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Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round the Shipping Forecast
This solemn, rhythmic intonation of the shipping forecast on BBC radio is as familiar as the sound of Big Ben chiming the hour. Since its first broadcast in the 1920s it has inspired poems, songs and novels in addition to its intended objective of warning generations of seafarers of impending storms and gales.
Sitting at home listening to the shipping forecast can be a cosily reassuring experience. There's no danger of a westerly gale eight, veering southwesterly increasing nine later (visibility poor) gusting through your average suburban living room, blowing the Sunday papers all over the place and startling the cat.
Yet familiar though the sea areas are by name, few people give much thought to where they are or what they contain. In ATTENTION ALL SHIPPING Charlie Connelly wittily explores the places behind the voice, those mysterious regions whose names seem often to bear no relation to conventional geography. Armchair travel will never be the same again.
Sitting at home listening to the shipping forecast can be a cosily reassuring experience. There's no danger of a westerly gale eight, veering southwesterly increasing nine later (visibility poor) gusting through your average suburban living room, blowing the Sunday papers all over the place and startling the cat.
Yet familiar though the sea areas are by name, few people give much thought to where they are or what they contain. In ATTENTION ALL SHIPPING Charlie Connelly wittily explores the places behind the voice, those mysterious regions whose names seem often to bear no relation to conventional geography. Armchair travel will never be the same again.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
110 people are currently reading
909 people want to read
About the author
Charlie Connelly
30 books30 followersCharlie Connelly (born 22 August 1970, London, England) is an author of popular non-fiction books. In addition to being a writer, Connelly also appears as a presenter on radio and television shows.
Charlie Connelly is a bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster. His many books include Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round The Shipping Forecast, In Search of Elvis: A Journey To Find The Man Beneath The Jumpsuit and Our Man In Hibernia: Ireland, The Irish And Me. Three of his books have featured as Radio 4′s Book of the Week read by Martin Freeman, Stephen Mangan and Tom Goodman-Hill. Charlie was also a popular presenter on the BBC1 Holiday programme and co-presented the first three series of BBC Radio 4′s Traveller’s Tree with Fi Glover.
His book Gilbert: The Last Years of WG Grace was shortlisted for the 2016 MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year. The book he wrote with his friend Bernard Sumner, Chapter And Verse: New Order, Joy Division And Me was shortlisted for Book of the Year at the NME Awards, while his most recent co-writing project, Winner: A Racing Life with the champion jockey AP McCoy is shortlisted for Sports Autobiography of the Year.
The audio version of Attention All Shipping came second in a public vote to find the greatest audiobook of all time organised by Waterstone’s and The Guardian. Romeo and Juliet was third, which Charlie takes as official confirmation that he’s better than Shakespeare.
Charlie Connelly is a bestselling author and award-winning broadcaster. His many books include Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round The Shipping Forecast, In Search of Elvis: A Journey To Find The Man Beneath The Jumpsuit and Our Man In Hibernia: Ireland, The Irish And Me. Three of his books have featured as Radio 4′s Book of the Week read by Martin Freeman, Stephen Mangan and Tom Goodman-Hill. Charlie was also a popular presenter on the BBC1 Holiday programme and co-presented the first three series of BBC Radio 4′s Traveller’s Tree with Fi Glover.
His book Gilbert: The Last Years of WG Grace was shortlisted for the 2016 MCC/Cricket Society Book of the Year. The book he wrote with his friend Bernard Sumner, Chapter And Verse: New Order, Joy Division And Me was shortlisted for Book of the Year at the NME Awards, while his most recent co-writing project, Winner: A Racing Life with the champion jockey AP McCoy is shortlisted for Sports Autobiography of the Year.
The audio version of Attention All Shipping came second in a public vote to find the greatest audiobook of all time organised by Waterstone’s and The Guardian. Romeo and Juliet was third, which Charlie takes as official confirmation that he’s better than Shakespeare.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
August 26, 2012
The Shipping Forecast is a curious feature of British life. It belongs with “Britannia Rules the Waves”, “Kiss me Hardy”, “For those in Peril on the Sea”, “Tom Bowling” and “Hearts of Oak”. It taps into the complicated mythology of Britain as an island nation of seafarers. Not that the myth is entirely mythological. My own uncle trained in a three-masted sailing ship to become a merchant seaman, and he was torpedoed a couple of times in the Battle of the Atlantic. There was nothing mythological there.
In the 1960s, I would get up early in the morning often to the sound of John Snagg’s sepulchral voice saying “Good Morning Gentlemen” before reading his strange document. I always imagined clutches of fishermen in woolly jumpers, oilskins and bobble hats gathered around the radio. The initial “Good Morning” and especially the “Gentlemen” have disappeared. All the same, when insomnia drives me to listen in at 5.30 a.m. or again at noon, I get a shudder when I hear of “Force 11” winds in South East Iceland.
