0:00:37 > 0:00:41Question. Which landmass lies right at the heart of the British Isles,
0:00:41 > 0:00:45but is not part of the UK? Has its own Celtic language,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48but was ruled for 200 years by the Vikings,
0:00:48 > 0:00:50and - according to legend -
0:00:50 > 0:00:56is protected by a cloak-like mist summoned by the sea god Manannon?
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Where else, but the Isle of Man?
0:01:02 > 0:01:05The Isle of Man is just 16 miles
0:01:05 > 0:01:06off the mainland.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13But it's independent of the United Kingdom and the European Union.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22That stretch of Irish Sea really does make all the difference.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25It never ceases to amaze me.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29I spend all this time travelling around the British Isles, but I keep
0:01:29 > 0:01:33finding whole places that I've never been to, and this is one of them.
0:01:34 > 0:01:41The port of Douglas has a perfect seafront, like a child's picture book.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49But I've an appointment in a more ancient settlement - Castletown.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59The guide books tell you that the Isle of Man has the oldest
0:01:59 > 0:02:04parliament in the world, the Tynwald, founded in 979.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06But who does it represent?
0:02:06 > 0:02:08Who are the Manx people?
0:02:08 > 0:02:11And what is that weird symbol I'm seeing everywhere?
0:02:13 > 0:02:20If anyone knows, it'll be Butch Buttery - fisherman, chef and Manxman.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Butch, what is it that makes this place tick?
0:02:23 > 0:02:26It's the independence, I think.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29It's the fact that we're not English,
0:02:29 > 0:02:31not Irish, not Scottish.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33We're very much our own people here.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37We're not big on natural resources, we've only ever had farming and fishing.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42The economy is driven by the difference in taxation. Our taxation is lower than the mainland.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Our income tax is only 10%,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49so we have a lot of financial services here, insurance services.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51I suppose, historically,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55our tax rates on brandy and tobacco were lower than those in the UK,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58so vessels would put in here and unload cargos,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01which would be smuggled back to the mainland.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03What is it with the three-legged symbol?
0:03:03 > 0:03:07It's an ancient Norse symbol. But to me and to Manx people,
0:03:07 > 0:03:12it's our flag, badge, it's a symbol of our nation. It means,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14"Whichever way you throw me, I will stand."
0:03:14 > 0:03:17It symbolises resourcefulness of the Manx people.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20It's not just about giving everyone a good kick?
0:03:20 > 0:03:23- It's nothing to do with giving everyone a good kicking, no. - When I go on holiday,
0:03:23 > 0:03:28one thing I think about is good food. Is there good food here?
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Fantastic. Particularly the seafood.
0:03:30 > 0:03:37The warm currents of the Gulf Stream create a rich supply of plankton round the island,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40ideal for raising the shellfish known locally as "queenies,"
0:03:40 > 0:03:43and to you and me as queen scallops.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48I'm about to get a cookery lesson in the style of Mad Manx.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52It's a serious burner you've got there, Butch.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56There's no point in fiddling around with camping stoves, is there?
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Let's get the show on the road now.
0:03:58 > 0:03:59Olive oil.
0:04:01 > 0:04:02A bit of garlic.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Two shallots. They don't need to be cooked for more than two minutes,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09a minute and a half, something like that.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14We have got purity laws here on beer, ice-cream, and the food that we produce.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17They're very restrictive about what you can do with them.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20You can't use chemicals. ..A little bit of parsley.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27And then, really to finish it, when they are as done as you want them to be,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29a wee bit of wine.
0:04:29 > 0:04:34- It's all my favourite things, all in the same place!- Yeah. On here...
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Have a fork.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- Doesn't get any better than that. - That's gorgeous.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13Moving west, we come to a resort popular since Victorian times.
