No Boat Required: Exploring Tidal Islands

Peter Caton is the first person to visit all 43 tidal islands in the UK, exploring their beauty, history, and challenges. He contrasts the friendly welcome of islanders with the reluctance of some owners to permit visits and unearths many little-known facts and stories. The book also reflects on the impact of climate change on the islands.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 28 November 2022
Publisher: Troubador Publishing

When is an island not an island? Peter Caton takes us to all four corners of England, Scotland, and Wales to find out.

Sharing our nations fascination with islands, Peter sets out to be the first person to visit all 43 tidal islands which can be walked to from the UK mainland. Along the way, he faces many challenges: precipitous cliffs, vicious dogs, disappearing footpaths, lost bus drivers, fast tides, quicksand, and enormous quantities of mud, but also experiences wonderfully scenic journeys by road, rail, and on foot. He contrasts the friendly welcome from most islanders and owners with the reluctance of others to permit visits, and tells how he was thrown off one secret island.

An entertaining narrative illustrated with colour photographs, No Boat Required contains a wealth of information as the author unearths many little-known facts and stories. It tells of the solitude of the many remote islands and the difficulties of balancing the needs of people and wildlife. We learn of the islands varied histories – stories of pirates, smugglers, murder, and ghosts, of battles with Vikings, an island claimed by punks, and another with its own king. He writes of the beauty of the islands and our coast, and reflects on how these may be affected by climate change.

In No Boat Required, Peter Caton takes us to explore islands, some familiar but most which few of us.

This is a new edition for 2022, with updates and additional material.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781803136226
Edition number: 2 New edition