It seems there is some doubt whether any real life seaman actually listens to the Shipping Forecast, now there is satellite communication. Though religiously performed, the forecast exists as a relic providing comfort to the landlubber listeners of Radio Four
Notoriously, it has a language all its own. Some people say it is poetry. Unless you are an actual seafarer, you do have to concentrate your attention to understand what it means. For most of us, the voice flows over us: it is heard but not listened to. We care more that it is spoken, rather than what it says.
This is a good book. It takes a special kind of nut to visit the land adjacent to all the United Kingdom Sea Areas. At least I now know roughly where German Bight, Rockall and Ronaldsway are, and I even know something about these places. I know too that I shall never go to visit them, unless, of course,I get shipwrecked.
Here is a verbatim Forecast, courtesy of the blog of Expat Scot
And now the Shipping Forecast issued by the Met Office, on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at 0015 utc on Saturday 08 January 2011 for the period 0000 utc Saturday 08 January to 0000 utc Sunday 09 January 2011.
There are warnings of gales in Viking North Utsire South Utsire Thames Dover Wight Portland Plymouth Biscay trafalgar Fitzroy Sole Shannon Rockall Malin Hebrides Bailey and Southeast Iceland.
The general synopsis at 1800:
Low north Fitzroy 983 expected Viking 980 by 1800 on Saturday. Low Bailey 983 expected Malin 987 by same time. Low 50 miles north of Viking 991 expected Hebrides 986 by that time. New low expected Fitzroy 1011 by 1800 on Saturday.
The area forecasts for the next 24 hours:
Viking North Utsire South Utsire:
Southerly backing easterly or northeasterly, becoming cyclonic, 6 to gale 8. Rough or very rough. Rain or snow. Good, becoming moderate or poor.
Forties Cromarty Forth:
Southeasterly becoming cyclonic then westerly, 5 to 7, perhaps gale 8 later. Rough or very rough. Rain or showers. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Tyne Dogger Fisher German Bight Humber:
Southerly or southeasterly veering southwesterly 5 to 7, perhaps increasing gale 8 in Humber and German Bight later. Moderate or rough. rain or squally showers, mainly fair later. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Thames Dover Wight Portland Plymouth:
South veering west 5 to 7, increasing gale 8 or severe gale 9 for a time. Rough or very rough, but very rough or high for a time in Plymouth. Rain or squally showers, mainly fair later. Moderate, becoming good.
Biscay Trafalgar:
Southwesterly 6 to gale 8, occasionally severe gale 9 in Biscay, veering northwesterly 4 or 5. Rough or very rough, occasionally high at first in Biscay. Rain or squally showers. Moderate, becoming good.
Fitzroy Sole:
Cyclonic, mainly southwesterly veering northerly, 6 to gale 8, occasionally severe gale 9 in Fitzroy at first, decreasing 5 or 6. very rough or high. Showers. Moderate or good.
Lundy Fastnet Irish Sea:
Cyclonic becoming northwesterly, backing southwesterly later, 5 to 7, perhaps gale 8 later in Irish Sea. Moderate or rough. Rain then squally showers. Moderate or good.
Shannon:
Northerly backing westerly, 6 to gale 8. Rough or very rough. Squally showers. Moderate or good.
Rockall Malin Hebrides Bailey:
Cyclonic becoming mainly northerly or northwesterly 6 to gale 8, perhaps severe gale 9 later. Rough or very rough. Squally wintry showers. Good, occasionally poor.
Fair Isle Faeroes:
Cyclonic mainly easterly or southeasterly, 5 to 7, becoming mainly northeasterly, perhaps increasing gale 8 later in west Faeroes. Rough or very rough. Rain or snow. Good, occasionally poor.
Southeast Iceland:
Northeasterly 7 to severe gale 9. Very rough or high. Squally wintry showers. Good, occasionally poor.
In the 1960s, I would get up early in the morning often to the sound of John Snagg’s sepulchral voice saying “Good Morning Gentlemen” before reading his strange document. I always imagined clutches of fishermen in woolly jumpers, oilskins and bobble hats gathered around the radio. The initial “Good Morning” and especially the “Gentlemen” have disappeared. All the same, when insomnia drives me to listen in at 5.30 a.m. or again at noon, I get a shudder when I hear of “Force 11” winds in South East Iceland.
It seems there is some doubt whether any real life seaman actually listens to the Shipping Forecast, now there is satellite communication. Though religiously performed, the forecast exists as a relic providing comfort to the landlubber listeners of Radio Four
Notoriously, it has a language all its own. Some people say it is poetry. Unless you are an actual seafarer, you do have to concentrate your attention to understand what it means. For most of us, the voice flows over us: it is heard but not listened to. We care more that it is spoken, rather than what it says.
This is a good book. It takes a special kind of nut to visit the land adjacent to all the United Kingdom Sea Areas. At least I now know roughly where German Bight, Rockall and Ronaldsway are, and I even know something about these places. I know too that I shall never go to visit them, unless, of course,I get shipwrecked.
Here is a verbatim Forecast, courtesy of the blog of Expat Scot
And now the Shipping Forecast issued by the Met Office, on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at 0015 utc on Saturday 08 January 2011 for the period 0000 utc Saturday 08 January to 0000 utc Sunday 09 January 2011.
