IT is doubtful whether any other life-boat station in the British Isles could claim such a beginning. For the Lytham-St. Anne's station, in Lancashire, which is responsible for a conventional life-boat, an IRB, a tractor and two boarding boats, was once a mussel purification station.

The story is that Mechanic George Harrison, on learning of the closure of the mussel station, remarked: 'What a pity to pull down the place. It'd make a nice life-boat station.' And on 26th June, 1960, the new station was opened.

LEFT 28 CHILDREN But a life-boat station was at Lytham long before the mussel station—in fact, as far back as 1851. The first life-boat capsized on the first launch and drowned eight of her crew, leaving eight widows and 28 children. In 1881 a life-boat station was opened at St. Anne's. From 1888 to 1910 there were two life-boats at St. Anne's, but in 1925 the station was closed.

Of the River Ribble and the risks, Mr. John Kennedy, who became honorary secretary at Lytham 17 years ago, said: 'It is eight miles from Lytham up toPreston and six miles out to the bar. The river is deep enough for 10,000 tonners and over, although most of the traffic is made up of ships of between 500 and 2,000 tons net. It's one of the busiest docks in the country with an average of 12 ships per tide throughout the year. The risks are considerable.

'We also work closely with Warton where such aircraft as the Lightning supersonic fighter are built and, to avoid noise disturbance, are test flown out over the Irish Sea. An R.A.F. air/sea rescue helicopter is specially stationed at Warton with a civilian pilot and we do, of course, enjoy a close association with them.' YACHT CLUB SUPPORTERS The new boathouse is conveniently placed alongside the premises of the local yacht club. Membership strength of the club is 350, and the members, who come from all walks of life, are dedicated supporters of the life-boat service.

Although in 1931 the St. Anne's branch of the Institution was amalgamated with the Lytham branch, the two guilds are still run as separate entities. Many members of the yacht club are guild supporters so there is a healthy rivalry among the women members in the fund-raising field.

Lytham-St. Anne's has a static population of about 37,000. However, during the peak holiday season it is reckoned that at least 120,000 visitors stay for a week or two. At the Town Hall, where I met Mr. R. A. Cork, the Town Clerk, who with Mr. Kennedy shares the secretarial duties of running the two branches, I learnt that Lytham-St Anne's, on a fair Sunday, could have 15,000 day visitors —a great potential for boathouse souvenir sales.

Major James G. Disley, the District Organising Secretary for the North West, met us near the boathouse as he made his way to a life-boat meeting; and just after lunch Lieutenant-Commander Harold H. Harvey, V.R.D., R.N.R., No. 8 Life-boat Area Inspector, arrived for an IRB exercise. The wind was boisterous, there was rain, and the Ribble estuary looked most uninviting with the rising tide. Soon the Warton helicopter was hovering over the boathouse, and just after 1.30 p.m. the first IRB crew were away with the inspector. We watched them going through the drill from the comfort of the boathouse look-out.

In addition to Coxswain Harold Parkinson, the regular crews for the life-boat and the IRB are: Second Coxswain Arthur ('Waggy') Wignall, Mechanic George ('Ginger') Harrison, Bowman Bernard Gill, Signalman Stanley Wilson, Crewmen William Cardwell, Kenneth Smith, Brian Pearson, David Topping (IRB), Jack Brambles (IRB), Roy Thistlethwaite (IRB), George ('Tiny') Smith (IRB) and Archer Metcalf (IRB).

OUTSTANDING SERVICES The boathouse contains an excellent display of life-boat photographs together with accounts of outstanding services by the local life-boats, including those to the Brazil (26th December, 1862), Annie E. Hooper (20th October, 1862), Rubin (21st January, 1863) and Mexico (9th December, 1886).

The service to the Mexico is, of course, very well known and resulted in a major tragedy. This occurred when the St. Anne's, Southport and Lytham life- boats all went to the help of the barque Mexico, of Hamburg. In a wind offeree 7 the Southport life-boat Eliza Fernley capsized with the loss of 14 of her crew of 16, followed by the St. Anne's life-boat Laura Janet, with the loss of her entire crew of 13. What happened to the St. Anne's life-boat was never known—only that she came ashore, bottom up, three miles to the westward of Southport in the early hours of 10th December.

THE LIFE-BOAT JOURNAL for 1st February, 1887, in referring to the Southport disaster, stated: 'We are of the opinion that the loss of life was attributable to theThe loss of two life-boats on the same service led directly to the re-examination by the Institution of the whole question of self-righting life-boats. Another consequence of the disaster was the founding by Sir Charles Macara of the Life-boat Saturday Fund. The organisation of the fund was ultimately taken over by the Institution in 1910. Nationally the twin life-boat tragedies of 1886 had a profound effect and there was a great wave of sympathy, the special local fund eventually reaching nearly £31,000. The last beneficiary died in 1934.

THE CAPTAIN'S SWORD The rescue of the crew of the Mexico was effected by the Lytham life-boat Charles Biggs. She was launched some minutes before the St. Anne's boat was lost. The surviving life-boat was filled with water four or five times, as she made for the Mexico in very heavy seas, and, after the oars had been got out, a heavy breaking sea struck her, heeling the boat over with her gunwale under water, the sudden lurch breaking three of the oars. Subsequently she managed to run alongside the Mexico and take off her crew of 12. For this service Coxswain Thomas Clarkson was awarded the silver medal.

Mr. Kennedy, who has in his care some of the best-kept station logs and historical documents I have seen in my life-boat station travels, made an appeal through the press some time ago for local life-boat relics and was able to round up, in very good condition, 'the captain's sword from the Mexico''.

Now the station is on the look out for more topical relics. For example, the burgee worn by the yacht Penbock, when her crew of five were rescued by the Lytham-St. Anne's life-boat on the night of 3rd July, 1955, is preserved in the boathouse. For this service Coxswain Joseph Parkinson was awarded the bronze medal.

LETTERS OF APPRECIATION On display in the boathouse, too, are letters of appreciation, such as this one from an Italian shipowner for a service carried out by the local life-boat on 13th September, 1955, to the m.v. Alba of Genoa: '/f would be very difficult for me to explain the nature of the wave of emotion that overflowed everyone of us seeing the little Lytham come out from the darkness and approach our dear and helpless Alba. The Lytham and her crew, in the storm, were a perfect image of struggle of Good against Evil.''Lytham has had eight life-boats. They have been launched on service 233 times and have rescued 256 lives. There were five boats at different times at St.

Anne's. They were launched on service 29 times and rescued 40 lives. Four silver medals and three bronze medals have been awarded for gallantry to Lytham and St. Anne's life-boatmen.

Today the conventional life-boat, Sarah Townsend Porritt, which was built in 1951, is moored afloat. The IRB arrived in 1967.

In St. Anne's Mr. Kennedy showed me the life-boat memorial to the victims of the two capsizing accidents of 1886. We looked at the old life-boat station there and found that it was still carrying on its humane work—as an ambulance station. Later I walked to see the old boathouse at the Lytham end and noted, with interest, that it has a windmill (c. 1805-1810) alongside it—one of many which once worked in the area.

THE EVENING PRIMROSE Here and there on the dunes and saltings I noticed a yellow flower. When I asked Mr. Kennedy about it, he said: 'It is said that the flower—it is called evening primrose—started to grow here after a ship was wrecked which was carrying the seed'. The thought then occurred to me that here, surely, was a living memorial, close to the wind, to the life-boatmen who perished in the estuary that stormy night over 80 years ago..