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by Dave Stephens & Susan Randles                                                         Illustrated by Jeffrey C. Domm                                                                              Nimbus Publishing & the Province of Nova Scotia - 96 pages Softcover                                                                                                                  Cost: $10.95                                                                                                              ISBN 1-55109-246-8

reviewed by Ronnie Scullion

Lights, camera, action! The lights, in this case, are the lighthouses.
Authors Dave Stephens, with camera in hand, and Susan Randles travelled throughout Nova Scotia visiting every accessible lighthouse on the mainland. And when possible found the best and closest viewing point for some of the lighthouses offshore.

Starting with the tapered octagonal Cape Forchu lighthouse in Yarmouth, they circled the province, completing their tour on the Lighthouse Route and highlighting the most photographed of all the province's lighthouses - the one situated at picturesque Peggy's Cove.

The lighthouses are numbered and grouped, corresponding to the routes followed in "Nova Scotia's: The Doer's and Dreamer's Complete Guide". Historical background and sometimes interesting anecdote accompanies a description and photograph of every entry. The photographs are crisp and clear, well defining the shape and highlighting the architectural style of each from the traditional "pepper shaker" light to the modern square concrete towers.

For lighthouse enthusiasts this book will serve as an indispensable
guide. Detailed access directions by road and when necessary by foot are given. Where lighthouses are situated on private property or have limited accessibility, this is clearly indicated. Cautionary notes are included where cliffs, rogue waves, narrow roads or foghorns blasting may pose hazards to visitors. Additional tourist information indicating nearby parking, washroom facilities, restaurants, picnic areas and wheelchair access makes this guide complete.

Often the authors will digress and include information about the
surrounding area - some special feature or oddity about the locale. The site of the Church Point lighthouse, for instance, overlooking St. Mary's Bay was also the site of the first church in that area, St. Mary's Church, the tallest and largest church in North America. The high spire was so affected by the strong winds off the bay that 40 tons of rock were placed as ballast inside the wooden tower.

The reader will learn about the mysterious voyage of the Mary Celeste,
built on Spencer's Island, the crew and passengers disappearing without a trace, and the ship found with all sails set. Or of Canada's only post office in a lighthouse - the one at Peggy's Cove.

The lore of the lighthouse is enhanced in the telling of the story of
the light towers - from the operation of the nineteenth century lights: how tanks of kerosene were carried nightly up narrow staircases, to the early twentieth century switch to electrical lights, and finally the more recent trend to the modern day automated structures. Whether to aid ships entering harbours or to warn of offshore rocks and projections, each lighthouse story has its own unique flavour reflecting the people and places in its environs and is told anew.

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