We are an island nation
But we're aIso a nation of more than a thousand isIands
I've aIways wanted to know what it means to be an isIander
So I'm traveIIing through the isIands of Britain
- From the remote North - Oh. my God!
to the sunny South
- This time I'm heading west - Hee-hee-hee! Woo-hoo-hoo!
To isIands that crown their own kings and queens
Hooray!
With unique animaIs found nowhere eIse
Oh. my God!
Blimey! They are bizarre.
And isIanders passionate about keeping their traditions and communities aIive
(Splutters ) - (Laughter)
l'm going to black out!
These are the isIands of Britain
I'm traveIIing west to isIands off the coasts of EngIand ScotIand Northern IreIand
and one or two in between
Is Iife different on every isIand?
Or is there something that connects them aII?
One thing's for sure
most of them are a mystery to mainIanders Iike me
And the isIand I'm heading for now is apparentIy one of the strangest in Britain
l'm going to Piel lsland.
which is one of those small islands
that gets cut off from the mainland at high tide
but at low tide you can walk across the sands to it.
But it has its own king.
Only two people live there and historically the king of Piel lsland is the publican .
And today is his coronation .
That's the ferry that takes you to Piel lsland going off there.
But they're just about to test the lifeboat
down the big rampy. splashy thing
and they said l can go on for a ride.
How about that?
Oh. my goodness! Look at that.
This is so exciting.
OK.
Woo-hoo!
Hee-hee-hee!
Woo-hoo-hoo!
Whoa!
(Laughs )
Fantastic!
Woo-hoo!
That's just great.
Absolutely nothing to do with the lslands Of Britain but what a laugh.
Oh. that's the way to do it.
Oh. no. back to the lslands Of Britain . There's Piel.
Tiny. tiny little island.
I'm off the coast of North West EngIand
in Morecambe Bay
The Furness IsIands are Britain 's third Iargest chain
They neighbour the town of Barrow-in -Furness
PieI is Iess than a square miIe
Just about aII that's on it is a castIe and a pub The Ship Inn
which usuaIIy attracts a steady fIow of day-trippers
but is currentIy hidden beneath a huge pIastic tent
whiIst being renovated
untiI it's finished the home of King and Queen -to-be Steve and SheiIa Chattaway
is far from a paIace
When we came here. we started off living in this caravan .
- That one? - Yeah. With a St Bernard puppy.
Yeah. Yeah. it wasn 't good.
Living on PieI is difficuIt with none of the services we take for granted on the mainIand
Well. we've no electricity.
We've only had running water for a few years.
thers no spare's you cant go to the shop
You start learning to do different skills. Vehicle maintenance and things.
Steve and SheiIa put up with the hardships
because Iiving here has been their dream since coming on hoIiday as chiIdren
Now when the Iast ferry-Ioad of tourists go they have the whoIe isIand to themseIves
What it's like when the punters go and it's just the pair of you?
SHElLA: Lovely. - Fantastic.
MARTlN : ls it? SHElLA: Yes.
When we first found out that we'd got the tenancy of the island.
- we came up here with a bottle of wine... - Yeah.
..and just sat here.
and we just noticed that my family name is carved in here.
James Boylan .
l didn 't know it was there before.
- So you come from a long line of vandals. - (Steve and Sheila laugh)
Steve and SheiIa won the tenancy of the isIand over 300 appIicants
This afternoon Steve wiII be crowned in this very castIe
The reason that PieI has a King at aII goes back centuries
ApparentIy in 1 487
an army of foreign mercenaries arrived on PieI with Lambert SimneI
a 1 0-year-oId pretender to the throne
They decIared him King of EngIand
It aII ended on a bIoody battIefieId for SimneI
But his story Iived on
and somehow became the tradition that the pub IandIord is the King of PieI
Now the next in Iine is driving his tractor back to the mainIand
to pick up the one artefact vitaI for today's coronation
We've come to coIIect a fantastic piece of history
brought from the IocaI museum
Wa-hey! Look at that!
- Gosh. How old is it? - About 1730. Something like that.
