Foghorn 'booms' to mark its demise

For more than 150 years the foghorn has warned ships away from the rocks - there used to be more than 100 foghorns stationed around the British Isles.

But now there are fewer than 30, as boats increasingly rely on satellite navigation systems.

To mark the demise of the foghorn, a special requiem has been written which will be performed by ships at sea, three brass bands on the shore and the Souter Lighthouse foghorn near South Shields on Saturday afternoon.

The BBC's arts correspondent Rebecca Jones reports.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday 21 June 2013.