Musings of a Matelot by John Thompson Murray, £6.90

FORMER mariner John Thompson returned to his seafaring roots when selecting many of the poems for this eclectic anthology.

Mr Thompson spent much of his working life as a marine engineer on Shell tankers before returning to live in Arnside, where he grew up.

He has never lost his love of the open sea - nor for his lifelong interest in poetry. The nautically-themed poems chosen for Musings of a Matelot include such classics as Ye Mariners of England, The Yarn of the Nancy Bell, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and The Owl and the Pussycat.

Also reproduced among the 62 poems is A Morecambe Shrimp by Terry Taylor, which evocatively recalls a lad growing up around Morecambe Bay.

And the bay is featured in one of one of Mr Murray's own poems, the sombre Alive, Alive, Oh! which reflects on the drowning of more than 20 Chinese cocklers in 2004.

Available to buy from Kendal Library. At least £1 from every book sale goes to the Mission to Seafarers charity.

ALLAN TUNNINGLEY