Probably a bit...probably older.
Oh.
This 300-year-oId throne was thought to have been made from a barreI
And every King of PieI has been crowned on it
We have to hurry back to PieI
before the fast-moving tide cuts off the isIand
In the Iast decade 40 peopIe have Iost their Iives in Morecambe Bay
incIuding 23 cockIe pickers in just one night
STEVE: You can see the tide's coming in now.
lt comes round the south side of the island and the north side of the island.
You need to get across really quickly.
We have really cut this too fine for my liking with this chair.
There's a IocaI saying that the tide comes in faster than a horse can run
But water 's not the onIy danger
These mudfIats have hidden quicksands
Being cut off from the mainIand twice a day and surrounded by sinking sands
is a fact of isIand Iife that Steve can 't afford to take for granted
Look. we've made it. We've crossed the tide.
Yay!
Oh. l'm happy now.
lt's so stressful coming across there.
- God. - l think we'll...
Morning.
How are you doing?
- l think we might pop it in here out of the way. - Excuse me and His Majesty.
Yep. There we go. Thank you .
lt's funny. because it seems like it's a sort of novelty monarchy thing.
and yet it goes so far back that there's some gravity to it.
Oh. it's steeped in tradition .
To witness the ceremony the isIand is invaded by around a thousand reveIIers
guided across the sands at the Iowest tide
Steve has not just taken on the tenancy of the pub
He is custodian of an isIand that is obviousIy important to the peopIe of Barrow
And Steve and SheiIa's daughters NicoIa and Tina
are Iooking forward to being princesses
You look fantastic. Any princessy nerves?
Oh. no. l was born to play this role.
- Tina... Oh. look at you . - Hi.
You look gorgeous.
What a couple of princesses.
l'm getting my driving licence changed to princess.
And you can have it on your cheque book as well.
lt sounds fantastic.
- Can you really? - Yeah.
- Are you nervous? - l am getting nervous now.
- Are you? - Yeah.
Everyone's on your side.
- No-one's going to throw rocks. - No. no.
- l just mustn 't cry. - Aw!
- l've waited a long time for this. - Yeah. l bet you have.
Ex-king Jack NichoIson Ieads the throne the mayor of Barrow-in -Furness
and an army of supporters to the castIe
Keeping to tradition Steve puts on his royaI regaIia
whiIst guarded by the Queen and princesses ready for his big moment
You stand there. A few on this side.
l call upon the good knights of Piel
to go fetch the victim to the chair.
(Cheering and fanfare drown speech)
All assembled.
l have the honour
of dubbing you
the new King of Piel lsland.
(Cheering)
Take it like a man .
(Cheering)
Hip. hip...
Hooray!
- Hip. hip... - Hooray!
Hip. hip...
Hooray!
(Bell rings ) TOWN CRlER: Hear ye!
- Yes. - Hear ye!
On this day...
Steven Chattaway
has duly been announced as King Steven of Piel lsland!
(Cheering and applause)
Ladies and gentlemen .
and my new subjects...
- l like it! - (Laughter)
Thank you very much for coming to Piel and supporting your island.
Now go drink beer!
(Cheering) MAN : More beer!
Well. here's a real surprise.
l thought. l'm ashamed to say.
the crowning of a publican on the island of Piel
was just a sort of ''And. finally...'' story on the end of the news.
but when you get there. you meet Steve and Sheila.
They're such lovely people and they're so committed to it.
And the fact that they both care about it.
and all the people who came onto the island. who regularly come.
and have been coming here since they were children . all feel very special about it.
made it a real treat to be there.
It's time to Ieave this corner of EngIand and traveI further west
Having met the King of PieI I'm now going to visit ''The Queen of the Hebrides''
In this trip through the Western IsIes of Britain
I've now reached some of the most dangerous waters in the British IsIes
Here aIong the west of ScotIand there's been a major shipping channeI for centuries
bringing essentiaI suppIies to nearby isIands
But the reefs currents and one of the Iargest whirIpooIs in the worId
have cIaimed hundreds of vesseIs and Iives
It's aII in an archipeIago of 42 isIands
known as the Inner Hebrides
And I'm going to its southernmost isIand
IsIay
The ''Y '' is siIent
270 vesseIs have come to grief in the waters around here
from ocean Iiners to submarines
IsIander Gus Newman wants to show me the finaI resting pIace of a steamship
known as a CIyde puffer
Oh. yeah. yeah. yeah. yes!
