From the places themselves - how they got their names, what's happened there through the ages - to the poems and parodies that it's inspired, this is a beautifully evocative tribute to one of Britain's - and Radio 4's - best-loved broadcasts.

Nic Compton is a writer, photographer and sailor who has spent his life around boats. Having worked as a journeyman shipwright, journalist and editor of Classic Boat, he now has 15 books about ships and seafaring to his name. He currently lives by the River Dart in Devon, from where he sails a Romilly 22 called Ramona. He still listens to the Shpping Forecast before he ventures out onto the sea.