THERE'S a romance to the sea and a flutter of the heart whenever a ship leaves port. What adventures are ahead, where's she bound, will the journey be stormy?

It matters not whether you stand on Lydney's stump of a pier or on the Hoe at Plymouth, those departing ships are all on missions. And what missions they were, especially when a vessel was under sail.

OK, it was chiefly coal on the hundreds of trows, ketches and schooners drifting downstream on an ebb tide from Lydney. Many were bound for South West ports, havens in Devon and Cornwall, but others faced stiffer challenges, the Irish Sea and ports in Ireland.

The link between the Severn ports and those in Southern Ireland are explored in detail in a super new book produced by Lydney-based Black Dwarf Publications and given a mouthful of a title, 'Irish Sea Schooner Twilight – the last years of the Western Seas traders.'

For those interested in sailing ships and the sea this is a classic book. It's potential was quickly realised when publisher Neil Parkhouse was given the text, written by Richard J Scott. Tragically, he had died in January 2008.

The history of coastal trading has been well recorded but mostly drawn from interviews with the last of the old-style sailors or from old documents.

Neil quickly realised this was a gem for Richard Scott had actually sailed as crew in the last days of the old schooners. Publish it? You bet!

Polished by Neil and the author and sailing ship enthusiast Colin Green, this new publication is a fascinating account of many journeys from Ireland to the west country. It celebrates triumphs and records tragedies in great detail and highlights and explores the fate of dozens of vessels.

It is superbly illustrated with many photographs available here for the first time.

In an age when the market has been flooded with cheaply produced but expensively sold books purporting to be historical accounts, this is a bookshelf 'must-have'. It is a masterclass in how to produce local history and an ideal Christmas gift. You can smell the sea!

The book is available from the Forest Bookshop, Dean Forest Railway or from Neil Parkhouse at 80, Tutnalls Street, Lydney. Price £24.99.