A NEW book will be a beacon of hope for anyone interested in the Island's lighthouses.
Lighthouses of the Isle of Man and North West England is a comprehensive guide featuring many previously unpublished photographs.
It also gives the histories of all the lighthouses, both major and minor, details of their locations, visitor access and current use.
The book, by Tony Denton and Nicholas Leach, explains that the first light shown from a lookout tower in Great Britain and the Isle of Man was at Derbyhaven in 1650.
And it includes details about the storm that washed away the lighthouse on the Alfred Pier at Port St Mary last year.
>> Vote on this issue at iomtoday.co.im/pollThe first major lighthouses in the Island were opened at the Point of Ayre and the Calf of Man in 1819.
Langness was the last lighthouse in the Island to be automated in 1996.
The Island lighthouses featured are: Point of Ayre, Ramsey, Maughold Head, Laxey Pier, Douglas Harbour, Douglas Head, Derbyhaven, Herring Tower, Langness, Castletown, Port St Mary, Calf of Man, Thousla Rock, Chicken Rock, Port Erin and Peel.
Seven of them are under the control of the Northern Lighthouse Board.
As well as the Island's lighthouses, the book looks at those in Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria.
The book, which costs £9.99, was published this month. It can be ordered from Island bookshops by quoting ISBN 978-0-9564560-0-7.
