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Isle of Man

Joe takes a trip back in time on the oldest horse-drawn tram in the world and visits the farm where magnificent horses get to live out their days.

Joe takes a trip back in time on the oldest horse-drawn tram in the world. He also visits the farm where the magnificent Clydesdale and shire horses get to live out their dotage once their tram-pulling days are done.

Ellie dwells among the haunting ruins of the Isle of Man's tholtans, the abandoned homes and farmsteads that tell the story of the island's agricultural past. She also makes and bakes a loaf of traditional Manx bonnag bread under the expert eye of 11-year-old Tom Keig, the bonnag-baking world champion.

Adam puts his new working dog Olive through her paces.

Tom Heap is in St Ives in Cornwall looking at a new ban on the building of second homes. But is it really the answer that many rural communities are looking for?

55 minutes

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Music Played

  • White Noise Research

    An Evening On Condale Lake

Horse drawn tram

Horse drawn tram

Joe Crowley is on the Isle of Man where he takes a trip back in time and jumps on board the world's oldest horse-drawn tram in Douglas. The trams were first introduced to take advantage of the booming tourist trade in Victorian times. Joe steps inside the stables and meets Mike Crellin who has been holding the reigns for 41 years, but even with expert instruction, how will first time tram driver Joe fair?Ìý

Second homes

Second homes

Tom Heap is in Cornwall where the town of St Ives has come up with a new solution to the problem of empty second homes. Since December, no new build homes can be purchased in the town unless you can prove that they will be lived in for three quarters of the year. Across the County other parishes are looking on in interest and on the Rame Peninsula they’re planning a similar idea. Further afield affected communities around the country are watching as well to see if this could be the answer to the problem, but will it actually work? ÌýÌýÌý

Ìý

Tholtans

Tholtans

Ellie Harrison is walking among the haunting ruins of the Isle of Man’s tholtans, the abandoned homes and farmsteads that tell the stories of the island’s agricultural past. Local photographer Ray Kelly has been recording these tholtans in a series of photos, hoping to preserve their history. Ray shows Ellie around Killabrega, a farm which was abandoned in the 1960’s. Ellie then visits Cregneash village in the South of the island where she sees what a tholtan may have looked like in its prime. Ìý

Mountain biking

Mountain biking

Sean Fletcher is visiting Jo and Gwenda Binns on their farm in the Brecon Beacons to help out with the sheep and try his hand at something a little bit more extreme. Great Llwygy Farm has always been home to sheep, but it is now one of the best places for downhill mountain biking in the UK! Sean Fletcher meets Shaun Bevan, track designer and mountain biker, to see what goes into making a great trail… but will he be up to the challenge of riding it?ÌýÌý

Introducing Olive

Introducing Olive

Preparations for a bountiful spring are well underway down on Adams Farm. But one new arrival is already demanding quite a lot of attention. Olive, the Adam's new Hungarian Vizsla is only four months old. She might already be half the size of her housemate Boo but she’s got a lot to learn!

Bonnag

Bonnag

Ellie moves on to Laxey Glen Mills, for over 150 years it has supplied the Isle of Man with quality wheat flour, but now, for the first time it is milling rye. Ellie meets managing Director Sandra Donnelly who shows her the whole process. The man behind the demand for the rye flour, baker Miles Pettit takes Ellie to his bakehouse where she has the hard job of sampling some of his rye bread products, there she also gets shown how to make traditional Manx bonnag and who better to teach her than the current World Bonnag Champion, 11-year-old Tom Keig.Ìý

The Home of Rest for Old Horses

The Home of Rest for Old Horses

Joe Crowley is at the Home of Rest for Old Horses where the Clydesdale and Shire horses who once pulled the trams in Douglas Bay get to retire and roam free. Joe meets one of the team who cares for the elderly horses and donkeys, equine vet Raymond Cox. Luckily Raymond is on hand when one of the geldings becomes lame. Joe witnesses how quickly the team acts, catching the horse which allows farrier Andrew Dooly to discover the source of the infection.Ìý

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Joe Crowley
Presenter Ellie Harrison
Presenter Adam Henson
Presenter Tom Heap
Executive Producer William Lyons
Series Producer Joanna Brame

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