There are warnings of gales in Viking North Utsire South Utsire Thames Dover Wight Portland Plymouth Biscay trafalgar Fitzroy Sole Shannon Rockall Malin Hebrides Bailey and Southeast Iceland.
The general synopsis at 1800:
Low north Fitzroy 983 expected Viking 980 by 1800 on Saturday. Low Bailey 983 expected Malin 987 by same time. Low 50 miles north of Viking 991 expected Hebrides 986 by that time. New low expected Fitzroy 1011 by 1800 on Saturday.
The area forecasts for the next 24 hours:
Viking North Utsire South Utsire:
Southerly backing easterly or northeasterly, becoming cyclonic, 6 to gale 8. Rough or very rough. Rain or snow. Good, becoming moderate or poor.
Forties Cromarty Forth:
Southeasterly becoming cyclonic then westerly, 5 to 7, perhaps gale 8 later. Rough or very rough. Rain or showers. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Tyne Dogger Fisher German Bight Humber:
Southerly or southeasterly veering southwesterly 5 to 7, perhaps increasing gale 8 in Humber and German Bight later. Moderate or rough. rain or squally showers, mainly fair later. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Thames Dover Wight Portland Plymouth:
South veering west 5 to 7, increasing gale 8 or severe gale 9 for a time. Rough or very rough, but very rough or high for a time in Plymouth. Rain or squally showers, mainly fair later. Moderate, becoming good.
Biscay Trafalgar:
Southwesterly 6 to gale 8, occasionally severe gale 9 in Biscay, veering northwesterly 4 or 5. Rough or very rough, occasionally high at first in Biscay. Rain or squally showers. Moderate, becoming good.
Fitzroy Sole:
Cyclonic, mainly southwesterly veering northerly, 6 to gale 8, occasionally severe gale 9 in Fitzroy at first, decreasing 5 or 6. very rough or high. Showers. Moderate or good.
Lundy Fastnet Irish Sea:
Cyclonic becoming northwesterly, backing southwesterly later, 5 to 7, perhaps gale 8 later in Irish Sea. Moderate or rough. Rain then squally showers. Moderate or good.
Shannon:
Northerly backing westerly, 6 to gale 8. Rough or very rough. Squally showers. Moderate or good.
Rockall Malin Hebrides Bailey:
Cyclonic becoming mainly northerly or northwesterly 6 to gale 8, perhaps severe gale 9 later. Rough or very rough. Squally wintry showers. Good, occasionally poor.
Fair Isle Faeroes:
Cyclonic mainly easterly or southeasterly, 5 to 7, becoming mainly northeasterly, perhaps increasing gale 8 later in west Faeroes. Rough or very rough. Rain or snow. Good, occasionally poor.
Southeast Iceland:
Northeasterly 7 to severe gale 9. Very rough or high. Squally wintry showers. Good, occasionally poor.
August 8, 2023
A magnificent read. Who would have thought that a book subtitled 'A Journey Round the Shipping Forecast' would provide such splendid reading. As a boy I always listened to the shipping forecast on the wireless (radio to the modern day person!) without ever knowing what Rockall, Finisterre, Dogger, forties and the like ever meant. And when the forecast itself was given, what the heck did all that mean, 'south westerly six to gale eight, increasing eight to storm ten, perhaps violent storm eleven later. Rain or squally showers, moderate or good, occasionally poor'? Sitting at home listening it all sounded not only worrying but also very mysterious.
Well it all becomes crystal clear after reading this excellent book, in which the author also visits places in each of the shipping forecast areas where all boundaries are not sea bound. And the stories relating to many of them are not only historical and informative but extremely amusing as well.
A really fascinating book and one that can be read time and time again and enjoyed just as much as the first time round. In the words of the forecast read it when sitting cosily in front of a warm fire when outside it is 'south westerly veering north westerly five or six' and there is 'rain then showers' and visibility is 'moderate with fog patches' and you will find it not 'moderate, becoming good' but (not in the words of the shipping forecast) 'very good and getting better'!
Well it all becomes crystal clear after reading this excellent book, in which the author also visits places in each of the shipping forecast areas where all boundaries are not sea bound. And the stories relating to many of them are not only historical and informative but extremely amusing as well.
A really fascinating book and one that can be read time and time again and enjoyed just as much as the first time round. In the words of the forecast read it when sitting cosily in front of a warm fire when outside it is 'south westerly veering north westerly five or six' and there is 'rain then showers' and visibility is 'moderate with fog patches' and you will find it not 'moderate, becoming good' but (not in the words of the shipping forecast) 'very good and getting better'!
March 11, 2025
Re-read March 2025 :-
This whirlwind tour round the regions of the Shipping Forecast is probably best read only once! On a re-read, the "witty humour" of Connelly becomes a little trying in a dad joke kind of way. The information is still interesting but in a "read once and store for a rainy day" manner, as opposed to re-reading over and over. My initial 5 star rating is reviewed to 3 stars and I think this book can be culled from my water themed bookshelf to the community book exchange.
