Twenty years after...

• The date September 19, 1954 is indelibly written in my mind and may perhaps strike a chord with you. For my part I was one of the crew of the good ship Nicky which went aground on the Mere Rocks.

I remember well the nightmarish experience of a couple of hours or so of not knowing from one minute to the next whether the boat would break up and send us all to Davy Jones' locker. I remember, too, your reconnaissance trip in the rowing boat when you sized up the situation for the subsequent rescue, and I shall never forget how good the deck of Maria Noble felt when shortly before midnight I landed on it almost head first after leaping from Nicky.

The courage of you and your crew in rescuing myself and four friends is of course well known and I still do not really know how you got us off. Now, 20 years later, I thought I would drop you a line just to let you know that as one of the many of those who have been rescued by you and the crew of the Exmouth lifeboat I still recall with much gratitude your courage, skill and determination.

My brother who lives in the Exeter area sent me a press cutting earlier this year in which your retirement was reported as well as the fact that your portrait now appears on the new sign of the Pilot Inn. I thought that if I sent a letter to the inn I might just be able to reach you.

I would like to wish you a very happy retirement and many more pints at the Pilot Inn.—GARRY PHILLIPS, 25 Cherry Garden Road, Canterbury, Kent.

Ex-Coxswain Harold J. Bradford received this letter on September 19, 1974, exactly 20 years to the day after he had taken the Exmouth lifeboat out to rescue the crew of five of the cabin cruiser Nicky, which was in distress some 50 yards inside a rocky ledge at the approach to the estuary of the River Exe; it was dark with heavy rain squalls and the rescue had to be made in shallow breaking water. For his courage and determination, Coxswain Bradford was awarded the bronze medal far gallantry. Mr. Bradford joined the Exmouth crew in 1925, became bowman in 1939, second coxswain in 1943 and coxswain in 1951; he retired in 1957.— THE EDITOR Beyond the call of duty ...

• This letter is to express the appreciation of myself and my crew for the service rendered us by the Harwich crew of the RNLI. My yacht Janetta was towed in by the lifeboat in the early hours of July 29, 1974, flooded inside with 24" of water from a leak which had sprung at a garboard seam.

For the tow itself we are extremely grateful; but special commendation must go to the two members of the lifeboat crew who came aboard for the tow back to Harwich. Jeff Sallows and Chad Scase did an heroic job helping us bail out the incoming water during the three hour trip. As if it were their own boat, they worked as strenuously as we did.

Though arrival in Harwich should be considered the completion of their RNLI service, the members of the crew continued with their assistance and concern for us. For example, Mr Sallows escorted the lady of my crew to his home where his wife prepared her a bath in which to warm up, and then put her to bed for rest.

Later in the morning, after we had secured Janetta, my other crew member and I were looking for a cafe when we met Mr Sallows who insisted that we come to his home for breakfast.

This type of hospitality continued, and while making repairs during the following days, Mr Scase stopped by regularly to see that we were getting along all right, and Peter Burwood also offered help.Though we met other kind and helpful people in Harwich, my purpose here is to make known our especially deep gratitude to the men of the Harwich lifeboat crew. Their selfless service and exemplary standards of social concern point the way for all of us on Planet Earth and represent particularly a magnificent credit to the Royal National Life-boat Institution.—DANIEL DRYDEN, Yacht Janetta, Heybridge Basin, Maldon, Essex.

Plymouth Exhibition • I write to say how much I both enjoyed and learned from the International Lifeboat Exhibition at Plymouth last summer. The tented display was most instructive and very attractively laid out, providing easy close-range access— a point overlooked by some exhibitions! The pictorial information was clear and concise, and I was glad to see that so many other countries supported the event.

It would appear that our lifeboat service is second to none, a fact of which we can justly be very proud.—J. GILL, 62 Clarence Road, Torpoint, Cornwall.

• Thank you for the lifeboat exhibition.

I liked the lifeboats best.—AMANDA BLACK, 29 New/mm Road, Colebrook, Plymouth.

Just two of many letters of appreciation received by the organisers of the Plymouth Exhibition.—THE EDITOR.

