mouth wide open, just under the surface.

0:40:460:40:51

It never ceases to be exciting, does it?

0:40:510:40:54

I've seen lots of basking sharks and you do get excited!

0:40:540:40:57

He's doing that typical, zig-zagged feeding pattern.

0:40:570:41:00

They find an in the water strandline of plankton

0:41:000:41:05

and they just zig-zag feed, backwards and forwards through it.

0:41:050:41:08

-How big do you reckon that one is?

-Probably an eight-metre one, but let's wait until we get in closer.

0:41:080:41:13

This is my chance.

0:41:130:41:16

There's nothing like seeing these sharks up close to take your breath away.

0:41:210:41:25

It's only now that their size really hits you.

0:41:250:41:28

They're as big as a bus and twice the weight of an elephant.

0:41:280:41:32

That huge mouth looks daunting, but they don't bite.

0:41:320:41:36

They feed by filtering from the water the minute organisms that make up plankton.

0:41:360:41:42

Sticky mucus on their gills traps the food as it flows by -

0:41:420:41:46

and they can really move.

0:41:460:41:48

A flick of the tail and he's gone.

0:41:480:41:51

That was just so brilliant!

0:41:540:41:56

Wow!

0:41:560:41:58

In the water, right next to me.

0:41:580:42:01

Just beautiful.

0:42:010:42:03

Back on the mainland,

0:42:340:42:35

as I journey along the north shore of Morecambe Bay

0:42:350:42:38

towards Barrow-in-Furness, I've got the Cumbrian hills for company

0:42:380:42:42

and a sense of solitude. But round here that isolation is deceptive.

0:42:420:42:48

There are some places you find on the coast, and this is one of them,

0:42:480:42:52

that give the impression they have never been touched by the outside world.

0:42:520:42:56

But of course that is seldom true.

0:42:560:42:59

That little island there - Peel Island - was given to the people of Barrow as a memorial

0:42:590:43:04

to all the men who were taken and killed in the Great War of 1914 to 1918.

0:43:040:43:09

And it reminds you that, wherever you go, the wider world is really never very far away.

0:43:090:43:15

War, or the prospect of war, has been part of daily life for generations on this tranquil coast.

0:43:180:43:25

This is where many of Britain's most illustrious warships have been built.

0:43:250:43:30

Mark Horton is in Barrow-in-Furness to bring its shipbuilding story up to date.

0:43:300:43:36

Messing about in boats is a hobby of mine.

0:43:380:43:40

But, here, building them is a way of life.

0:43:400:43:44

Ships of all kinds have come down the slipways here.

0:43:440:43:48

But Barrow-in-Furness's real pride is in building boats that go under the sea.

0:43:480:43:56

The Royal Navy's very first submarine was built in Barrow in 1901.

0:43:580:44:03

In the 1960s, they built the Polaris class - Britain's first submarines to carry nuclear missiles.

0:44:030:44:10

Followed, in the 1980s, by their replacement, Trident.

0:44:140:44:19

But then the order book fell empty.

0:44:190:44:22

The shipyard struggled on until, in 1998, came a big new commission.

0:44:220:44:28

This is a very restricted area

0:44:280:44:31

because in here are being built

0:44:310:44:33

some of the world's most advanced submarines.

0:44:330:44:36

I think this is the right place.

0:44:380:44:40

ALARM SOUNDS

0:44:400:44:44

It's absolutely huge.

0:44:460:44:48

As the doors slide open, what hits you is the scale.

0:44:540:44:59

This is the Astute class of attack submarine.

0:44:590:45:03

There's a lot I can't tell you.

0:45:030:45:05

I'm being monitored for reasons of national security.

0:45:050:45:09

But what I can tell you is that they're powered by nuclear energy,

0:45:090:45:13

but do not carry nuclear weapons.

0:45:130:45:16

And they never need to refuel.

0:45:160:45:19

Their reactors create enough energy to power a city the size of Southampton.

0:45:190:45:24

But what underpins all this is the traditional shipbuilding skill of the Barrow workforce.

