Coastal Shipping Publications

Coastal Shipping Publications is a publishing company based in Portishead, a coastal town North Somerset that publishes specialised books and magazines AbOUT coastal ships, maritime, 20th century merchant shipping and occasionally buses and trains. The town has the second highest tidal range in the world. The founder of the company is Bernard McCall and is run by him and his wife Doreen, who deals with marketing, sales and admin. The company is linked to an associate publishers, Mainline and Maritime.

History

The first publication by Coastal Shipping was a book about the history of trade shipping in the port of Whitby in the 80s. The book was published in 1988, and that was the birth of the company. However, it wasn't properly established until 1994, when Doreen and Bernard moved to Portishead. The first Coastal Shipping magazine was printed in the Spring of 1994, and for 3 years was printed 4 times a year. Since then, the magazine has been printed bi-monthly.

Team

Maritime author and publisher Bernard McCall heads the team and his wife Doreen looks after administrative, selling and marketing. A full-time publishing assistant, Sarah, who splits her time between helping Doreen with administrative tasks and helping Bernard on the publishing side. On a short term basis Chloe is providing further help notably with Coastal Shipping's ambitious publishing programme.

Publications

Coastal Shipping Magazine

Coastal Shipping is a successful specialist magazine in its 22nd year of publication. Published bi-monthly, it is fully illustrated in colour, has a minimum of 52 pages, and is printed in A5 size. Regular features include Coaster of the Past - a nostalgic look at a once-familiar vessel; Standard Coasters - a review of specific classes of coasters; and Port Panorama- a pictorial survey of vessels in a port. Other articles cover news items about the ships and their trading patterns. The magazine is usually received by subscribers, and is a high talking point within the maritime community.

Specialist Books

Best-sellers include Coasters Around Britain which was reprinted 3 times. Currently, Looking Back at Traditional Cargo Ships by Andrew Wiltshire has proved to be a very popular photographic album.

Ship Shows

Coastal Shipping Publications often take part in and organise ship shows. A full list of these events can be found here on their website. Upcoming ship shows organised by Bernard and Doreen include the North West Ship Show, on Saturday 3 October 2015 in Liverpool, and the South Coast Ship Show on Sunday 14 November 2015 in Hove. Previous shows organised by the couple include the South West Ship Show in Portishead in the April of 2015.