Original review, June 2020 :-
A fantastically written, witty, exemplary look at the Shipping Forecast (SF) and more notably the areas around the world covered by those zones mentioned in the SF.
Connelly is naturally funny and his humour bleeds through onto the pages of this surprisingly interesting book about a longstanding tradition of a seemingly backwater broadcast on Radio 4.
Connelly travels the globe, visiting as many zones as he can of the SF, and speaking to indigenous populations, remote communities, and individuals relying on being able to read the weather. His journey takes him from bizarre sovereign nation outposts in the middle of the sea, to windswept islands where walking "into the wind" is a natural posture! Throughout his journey, he frequently comes a cropper and gets more than he bargained for, all with a good dose of British (or should that be inherently Irish or Cork) humour.
Well worth a read, even if you've never heard the Shipping Forecast; it's a fun tale with plenty of laughs and "oh, well I didn't know that" moments.
This whirlwind tour round the regions of the Shipping Forecast is probably best read only once! On a re-read, the "witty humour" of Connelly becomes a little trying in a dad joke kind of way. The information is still interesting but in a "read once and store for a rainy day" manner, as opposed to re-reading over and over. My initial 5 star rating is reviewed to 3 stars and I think this book can be culled from my water themed bookshelf to the community book exchange.
Original review, June 2020 :-
A fantastically written, witty, exemplary look at the Shipping Forecast (SF) and more notably the areas around the world covered by those zones mentioned in the SF.
Connelly is naturally funny and his humour bleeds through onto the pages of this surprisingly interesting book about a longstanding tradition of a seemingly backwater broadcast on Radio 4.
Connelly travels the globe, visiting as many zones as he can of the SF, and speaking to indigenous populations, remote communities, and individuals relying on being able to read the weather. His journey takes him from bizarre sovereign nation outposts in the middle of the sea, to windswept islands where walking "into the wind" is a natural posture! Throughout his journey, he frequently comes a cropper and gets more than he bargained for, all with a good dose of British (or should that be inherently Irish or Cork) humour.
Well worth a read, even if you've never heard the Shipping Forecast; it's a fun tale with plenty of laughs and "oh, well I didn't know that" moments.
January 17, 2012
This should have been a great book, the idea is to travel to all the places on the shipping forecast. I gave up after 30 pages, beaten back by the endless, tedious and unfunny quips that Connelly insists on making every second line.
Fortunately, Connelly mentions two other books previously written on the same subject which is handy for me as I'm sure they are both better than this waste of space.
The only redeeming factor in this whole unhappy episode is that I purchased the book from a charity shop for £2, so at least they have benefited. I'll take it back to the shop tomorrow.
Fortunately, Connelly mentions two other books previously written on the same subject which is handy for me as I'm sure they are both better than this waste of space.
The only redeeming factor in this whole unhappy episode is that I purchased the book from a charity shop for £2, so at least they have benefited. I'll take it back to the shop tomorrow.
February 12, 2013
Updated 2/12/13. Using my new non-fiction rating guidelines, I need to up this from a three to a four. And below should probably read "really 4 1/4" at least.
Really 3 1/2. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but the topic itself is not "weighty" enough to push it up to a four. After all, it's just a light travelogue.
But I did learn a lot reading the book, even if much of it was not earth-shakingly important. First of all, being American, I had never heard of the Shipping Forecast before, and I found this new knowledge utterly delightful.
Second, I've never been in the British Isles (nor indeed in any of the countries visited by Connelly), and I have to admit that many of the out-of-the-way places he describes would be fun to visit. (I may just start thinking about doing that.) The locales which Connelly chose (one in each Forecast area which has any land in it) are often islands, and/or quite small villages which have an especially interesting history, or at least own a fascinating historical incident.
Third, Connelly is very self-deprecating, which I found an endearing trait. He has no compunction about admitting (very humorously) his fears, shortcomings, and perhaps less than endearing habits which he's accumulated via his personal background.
Finally, I found some of the passages in the book quite elegantly rendered, even poignant. Connelly is really a pretty darn good writer of this sort of non-fiction. I particularly liked the section on pages 6-9 in which he describes walking in Greenwich Park on a wintry late-afternoon, and thence along the Thames to one of his favorite pubs in London, the Cutty Sark. Another example is his comment (p. 28) about the BBC Broadcasting House:
Finally, here's Connelly's take on his solitary walk along the southwestern coast of St Agnes, the southernmost inhabited (pop. 73) of the Isles of Scilly. (The islands lie off the south west coast of Cornwall, in Forecast Area Sole.)
Really 3 1/2. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but the topic itself is not "weighty" enough to push it up to a four. After all, it's just a light travelogue.
But I did learn a lot reading the book, even if much of it was not earth-shakingly important. First of all, being American, I had never heard of the Shipping Forecast before, and I found this new knowledge utterly delightful.