0:45:260:45:32

What's the guy with the wood there?

0:45:350:45:38

Gavin, he is using what we call a set

0:45:380:45:41

and that is the actual shape of the bit we want to get.

0:45:410:45:44

Something that's been used since...

0:45:440:45:48

-It's just Victorian, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

0:45:480:45:51

As the metal sheets are welded together, it begins to take on the shape of a submarine.

0:45:550:46:01

It's Gary Davies's job to oversee the assembly shop.

0:46:010:46:05

This is the actual hull of the submarine?

0:46:050:46:09

This is the aft for boat three.

0:46:090:46:12

An amazing piece of steel.

0:46:120:46:14

This separates the submariners from the deep, cold icy ocean.

0:46:140:46:19

-Yes, that's all there is.

-And how thick is the seal?

0:46:190:46:22

It varies from one end to the other.

0:46:220:46:24

-But you can't tell me exactly?

-No, I can tell you that, I'm afraid.

0:46:240:46:27

-National security?

-That's right. Top secret.

-How deep can it get?

0:46:270:46:31

I can't tell you that either, I'm afraid. That's another secret.

0:46:310:46:36

The steel itself is welded in sections, is it?

0:46:360:46:39

All the white lines there are all the welds

0:46:390:46:42

and all the welds are a full penetration weld,

0:46:420:46:44

so what that means is, it's welded from one side to the other,

0:46:440:46:49

and once all the weld is complete, we X-ray it,

0:46:490:46:53

then the weld is as good, if not better than the steel itself.

0:46:530:46:56

And is the steel bog-standard steel that comes off a rolling mill?

0:46:560:47:00

The steel itself is only made from special material that is only made and only used on our submarines.

0:47:000:47:06

-It is not used anywhere else in the world.

-You can't tell me what it's made of?

-No.

0:47:060:47:11

-National security?

-That's right.

0:47:110:47:14

That's the shell. What goes inside these giant husks - living quarters,

0:47:140:47:20

cabins, control deck, are built as modules outside

0:47:200:47:24

and inserted, complete, into the hull of the boat.

0:47:240:47:29

Commander Paul Knight has agreed to take me aboard the command deck module of HMS Ambush.

0:47:290:47:35

-This is where people will sleep?

-Yes, this is the 18-man...

0:47:350:47:40

Bunk space, there we go.

0:47:400:47:42

Here's a bunk, here. Can I go in and try it out?

0:47:440:47:46

-This is one...

-Hold my hat.

0:47:460:47:50

Bearing in mind that you could be in there for three months at a time.

0:47:500:47:53

How many months would they stay here?

0:47:530:47:55

As long as the food lasts, in excess of 90 days.

0:47:550:47:57

-The food is the main restricting...

-Yes.

0:47:570:48:00

We make our own water, we carry our food, obviously, we make our own oxygen.

0:48:000:48:04

-You have a nuclear reactor to power it all.

-Yes.

0:48:040:48:06

So it is simple things like food?

0:48:060:48:09

It is. Simple things like food.

0:48:090:48:11

Food is what keeps morale up on a submarine when we're away for 90 days.

0:48:110:48:15

This goes up to one deck, which is where the control room is.

0:48:150:48:18

This is the sort of business end?

0:48:180:48:20

Yes, this is where we process all the signals that come in.

0:48:200:48:23

-Where's the periscope?

-There are no hull-piercing periscopes.

0:48:230:48:27

We don't need them any more?

0:48:270:48:29

We have low-light, infrared TV cameras and they are colour TV.

0:48:290:48:33

And they can go up, and stabilise a picture in a force-eight sea,

0:48:330:48:36

-which is quite fantastic, with a 14-metre wave height.

-Amazing.

0:48:360:48:39

And how do you steer the ship?

0:48:390:48:41

The submarine is steered, if you like, from the ship control console

0:48:410:48:47

and, on previous submarines you would have a large wheel.

0:48:470:48:51

On this submarine, you do it with this joystick, here.

0:48:510:48:55

So there I am, captain...

0:48:550:48:56

You wouldn't be there. You would have somebody to do that for you.

