THREE CUMBRIAN STATIONS, St BeeS, Workington and Silloth, complementing each other, are the guardians of the southern approaches to the Firth of Solway and of the firth itself, just as Kirkcudbright and Kippford guard the waters to the north.

'Shipping bound for Whitehaven, Workington, Silloth or Annan in Firth of Solway', advises the Admiralty 'West Coast of England Pilot', 'should make St Bees Head since the best, and only marked, navigable channel lies in the south east portion of the firth.' Approaching ships will first pass cliffs, backed by the rising ground of the Lake District, until, having rounded St Bees Head and steamed on towards Workington, they enter the English Channel, leaving to port the first of the sandbanks which make the firth such a treacherous waterway, and to starboard the beginning of a foreshore of rocky ledges and stones, outcrop and boulders.

'The channels on the north side of the firth are unmarked and subject to constant change: they should not be attempted without local know/edge,' says the 'Pilot'. And again, 'The upper part of the firth is encumbered with continually shifting drying sandbanks interspersed with channels; buoys are moved as necessary to meet the changes. Consequently this area is left blank on the charts, and . . .' the repeated warning '. . . navigation within it should not be attempted without a pilot . . . the rate and range of the tidal stream is considerable and the rise from low water veryrapid, especially near springs when there may be a bore. It is said that as the tide rises the sea advances across the banks so rapidly that a horseman if caught by the tide at some distance offshore would hare small chance of escape . . . " Sir Walter Scott knew all about that; he made these treacherous sands the scene for the meeting of Darsie Latimer with Redgauntlet and his mounted salmon fishers. After the riders began to make for the shore, Redgauntlet galloped back to warn Darsie, who was lingering on the sands looking towards the shores of England: ' ". . . Are you mad?—or have you a mind for the next world?" ' "I am a stranger," 1 answered, "and had no other purpose than looking on at the fishing—/ am about to return to the side I came from." ' "Best make haste then," said he.

"He that dreams on the bed of the Solway, may wake in the next world. The sky threatens a blast that will bring in the waves three feet a-breast." 'So saying, he turned his horse and rode off, while I began to walk back towards the Scottish shore, a little alarmed at what I had heard; for the tide advances with such rapidity upon these fatal sands, that well-mounted horsemen lay aside hopes of safety, if they see its white surge advancing while they are yet at a distance from the bank.

'These recollections grew more agitating, and, instead of walking deliberately I began a race as fast as I could, feeling, or thinking [felt, each pool of salt water through which I splashed, grow deeper and deeper.' Well, it was Redgauntlet, on horseback, who, on that occasion, rescued the stranded lad from the sea: at low tide the sands still lure the unwary from safety, but nowadays an ILB would have done the job . . .

It is of passing interest that 'Redgauntlet' set in the eighteenth century in the twilight days of Bonnie Prince Charlie, was published in 1824, the year in which the RNLI was founded.

Twenty years earlier, in 1804, a Greathead Original was stationed at Whitehaven—she was the Solway Firth's first lifeboat.

Since those days there have also been lifeboat stations at one time or another at Maryport (1865-1949, closed because of silting up in the harbour) and Seascale (1875-1895). Whitehaven station was closed in 1925. Before leaving these older stations perhaps we could pause for a timeless word from the late A. E. Jolly, who was the first motor mechanic at Maryport in the 1930s. Describing the service to ss Plawsworth in a south-westerly gale on January 17, 1934, he wrote: 'Occasionally a wave would come along that was father of them all. There is time to look round on a wave like this. Over our stern is the last wave that we rode, already yards away, with the tops of others beyond it. I thank my lucky stars I can enjoy this majestic scenery . . .' Although set against the background of the high lands of the Lake District, the littoral of the Solway Firth is busy with everyday life: industry, commerce, fishing.

There is Whitehaven, exporting coal and detergents and importing grain, chemicals, phosphates, timber and fish. At one time three ships to carry phosphate rock from Casablanca were 'tailor made' to fit Whitehaven's tidal harbour: as tonnage increased they have been superseded by bulk carriers which have to anchor off, but the three smaller ships still ferry in the cargo.

Workington, with a tidal harbour and a wet dock, ships in pig iron, liquid sulphur, oil, vulcanic ash, pumice, bricks and coal, and ships out ingot moulds, rail track, pitch and tar. Maryport can only accommodate small vessels and fishing boats these days. Silloth, higher up the firth, with a tidal basin and wet dock, is used for the import of grain, building materials and cattle, exporting scrap metal, while Annan, at the limit of navigation, can only be reached by vessels of light draught with local knowledge. With its swift tides, the Solway Firth is no place for pleasure boats, although wild-fowlers go out in the marshy upper reaches.