Second, I've never been in the British Isles (nor indeed in any of the countries visited by Connelly), and I have to admit that many of the out-of-the-way places he describes would be fun to visit. (I may just start thinking about doing that.) The locales which Connelly chose (one in each Forecast area which has any land in it) are often islands, and/or quite small villages which have an especially interesting history, or at least own a fascinating historical incident.
Third, Connelly is very self-deprecating, which I found an endearing trait. He has no compunction about admitting (very humorously) his fears, shortcomings, and perhaps less than endearing habits which he's accumulated via his personal background.
Finally, I found some of the passages in the book quite elegantly rendered, even poignant. Connelly is really a pretty darn good writer of this sort of non-fiction. I particularly liked the section on pages 6-9 in which he describes walking in Greenwich Park on a wintry late-afternoon, and thence along the Thames to one of his favorite pubs in London, the Cutty Sark. Another example is his comment (p. 28) about the BBC Broadcasting House:
... if you're ever in the center of London and are worried about something, I can heartily recommend a few minutes of aimless wandering around in Broadcasting House reception; it's like losing yourself in an enormous reassuring cuddle and you'll be right as rain in no time.
Finally, here's Connelly's take on his solitary walk along the southwestern coast of St Agnes, the southernmost inhabited (pop. 73) of the Isles of Scilly. (The islands lie off the south west coast of Cornwall, in Forecast Area Sole.)
The sky was turning a rich yellow, and the rocks against which countless ships had been dashed over the centuries loomed black out of the silvery sea ... In the direction I was looking the next significant landmass would be South America, or even possibly Antarctica. It was warm, it was peaceful, the Scillonians are tremendous. Sitting there on that rock, on that little island with the immaculate white lighthouse at its centre, its tiny seafarers' church and its frankly marvelous pub, I could have stayed.
November 21, 2010
I couldn’t help but think that many journalists must have looked at what Bryson achieved, and the millions he has made, and thought, “For fuck’s sake, anyone could write that People’s Friend wank”, left the bar, lit a fag up over the word processor and completely failed to replicate that man’s populist style and gentle humour. Here’s another of them. I liked the idea because I agree that The Shipping Forecast is part of the patchwork of British life. What is it about though? I’ve wondered myself. But a hundred pages in, I was becoming annoyed in that I felt I could visit Whitby and, with a bit of effort, write a pen potrait that would match the one here. No new observations on the people or the place. I pay money to read stuff that makes me occassionally think, “I couldn’t write like this if I tried.” Bill Bryson is a case in point. So far, I’ve yet to have this thought reading “Attention all Shipping”. Bryson makes it look so easy you know it must be difficult. This guy makes you think that anyone could do it, but what would be the point? Might as well read a tourist leaflet in a hotel about Whitby. Or listen to the real Shipping Forecast.
February 19, 2012
The year Attention All Shipping by Charlie Connelly came out, I got a job working as a web producer for a client based in Texas, while I was in California. The office I worked in was very small and very quiet. To bridge the gap between my scheduled assignments, I started listening to the internet stream of Radio Four.
With my location in California and the hours I worked, meant that my day began and ended with a broadcast of the Shipping Forecast. I think it was also on Radio Four that I heard a very positive book review of Connelly's memoir of a his journey around the shipping forecast map.
Connelly gave himself a year to visit one spot in every piece of the shipping forecast map that has an actual town. His book chronicles the ups and downs of that journey. Some places are tiny and remote. He struggled with bad weather, boredom and transportation issues.
It includes some points of history of the shipping forecast and how it has changed over the years. For me it was the perfect combination of history, travelogue, and social commentary.
Recommended by Radio 4?
With my location in California and the hours I worked, meant that my day began and ended with a broadcast of the Shipping Forecast. I think it was also on Radio Four that I heard a very positive book review of Connelly's memoir of a his journey around the shipping forecast map.
Connelly gave himself a year to visit one spot in every piece of the shipping forecast map that has an actual town. His book chronicles the ups and downs of that journey. Some places are tiny and remote. He struggled with bad weather, boredom and transportation issues.
It includes some points of history of the shipping forecast and how it has changed over the years. For me it was the perfect combination of history, travelogue, and social commentary.
Recommended by Radio 4?
December 21, 2008
I just love this book. I should add that I have a strange love of the shipping forecast too...
"Attention All Shipping" is a great idea (one that causes me to kick myself that I didnt get there first); Charlie Connelly travels to every shipping area in the forecast, along the way giving a bit of the history of the shipping areas, meteorology, lighthouses, the RNLI and the lives of the coastal and island communities around Britain and its nearest neighbours. Connelly has an enjoyable style, his self-depreciative humour had me chuckling out loud at times and he certainly has done a lot of different things during his lifetime (mortuary assistant, rock'n'roll tour manager, operating theatre orderly and writer amongst other things). Maybe one day I will get to do my own journey round the shipping forecast, for now this book will just have to do.