Oh. God. there!
- Happy with that? - Yes. overjoyed. yes.
- Looking lovely and freezing. - (Laughs )
Mmm. Just my side of icy.
The pIan is I take a cIoser Iook
That's the cabin . That's where the cabin would be.
Ive never dived a wreck before
l've only dived in very warm water.
l worry about snagging my gear on something and getting trapped down there
but there's safety measures in place.
so l should be all right.
These wrecks teII a story of the hazards of IocaI Iife
as isIander Bertie Brown knows aII too weII
When we look out on the sea. everyone just looks and says there's rocks out there
but l know there's that wreck there or there's that reef there.
l know what they look like. lt's a great thing to know.
And you go down and you look at the wrecks and you think of the past and what happened
and why they went down and read a bit of history about them
- and it's good to know. - Yeah.
All the history of the island. really. in them.
OK? One. two. three.
Down you go.
In 1917 a CIyde puffer caIIed the John Strachan
was bringing cargo to the Inner Hebrides when it hit a rock
It sank here yet another casuaIty in the struggIe to keep these isIands aIive
Puffers were specificaIIy designed to work these waters
This one was 80 feet Iong and had a fIat huII
aIIowing it to run aground on the remote beaches and unIoad its cargo
These cabins aIso housed a crew of four puffer men
ThankfuIIy aII the crew on this ship were saved
But now it's me who needs heIp
I'm having troubIe with my mask and it's making me panic
l don 't like it. l don 't like it at all.
(Warning signal)
Easy.
lt's the mask.
l was trying not to panic and breathe.
But then l was sort of. ''Ah. there's a big ship down here!''
lt was all covered in kelp.
lt does look very ghostly.
Aye. it is ghostly. aye.
- You can see right under the hull. - Yeah. but then l just couldn 't stop...
stop my breathing from panicking.
They were the worst moments of my life.
Coming up. knowing that l had to breathe sensibly.
Yes.
On the way up. when all l wanted to do was...cry.
Being isoIated by treacherous seas is a fact of Iife for IsIay's 3 000 inhabitants
They've come to reIy on this beautifuI isIand's naturaI resources
It's a fertiIe pIace where farming has thrived
earning the isIand the titIe ''The Queen of the Hebrides''
But it's whisky that IsIay is worId-famous for
It's been made here for around 600 years
And some say it's the best you can buy
To find out what's so speciaI about IsIay whisky I've come to the BruichIaddich DistiIIery
where pIant manager Duncan MacGiIIivray has made me an offer I can 't refuse
- How are you? - l'm good. thank you .
lt's nice to meet you .
A chance to make my own
- Did l do that? - You did that. yeah!
It aII starts with something caIIed a mash BarIey and water
Oh. here we go. Look at that.
This is some magic mix.
After adding some yeast it ferments
Then my brew is ready to be distiIIed into spirit
- OK. - Try not to spill any.
(Both laugh)
We may caII it Scotch but whisky's probabIy not Scottish at aII
The IocaIs say it arrived here from IreIand
And IsIay was a stepping stone to ScotIand
- lt's like Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. - lt is.
as you can see it's absoloutly crystal clear
- lt's bloody strong. though. isn 't it? - Yes. that is quite strong. lt'll be about 68% .
- lt's a big event in the mouth. though. isn 't it? - That's right. There's a lot going on .
Yeah. there's a lot going on .
FinaIIy it's time to barreI it
But onIy after three years can it be officiaIIy caIIed whisky
- How was your whisky-making? - lt was interesting.
As master distiIIer Jim McEwan knows
his casks do more to the cIear spirit than just store it
lt takes the colour from the oak.
