ON MARCH 4, 1824, a meeting was held in the City of London Tavern, presided over by Dr Manners Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury, at which it was resolved to form the body which has since come to be known as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution: on March 4, 1974, 150 years later, two services of thanksgiving will be held to commemorate this anniversary—an interdenominational service at St Paul's Cathedral, London, and a service at St George's, Douglas, Isle of Man, where the founder of the RNL1, Sir William Hillary, is buried.

By March 4, however, 'The Year of the Lifeboat', as 1974 is to be called, will already be well under way: a year when, in their celebrations, the RNLI and its friends, while remembering past achievement, will be equally concerned with plans for the future, for how better to honour men of the past than by working to provide today's crews with the best designed, built and equipped fleet possible? The lifeboat service in Britain and Ireland is embarking on the biggest and by far the costliest new boat building programme in its history and 'The Year of the Lifeboat' is providing an opportunity for the support so willingly given to the service to be demonstrated in a variety of ways. Here are just some of the activities planned for the year: SERVICES OF THANKSGIVING will be held up and down the country and will include, amongst a number of others on March 10, a service at St Patrick's National Cathedral, Dublin, and, on June 23, one at St Mary's Church, Swansea, at which the Archbishop of Wales will preach.

COMMEMORATIVE ITEMS of various kinds, some in limited editions, will be on sale throughout 1974. One or two are illustrated on this page, and in addition to these there will be: a prestige work in precious metal by Aurum Designs Ltd; a covered vase, 10" plate and ash tray by Worcester Royal Porcelain Co. Ltd; a lifeboat glass paperweight by Strathearn Glass Ltd; an engraved chalice and a pair of engraved wine glasses by Caithness Glass Ltd, to be marketed in Scotland; and a set of six goblets, each with a different RNLI design, by Cavan Glass Ltd, details of which can be obtained from the RNLI Dublin Office. The House of Seagram Ltd are to donate £10,000 to the RNLI through a promotion for Captain Morgan rum, with lifeboat medals on every bottle, and pottery statuettes of Grace Darling, in a limited edition, will be on offer.

POSTAGE STAMPS commemorating the 150th anniversary of the RNLI (with special covers by Pilgrim Philatelies Ltd) will be issued by the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man, the Bailiwick of Guernsey and States of Jersey, as well as commemorative stamps from the Isle of Lundy. First day of issue for the Guernsey stamps will be January 15, and these stamps will be on show in the Stampex exhibition at the Royal Horticultural Hall, Westminster, February 25 to March 2.

HOUSES AND GARDENS of stately homes in Scotland, Wales and England will be opened to the public by their owners for the benefit of the RNLI on days scattered throughout the summer DINNERS, BALLS AND DANCES are already in full swing, and the programme will include a dinner given by the City of London Corporation at the Guildhall on April 26, a Lifeboat Ball celebratingthe prize-winning in the Daily Telegraph and B.P. Round Britain Power Boat Race on August 2, and a 150th Anniversary Dinner in the Painted Hall, Royal Naval College, Greenwich, on October 11. There will also be such varied events as a State Reception for the RNLI in Ireland, an antique auction, pageant, garden parties, concerts, bridge afternoons and a midnight matinee.

SPORTING AND COMPETITIVE events will embrace boxing, darts, fishing, car rallying, sailing, riding, athletics, golf and cricket, as well as sponsored walks.

A number of BOOKS will be published during the year. Let not the Deep ...

by A. D. Farr has already appeared and among those still to come are The Lifeboat Service—a history of the RNLI 1824-1974 by Oliver Warner, and Lifeboats and Life-boat People by Patrick Howarth.

NEW LIFEBOATS, which will be welcomed with NAMING CEREMONIES, are expected at Sennen Cove, Falmouth, Eyemouth, Shecrncss, Hoylake, Whitby, Fleetwood, Plymouth, St Helier and Dunmore East.

AN EXHIBITION covering the technical development of the lifeboat will be staged at the Science Museum, London, from February 21 to April 20, and, at the Guildhall, London, from April 17 to 30, there will be an exhibition of lifeboat paintings supported by models.

A major INTERNATIONAL LIFEBOAT EXHIBITION will be held at Plymouth from July 19 to August 17, during which period (over the weekend of July 19 to 21) a Yacht Rally, also at Plymouth, has been planned by the Royal Yachting Association and the RNLI.

It is hoped to organise a RALLY OF FORMER RNLI LIFEBOATS, sold out of the service, at Plymouth at the Exhibition beginning on July 19. Owners of these boats interested in taking part are invited to write to Commander Peter Sturdee, OBE, RN (RETD), RNLI Exhibition Office, 30 George Place, Stonehouse, Plymouth PL1 3NY.

To round off the year, the central feature of the January 1975 INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW at Earls Court will be a lifeboat village and station.

That is just a brief outline: the provisional programme, giving details of these and many other events, is available from: RNLI Head Office, Lifeboat House, 42 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1 OEF..