n The Living Coast by Richard Offen, Margaret Willes and James Apry. (The National Trust, £14.99)

IF you have decided that you will holiday at home this year I'm pretty certain you will visit a National Trust site at some time.

The array of books on show in their shops is always exciting, and this one is no exception.

Third in a series of photographic books, The Living Coast takes the reader on a colourful and fascinating tour of the UK coastline, showing the diverse beauty to be found in native geology, flora and fauna

Being familiar with the beaches at Bude, North Cornwall, I am aware of the cliff formations of 300 million years ago. We always pointed it out to visitors, but I have limited knowledge of the other amazing rocks, coves, caves and beaches that form the rest of our island home.

The white cliffs of Dover are familiar to us all, but did you know that they are made up from the fossils of sea creatures that were at the bottom of the sea 100 million years ago?

From Cornwall, with its early flowering thrift and valerian, to Suffolk, with its sea kale and poisonous yellow-horned poppy the harsh rocks are softened by the colour and unexpected joy in finding flowers in unexpected places, even though sea air isn't exactly good for plants.

Then, there are the animals, insects, birds... thousands of birds, reptiles and humans. As birds have colonised cliffs and laid eggs for millennia, so man has put his mark on the landscape. Fishing villages, beach huts and boats rim the edge of the coast, as do follies, castles and historic burial sites.

There is so much more to our coast than sun, sand and kiss-me-quick hats and this beutifully illustrated book only us only a glimpse. It is yours to explore, so go for it!

Annie Dendy