0:05:22 > 0:05:28Port Erin lies in a tranquil bay but, like other holiday destinations
0:05:28 > 0:05:30on the island, it has a darker past.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32With the coming of the Second World War,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36its hotels became home to a different kind of visitor.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Alice Roberts uncovers their story.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44Port Erin is a picturesque seaside town, but those coming in 1940
0:05:44 > 0:05:48weren't arriving at a holiday resort, they were coming to prison.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53In that summer of 1940, a German invasion of Britain
0:05:53 > 0:05:58was expected daily. Amid fears of a fifth column of enemy sympathisers,
0:05:58 > 0:06:04German, Austrian and Italian immigrants to Britain were rounded up all over the country.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08They were brought to the Isle Of Man for internment.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19This is a photograph of the people that had been rounded up
0:06:19 > 0:06:21from their homes and brought here
0:06:21 > 0:06:25in 1940. You just wonder what was going through their minds
0:06:25 > 0:06:28as they arrived here and faced an uncertain future.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Rosemary Wood's parents were Austrian.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34In 1940, she was just 14
0:06:34 > 0:06:37and living in London with her mother and sister.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Rosemary, when did you first find out that you were going to be moved
0:06:41 > 0:06:44to the Isle of Man and interned here?
0:06:44 > 0:06:48When my mother heard it on the radio, the next morning two policemen
0:06:48 > 0:06:53came to the door and said, "You know what we've come for?"
0:06:53 > 0:06:56My mother said, "Yes, do you expect me to leave the house
0:06:56 > 0:06:59"and the children, and the cat and the dog?"
0:06:59 > 0:07:04And they said, "We'll come back in an hour's time, if that suits you."
0:07:04 > 0:07:06You had an hour to pack everything?
0:07:06 > 0:07:12Yes. We went into the police car and then they took us on to board the train for Liverpool.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14Walking through the streets was the worst part
0:07:14 > 0:07:18because there were angry bystanders shouting, "Hang the lot of them."
0:07:18 > 0:07:23Other people threw missiles, but luckily nothing hit us.
0:07:23 > 0:07:29My mother said, "Just look down at the floor and don't take any notice."
0:07:30 > 0:07:32Sounds like quite a traumatic journey.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34You must have been relieved when you got here.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39Yes, there was a sense of relief that we'd reached the end of the journey.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46Around 15,000 foreign nationals were interned on the island.
0:07:46 > 0:07:51Men were housed in camps in Douglas and Ramsey.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Port Erin was designated for women and children.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00In the men's camps, hotels and guest houses were requisitioned
0:08:00 > 0:08:03with barbed-wire running along the promenades.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08In Port Erin, the women and children internees
0:08:08 > 0:08:12were allowed to move around freely, albeit under police supervision.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18What happened when you arrived in Port Erin?
0:08:18 > 0:08:21We were met at the railway station
0:08:21 > 0:08:26by several policewomen, and they grouped us off
0:08:26 > 0:08:32- into batches of about 22 people and marched us up this promenade.- Right.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37We were told to follow this Sergeant Pike, who was a big burly woman.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42When we got to about this point, my mother said to her, "How much further have we got to go?
0:08:42 > 0:08:44"We are tired carrying all this luggage?"
0:08:44 > 0:08:50And she said, "We are going right up to those houses in the distance, you see."
0:08:50 > 0:08:57We lingered at the back of this group of 22, and at the next turning on the right here,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00my mother said, "We are turning down here."
0:09:00 > 0:09:06I was terrified of disobeying this policewoman, but she said to stay around here out of sight.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09We hovered there for a while and then my mother looked round.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12When they were over the hill and out of sight,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15she turned round and knocked on the door of the Eagle Hotel.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17That was what used to be here?
0:09:17 > 0:09:20That's right. They demolished the hotel, the original building.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23The landlady in the booth asked us what we wanted
0:09:23 > 0:09:28and my mother said, "We have lost our guide, can you give us accommodation here?"
0:09:28 > 0:09:32The Eagle Hotel became Rosemary's home for the next year,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35because her Austrian mother took the bold decision
0:09:35 > 0:09:37to ignore their police escort.
0:09:37 > 0:09:42On the other side of the island, the men had no such freedom.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46Yvonne Creswell has researched the internment camps' history.
0:09:46 > 0:09:47So this is another
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Isle of Man camp, is it?
0:09:49 > 0:09:51That's it. This is the Mooragh camp in Ramsey,
0:09:51 > 0:09:56and it's fairly typical. You have a section of hotels...
