THE Solent is one of the most famous stretches of water in the world - a magnet for yachtsmen and the place to see giant container ships, cruise ships, transatlantic liners, car carriers and tankers.

Just along the coast the Royal Navy's Portsmouth based fleet is always coming and going while cross-Channel ferries criss-cross the water heading to France and Spain from Hampshire.

Add to this the Red Funnel and Wightlink high-speed craft and traditional passenger and vehicle ferries connecting the Isle of Wight with the mainland and it all adds to the Solent being a vital, busy waterway that is central to the economic success of the region.

However, there is another side to the Solent . . . where smaller craft, because of their dimensions are able to serve the more remote wharves, creeks and rivers.

A new book, Solent, Creeks, Craft And Cargoes by Michael Langley, looks back over the last 150 years or so at the enormous and important contribution these vessels have made to the area and its people.

"Generally unsung, the exploits and longevity of these craft, and their skilled, hard worked crews were remarkable,'' writes the author, who lives on the Isle of Wight.

"Until the early 1800s traffic to and from the Isle of Wight was the preserve of small sailing cargo vessels, mostly locally built, owned and operated. The sudden proliferation of piers and paddle steamers in the first few decades of the 19th century brought great benefits.

"No longer did the small numbers of travelling public need to be ferried on boatmen's shoulders for the last few yards, across the mud, to dry land.

"Before 1928, anyone bold enough to transport their car cross-Solent had to drive down a slipway, to board a 'tow-boat.'

"These craft were hinged-stern, dumb barges, towed by steam tugs or paddle steamers.

"Each barge would carry a few cars or carts, small commercial vehicles, groups of farm livestock which undoubtedly made for an interesting passage, since the vagaries of wind and particularly tide ensured erratic, infrequent and lengthy trips.''

One fascinating section of the book highlights the history and construction of the Nab Tower that stands in the Solent a few miles south east of Bembridge.

Until 1920 a lightship had warned shipping entering the Solent of the dangers at the Nab shoal but during the First World War, three large towers were constructed at Shoreham in Sussex and each was shrouded in mystery.

Their ultimate intended use was thought to have been been as submarine net and defensive structures across the Dover Strait.

However, by the time the war ended only one had been built and so it was towed out to sea in 1920 to the Nab where the navigation mark and light remains to this day.

Solent, Creeks, Craft And Cargoes by Michael Langley is published by Middleton Press and is priced at £16.95.