Offshore cover for the southern approaches to the firth is given by Workington. A station was first established in this port in 1886 following the wreck of the schooner Margaret of Ramsey with all hands. Closed in 1905, it was reopened again in 1948 to take the place of Maryport. Workington's first lifeboat had been The Dodo, a 34ft open self-righting boat rowing ten oars double banked; her present boat, moored in the dock, is the 46ft Watson Sir Godfrey Baring. Throughout the years, however, the threat of the sandbanks, particularly when the wind is south west through to west, has not changed: January 1887: ss Rheola bound from Carthagena for Maryport with a cargo of iron ore, grounded to the north of Workington pier in a strong south west breeze.

December 1889: ss Lady Eglington bound from Cardiff for Workington with a cargo of coke stranded on the north shore in a strong south-west breeze.

January 1950: ss Turquoise of Glasgow aground one mile north of Maryport in a westerly gale.

October 1952: ss Baron Dunmore of Ardrossan laden with iron ore aground on the south side of the channel.

There have been times when ships, arriving from distant lands and unable to enter harbour in bad weather have had to ask the lifeboat to bring out provisions or take off sick or injured men as no other boat could get out to them.

The station honorary secretary is Captain David Thomas, harbour master and so right on the spot, and several of the crew are pilots or work in the docks—that number includes the twins Joe, second coxswain, and Bert Reay.

Coxswain Albert Brown, who was a coxswain pilot, is now up at the steel works. When the maroons are fired he is on his way down immediately, picking up other members of the crew on his way. One January night in 1974, the lifeboat was called out to a fishing vessel Kia-Ora, dragging her anchor half a mile east of Hestan Island in storm force winds. Because of the very rough seas and the depth of water there would be at that state of the tide (one hour after low water), the lifeboat had to take the outside course to the island.

When she arrived at the casualty it took great seamanship and determination to manoeuvre her alongside, but a young boy and seven men were successfully taken off. For this service the bronze medal for gallantry was awarded to Coxswain Brown.

Co-operation between the station branch and the ladies' guild is strong at Workington, and both are well backed up by the local sailing fraternity: Harrington Fishing and Sailing Club, of which Albert Brown is a committee member, and Vanguard Sailing Club, several members of which sit on the lifeboat committee. There is no doubt that everyone enjoys their mutual lifeboating activities. Every year the guild holds a dance, well supported by both lifeboat and sailing people, as well as organising nearly new sales; in the 12 years since it was formed, the guild has raised more than £10,000. When Harrington Fishing and Sailing Club runs a wine buffet evening at Westlands, the lifeboat ladies are invited to put on a tombola and raffles; and on its bonfire night the club invites the ladies to go round with collecting boxes.

Another way the club helps: when its members go out lobster potting and netting, they cook crabs and bring them down to the club for people to take what they want, putting money in one of the club's four or five lifeboat boxes.

The two Workington sailing clubs unite under a common banner to produce a joint racing programme and run two annual events in aid of the RNLI: a race to Ramsey, Isle of Man, and the Whitehaven RNLI gala race.

To the south of Workington, round the headland, is the youngest of the Cumbrian stations, St Bees, where a D class inflatable ILB is 'on duty' during the summer months. She was the gift of Egremont and Whitehaven Round Table and her concern is, to a great extent, holidaymakers who get into difficulties in the sea or along the coast.

Last summer, for instance, she was launched to help sailing dinghies, fishing boats, inflatable dinghies and people stranded on the cliffs. While her base is at St Bees, this inshore lifeboat, kept on a road trailer, can answer calls over a very wide area: from Workington in the north to Millom in the south, and, of course, were it necessary she could be taken to the lakes as well. She is towed along the coast road to the launching point nearest to the casualty and from there takes to the water. The local police are always ready to help keep the road open and ensure that the ILB's land passage is clear.

St Bees may be a young station but it already has a strong corporate spirit.

Last year a new crew room was built and this winter a new boathouse, all at no cost to the Institution. None of the 12 crew members has ever claimed the small awards made for services or exercise, all the money being put straight into the building fund. Their wives, who have now formed a ladies' guild and sell souvenirs in the boathouse, helped to raise money for the project and various gifts of materials were received from local people. The building itself was done, at no charge, by Community Industries, the aim of which is to provide practical experience for young people having difficulty in finding work. A very fine enterprise, whatever way you look at it, and, at the end, a very fine shore establishment.

Leon Goldwater, honorary secretary of St Bees station branch, was himself once a member of Hartlepool ILB crew, and holds the distinction of being the first helmsman to take an Atlantic 21 out on a night service.

