Southampton Boat Show The eleventh Southampton International Boat Show was opened by Sir Alec Rose on Monday September 17 in brilliant sunshine, and in the week that followed all exhibitors reported business beyond their expectations: orders were almost equally divided between home and export markets.

Members of Southampton lifeboat board, with help from branches and guilds around Southampton, manned two stands throughout the week. The main stand in the Embassy Hall displayed a full range of RNLI souvenirs, Christmas cards and calendars and sold tickets for the Southern District Saab car competition. Shoreline staff enrolled 333 new members and sold insignia and, during the latter part of the week, Pilgrim Philatelies sold RNLI first day covers. A separate, open air, competition stand with the Saab car on display proved a great money spinner.

Gross receipts for the week were a record £7,471.12 and no fewer than 23,189 Saab tickets at lOp each were sold. Following the show, Southampton lifeboat board remitted £2,800 to the Mountbatten of Burma appeal.

On the opening day cheques received by Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Compston, chairman of the Mountbatten of Burma appeal, included one for £1,775 fromCaptain Peter Stewart, chairman of a lifeboat ball held at Lacock Abbey in July, and one for £1,000 from Mrs Pearman, wife of the chairman of Gosport branch: this amount was made up of £500 from Plessey Ltd and £500 from the sale of Saab car tickets.—S.C.G.S.

Inshore At a ceremony outside Amble Watch House on Sunday June 24, 1979, Southwell (Notts) Round Table handed over to Amble station branch the new D class ILB towards the cost of which they had donated £2,500.

Friday September 14 saw the official handing over ceremony of Brighton's Atlantic 21 ILB, named Lions International —District 105 SE. In addition to the donation received from the Lions Club towards the boat, the cost of establishing this ILB station was substantially defrayed by a very generous gift from Mr G. A. Hodgkins, presidentof Reigate and Redhill branch.

On Tuesday October 2 a new D class ILB was dedicated at Redcar. Its cost had been met by a donation from Fred Olsen Lines on whose behalf it was presented to the branch by Captain Keighley.

The dedication of Littlehampton's new ILB boathouse took place on Sunday October 7, when the station honorary secretary, Peter Cheney, handed to Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Compston, a deputy chairman of the Institution, a cheque for £23,000; £10,500 came from a legacy and £12,500 had been raised in Littlehampton. The branch is working to raise the full cost of the boathouse, £30,000, over and above its usual annual commitment.

Southend-on-Sea Following the fire which rendered Southend pier railway unsafe, Southend Corporation has provided the lifeboat station with a custom built emergency vehicle so that the crew can reach the RNLI boathouse at the pier end quickly when called out. For maintenance visits to the boathouse, cycles have also been supplied by the Corporation at no cost to the Institution.

Boulogne While on trials before taking up station at Dover, the 50ft Thames lifeboat Rotary Service visited Boulogne. So impressed were the French people with the Functional protective clothing worn by the British crew that local Rotarians are buying sets of this clothing for the Boulogne crew..