The RNLI’s Coast to Cobbles time capsule is arriving in West Cumbria this weekend as it travels down the North West coast from Silloth to Salford Quays.
The relay sees a specially designed time capsule passed from lifeboat station to lifeboat station, with each RNLI crew given the opportunity to add something before it is sealed and put on display in Lytham St Annes Lifeboat Museum for 50 years.
It will leave Silloth at 10am on Saturday September 28 and Workington’s all-weather lifeboat Dorothy May White will meet the Silloth crew at 10.45am north of Maryport.
At 11am, both lifeboats will be met by Maryport Sea Cadets at Maryport and led into the town’s harbour.
At noon, the lifeboats will be led out to sea by the sea cadets.
On Sunday, September 29, at around 10am, Workington RNLI will be met by Workington Sea Cadets and the boats will proceed to Town Quay, where they will raft
up.
They will be joined by shantymen Nobody’s Friends and Workington RNLI fundraisers at 10.15am for a small ceremony.
At 11.30am Workington RNLI will meet the St Bees crew outside Whitehaven and enter Whitehaven to Lime Quay.
They will be welcomed in by town crier Marc Goodwin and the capsule will be transferred at noon to St Bees for its onward journey.
Lifeboats from both stations will proceed to St Bees then leave at 1.45pm for the time capsule to be transferred to Barrow at Selker Rock at 2.30pm.
The event marks the RNLI’s 200th anniversary in the North West, commemorating the region’s contribution to the charity’s two centuries of saving lives at sea.
Sophie Wood, RNLI community manager, said: “This event is a fantastic way to close our 200th anniversary year in the North West. We are commemorating the lifesavers of the past that have contributed to our history, celebrating our crew today, and hopefully inspiring the next generation of supporters, lifeboat volunteers and fundraisers.
“For 200 years, we’ve relied on the generosity of everyday people – from the seafaring crew, to fundraisers and supporters, they’re all lifesavers and make the RNLI in the North West what it is, so this is for them.
“It’s important that we’re connecting our people in this way and collecting mementos from each station to be sealed away for 50 years, so those crew that we inspire on this journey can look back in 2074, when the charity is 250 years old.”
The capsule is being transported via the lifeboats of the eight stations in Cumbria and Lancashire before travelling on to Albert Dock in Liverpool, where the RNLI’s three Merseyside stations will add their keepsakes to the capsule.
In the capsule will be an RNLI Navigational Chart plotting each leg of the journey – to be signed by representatives from each station and the charity’s chief executive, crew tea and coffee lists, and RNLI clothing, among other items.
Also included will be a special notebook for the public to share thoughts, messages of support, of what the RNLI means to them today.
Items from fundraising branches and lifeguard teams in the North West will also be added to the capsule before it starts its journey in Silloth.
The journey to Liverpool, and onwards to Salford Quays will be in a Shannon class all weather lifeboat powered by a biofuel – Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) – supplied free by one of the RNLI’s fuel suppliers, Certas Energy.
The time capsule’s journey will take 11 days from September 28 until October 9, to ensure it is docked in Greater Manchester for the anniversary of the world’s first street collection on October 10, which will see a finale event at Salford Quays featuring RNLI lifesavers, people rescued by the charity, heritage lifeboats and a visit from the 200th anniversary scroll relay.
The first Lifeboat Saturday took place in the streets of Manchester on Saturday October 10 1891, a lifeboat was paraded along the cobbles in order to drum up support for the charity following a disaster.
Five years earlier, 27 men from Southport and St Anne’s died while trying to rescue sailors from the stricken vessel Mexico.
Following the lifeboat relay, the culmination of Coast to Cobbles will be a new Lifeboat Saturday, with events in Manchester and across the UK.
Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its volunteer crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives – this equates to an average of two lives saved every day for 200 years.
