Lifeboat volunteers at RNLI Lyme Regis - their life and times in a new book
The dramatic life and times of Lyme Regis lifeboat men and women - and the lifeboats themselves - are captured in a new book from the RNLI and due to be launched on 22 July, the first day of this year's Lifeboat Week in the town.
Written by the lifeboat station's volunteer press officer, retired newspaper and BBC journalist Richard Horobin, the fully illustrated book is part of the charity's history book project.
It tells how a makeshift lifeboat service started in the town in 1826, and how a Christmas tragedy led to Lyme Regis getting a 'proper' lifeboat powered by men with sails and oars 27 years later.
With much help from local historians and lifeboat supporters, the author has brought to life a fascinating collection of stories about dedicated volunteers who ran a lifeboat service in the town, despite all the odds, over a period of almost 160 years. How they would row the lifeboat for hours on end to reach a stricken vessel...no 115hp engines such as power today's lifeboat.
There is the crew member shipwrecked eight times as a mariner; the coxswain who served the lifeboat for 34 years and was famed for his strength, picking a man up with one arm and placing him on a table. The story of an MP who vanished without trace over Lyme Bay after being trapped in a hot air balloon. The dramatic episode when a ship was torpedoed just outside Lyme Regis harbour, and which had an amusing twist amid the tragedy and chaos.
And in more recent times the amazing survival of a couple whose helicopter crashed into Lyme Bay in dense fog; the tragic tale of the severely disabled woman whose wheelchair fell into the harbour and the desperate attempts made to save her.
There are the lighter moments, too, such as the crew Christmas party when the annual awards are presented, .including the Bent Propeller trophy.
The story of Lifeboat Week, from the early 70s, includes the ditching of a Navy helicopter, which was not part of the event, although many of the hundreds who witnessed it thought it was.
The new book will be available from the lifeboat shop on the Cobb, and other outlets in the town, from 22 July, price £8.95 with all proceeds going to the RNLI, the charity that saves lives at sea.
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
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Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
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