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The Isle of Man has played a unique and unusual role in the story of two World Wars. It was ‘home’ to thousands of men, women and children who were identified as being ‘enemy aliens’ and potentially dangerous spies and ‘fifth columnists’. During the First World War many of those who were interned had lived in Britain for years and had British families, while many Second World War internees were refugees who had come to Britain as a safe haven from Nazi persecution in Europe. interned artists recorded the world around them in different ways.
This is a shot from a recent long weekend to the Isle of Man.
A close-up of "Lady Isabella" - the waterwheel at Laxey. It was shot at f22 and using a 6-stop ND filter to get a shutter speed of 4 seconds.
There's been some post-production work in Lightroom and Photoshop - mostly involving curves and cropping.
Any comments or suggestions welcome.
Bri
The Ravensdale Hotel was a excellent country hotel deep in Ballaugh Glen. It has been a private residence for many years. Only ever stayed there once, on honeymoon.
Lady Isabella named after former Lieutenant Governor Hope's wife is also know as the Laxey Wheel. Built in 1854 by Robert Casement.
The Laxey Wheel remains the largest working waterwheel in the world. The wheel has a diameter of 72ft and a circumference of 227ft. It was used to pump 250 gallons of water a minute from the Laxey mines some 200 yards away and 1500ft below ground.
At the outbreak of war there were approximately 75,000 people of Germanic origin living in Britain, and Whitehall decided to set up Enemy Alien Tribunals to screen these 'potential security risks'. The entry of Italy into the war almost doubled the workload. The first tribunal in February 1940 considered only 569 cases as high enough risks to warrant internment. The Isle of Man was chosen as the one place sufficiently removed from areas of military importance, but by the end of the year the number of enemy aliens on the island had reached 14,000. With the use of diaries, broadsheets, newspapers and personal testimonies, the author shows how a traditional holiday isle was transformed into an internment camp.