Oh. l didn 't know that.
We don 't use artificial colouring.
l don 't know anything!
(Laughter)
l'd no idea.
And it turns out my cask wiII empty aImost as fast as I can fiII it
lf you fill this cask now. Martin .
within 24 hours the wood will absorb 2% of what you put in there.
And every year thereafter. the angels' share will be about 1 .5% . That's what you lose.
''The angels' share''. did you say?
lt's estimated. if you take the angels' share from all the bars in Scotland.
lost through evaporation .
it comes out at about 1 60 million bottles of alcohol is lost from Scotland each year
from the barrels.
And people say that Scots are miserable.
Well. this is not the case.
We have a season ticket to heaven .
Keep your fingers out the way.
As my whisky's put away to mature and evaporate for the next 1 5 years
Jim McEwan has no doubt why IsIay makes such a worId-cIass drink
When you pick up a glass of whisky and you nose it and taste it.
you should feel and taste a character of the people who made it.
You know. people pick up glasses and say.
''l get wet tulips on a Tuesday morning with the wind off the east.''
Go away and play with the traffic. you know.
Think about the people who made it.
And the people here have been . for generations. the DNA here is just making whisky.
AIthough the passion and drive of the isIanders make IsIay whisky such a success
the owner of the distiIIery is an incomer
What a spot.
He was a successfuI wine merchant in London
and moved Iock stock and cask to IsIay just four years ago
Oh. what a nice Jack Russell.
Hello. Hello.
Ah. the welcoming committee's here.
Come on in . Hi.
- How do you do? - Maureen .
Va '': '' ow oo 'yo .. oo ? W o oo '''o W o oo '''o
- Come on in . - Hi. Mark.
- This is Rory. - How do you do? Nice to meet you .
- How are you doing? - Glad you made it.
- What a spot. - lt's not bad.
lt's fantastic.
Mark Reynier is Iiving the isIand dream
He's converted a farmhouse into a Iuxury home with breathtaking views
We'll sit down there and...
He Iives on the whisky isIe
And his eight-year-oId son even has his own beach
- Do you sail as well. Rory? - Yes.
Oh. you lucky fella.
How idyllic.
l never believed in fate until this all sort of happened.
So l called CalMac ferry to book us. to go from the mainland across to lslay.
and she said. ''And when will you be coming back?''
- And l said. ''l'm not.'' - (Laughter)
And that's when you realise. yeah.
You're buying a one-way ticket to an island.
What's it been like?
lt is a massive cultural difference.
You know. if you've worked in Central London
and you suddenly come up to a Hebridean island.
you're dealing with a completely different culture. a Celtic. Gaelic culture.
A tremendous pride and passion .
This particular island.
because it is surrounded by treacherous sea.
the island has evolved in isolation .
You might as well be on a different planet.
There is a very true. strong notion of independence.
which l haven 't seen on many of the other islands. which are more accessible.
And that is an extraordinary thing.
This pride and this passion .
which if you harness it in the right direction . you know. it's unbeatable.
And harness it Mark has
But whisky's not the onIy success story on IsIay
(Skirl of bagpipes ) - Here we go.
Like whisky bagpipes are thought to be quintessentiaIIy Scottish
They were actuaIIy invented in the MiddIe East and spread by the Romans
But to these isIanders they're more than a tradition
They're a passion
RecentIy the IsIay bagpipe band
came cIose to winning the WorId Piping Championship
Wow. Fantastic.
That's fantastic.
Having a top-ranking bagpipe band is a source of reaI pride for an isIand community
And according to piper James McEachern it brings the generations together
- Was your father a piper? ls that right? - Yeah.
yes my father was a game piper
- Was he? - Yeah.
We went to sleep with my father playing the pipes.
- Wow. - We were just brought up with it.
And did you see him and think. ''l like the look of that. One day l'm going to do that too''?
l wasn 't really given an option .
Oh. right!
And the young 'uns. they're still... they're loving it. aren 't they?
Yeah. There's a great camaraderie in this band.
Are you going for a shot?
Well. yes. l imagine l'll make a terrible sound but...
