Tiny Islands : 60 Remarkable Little Worlds Around

by Dixe Wills

From the tiny island that shaped the entire English language, to the island that terrified Dylan Thomas, there's more to Britain's tiny islands than you might think! Have your own tiny adventure by visiting any of the 60 remarkable little islands around Britain featured here. Although Britain boasts hundreds of tiny islands, Dixe Wills has selected just the very best of them for this book. Found around the coast, in lakes, in lochs and on rivers, these little worlds are waiting for you to discover them - whether you swim to them, walk to them at low tide, row to them, or catch a dinky little ferry.

Dixe Wills is the author of a number of books about the outdoors, including the bestselling 'Tiny Campsites'. He is also a frequent contributor to The Guardian newspaper, writing mainly about eco-friendly and no-frills travel, typically around Britain.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, British Literature

Hardcover

First published May 1, 2013

About the author

Assuming for a moment that we are what we do, I’m an author and freelance non-flying travel journalist. I’ve written a number of genre-bending books and one or two that give librarians fewer dilemmas. My most recent work is Tiny Stations (AA) which is a journey through the penumbric world of Britain’s railway request stops. Prior to Tiny Stations, I penned Tiny Islands (AA) and Tiny Campsites (Punk). Before the mania for all things tiny struck me, I managed to knock out a few non-size-specific books, including The Z-Z of Great Britain, Places to Hide in England, Scotland and Wales, New World Order (Wills Weltordnung in its Bloomsbury Berlin edition) and, under the name Johnson P Johnson, The Armchair Naturalist (all Icon).

I write for the UK newspaper The Guardian, mainly on green travel. You can read my articles here. You might also find me popping up in other newspapers (though not ones owned by Rupert Murdoch or edited by Paul Dacre, you’ll be pleased to learn) and magazines, some of which you’ll find listed here. I host a monthly spoken word night-cum-pub quiz mash up called Stranger than Fiction that you really ought to come along to because it’s great fun and only costs six quid. I also have a cracking Isle of Dogs-based romcom script unjustly gathering dust in a cupboard. Is there no start to my talents?

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was promising to begin with. Quick reading. Ultimately it became pretty repetitive. Of course it’s not the authors fault there are so many small islands around Britain, but so many are a blank rock with a lot of birds. Brief history lessons are included and maps that don’t connect very well to the mainland are shown at the beginning of chapters.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book. So well written and illustrated, also with photos to drool over. He has such a fabulous way with words that keeps you reading. I savoured every island as if I might one day visit them all.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an island nation we have always had an affinity with little places surrounded by water. These isles have in excess of 6,200 islands, 803 of which are significant enough to appear on maps.

Wills has visited 60 of them for this book, and for each island is a lovely hand drawn map, photos and details of how to get there, where to stay and other usefully information. Also for each island he has written a little potted history, some interesting anecdotes and an overview of his visit there.

It is a fascinating little book, written with wry wit and humour. His infectious enthusiasm with these places comes across in spades. I can recommend this book for those fascinated by Islands and our history.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this very much. Occasionally the author thinks himself too funny (more often, he is funny) but loved the not-limited-to-car-drivers route instructions and just found it all fascinating.

[Sarahjoy Maddeaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It was a present from a friend, and I thought it looked ideal to dip into, perhaps when planning a trip, perhaps for inspiration for a trip, or perhaps just to dream of a trip. I ended up reading it cover to cover because it was just that readable.

The book is full of all the necessary useful information you would need to visit each island; interesting anecdotes about the place; and highlights that really make you want to include it on your bucket list, all written with a sense of humour. Beautiful pictures finish off the job. I want to see everything!

Two criticisms of the book. First, it was physically difficult to read. It's quite a heavy book, so hard to hold up to read in bed. Also it's difficult to open the pages wide enough to read the text closest to the inside margins. If they reprint it, I hope they'll make the inside margins wider.

Second, it included the phrase 'my wife'. Couldn't the author have let me continue my dream of meeting him on some island exploration, marrying him, and settling down to a life of island exploration together?

[Andy Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apart from the rather laboured humour and a bizarre determination to completely ignore the fact cars ever existed and offer directions as some kind of Treasure Hunt quest over sea, tracks and trails ("It's a largely flat 21 mile cycle ride to Ulva Ferry"), this is an enjoyable guide to some of the tiny, lesser known islands around Britain. If you're a islophile (got that word from Robert McFarlane) this book should be right up your street.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Islands! Sixty of them, defined as tiny by virtue of being under 300 acres. And because they are located off the coast of Britain and in Britain's various lakes and waterways, these plots of land are loaded with history - lots of saints, kings and sundry others; Vikings, Picts, Scots, Angles, Celts, Normans etc etc. The islands of my fathers.

I thought it was going to be a sort of Bill Bryson kind of thing, and there is plenty of humour, history and quirk, but it is actually an AA travel guide, albeit with extra charm and extra attention to the design aesthetic. So plenty of info about bus routes and shops where supplies can be purchased - a little more info than I was after, but it's all good.

I turned some corners over on the islands I'd like to visit one day - meantime the book was a rather good aid to stay-at-home travel of the imagination.

[Frances Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely little book about some very unusual islands around our coast. Definitely a few there that I want to visit now!

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this as a guide to some of the islands I was hoping to visit whilst on holiday and also to just learn a bit more about the islands around Britain in general really as I always love exploring the coast.

This book does not cover all the islands unfortunately. I was hoping for a bit about Lundy Island but unfortunately Dixie Wills left it out because he does not class it as "tiny". Having said this, Wills brings his 60 favourites to life with lots of intriguing facts, illustrations and photographs.

The narrative style was entertaining and easy to read and I especially liked the fact Wills provides instructions on how to get to each island using public transport and a list of things to do when you get there.

The only thing I wished for was for more islands to have been included because Wills even said in his introduction that Britain, according to the ordanance survey, rejoices in 6,289 islands, 803 of which are substantial enough in size for cartographers to render a coastline on a map. All the "tiny" islands Wills described are no more than 300 acres.

All in all an enjoyable, informative read. Has definitely made me add a few more islands to my bucket list.

[Stephen Dawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The bitesize format makes for a very bitty read, and though there is much that is of interest and his humour shines through in places, it feels very scattergun, but nevertheless may provide some inspiration and information for future visits to some of the islands featured.

Not a patch on his Tiny Stations which is a great read.

[Stargazer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really disliked the type in this book.