"Attention All Shipping" is a great idea (one that causes me to kick myself that I didnt get there first); Charlie Connelly travels to every shipping area in the forecast, along the way giving a bit of the history of the shipping areas, meteorology, lighthouses, the RNLI and the lives of the coastal and island communities around Britain and its nearest neighbours. Connelly has an enjoyable style, his self-depreciative humour had me chuckling out loud at times and he certainly has done a lot of different things during his lifetime (mortuary assistant, rock'n'roll tour manager, operating theatre orderly and writer amongst other things). Maybe one day I will get to do my own journey round the shipping forecast, for now this book will just have to do.
November 27, 2022
3.5 ⭐ = Quite Good.
When this was passed on to me from a work colleague, I imagined that it would be a boring read.
Actually, I learnt quite a lot. Having never listened to the shipping forecast, I was completely ignorant of the names of the shipping zones and I feel as if I now know a little knowledge about each of these places.
Yes, in small areas I skim read until the next nugget of information drew me in but overall kept interested.
When this was passed on to me from a work colleague, I imagined that it would be a boring read.
Actually, I learnt quite a lot. Having never listened to the shipping forecast, I was completely ignorant of the names of the shipping zones and I feel as if I now know a little knowledge about each of these places.
Yes, in small areas I skim read until the next nugget of information drew me in but overall kept interested.
September 6, 2008
I loved this very funny, often informative, quirky account of travelling around the areas of the shipping forecast (apart from Bailey which is all sea but he flew over it). Some fascinating bits of British history are discovered, and some very interesting characters. Look out for a Norwegian island populated by Everton fans. Great fun.
July 11, 2025
(2.5 stars)
I only picked this book up because I was on holiday sailing and thought it would be an excellent themed read. I did rather like this book, it was fun to go around the regions of the shipping forecast and learn facts about them. Most of these facts are very surface-level and light, but since the shipping forecast has 31 areas and this is a pretty short book, I was expecting that.
However, I did have one very large problem with the book, without which I would have maybe given the book 4 stars instead of 2.5.
Connelly seems to be labouring under the impression that bitchiness is the height of comedy. This book being writeen in 2004 may be a slight mitigating circumstance, as the zeitgeist of the time loved "mean" comedy - there were many TV shows that hinged comedy off being a downright bully here in the UK (Fat Families, The Weakest Link, Trinny and Susannah). Since insult comedy was so much in vogue in 2004, is it fair to castigate Connelly for partaking in it? Maybe. Not all comedians did it, after all.
I like a bit of banter from time to time, and I even think some well-placed bitchiness here and there can work. But Connelly describing a group of men as "the ugliest people I have ever seen in my life", and saying they improved his self-esteem, is just uncalled-for bitchiness that ruins the scene. He later goes on to say just a couple of pages later that a guitarist sounds like cats being disembowelled. I wouldn't mind the odd comment here and there, but he goes too far at times, and the mean comments are not spaced out enough. I came here for an amusing travel memoir/commentary on the shipping forecast, not a mean-spirited guy who jokes (hopefully it's only a joke) about licking the plates of his slightly rude houseguests. The odd self-deprecating comment about how unfit and "slightly overweight" he is only serve to make me more irritated at him.
I only picked this book up because I was on holiday sailing and thought it would be an excellent themed read. I did rather like this book, it was fun to go around the regions of the shipping forecast and learn facts about them. Most of these facts are very surface-level and light, but since the shipping forecast has 31 areas and this is a pretty short book, I was expecting that.
However, I did have one very large problem with the book, without which I would have maybe given the book 4 stars instead of 2.5.
Connelly seems to be labouring under the impression that bitchiness is the height of comedy. This book being writeen in 2004 may be a slight mitigating circumstance, as the zeitgeist of the time loved "mean" comedy - there were many TV shows that hinged comedy off being a downright bully here in the UK (Fat Families, The Weakest Link, Trinny and Susannah). Since insult comedy was so much in vogue in 2004, is it fair to castigate Connelly for partaking in it? Maybe. Not all comedians did it, after all.
I like a bit of banter from time to time, and I even think some well-placed bitchiness here and there can work. But Connelly describing a group of men as "the ugliest people I have ever seen in my life", and saying they improved his self-esteem, is just uncalled-for bitchiness that ruins the scene. He later goes on to say just a couple of pages later that a guitarist sounds like cats being disembowelled. I wouldn't mind the odd comment here and there, but he goes too far at times, and the mean comments are not spaced out enough. I came here for an amusing travel memoir/commentary on the shipping forecast, not a mean-spirited guy who jokes (hopefully it's only a joke) about licking the plates of his slightly rude houseguests. The odd self-deprecating comment about how unfit and "slightly overweight" he is only serve to make me more irritated at him.
January 31, 2011
Don't be put off by the title this is a thoroughly enjoyable read. It is an account of visiting all the areas of the shipping forecast. It gives some insights to places I never knew existed. If you like your travel books this is a must.
March 6, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 28, 2017
I thought it was too long, nearly funny, and then I thought perhaps I am just being grumpy.
