A LONDONER who visited Canvey for the first time last year was so taken with the island he has written a book on it.

Lewis Bush, from Peckham, visited Canvey in May 2012 to see some friends. However, after finding out more about the history of the island he decided to publish a book called ‘Canvey Island - from the sea by the grace of god’.

The book explores the relationship between the island and the sea, through interviews with five local people on their experiences at the island.

Mr Bush, 24, who is also a professional photographer, spoke with ‘Mr Canvey’ Ray Howard, a survivor of the Canvey floods, a volunteer coast guard, a parish priest and a resident who grew up at former Canvey landmark The Casino.

Mr Bush said: “It really is an extraordinary place. I hadn’t been there before but on visiting the island I saw I had been missing out. I haven’t written anything like this in the past but I wanted to combine my writing and photography skills and this account of Canvey is an absolute pleasure.

“I did some research on the history of the island and when I found out that this was the year of the Canvey floods it made the book even more poignant.”