Hundreds of people from as far away as Essex and the Isle of Wight queued up this weekend for the first opening of Penlee's old lifeboat house in 30 years.
The opening was part of the Penlee Lifeboat Station Open Day on Sunday 26 October, which attracted over 1,000 visitors and raised almost £2,000 for the RNLI.
On a beautiful autumn morning many people took the rare opportunity to look inside the old Lifeboat Station at Penlee Point, Mousehole and at today’s station in Newlyn, touring the all-weather lifeboat, Ivan Ellen, and the inshore lifeboat, Paul Alexander.
More than 600 people visited the old lifeboat station and at one stage nearly 100 people queued outside the entrance gates to view a building they had often walked or driven past but never had the chance to see inside.
The visitors included local people, other RNLI lifeboat crews and fundraisers, and the friends and family of the crew of the Solomon Browne Lifeboat who launched for the last time down the slipway on December 19, 1981.
Many people travelled hundreds of miles – from the Isle of Wight, Essex, Bristol, Gloucester and from all over Cornwall to learn more about the Penlee story. A special exhibition, ‘Then & Now – a pictorial history of the Penlee Lifeboat’ was also on display giving an overview of the Penzance, Newlyn and Penlee Lifeboats from their early years to the present day.
The RNLI have recently commissioned a new book on the history of the Penlee Lifeboat, and those lifeboats that have served in Mount’s Bay since 1803. It will chart the story of Penlee to the present day through the accounts and memories of crew members past and present, families, volunteers and supporters, and those who have been rescued.
Penlee Lifeboat volunteer press officer Elaine Trethowan said: "This is a very exciting project for RNLI Penlee and for all our loyal supporters. We are making a general appeal for memories and recollections and would like to hear from anyone who has a memory, a photograph, or an archive item connected to the Penzance, Newlyn and Penlee Lifeboats that they are prepared to share."
Contact can be made with the Penlee History Book project via email at penleelifeboathistorybook@hotmail.com
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