Reports from Coastal Stations: Journeys to the Weather Stations Reported on the BBC Shipping Forecast

 How many times have you woken early to hear the soft tones of the BBC deliver the Shipping Forecast, warnings of gales later, good becoming moderate? And then, ‘Weather Reports from Coastal Stations’, actual weather from around the fringes of our islands, names familiar yet remote. Have you ever wondered about the stations themselves, from which the reports emanate? Are these wild and weather-battered lighthouses or coast guard stations, once warmed against the winter gales by smoky coal fires but now deserted? Or do people still actually gather the data, tap barometers and measure rain in gauges before preparing their stylised reports for transmission? That was the genesis of my idea, to visit each of these far-flung coastal stations, find out what is there and then write my own reports! The visits provided the thread to weave a net drawing in friends and family, history and science, travels by ferry, train and tallship, at home and abroad. Some unexpected characters appear, Fletcher Christian and Lady Nelson along with Robert Fitzroy and his travelling companion, Charles Darwin.