Book review: Scottish and Manx Lighthouses by Ian Cowe

Enthusiastic author Ian Cowe used his photographic skills to take the armchair reader on a tour by foot, car, boat and helicopter to Scotland and The Isle of Man’s most impressive lighthouses.

The book begins in the 17th century when the earliest attempts were made to build lighthouses. These are compared to the masterpieces which followed once engineer Robert Stevenson and The Northern Lighthouse Board got together .

Ian’s journey starts at a small lighthouse perched on the soaring cliffs of St Abbs Head on the east coast and ends at Chicken Rock, a spectacular sea-washed granite pillar off the southernmost tip of the Isle of Man.

You can join Ian as he visits some of the remotest lighthouses and tells not only his own experiences, but those of the lighthouse keepers, who battled daily to protect the seas.

The pictures and words are exhilarating and will have you reaching for your camera!

Scottish and Manx Lighthouses by Ian Cowe, £20, www.whittlespublishing.com