h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Isle of Man - A1082251
Author: Gnomon [2.5kg lost in 4 weeks, 5.9kg to go] - U151503

An entry on the Isle of Man, written by me with some advice from Pimms Lettuce, who lives there.

I liked it.

I did find the thing about cats a bit confusing though.

" Many cats of the Manx breed have short stumps and are known as 'Stumpies'"

I wasn't sure what you meant by this, and wondered if you meant stumps instead of legs, because they were what were mentioned last. I had a quick search online and saw it is the tails that are sometimes stumps.

Might it be worth putting the mention of legs:

"Other features distinguish the Manx cat - it has a large rounded rump and long back legs, giving it what to some is an ungainly look. These are known as 'Rumpies'."

at the end of the paragraph?

Thanks, Mina. I've rephrased the section on Manx cats slightly to make it more understandable.

I hadn't realised you had submitted this to PR.

Looks good Unsure about the scale of the draw exerted by the railways That could just reflect my tepid interest in them Note however that, since I pointed out the Groudle Railway, you are describing four not three railways, although as far as I know, the Groudle one (being run more by an enthusiasts group) runs far less frequently than the other three.

I'm not sure whether 'Films and the Isle of Man' would be worth adding as a section. The landscape may not rival the New Zealand seen in Lord of the Rings, but Manx locations have appeared in several recent films and TV, probably due to the Manx Film Commission's tempting subsidies. http://www.gov.im/dti/iomfilm/ The earliest film I know of set on the Island was a George Formby film (No Limit) revolving around the hapless ukelele-playing hero competing in the TT races http://www.georgeformby.co.uk/films/limit/report.htm. The title refers to the fact that outside of built-up areas there is no national speed limit. More frequently however the Island covers for some other location eg the recent ITV 'Island at War' series set ostensibly on the Channel Islands was filmed here.

Finally I think this needs a concluding paragraph, it currently tails off with the Manx animals section - like the Manx Cat the end is missing

Pimms

I have to agree with that, Pimms

What an interesting entry Only two things I feel could improve it:

"This little island in the north end of the Irish Sea"
That somehow doesn't sound quite right - an end can be an area, but it's more usually a point. The island could be 'in the far north of the Irish Sea', 'in the northern part of...', or 'towards the northern end of...'.

"The TT had a hiatus of a year"
'Had a hiatus of one year' perhaps? If you don't know what the word 'hiatus' means, that sentence makes it sounds like the TT had an annus horibilis in 2001... which I guess it did since the races weren't run, but that's not what the sentence is meant to convey.

Thanks, Pimms and Gosho. I'll try and get around to doing those tomorrow. Although it would be great if Pimms could write the paragraph on the Film Industry and I could just paste it in.

Is this ok Gnomon

The Island in Films

The earliest film set on the Island was No Limit, made in 1935, starring George Formby, revolving around the hapless ukelele-playing hero competing in the TT races. The title refers to the fact that outside of built-up areas there is no national speed limit.

The landscape may not rival the extravagant views of New Zealand seen in the film version of the Lord of the Rings, but Manx locations have also appeared in numerous film and TV productions since 1995, due in part to the support provided by the Manx Film Commission.

The Island appearing as itself is rare though, with most productions using Manx scenery to recreate some other place, from the reasonable prtrayal of Ireland (in Waking Ned) or Channel Islands (Island at War) to the surprising - a suburban London street (Serious and Organised).

Pimms
NB A165601 New Zealand entry may be best left out as a link until it has been updated from its 1999 incarnation
I'm also not sure which Ireland entry would be best to link from the choice at C409, maybe A707906 A (Very) Brief History of Ireland

last paragraph .. reasonable prtrayal of Ireland

portrayal ??

anyway, enjoyed it, some bike realted comments

1stly, the TT is refered to as a race in the article except it when the formby film is mentioned where it is referred to as races. Since there are seperate races throughout the week, the TT is a racing festival rather than just a race

2ndly, is it worth mentioning that outside the towns and villages, that there are no speed limits on the road

3rdly, The Manx Grand Prix anybody ? or the southern 100, other major road racing events

4thly, an article on the IoM without mentioning Joey Dunlop ?!!!!



Other points - ways of getting to the island : boats, planes, VW beetle ?

I've checked and the feedback is:
The TT is not a single race, but a series of practices and races over TT fortnight, culminating in Senior Race Day.

'No Limit' comment from film section could be incorporated/repeated in TT section

A421282 Joey Dunlop - the Motorcyclist

It could be that Racing on the Isle of Man could be an entry in its own right, as could Manx Art and Literature.

Pimms

Its a great way for the namx police to make money during TT week, they stand just inside the 30 limits on the edge of towns along the TT route and book motorcyclists as they come through.

In IoM if you can pay the on the spot fine, they can hold you in jail !

I accidentally closed my window when composing the previous post, losing some of my highly relevant comments

Gnomon: No Limit(1935) as 1st 'manx film' was disputed by a colleague. He suggested The Manxman (1929) Alfred Hitchcock's last full-length silent film, from the novel by Manxman Sir Hall Caine. Googling will show that the Manx locations were *actually* filmed in Cornwall, so not technically a film made on the Island, even though 'set' there. The same plot was also filmed in 1916, but again there is no indiaction that any filming took place on the Island.

Pimms

have a look here ...

http://www.iomguide.com/manxfilms.php



I love that a film called Boy eats Girl has jsut been filmed there !

Been there, done that Neither film of the Manxman has any locations on the Isle of Man listed in the location tabs.

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/437847/ however says it was filmed in Cornwall as does http://www.teako170.com/af09.html

This brings back lots of memories, Gnomon!

I agree that a 'How to Get There' section would be useful--I remember the old slow boat from Dublin, but I've no idea what's the easiest way to get there now. Hmm, I see that Aer Arann do a return flight from Dublin for about €80. I imagine that's a very small plane...

Azara

This looks really good, Gnomon, although obviously it can't be recommended until you write the conclusion! Can you fix that soon (ideally in the next few days? )

I would query the description of the Isle of Man as an 'independent country'. I don't think it's actually a nation state. What is its exact legal status?

I think it does count as a nation state. I'll look it up. I'll come up with some sort of a conclusion soon.

"The country is an internally self-governing dependent territory of the British Crown. It is not part of the United Kingdom but is a member of the British Commonwealth."

To be honest, I'm still not quite clear what that means exactly. Are Manx citizens subject to UK law? Do they have UK passports and use UK currency? And is the Isle of Man in the European Union?

No they are not subject to UK law. They don't have UK passports. They have their own laws, passports, government, money. They are not citizens of the EU. But the United Kingdom Army is responsible for the defense of the island.

I've added a new paragraph at the start (the 2nd paragraph) explaining this "Crown Dependency" thing.