The heroic story of a Northumberland lighthouse keeper's daughter is familiar to many from their time at school, but far fewer will have seen where her daring rescue actually happened.
In 1838, 22-year-old Grace Darling is said to have seen the wreck of the HMS Forfarshire on the rocks of the Farne Islands from her bedroom in Longstone Lighthouse, before heading out to make the rescue with her father. 63 people were onboard the ship which was travelling from Hull to Dundee when it ran into trouble.
Grace and her father rowed in a small boat to Harcar Rock, rescuing all nine of the survivors who were stranded on the rock, with Grace and her father likely reasoning that conditions were too rough for a lifeboat to make it out from Seahouses. And a unique tour leaving from Seahouses has seen visitors coming from all over the world after it was launched online last summer.
Read more: We went on a Farne Islands boat trip to see if it's a fun day out for kids - here's what we thought
Lighthouse keeper George and Ailsa Shiel of Golden Gate Farne Island Boat Trips have exclusively run tours to Longstone for 12 years, with guests able to look out at the same view Grace Darling had on that fateful night. However, it is only last year that they put the tour online and have since seen a massive uptick in visitors to the furthest Farne from the shore.
Guide Steve Newman says that people have been coming from all over the world, with the rescue even on the school curriculum in Australia. He said: "We get a lot of Australians, we get descendants of Grace Darling, and because lots of schools study Grace Darling, we get families bringing their kids out so they can see the bedroom.
"The most popular thing is people standing next to Grace Darling's bedroom window with the view she would have seen in the background. The tours have rocketed in popularity and there aren't any competitors, so we're becoming more and more well-known throughout the country.
However, there's more to see on Longstone than Grace Darling's bedroom. The island isn't a nesting colony for seabirds, so remains open to the public for landing despite bird flu concerns, yet it is still a 'fantastic' place for birdwatching according to Steve.
He said: "Longstone is so flat and low-lying that birds don't nest on there. Having said that, there are swallows in the lighthouse and peregrines feed on the waders, so it's a great place for migration."
But birds aren't the only wildlife that make Longstone worth a visit. Steve continued: "It's the best place to see seals because there are so many of them there. Sometimes we have to push them out of the way when we're leading tours!
"As Longstone is the furthest island out, you're also far more likely to see dolphins too. It's just great - the seals are incredible and you have the amazing history of the lighthouse too."
Trips to Longstone Island run from Easter until October and can be combined with a visit to the Grace Darling Museum in Bamburgh. For more information on tours and the lighthouse, visit the Golden Gate's Farne Island Boat Trips website.
Have you taken a boat trip from the Farne Islands? Let us know!
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