Description

Packed with legends, sea lore and exciting true-life tales, this is a highly giftable treasure trove of Britain's top 100 lighthouses, each one illustrated by award-winning artist Roger O'Reilly.

This is a unique celebration of 100 of the most dramatic and storied lighthouses along the coasts of Britain. Illustrated with fantastic retro art by award-winning artist Roger O'Reilly, this guide to the sentinels that guard Britain's shores is aimed at walkers, art lovers, maritime and countryside enthusiasts, and anyone who just loves lighthouses!.

From the Lizard in Cornwall to Muckle Flugga at the northern tip of the Shetlands, and out to the forbidding rock stations that lie offshore in the path of ferocious and unforgiving seas, Roger O'Reilly has selected the very best of Britain's lighthouses with all their sea legends, folklore and tales of ghosts, shipwrecks and endurance. Including:

• Souter on the Sunderland coast, reputed to be haunted by Grace Darling’s niece Isabella, who lived here in the late 1880s. Staff have reported spoons floating in mid-air, unexplained temperature drops, and even being clutched by unseen hands.
• Ardnamurchan in the far west of Scotland, so remote that its builders came down with scurvy, and fresh fruit and vegetables along with a doctor had to be shipped out to help them.
• Trinity Buoy Wharf – who knew there was a lighthouse in the heart of London? It's now home to the Longplayer, a continuous 1,000-year long piece of music that will run until 31st December 2999.
• Smalls, off the Pembrokeshire coast, where in 1801 one keeper died and the other went mad, waiting almost four months for rescue while his dead colleague, fastened to the outside rail because the corpse had started to decompose, stared through the window at him accusingly.
• Lundy South, occupied by Barbary pirates during the 1600s, and in the 18th century the base of Thomas Benson, one time MP for Barnstaple and Devon’s most notorious smuggler.

About the Author

Roger O’Reilly grew up near the Boyne Estuary lighthouse in County Meath and ever since has associated a sense of peace and reassurance with the warm glow of lighthouse beacons. He has been illustrating and storyboarding for the advertising, film and publishing industries since 1988 (working on the TV series Vikings among others). His illustration work has been published internationally in diverse publications such as GQ, The South China Post, The Irish Times, the Daily Mail and a range of periodicals across Europe.