0:48:560:49:00

So this entire ship, which is what...?

0:49:000:49:02

-7,800 tons.

-Is steered by that one little joystick?

0:49:020:49:06

Yes.

0:49:060:49:08

Unbelievable.

0:49:080:49:10

The three vessels being constructed here will carry torpedos

0:49:110:49:15

and cruise missiles, enabling them to attack both land and sea targets.

0:49:150:49:22

But do these attack submarines justify the project's £3.5 billion budget?

0:49:220:49:29

In the modern world in which we find ourselves,

0:49:290:49:32

with conflicts like Iraq and so forth on the agenda, how useful are they?

0:49:320:49:37

Very useful because they have huge flexibility in their roles.

0:49:370:49:41

They are attack submarines. They also do a surveillance task as well.

0:49:410:49:45

Of course, you never quite know where a submarine is.

0:49:450:49:49

Absolutely. It can remain undetected under water for months at a time.

0:49:490:49:53

In the Falkland Islands,

0:49:530:49:55

the very threat that one of our submarines was down there kept the Argentinian Task Group away.

0:49:550:50:00

When these amazing boats are handed over to the Royal Navy in 2008,

0:50:000:50:07

the shipyard's job will be done and another chapter

0:50:070:50:10

in Barrow's century-old submarine story will be complete.

0:50:100:50:14

There are many ways to travel along the coast -

0:50:450:50:48

boats, buses, microlights, and along here, you can take the train,

0:50:480:50:52

but if you want to stop here at Seascale, you have to hold your hand up.

0:50:520:50:57

That's what they told me.

0:51:000:51:02

I'm on the last leg of my journey, but there's one more tale to tell.

0:51:100:51:14

It concerns a small town on the north-west corner of England - Whitehaven -

0:51:140:51:20

and the birth of the American Navy.

0:51:200:51:23

Every year a delegation from the US Navy visits the town of Whitehaven.

0:51:270:51:32

These American sailors come to honour a Scot - a man from my home patch, Dumfriesshire.

0:51:320:51:38

His name, John Paul Jones.

0:51:380:51:41

Two centuries ago, he brought the American War of Independence to Whitehaven.

0:51:410:51:46

Welcome to Whitehaven.

0:51:460:51:47

Thank you very much. Appreciate the warm welcome.

0:51:470:51:51

John Paul Jones is a hero of mythical proportions to the people of the United States

0:51:510:51:55

and, even to this day, the value system of the Navy

0:51:550:51:58

is based on what he advocated - honour, courage and commitment.

0:51:580:52:02

John Paul Jones, as far as the UK is concerned, he's a historical nobody.

0:52:020:52:05

He's a rogue, he's a traitor.

0:52:050:52:08

So, what's the truth?

0:52:080:52:09

In November 1777, with the War of Independence in its second year,

0:52:140:52:20

emigre Scot John Paul Jones set sail from Portsmouth, New Hampshire with an outrageous plan -

0:52:200:52:27

to attack the British Empire on its home ground.

0:52:270:52:31

His objective was the town of Whitehaven, then an important trading port.

0:52:310:52:36

It was a place he knew well, serving his sailing apprenticeship there before leaving for the colonies.

0:52:360:52:41

In the early hours of April 23rd, 1778, John Paul Jones was back.

0:52:410:52:48

With his ship anchored off the coast, the plan was to row into the harbour and wreak havoc in the town.

0:52:520:52:59

The group split into two teams. The first, led by John Paul Jones,

0:53:020:53:06

headed south to disable the town's armoury of cannons.

0:53:060:53:09

The second headed north.

0:53:090:53:11

Their mission, to set fire to the town's entire fleet of boats.

0:53:110:53:15

With daybreak, the town of Whitehaven awoke to find it had been invaded by the American Navy.

0:53:200:53:26

And, ever since, arguments have raged about what actually happened that night or 200 years ago.

0:53:260:53:32

Local historian Gerard Richardson has his version.

0:53:320:53:36

Jones took his boat down to the south end of the harbour,

0:53:360:53:39

-probably landed on the beach.