The crews of both St Bees and Silloth are certainly representative of the activities of the communities they serve: inshore fishing, teaching, engineering and electrical work, farming, accounting, driving (crane, fork lift, bus), shopkeeping and a number of other occupations.

Silloth, which has the longest history of any of the present Solway lifeboat stations, is situated well up the firth.

Pulling and sailing lifeboats were placed here from 1860 until the station was closed in 18%, to be re-opened as an all-the-year-round ILB station in 1967. Despite this 70-year gap tradition has been handed down and the links between yesterday and today are still strong; for instance, the grandfather of Robert Bell, who is now a crew member, was in the crew of the 1890s.

Silloth's present boat is a 19ft Zodiac Mark V inflatable inshore lifeboat of the type illustrated on the front cover of the summer 1977 journal. The gift of the John Gilpin Trust, she is named John Gilpin and is unusual in that she has a standing steering position to give the helmsman better height of eye to read the sea and sandbanks; she is also fitted with water ballast tanks.

Good vision is of particular importance in an area of shallows and shifting sands where, indeed, the hazards and the passages that can be navigated, even by a shallow-draft boat, vary hour by hour with the ebb and flow of a very swift tide. A search may have to be made at night (navigation lights are carried on John Gilpin's steering console) and that search may be prolonged. On a frosty night in early May 1977 the ILB launched at 0055 to search for a Morecambe Bay prawner reported missing. The fishing boat, her propeller fouled by nets, was eventually found at 0854 and the ILB then towed her towards Maryport until another fishing boat was able to take over. By the time she returned to station and was rehoused it was 1046, and she had been at sea just on ten hours. Although crew members had been changed during that time, Senior Helmsman Colin Akitt had remained in command throughout.

In such waters, for which there is no detailed chart, local knowledge is of the greatest importance, and so Silloth branch worked out an extensive instruction programme for its younger, less experienced crew members. It was Bill Irving, a professional fisherman and a deputy launching authority, who suggested the training board which is now a feature of the boathouse. He himself made the plywood board, on a wooden frame, 6 feet by 6 feet; then, together with George Egdell (station honorary secretary) he marked it off in two inch squares and drew in the high water coastline from an Ordnance Survey map. With the help of Bill Wilson (also a fisherman and a DLA) the low water line and sandbank outlines were marked in, the main channel being shown by pins of different colours indicating whether or not the buoys were lit. Landmarks and compass roses were added and the lights of towns and villages shown by yellow circles. Jim Graham (another DLA who is also the station's mechanic) surveyed the hazardous Dubmill Point area and Allonby Bay and reproduced them on one corner of the training board.

With the aid of this board, Bill Irving planned a course of lectures on local navigation, with particular reference to tidal variations, the accessibility of areas according to tidal time and height, and deviations from courses necessary in different weather conditons; another point made was the relationship of moonlight to the tides. To make full use of the training board Bill Irving devised a game. Each crew member drew one card from two separate packs. On one card was given the date and time of the call and the duration of the service; on the other was given the area of search and visibility.

The crew member then had to describe the courses he would take to the area of search and on his return passage to station, giving the navigational points he would use and drawing attention to any difficulties and advantages he might expect to find. To complete the training programme, Jim Graham spoke on the structure and mechanics of the ILB and on his study of the coastline from Silloth to Dubmill Point, and Dr Robert Yule (honorary medical adviser) gave a course of instruction on first aid.

Thus was knowledge and experience shared; a combined, thorough exercise, typical of Silloth's cheerful dedication.

Once again, here is a station which in itself is a happy family with everyone, whether they belong to the crew, the branch or the ladies' committee, ready to give whatever help is needed, and which is well supported by the local community. Alterations to the boathouse? Crew and committee members all contributed their various skills and their hard work (' When I think of Colin Akitt it is through a spectrum beginning with seamanship and ending with a paint brush', is George Egdell's summing up). Fund raising? The souvenir stall in the boathouse is kept open at all times in the summer season, right up to 10 o'clock at night. Bill Shanks (branch honorary treasurer) is in charge and gives up endless time (not to mention space in his own sitting room which doubles up as a souvenir store); he is helped by George Egdell, Jim and Agnes Graham and many other crew and branch members who come in to give a hand. Last year the shop takings were over £3,500. The station has need of a particular item? There always seems to be someone ready to help—the crew themselves, the Friends of Silloth Lifeboat, Silloth Rotary Club, or sometimes support comes from further afield; when launchers waders were needed, they were given by Wigton Ladies' Circle.

A corner in Cumbria; three lifeboat stations, each with its different type of boat, contributing differing but complementary capabilities to a common, devoted service at sea; and each by the sheer joyous, wholehearted approach of its people contributing great strength to the Institution as a whole in the best lifeboat tradition. J.D..