0:09:56 > 0:10:00on the promenade, and just barbed-wire put round them.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04Guards sat at all the entrances and exits,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07as you can see here in Hutchinson camp.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10It looks like a concentration camp, doesn't it? With the barbed wire.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13That's the terrifying thing when we look at them now.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18- Did they have jobs to do while they were here?- Well, no.
0:10:18 > 0:10:19Boredom is the biggest threat.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24Artists painted, writers wrote,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27and places like Hutchinson was known as the camp university
0:10:27 > 0:10:31because there were so many German and Austrian academics,
0:10:31 > 0:10:34but several camps also produced their own newspapers.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38This is a cartoon of where the Isle of Man is in relation to
0:10:38 > 0:10:40the rest of Europe, and...
0:10:40 > 0:10:44- the three-legged symbol with barbed wire around it.- That's it.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48It truly was an island of barbed wire at that time.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53As the threat of an invasion receded, the public mood changed
0:10:53 > 0:10:55and many foreign internees were released.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58But Rosemary Wood and her mother
0:10:58 > 0:11:01were in no hurry to return to London.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04They'd come to the Isle of Man expecting a prison.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07What they'd found was a haven from the war.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15I can't believe how lucky we were, looking back. The sun
0:11:15 > 0:11:20seemed to shine every day. We had swimming costumes, we were in and out of the water,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23sitting on the beach, chatting to the other internees.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26The scenery here is so beautiful.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30We could walk up to the hill, we could walk to Port St Mary.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35We were so lucky because it must have been the cushiest camp in the world.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39How do you feel about it now, coming back all these years later
0:11:39 > 0:11:42to this place where you were actually kept a prisoner?
0:11:42 > 0:11:46We were away from the Blitz, we were safe, we had a roof over our head
0:11:46 > 0:11:51and food. Not luxurious food, but we were housed and fed,
0:11:51 > 0:11:56knowing that so many people on the Continent were in far worse circumstances.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00We just counted ourselves very lucky.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Release finally came for Rosemary in 1942,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07and a reluctant return to wartime London.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16From Prison Island to Fantasy Island,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19the latest turn of the tide for the Isle of Man.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23The last decade has brought over 80 films and TV dramas here.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28What filmmaker could resist stunning scenery and spectacular tax breaks?
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Films like Waking Ned in Cregneash,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Churchill The Hollywood Years in Castletown,
0:12:34 > 0:12:38and Stormbreaker in Port Erin have attracted a galaxy of stars.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42Penelope Cruz, Christian Slater, Ewan McGregor, Johnny Depp.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44But for every big name,
0:12:44 > 0:12:49the Isle of Man has many more just waiting to break through.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Hello. My name is Charlie Henry and for a day job,
0:12:52 > 0:12:58I'm duty manager for the shipping line which runs to the Isle of Man.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00But I have a very interesting sideline
0:13:00 > 0:13:02in the active film industry
0:13:02 > 0:13:06within the island, where I am a film extra,
0:13:06 > 0:13:11and I've now been fortunate to appear in over 40 productions.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15This is from the film Keeping Mum, which had Rowan Atkinson.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17I was in it as a footballer.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21Also in this particular movie is Patrick Swayze.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24This is taken from Piccadilly Jim.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27The main star was Brenda Blethyn.
0:13:27 > 0:13:33She is such an amazing professional, and also, she is such a nice person.
0:13:33 > 0:13:39I had one good night out at one of the nightclubs, and Brenda was giving it as much as everyone else.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40She was really enjoying it.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47Today, I'm about to film an advertisement,
0:13:47 > 0:13:51and I am going to play a fisherman.
0:13:51 > 0:13:52Action.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58Everybody has the one eye on Hollywood,
0:13:58 > 0:14:05but basically, I'm very happy here on the island and enjoying what I'm doing.
0:14:09 > 0:14:15Hollywood royalty crossing the oceans to the Isle of Man is a recent phenomenon.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19But for thousands of years, the island's warm summer waters
0:14:19 > 0:14:22have brought some of the biggest stars of the aquatic world.
