'Lighthouse family' publish book

Only one of the lighthouses visited was inhabited, Mr Colton said.

A father and son from Kent have published a book which details the 153 lighthouses they have visited in England and Wales.

Roger Colton and his son Adam, from Ham Street, near Ashford, have travelled about 10,000 miles for their hobby.

Their book, England and Wales in a Flash, was published to coincide with National Lighthouse weekend.

The work is accompanied by a video of the same name and Adam has a recorded a CD about his travels with his mother.

It was very pleasant to actually find a keeper at one of the sites instead of just seagulls Roger Colton

Roger Colton said: "I just wanted to visit the wildest parts of the country - the most remote spots in the country.

"Wherever we happened to go there happened to be a lighthouse there.

"It eventually turned into visiting all the lighthouses we could find in England and Wales over a course of time."

Of all the lighthouses visited by the father and son only one, in Cumbria, was inhabited.

Mr Colton said: "It was very pleasant to actually find a keeper at one of the sites instead of just seagulls."

Mr Colton said he started writing details of all the lighthouses in notebooks and then decided to use the information to compile the book.

The book also includes anecdotes from the pair's travels.

Mr Colton said they had started looking at lighthouses in Scotland but that it was quite far to travel.