Tom Nancollas Interviewed by Nick Higham

Conservationist Tom Nancollas looks at 11 maritime relics that tell the story of Britain at sea.

Nancollas explains how each fragment illuminates a phase of our adventures on the waves and brings us closer to the people, places and vessels that made us a maritime nation. They include the prow of a Bronze Age vessel, the bell of a Georgian frigate, a mast plucked from a Victorian steamship, and the propeller of an Edwardian ocean liner. Nancollas brings to life stories of naval architects, shipwrights, fishermen, merchants, shipwrecks, superstition, pilgrimage, trade, slavery and war.

Nancollas is a building conservationist. His love of seascapes was born out of his Cornish heritage. He is also author of Seashaken Houses, which grew out of his fascination with offshore rock lighthouses. Here he talks to journalist Nick Higham, who was the BBC’s first ever media correspondent and is a former presenter of Meet the Author on the BBC news channel.