Earlier today I revisited the final resting berths off the 2 historic lifeboats that welcome people as they enter Hastings 'Old Town' via Old London Road. The first boat is the 100 year-old Priscilla MacBean, which was pulled up The Bourne on the 15th of November 2014 (blog), exactly 86 years to the day after the sad tragedy that befell her sister lifeboat the Mary Stanford of Rye, and the loss of her 17-strong crew (RNLI). So, really the stories here are not just about the 2 lifeboats berthed in this part of the 'Old Town' but of 3 lifeboats and their brave crews, plus fourth and fifth lifeboats, the one we now have in Hastings, the Richard and Caroline Colton, and her predecessor the Sealink Endeavour (blog), and the brave volunteers and crews who help to save and preserve lives more recently in Hastings and nearby waters, 5 lifeboats, and many more...
The second historic lifeboat you reach when coming down Old London Road into The Bourne is the 'Ghost of Dunkirk' the Cyril and Lilian Bishop, which helped to evacuate troops from Dunkirk near the beginning of World War II. She was also pulled up from the seafront a few years later, this time up through All Saints Street in June 2017 and is now berthed below All Saints Church on the corner with Harold Road (blog).
With much respect to RNLI lifeboat crews and volunteers past and present...
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