-On that beach that we see now?

0:53:390:53:42

And then he took his crew and physically climbed

0:53:420:53:46

into the fort itself, to spike the cannons, to prevent anybody firing.

0:53:460:53:50

The second vessel came along into the harbour itself.

0:53:500:53:54

Legend has it they came up the harbour steps which are just below us.

0:53:540:53:58

The intention of those guys was to actually set fire to all the colliers that were in harbour.

0:53:580:54:03

Talk about sitting ducks.

0:54:050:54:06

A much busier harbour full of coal ships.

0:54:060:54:09

There was a full trading fleet moored in Whitehaven that night -

0:54:090:54:13

wooden sailing ships laden with coal.

0:54:130:54:16

The entire harbour was a tinderbox and John Paul Jones's men had the matches.

0:54:160:54:21

It would take only one good spark for the fire to take hold, creating an inferno.

0:54:210:54:26

In the words of Jones himself,

0:54:260:54:28

"Not a single ship of more than 200 could have escaped,

0:54:280:54:31

"and the whole world would not have been able to save the town."

0:54:310:54:35

But none of this actually happened.

0:54:370:54:39

And why not depends on your point of view.

0:54:390:54:42

I have an account here, the Lloyd's Evening Post,

0:54:420:54:46

and it says that John Paul Jones's men proceeded to Nick Allison's,

0:54:460:54:50

a public house on the old quay, and they made very free with the liquor.

0:54:500:54:53

Nicholas Allison's is below us, this old cottage-looking building.

0:54:530:54:57

Doesn't sound like the behaviour of men intent on invasion.

0:54:570:55:00

-No, it doesn't.

-Of course, the Americans see it differently.

0:55:000:55:04

The raid on Whitehaven was not a tactical victory,

0:55:040:55:09

in large part because of the Cumbrian weather.

0:55:090:55:11

A torrential rain, which is not all that unusual here, doused their matches,

0:55:110:55:17

put out their fires, you could not have lit a cigarette.

0:55:170:55:20

John Paul Jones.

0:55:200:55:22

The strategic value of the raid on Whitehaven was that it moved 40 ships of the Royal Navy away

0:55:220:55:28

from the eastern seaboard of the United States to the home waters,

0:55:280:55:33

to counter the fear and anxiety that rebels were right over the horizon.

0:55:330:55:38

That raid was a spectacular failure, an international drunken shambles.

0:55:380:55:43

It achieved absolutely nothing.

0:55:430:55:45

History is what defines us, both individually and as nation states.

0:55:470:55:50

It helps us to understand why we are here and what we are about.

0:55:500:55:54

So let it be known to all men that all grievances

0:55:540:55:57

in connection with this daring raid on this port have been dropped against John Paul Jones

0:55:570:56:02

and his men and we do welcome, for all time, the Navy of the United States, together with their citizens.

0:56:020:56:09

In terms of the UK, John Paul Jones's largely unknown

0:56:090:56:12

and yet, in Whitehaven, we have taken him completely to heart.

0:56:120:56:15

He is a rogue, a lovable rogue, he is our rogue.

0:56:150:56:19

And he single-handedly launched an entire tourist attraction.

0:56:190:56:22

Thank you, John Paul!

0:56:220:56:24

APPLAUSE

0:56:240:56:29

It looks like whoever writes history owns it.

0:56:360:56:39

And what is written on one side of the ocean may be very different on the other.

0:56:390:56:44

The North West coast lies right at the heart of the British Isles.

0:57:070:57:11

But strangely, the flavour here is truly international.

0:57:110:57:15

World events have reached here but at the same time,

0:57:150:57:18

innovations on this coast have impacted on every corner of the globe.

0:57:180:57:22

Early aviation on the beaches at Southport, the melting pots of the internment camps on the Isle of Man,

0:57:220:57:28

the continental sophistication of Morecambe's Midland Hotel.

0:57:280:57:32

You can say a lot about this stretch but one thing it's not is provincial.

0:57:320:57:37

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