The Plenty lifeboat • On retiring from the Royal Navy I joined the engineering company, Plenty and Son of Newbury, and as an Offshore member of the RNLI was interested to hear that the company's founder William Plenty had in 1816 designed and built a lifeboat named The Experiment.

No doubt you are well aware from your records that eight years following the success of The Experiment some 17 Plenty Lifeboats were in service around the British coast. Now a company of international repute, we enjoy maintaining contact with its past history; of particular recent interest was the discovery of the remains of a naval steam pinnace with a Plenty engine which we hope to salvage. We have a small museum in the entrance hall of the main office and I enclose a photograph of a model of the Plenty lifeboat which won a diploma at the Hyde Park Exhibition of!851.

My main purpose in writing is to ask if any of your readers have any information which would help us compile a history of the Plenty lifeboats and any records of their survival.—D. A. KEABLE, Director, Plenty and Son Ltd., Hambridge Road, Newbury RG 45TR.The Mumbles 0 The summer issue of THE LIFEBOAT contained a letter from Commodore Colburn in which he reproves you for referring to The' Mumbles. I trust that you will not take this rebuke to heart.

The poet Walter Savage Landor in the early 18th century expresses his longing to be once again at The Mumbles.

A sketch made in 1865 shows the lighthouse and coastline of The Mumbles.

The 1974 Swansea holiday guide clearly labels the area as The Mumbles.

To the older inhabitants, it has been The Mumbles and The Mumbles lifeboat, but the definite article is omitted by many of the younger generation who have settled in the area.

So please feel no guilt, but continue to refer to our special area as 'The' Mumbles.—MISS F. E. EYNON, 21 Clarence Street, Swansea, W. Glamorgan.

.. At a glance % May I offer my congratulations on the very clear and unusual method of presenting the income and expenditure account in the autumn issue of THE LIFEBOAT? The method used is far and away better than half a dozen pages of figures and complicated 'statements' in that the overall piclure can be readily seen and understood.—i. SMITHIES, 8 Fearnsides Terrace, Mailings Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire Early help 0 I have raised 56p for you from a little 'one house one day fair'. I hope it will help and the lifeboat will like it.— ALISTAIR ROSS RUSSELL, The Hermitage, Lakeside, Tlwrpness.

This letter from young Alistair Ross Russell was found in a collecting box at 'The Cross Keys' Aldeburgh, Suffolk, when the ho. was opened.—THE EDITOR.

0 When I was on holiday I saw the lifeboat go out three times so when I got home me and my friend made a fete and we raised some money for the lifeboat fund. Lots of luck.— RICHARD TOMLIN (8), MARGARET TOMLIN (6) and STEVE TATHAM (8), 39 Ramsbtiry Drive, Earley, Reading, Berkshire.

A Skill to be learnt % How pleased I am whenever I read articles in THE LIFEBOAT about safety, and the letter from Roger E. J. Lomer published in the autumn 1974 edition was no exception. This letter again emphasised the danger in ignorance.

When I first started my boating days I, too, did silly things because I did not know any better. I am now learning fast, but 1 am learning the easy way. I joined a boating club and listened to the advice of more experienced hands.

I am now the secretary of our club and when I hear the remark 'I never thought of that' I know that the club is serving a useful purpose. May I, through your columns, appeal to all owners of boats, from canoes to cruisers, for the benefit of boating, to join a club. You will be surprised how much more fun you can get out of your boat when you have the confidence of knowledge.— A. E. SHAW, secretary, London Area Shetland Owners Cltih, 73 Carter Street, Walworth, London, SEW.

Thanks from Abroad % I wish on behalf of my crew and owners to express our profound gratitude to the lifesaving lifeboat men at Shoreham who voluntarily came out to assist us into Shoreham Harbour when we called there for shelter against gale.

I have also communicated with my owners in Nigeria to inform them of the voluntary help we received from your organisation and I am sure you will be hearing from them shortly, too.— MASTER and CREW, City of Truth, Lane/air and Marine Associates, l.ti.vnx, Nigeria.

It was our pleasure • This letter is to thank you for the most informative booklet about the RNLI which I received through the 9th Bristol Cub Pack, as a result of a collection made by ihe South Bristol Pack groups.—RICHARD PIPER. 35 Durvillt' Road, Bristol BS IPS..