- You probably will. - Yes. l probably will.
l'm sure we'll all enjoy that.
- Be a good laugh. - Yes!
(Martin speaks over her) How...? uh? What are you doing?
- l'm just fixing it up for you . - OK.
- l'm ready now. - OK.
On you go.
(Plays tune)
(Splutters ) - (Laughter)
(Laughs ) l'm going to black out!
Oh. God.
(Continues tune)
You're almost at the end!
(Laughter)
(Laughs )
(Finishes tune)
Ah. thank you .
l'm going to sit down now.
I'm impressed by IsIay
It may be isoIated
but from whisky to bagpipes
these isIanders seem determined to make their mark on the worId
Now I'm traveIIing further west
to an isIand which takes this independence of spirit another step
with its very own government buried treasure and creatures found nowhere eIse on earth
It's in the geographicaI centre of the British IsIes and extends to 200 square miIes
The IsIe of Man
The Manx peopIe are very proud of their fIag
There's no sign of a union fIag anywhere
That's because the IsIe of Man is not part of the united Kingdom
The 80 000 isIanders share our Queen
but have their own government which sets their own Iaws
And I've come to CastIetown to meet the Prime Minister
Here's a funny thing...
On the lsle of Man . the Chief Minister. their Prime Minister. a Mr Tony Brown .
can be approached. You can go and find him.
You can go to his house. He has a shop.
And l'm going to do that.
lf l can find the street.
Hi.
Don 't know where Arbory St is? We're looking for the Chief Minister.
Carry on round the corner. lt's just there.
Oh. brilliant. Thanks very much. Cheers.
- See where the chemist is? - Yeah.
lf you just go to the left.
His shop is just...round the corner here.
Down the street. you'll see the electric shop.
- Mr Brown ? - Yes.
- Hi. - How are you?
You're an easy man to find.
- Easy to find? - You're really easy. yeah.
Thanks.
OK. Ta. See you . Bye.
- Thank you . Bye. - Yeah.
lt's quite unusual. isn 't it. for a Prime Minister...
l don 't see Gordon Brown working in a shop or...
How has that evolved? The fact that you're the Chief Minister
and yet here you are. completely accessible to everyone?
l had the shop business going before l got into politics.
And l like the shop work. l enjoy it. so on a Saturday l'm in here.
- And it keeps you in touch with people. - lt's just part of our community way of life.
Brilliant. yeah.
People who come here say there's something about it. a feel about it.
You know. we mix very well.
Do you think that's an island thing?
l think it's generally an island thing. l think so. We're friendly. l think.
- Hiya. - Morning.
- May l have some triple A batteries. please? - Triple A. The gold?
So that's f-3.20. please.
Bye-bye.
- Going to sell the frying pan ? - l'd love to.
- Cheers. - f-1 5.gg. please.
- Ooh! - (Laughter)
All the old jokes. madam. They're free.
Bye.
- Hiya. - Hiya. l was after a telephone extension .
Yes.
- Oh. - What length are you after?
This gentleman will serve you .
That's f-2.T'5. l think you're going to enjoy this. sir.
- Cheers. - OK. see you .
Thanks very much. Come back soon .
Very good. What shall we do now?
When he's not seIIing batteries on Saturdays
Tony oversees the isIand's £560-miIIion budget
here at the TynwaId buiIding in the capitaI DougIas
And this is the Tynwald chamber.
This is the oldest continuous parliament in the world.
The TynwaId was started by the Vikings over 1 000 years ago
and has been sitting ever since
Then . of course. we have the Sword of State.
- This is your version of a mace. - lt is.
- Much more useful! - lt could be.
l can say it's never been used in anger. certainly in the chamber. Not as far as l'm aware.
These things are very important to us and make up what we are.
Yeah.
It's not just this parIiament that was brought to the isIand by the Vikings
So was the three-Iegged symboI that is proudIy dispIayed everywhere
It's aIso strangeIy appropriate
because some pecuIiar creatures have evoIved on this isIand
Oh. my God!