October 22, 2024
Very enjoyable travel writing under the conceit of visiting all the areas of the shipping forecast. The writing has the humour and self awareness of Bill Bryson but without being so cynical as Bill often is.
August 19, 2012
As a teenager, I spent many looong weekends with my parents on their boat and listening to the shipping forecast was a ritual. I loved this book which I read about 3 years ago. It's a tale of British eccentricity as much as anything else but educates and makes you laugh at the same time.
January 25, 2025
First of all I must admit to always having a soft spot for the shipping forecast having lived the best part of my life on the coast. I’ve listen to the unabridged version (thank you BBC sounds) and I do believe this is the first time I feel compelled to buy the book and a map of the shipping forecast map! Has it inspired me to visit some of the places…. Maybe.
July 13, 2024
Such an interesting, and funny book, written in a way that keeps your attention from start to finish.
February 2, 2025
Listened to the abridged version on BBC Sounds, very enjoyable, a gentle travel tale around the mysterious sounding places from the shipping forecast. Would like to read the whole thing!
August 30, 2014
This is one of those books with such a simple & ingenious premise, that you wonder why it hadn't been done before. I'm a big fan of Charlie Connelly anyway, but for me, this is his best book to date with plenty of laugh out loud moments & his trademark self-deprecating humour coupled with a healthy dose of interesting anecdotes & history.
Whether he's eating & drinking his own body weight in shrimps & white wine on Utsire, enduring a weekend in the most boring town in the world in Denmark, being scared witless at the top of a lighthouse in Plymouth, investigating the story of a talking mongoose on the Isle of Man, suffering with appalling seasickness on a trip to Lundy Island, getting soaked to the skin & having money tugged out of him through his nostrils on the Isle of Wight or bemoaning his inability to get to the "relatively modern fish & fish processing town" of Hofn in southeast Iceland, its all told in hysterically funny fashion.
There are more serious moments too, such as his appraisal of one of his all time heroes, the lifeboatman Henry Bloggs & his journey to the mysterious metal platform that dubs itself The Principality of Sealand,
The shipping forecast is a British institution & I'm so glad that such a talented, funny, engaging & insightful writer took it upon himself to travel to every area. Even those areas that have no land borders were covered as he sailed on or flew over them at some point during his journey.
I've lost count of how many times I've read this book. Its endlessly enjoyable & for anyone who enjoys original & funny travel writing, this book is an absolute must buy!
Whether he's eating & drinking his own body weight in shrimps & white wine on Utsire, enduring a weekend in the most boring town in the world in Denmark, being scared witless at the top of a lighthouse in Plymouth, investigating the story of a talking mongoose on the Isle of Man, suffering with appalling seasickness on a trip to Lundy Island, getting soaked to the skin & having money tugged out of him through his nostrils on the Isle of Wight or bemoaning his inability to get to the "relatively modern fish & fish processing town" of Hofn in southeast Iceland, its all told in hysterically funny fashion.
There are more serious moments too, such as his appraisal of one of his all time heroes, the lifeboatman Henry Bloggs & his journey to the mysterious metal platform that dubs itself The Principality of Sealand,
The shipping forecast is a British institution & I'm so glad that such a talented, funny, engaging & insightful writer took it upon himself to travel to every area. Even those areas that have no land borders were covered as he sailed on or flew over them at some point during his journey.
I've lost count of how many times I've read this book. Its endlessly enjoyable & for anyone who enjoys original & funny travel writing, this book is an absolute must buy!
June 16, 2010
I think this book will please any one who grew up in England and remembers listening to the shipping forecast each day. As the writer says, the report was always poetic and the names of the shipping areas around UK seemed romantic. I'm enjoying this unusual travel book around the UK seas.
June 16th...it took me a long time to read this as it was my "book Bag" ie it travels with me to medical appointments, on ferries, etc so I always have something to read while waiting. I did enjoy the book very much, Lots of information about the beginnings of the Meteorological Office in UK, and all the little islands in the shipping areas of Britain...some British, some Icelandic, some Scandinavian...plus one or two that have been declared an independent sovereign state by eccentrics who live on them...even to the extent of repelling Russian invaders by force.
Very humourously written...I think this travel book anyone will please who enjoys reading about different lands and cultures...even if they did not grow up listening to the BBC radio Shipping Forecasts.
June 16th...it took me a long time to read this as it was my "book Bag" ie it travels with me to medical appointments, on ferries, etc so I always have something to read while waiting. I did enjoy the book very much, Lots of information about the beginnings of the Meteorological Office in UK, and all the little islands in the shipping areas of Britain...some British, some Icelandic, some Scandinavian...plus one or two that have been declared an independent sovereign state by eccentrics who live on them...even to the extent of repelling Russian invaders by force.
Very humourously written...I think this travel book anyone will please who enjoys reading about different lands and cultures...even if they did not grow up listening to the BBC radio Shipping Forecasts.