0:14:22 > 0:14:28Miranda Krestovnikoff is stalking that most elusive of celebrities, the basking shark.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Basking sharks can be seen off various parts
0:14:32 > 0:14:35of the British coastline, but the locals here
0:14:35 > 0:14:37reckon they have the absolute top spot
0:14:37 > 0:14:40if you want to catch a glimpse of these marine giants.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43As summer warms our coastal waters,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47basking sharks move up the coastline from Cornwall to the Isle of Man,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50and eventually as far north as the Western Isles of Scotland.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55June and July are supposed to be the best months to see them around the island.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59I've come to try and swim with one of the most spectacular animals
0:14:59 > 0:15:03in British waters, but first I've got to find them.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07John Galpin is one of the island's keenest shark spotters.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13One of the great features of them
0:15:13 > 0:15:17is that you can see an animal which has been on the planet for 200 million years
0:15:17 > 0:15:21and you can watch some of the most amazing things like the mating,
0:15:21 > 0:15:22the courtship behaviour,
0:15:22 > 0:15:24perhaps even giving birth,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27but you have to put some time into it to see these exciting things.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30I'm fortunate, because I have got a tolerant wife
0:15:30 > 0:15:34and she lets me have huge binoculars in the bedroom,
0:15:34 > 0:15:39so you see some amazing things at six in the morning. Sharks, whales, all sorts.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43But this is a great vantage point for watching basking sharks.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45I tend to do most of my work from the shore.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49You then get a much broader panorama and you can see them doing things.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53I'm particularly interested in their courtship behaviour.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56- Have you seen them courting? - We get them courting here a lot.
0:15:56 > 0:16:02About 150 yards offshore, this pair came together and they came and entwined themselves.
0:16:02 > 0:16:08There was a big churning in the water and there they were, mating sharks, 150 metres off the shore here.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11What have we got out there? Any fins breaking the surface?
0:16:11 > 0:16:14I can't see any fins just at the moment.
0:16:14 > 0:16:20John is not the island's only shark fan. There is even a Shark Watch update on local radio.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22'Manx Radio.
0:16:22 > 0:16:28'You are listening to Manx Radio. Keep those sightings coming this morning. The more we get,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32'the more information we put towards the Manx Basking Shark Watch.'
0:16:34 > 0:16:39Jackie Hall is a marine biologist and founder of the Manx Basking Shark Watch.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Hopefully, her inside knowledge will get me an encounter with a shark.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48I'm familiar with the Isle of Man as being
0:16:48 > 0:16:50a hot spot for basking sharks.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53- What brings them up here? - The Isle of Man
0:16:53 > 0:16:55is bathed in warm water
0:16:55 > 0:16:59that's come up from the Atlantic, carried by the Gulf Stream.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03And, as the water warms up, we get plankton bloom,
0:17:03 > 0:17:08- and the sharks are here to eat that plankton.- Conditions today?
0:17:08 > 0:17:12Not that marvellous. Because it's not flat, oily calm.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22There is something over there.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24Wow!
0:17:24 > 0:17:27There's his tail as well. Did you see his tail up, that time?
0:17:28 > 0:17:31That's fairly typical, just feeding,
0:17:31 > 0:17:37with his mouth wide open, just under the surface.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39It never ceases to be exciting, does it?
0:17:39 > 0:17:42I've seen lots of basking sharks and you do get excited!
0:17:42 > 0:17:45He's doing that typical, zig-zagged feeding pattern.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50They find an in the water strandline of plankton
0:17:50 > 0:17:53and they just zig-zag feed, backwards and forwards through it.
0:17:53 > 0:17:59- How big do you reckon that one is? - Probably an eight-metre one, but let's wait until we get in closer.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01'This is my chance.
0:18:06 > 0:18:11'There's nothing like seeing these sharks up close to take your breath away.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14'It's only now that their size really hits you.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17'They're as big as a bus and twice the weight of an elephant.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21'That huge mouth looks daunting, but they don't bite.
0:18:21 > 0:18:27'They feed by filtering from the water the minute organisms that make up plankton.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31'Sticky mucus on their gills traps the food as it flows by,
0:18:31 > 0:18:33'and they can really move.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35'A flick of the tail and he's gone.'