The old Penlee Lifeboat Station will open to the public on Sunday for the first time in almost a quarter century.

RNLI Penlee will be welcoming visitors to their last open day of the year at the current Lifeboat Station in Newlyn on Sunday 26 October from 10am until 4pm.

For the first time since 1981 the day will also include the opening of the old Lifeboat Station at
Penlee Point, Mousehole.

The Lifeboat Station will open at 10am on Sunday 26 October when visitors will have the opportunity to look over the all-weather lifeboat Ivan Ellen, the inshore lifeboat Paul Alexander, and to meet some of the volunteer crew members.

The crew at Penlee spend many hours of their own time training, and a visit to the open day is a really good way to get a flavour of the difficult and sometimes dangerous work they do.

Tea, coffee and cakes will be on sale and will be served at the inshore lifeboat shed, which will
also house the Penlee lifeboat exhibition 'Then & Now'. This exhibition is a pictorial history of the
Penlee lifeboat from its early days until present and will include a selection of RNLI archive items.

The old Lifeboat Station will also be open from 10am until 4pm. Penlee Lifeboat was named after Penlee Point, a rocky point to the south of Penzance, between the port of Newlyn and the village of Mousehole. The area has a strong lifesaving tradition stretching back more than 200 years, a fact that is reflected on the service boards that adorn the walls of this wonderful old boathouse. It was at Penlee Point that the crew of the Watson class lifeboat Solomon Browne launched down the slipway for the last time on the evening of 19 December 1981.

Patch Harvey, coxswain of Penlee's all-weather lifeboat, said: "The RNLI provides us with the
best lifeboats, equipment and training for the job, all of which is funded through generous
donations from the public. We couldn't do our job at sea without the amazing support and loyalty of
our supporters at Penlee and this is our opportunity to say thank you. Please come and join us,
and see for yourselves the skill and commitment of all our volunteers."