The 1986 North Sunderland harbour fete was officially opened by Her Grace the Duchess of Northumberland, seen here accepting a bouquet from Karla-Elise Reay, grand-daughter of branch secretary Robert Reay. Torrential rain half an hour before the opening ceremony meant that all the stalls had quickly to be moved into a large marquee but this did not stop the fete bringing in £7,428.62. Included in this was £418.18 collected by members of the inshore lifeboat crew, some of whom are members of the local fishermen's choir and who sang at local pubs the night before the fete..