June 23, 2014
Absolutely brilliant read and I chanced upon it for free as a second-hand copy in October last year on holiday in Mexico. Thought it would be my cup of tea and it was - one of those books where the author gets some mad idea into his head - "I know, let's go and visit all the locations mentioned on the Shipping Forecast" - and actually goes and does it with some very amusing results! Both funny and fascinating in turn as Charlie ends up in all sorts of mad places, and the bit about the puffins is hilarious!
March 12, 2025
So many people who grew up in the UK listened to the Shipping Forecast on the Radio. It's incredibly relaxing for starters and it's a much beloved British institution. So having been recommended this book I have to say I thoroughtly enjoyed it. Charlie Connelly goes round the British mainland, by boat and aircraft and describes the land- and seascapes of every area in broadcast order. He never makes it to Rockall, an isolated crag in the Atlantic, but then, as he observes, more people have landed on the moon. He is funny and a bit corny these tiny islands of the coast of England and Scotland were fascinating!
December 13, 2023
Audio.
Brilliant.
I love this kind of travel book where someone gets hooked on the idea of visiting every place named in something we take for granted
Connelly is a great reader as well.
Brilliant.
I love this kind of travel book where someone gets hooked on the idea of visiting every place named in something we take for granted
Connelly is a great reader as well.
December 15, 2024
I wanna be on an island now
February 23, 2017
This was a book along the lines of Bill Bryson's travels around various countries. For me not as funny but I did laugh out loud at the description of the crossing to Lundy. The history of the shipping forecast and the various places and characters he met were interesting and made me realise how much I did not know about things we hear every day.
May 17, 2022
The author decides to visit all the places on the shipping forecast and root around there for interesting bits of history, geography and meteorology. He is a bit random in that he keeps not booking things in advance and then finding that with the short timescale he has given himself to do the challenge, stuff he thought he would do is not possible. He finds other relevant things to do instead, but it is all very hand-to-mouth.
In the last area he goes to, South East Iceland, there is an island with a really quite recent volcanic history which is fascinating, but he nearly does not go there because he was planning to go elsewhere and got stuck. It would have been a shame to miss the interesting stuff about the volcano just because he hadn’t done the research and wasn’t planning to go there. I’m glad the bus and plane tickets he planned to buy at the last minute were not available.
Having said that, it is a fun book with lots of snippets of interesting local information for each area. Lots of lighthouses and lifeboatmen and, of course, lots of weather.
In the last area he goes to, South East Iceland, there is an island with a really quite recent volcanic history which is fascinating, but he nearly does not go there because he was planning to go elsewhere and got stuck. It would have been a shame to miss the interesting stuff about the volcano just because he hadn’t done the research and wasn’t planning to go there. I’m glad the bus and plane tickets he planned to buy at the last minute were not available.
Having said that, it is a fun book with lots of snippets of interesting local information for each area. Lots of lighthouses and lifeboatmen and, of course, lots of weather.
February 11, 2016
A funny and charming travelogue of the shipping-forecast areas. Charlie Connelly visits those places (on land) that he feels best reflect their adjacent forecast areas. Starting of on the Norwegian island of Utsira, he travels clockwise around the UK (via Basque country) to Iceland, reporting on the local people, their history and customs, as he goes.
Occasionally Connelly's sometimes laddish humour wears a bit thin, especially, on one occasion, when he ruined a poignant observation with a cheap joke. However, the latter half of the book is more reflective, so it's worth sticking with it if you find the humour a bit much to start with. For the most part, "Attention All Shipping" is thoughtful, informative, and laugh-out-loud funny, and has made me want to follow in his footsteps.
I recommend this for any lover of the British Isles, particularly if you've ever used the end of Radio 4's daily long-wave broadcast as your cue to go to sleep.
Occasionally Connelly's sometimes laddish humour wears a bit thin, especially, on one occasion, when he ruined a poignant observation with a cheap joke. However, the latter half of the book is more reflective, so it's worth sticking with it if you find the humour a bit much to start with. For the most part, "Attention All Shipping" is thoughtful, informative, and laugh-out-loud funny, and has made me want to follow in his footsteps.
I recommend this for any lover of the British Isles, particularly if you've ever used the end of Radio 4's daily long-wave broadcast as your cue to go to sleep.
September 27, 2008
This book is very British, the author looks at the history of the shipping forcast and then visits all of the strange places that get mentioned on the forecast. It's probably read very well in quick succession to Bill Bryson's Notes on a small island.
We learn an aweful lot about some of the history of Britain, but much more about the strange characters that make up our world (including the author), and some fascinating background into the shipping news. Not quite as funny as someone like Danny Wallace, this is however humourous and a fairly easy read.
We learn an aweful lot about some of the history of Britain, but much more about the strange characters that make up our world (including the author), and some fascinating background into the shipping news. Not quite as funny as someone like Danny Wallace, this is however humourous and a fairly easy read.
November 19, 2012
Not very many books can make me laugh out loud (especially in the bath when you can hear your elderly neighbour shuffling about next door) but this one did. Am definitely a Charlie Connelly convert, and will be looking out for his other books! It also reinforced the Shipping Forecast as something that we should preserve!
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