Blimey! They are bizarre. aren 't they?
l bet they can get Radio 5!
(Laughter)
These are four-horned Loaghtan sheep
unique to the IsIe of Man
It's a feature of isIands that animaIs can be isoIated from other genes
so over time they can evoIve unusuaI characteristics
There's been a Loaghtan breed of sheep here on the island for thousands of years.
But they are a very unique animal and quite unpredictable.
Pete KeIIy and Andrew MetcaIfe are preparing some rams for breeding
These sheep have been on the verge of extinction
Keeping the numbers up is vitaI
Twist that round.
Twist him over your leg and he'll sit on you .
On your other leg.
That's the way.
Keep going. You're doing it.
(Laughter)
Check them. make sure they're the proper size. shape and consistency.
MARTlN : What? His knackers?
Yes. Make sure they're right.
l've got no frame of reference. You do it.
(Laughter)
l might get it wrong.
Cough.
(Laughter)
They're all right.
- Yes. they're lovely. - They're grand. aren 't they?
l'm glad we've cleared that up.
The sheep may have evoIved extra horns
but another isIand animaI is famous for having Iost something
The Manx cat's taiI has vanished
One of the few things l do know about the lsle of Man is that Manx cats have no tail.
l can 't tell if this has got a tail or not because it's sitting down .
But this is a cat sanctuary.
- Look at all your cats! - You've just arrived at feeding time.
Sue CritchIey has taken in over 1 7 0 cats
- Now. lots of these cats have tails. don 't they? - Yes.
- You're an all-purpose cat sanctuary. - We are.
We just take in unwanted. homeless... This is their home.
Here we go. Look!
So. Sue. what's the deal with the Manx cat?
Their hind legs are usually longer than their front legs.
And then the other problem there is with the Manx cat
is the fact that he has got two or three vertebrae short in the spine.
So it can be likened to a form of spina bifida.
Which can make it quite an unpleasant condition .
Because their spine is so short. it makes their other organs not work properly.
But there's loads of healthy Manx cats?
Yes. but there's more unhealthy ones than there are healthy.
- Are there? - Yes. Yes.
And you've only got to look here.
Every cat. the Manx cat. that's here.
has a disorder that we're treating.
- Really? - Yeah.
MARTlN : What a lovely place.
l feel slightly ashamed that l glibly thought.
''One of the things l know about the lsle of Man is the cats have no tails.''
And that's one of the things that we all know about the lsle of Man .
But what we don 't know is. it's not a breed. it's a sort of disease.
And it has all kinds of implications for the poor cats.
There you go. This one's all right. though.
(Purring)
There's a maverick spirit to the IsIe of Man that goes back centuries
In 1 935 in this house the rebeIIious history of the isIand was unearthed
A smuggIer 's yacht was discovered hidden in a bricked-up chamber
The boat beIonged to a George QuayIe who Iived here in the 1 7 90s
when the IsIe of Man was at the centre of smuggIing
dodging British duties and taxes
Oh...
This lovely room was George Quayle's sort of playroom.
And look. you can see where there would have been a hatch.
He dropped straight down into his boat.
This fireplace isn 't a fireplace.
Apparently there was a safe behind it.
And everything is full of secret stash holes.
Here...have a look at this.
Even that's a cupboard.
That's a cupboard.
And this...
Gets you right out here.
There'd be a hole there. you'd take the boat straight down and out to sea. lt's fabulous!
The spirit of QuayIe Iives on but today it's aII Iegitimate of course
Even with the credit crunch
huge sums of money are squirreIed away in modern -day bank vauIts
avoiding mainIand taxes
lt's a bit of a treasure island. the lsle of Man .
But it's not gold. silver. doubloons and rubies.
This is the financial district and in these buildings is housed an estimated f-40 billion .
The IsIe of Man is not just a great pIace for rich peopIe on the mainIand to bury their money
Oh. there's a table up here. (Laughs )
LocaIs pay onIy 1 0% income tax and businesses pay no tax at aII
Internet miIIionaire Stephen Baggs
was one man who made his fortune thanks to the Iow taxes here
His weaIth aIIows him to enjoy the isIand's tradition of motor sports -
powerboat racing and fast cars
- l used to have a Porsche g1 1 Turbo. - What colour?
