On Saturday, 26 September, BBC Radio 3 will broadcast live from lighthouses across England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland as part of a 12-hour programme of music, storytelling, and sound. Among the featured lighthouses will be Rathlin Island’s West Lighthouse, off the north Antrim coast.
‘Where the Light Sings’ embarks on a unique twelve-hour live musical adventure. Where the Light Sings connects some of Britain's wildest coastal locations, each linked to a lighthouse, in a journey through music, storytelling and sound.
The day features live programmes (see below) from six locations around the UK’s coastline: Georgia Mann at Dungeness Lighthouse (Kent, England); Tom Service on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula (Lochaber, Scotland); John Toal at the West Lighthouse on Rathlin Island (Northern Ireland); Shân Cothi at Strumble Head Lighthouse (Pembrokeshire, Wales); and Kate Molleson at St Aidan’s Church in Bamburgh, looking out towards Longstone Lighthouse, the Northumberland, England, beacon forever associated with Grace Darling, as it marks its 200th anniversary.
Throughout the day, Petroc Trelawny undertakes a journey of his own, travelling by boat from Penzance, Cornwall, to a mystery final destination, where he presents the closing programme as evening falls.
Where the Light Sings celebrates the poetry of Britain’s shorelines and the enduring relationship between sea, land, and song. Musicians and contributors join the live programmes to explore the histories, wildlife, and cultural traditions that have shaped these places over generations. Against a backdrop of rugged cliffs, sweeping beaches, crashing waves and birdsong, the day reflects on the ways music emerges from the natural world. As the light shifts around the coastline, listeners are invited to the UK’s shores not simply as places on a map, but as sources of inspiration, creativity, and connection.
Among the special guests appearing live, the Caritas Chamber Choir and accordionist Alise Silina will be in Dungeness, alongside Ed Peppitt – a member of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers. Singer and choral director Mary Ann Kennedy is in Ardnamurchan with guitarist Finlay Wells, while Tom Service meets members of the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse Trust and the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. Cellist and composer Neil Martin and harpist Úna Monaghan perform live in Rathlin, and in Strumble Head there will be live music from folk singer Mari Mathias and harpist Claire Jones.
At St Aidan’s Church in Bamburgh, performances come from the church’s own bellringers and the Royal Northern Chamber Ensemble, while Kate Molleson chats to author and broadcaster Jennifer Lucy Allan about the history, sound, and culture of coastal foghorns and to sound recordist and Longstone Lighthouse enthusiast Chris Watson.
The live broadcasts (see details below) and on-board updates are interspersed with a specially curated soundtrack of music inspired by the sea, islands, and lighthouses.
Sam Jackson, Controller BBC Radio 3, says, "The response to last year’s Train Tracks—a day of live programmes celebrating 200 years of UK railways – and to our Breakfast broadcasts from locations across the country has shown us how much our listeners enjoy opportunities to celebrate the people, places, and stories that shape life across the UK. Where the Light Sings builds on that spirit, bringing audiences together through music, conversation, and moments of discovery, while exploring the history, heritage, and natural beauty of some of the most inspiring and remote locations along our coastline.”
Where the Light Sings has been made with the collaboration of the UK and Ireland’s three General Lighthouse Authorities (GLA's), Trinity House, the Northern Lighthouse Board, and the Commissioners of Irish Lights, alongside the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
The following details of the programme below, Irish Lights, also have available from their website.
On Friday, 25 September, BBC Radio 3’s drivetime programme In Tune with Petroc Trelawny will also be live from Falmouth, broadcasting from the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. The programme will feature live music from local musicians, including the brass band Camborne Town Band and sea shanty singers The Oggymen.
On Sunday 27 September, Radio 3’s Sunday Feature is Keepers of the Light, in which writer James Crawford explores the remarkable lighthouse dynasty Robert Louis Stevenson was born into, the engineering career he rejected, and how that family inheritance continued to shape his writing and imagination.
BBC Radio 3’s Where the Light Sings is live on (the interim day) Saturday 26 September, from 8am to 8pm, and available on BBC Sounds.
Programme Information
Saturday 26 September, 8am – 8pm
Where the Light Sings
8:00 – 10:00: Georgia Mann at Dungeness New Lighthouse
Against a shoreline that has long captivated artists from Derek Jarman to Pink Floyd, Georgia Mann explores the unique story of the Old and New Lighthouses, with live performances from accordionist Alise Siliņa and the Caritas Chamber Choir.
100 – 12:00: Tom Service at Ardnamurchan Lighthouse
Tom Service presents live from the Highlands of Scotland in the most westerly lighthouse on the British mainland - Ardnamurchan Lighthouse. Members of the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse Trust take Tom up its 152 steps and throughout the show explain its rich history and importance to the local community. There is also live music in the lighthouse from local musicians, the singer and broadcaster Mary Ann Kennedy and guitarist Finlay Wells. He also meets members of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust.
12:00 – 14:00: John Toal at the West Light on Rathlin IslandJohn Toal presents live from the RSPB Seabird Centre at the West Light on Rathlin Island, six miles north of the Antrim coast of Northern Ireland, as autumn arrives and the seabirds leave these cliffs for the open ocean. Cellist and composer Neil Martin and harpist Úna Monaghan perform live, inspired by the rhythms, landscapes and histories of this remarkable place.14:00 – 16:00: Shân Cothi at Strumble Head LighthousePerched on a tiny offshore island at the rugged north-western tip of Pembrokeshire, Strumble Head Lighthouse has stood watch over one of Britain's busiest and most challenging stretches of sea since 1908. Throughout the programme, Shân explores the rich history and continuing importance of this iconic Welsh landmark. There is also live music from the lighthouse featuring former Royal Harpist Claire Jones, and folk singer Mari Mathias.
16:00 – 18:00: Kate Molleson in St Aidan's Church, BamburghKate Molleson presents live from St Aidan’s Church in Bamburgh, looking out to Longstone Lighthouse - the churchyard is the final resting place of Grace Darling, the heroine of the famous 1838 Longstone Lighthouse rescue. Kate explores the history of female lifesavers, with the help of a member of the local Royal National Lifeboat Institution and takes a trip out across the waves to Longstone Lighthouse itself to explore Grace Darling’s story with local musician and field recordist Chris Watson. There is also live music from the Royal Northern Chamber Ensemble, the Berwick Brass Ensemble and St Aidan’s Church bell ringers. Also on the programme, foghorn expert Jennifer Lucy Allan drops in to chat about the disappearing, mysterious sounds of the coastline.18:00 – 20:00: Petroc Trelawny from a mystery lighthouse