- Yellow. - OK.
l'm in between cars a bit at the moment. so l'm thinking what to replace it with.
- l've been busy with work. - Are you getting something in the yellow line?
- Yes. maybe a yellow Ferrari next. - A yellow Ferrari.
You've gotta spend your money on something.
l guess so. yeah. Clearly.
Did you feel like a regular Joe back on the mainland
who came here and sort of suddenly it all blossomed for you?
- Absolutely. - Yeah.
l mean . we wouldn 't have got where we are today by paying uK tax rates.
We feel quite happy paying the government over here tax
because you feel as though you're contributing to the island.
That's interesting. yeah.
And they're not being greedy.
lt's just a good place to live. ''Freedom'' really just sums it up for me.
Ever since the Vikings the peopIe on the IsIe of Man
seem to have cherished that sense of freedom and separation from the mainIand
So the lsle of Man . very different from all the other islands l've been to.
Much bigger. a lot more people. a lot more vehicles.
all going much. much faster.
lt's an island of anomalies.
They've got a no-tail cat. a four-horned sheep. No wonder they've got a three-legged flag.
But seriously. of all the people l've met. there's a contrast too.
There's the Manx people - very proud of the beauty of the island. and it is beautiful.
And then there's the newer people -
the people who keep coming up and telling me they don 't pay any tax.
l wonder if there's a Viking word for smug.
Before Ieaving I have one Iast visit to make
For two years Dessie Robinson Iived aIone on a bIeak and uninhabited isIand
caIIed the CaIf of Man
cut off from the IsIe of Man by fierce tidaI waters
You can tell how dangerous it is - how many lighthouses? One. two...
- Three. four. five. - ..three four five.
lt's meant to be one of the places in the British lsles where you can see the most lighthouses.
Dessie took a job as warden on the CaIf of Man caring for the wiIdIife to escape his city Iife
How it happened with me was. l would come home at night.
l would make my tea. l would make my fire.
l'd put on the television set and l'd watch the television .
l'd wake up in the morning. l'd go to work. My life was just like that.
l was just. you know... l was doing nothing with my life.
His isoIated job couId have made Dessie the IoneIiest isIander in Britain
But it changed his Iife
When his work came to an end he had to Ieave but he stiII Iongs to return
lt was two years. two years of my life.
and there's still unfinished business for me at the Calf of Man . l still feel as though...
- You want to go back? - Yeah.
What's the fascination with islands. the draw to them? What is it?
When you live on an island. you are somebody.
Your identity tends to get lost in a town or a city. or something like that.
Whereas over there. you are somebody.
You're basically king of the isle.
The further west I've traveIIed
the more the isIanders seemed determined to run their affairs in their own way
But on the next isIand I'm going to visit it's not certain if they can survive at aII
It's the Iast Ieg of my journey through the isIands of the west
I'm heading across the Irish Sea
There are more than 20 isIands off the Northern Irish coast
AII have been deserted except one
It's the farthest west I'm going on this trip to the isIand of RathIin
It's onIy three miIes off the coast but it can take up to an hour to reach on the car ferry
It's been the isIand's onIy IifeIine
This is Rathlin .
Rathlin 's population has dwindled to about 80. l think.
So it's a bit touch-and-go as to whether they can survive as a community.
This isn 't the first time the isIand's popuIation has decIined
350 years ago aImost aII the isIanders were massacred in a horribIe battIe between cIans
And the women and chiIdren were thrown off the cIiffs
Today's decIine is Iess gruesome
But isIander NoeI McCurdy wants to show me the effect it's had
- Oh. wow. - Yeah.
Well. Martin . this is my favourite view of Rathlin .
Looking down from here. down towards the southern tip of the island.
you can see a lot of the old houses that would have been inhabited at one time.
There was a population of over 1 .400 people on Rathlin .
- And they're all empty now? - They're all empty now.
- We're down now to 80 people. - So l gather.
And that's the problem we're facing now on Rathlin .
it's trying to get young people to come back onto the island.
A lot of islands. when they go down to about 50. it's not viable then .
One thing l would like is for my children to have a choice
of whether they want to stay on Rathlin or move away.
To keep famiIies on isIands you need working schooIs
There used to be three here
But today there's just one - a primary schooI
On a Sunday night in Rathlin . all the children of secondary school age
get the ferry over to the mainland and they board for the week.
Whereas all the primary school children go to the island's only school.
which l'm about to go to now.
In 1 920 there were 7 0 pupiIs here
Today
there are four
Even the schooI is on the edge of survivaI
HeIen O'HaIIoran is the head teacher
HELEN : ..he came home with a quack. quack. quack!
Back to your chairs.
- Morning. - Morning.
- Hi. l'm Martin . - Hello. Martin . Pleased to meet you .
- How are you doing? - Come right in . l'm fine.
- Like to join us? - l'd love to.
You sit here. and everybody can tell you a little bit about themselves.
Lighthouse-keeper NoeI's son is the eIdest in the schooI
My name is Eoin McCurdy and l'm the head boy of the school.
My name is Orla. l'm the second head girl.
My name is Martin . l'm 46 and a half.
l live on a farm in Dorset in the south of England.
HELEN : A farm!
\now you can go and get your apron on ''
- Are you ready. Martin . for hard work? - You bet.
What will happen if there aren 't any new families?
Well. basically. no new families. the school would close down .
School is the very heart of the island.
And the island as we know it now wouldn 't function .
lt just wouldn 't be there.
- Big old cow on top of the hill. HELEN : That fence is brilliant.
When did you start. Milly? Last summer?
- Last summer. - What. early? You started early?
MiIIy was the most recent chiId to join the schooI She's a IittIe ray of hope for the isIand
A new famiIy has arrived A rare event these days
Her father was born on RathIin but had to move away for work
- Hello. - Hi. Douglas.
- Martin . pleased to meet you . - How you doing?
The puII of his birthpIace has drawn DougIas CeciI with his wife Barbara
and daughters MiIIy and Niamh back to RathIin
Who's that?
- This is Niamh - Hello. Niamh.
(Cries ) - Oh. all right. it's happened before.
(Laughter) - Hello. Niamh.
l keep hearing you're the great hope for the island. That you'll repopulate the island.
- Yeah. well. we're doing our bit. anyway. - How many other young families are there?
Actually. on Rathlin . you're talking less than half a dozen .
- lt really is on the brink. - Do you detect a turn in the tide?
- You're a turn in the tide. aren 't you? - l'd like to think we're like a vital spark.
It's not just his famiIy that makes DougIas a vitaI spark
There's another way he's bringing hope to this isIand
DougIas is the skipper of a new high -speed passenger ferry
giving quicker access to the mainIand aIIowing more famiIies to stay on RathIin
lt's a positive thing - the options for islanders to work on the mainland and come back.
You know. basically commute on a daily basis.
- What time's the first ferry in the morning? - Half-seven .
So you could get the ferry. go to the job and come back at the end of the day.
lt's what's needed for the future of Rathlin .
The significance of the new ferry is not Iost to the isIanders
It represents a reaI prospect of survivaI for this tiny community
Today the ferry is being bIessed
Here's a few folk might want a little blessing.
(Thudding)
(She laughs )
- The Lord be with you . - And also with you .
Let us pray.
Protect with your loving care. those who work at sea
and bring them safely to shore through Jesus Christ. Our Lord.
- Amen . - Amen .
(Sings traditional song)
(Some others join in)
As I've traveIIed through these different isIes of the west
I've discovered the peopIe share a reaI spirit of independence
and a deep-rooted connection to the history and traditions of their isIands
l wonder if that's what makes people so determined
to preserve their way of life on these islands.
because we all work hard to support our families and keep our jobs.
which all of the islanders do as well.
But they also seem to strive to keep the island as an entity.
the island life alive.
And l find that interesting.