Coxswain's Thank-you Having been persuaded to be involved in the RNLI Christmas Appeal letter, I was overwhelmed with the amazing response - which resulted in donations totalling £400,000.

Several hundred supporters wrote specifically to wish me well in my retirement - which I am now beginning to enjoy.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to thank publicly all those who wrote to me, and hope they will forgive me for not writing individually.

After 27 years with the Yarmouth lifeboat I am just getting used to having undisturbed nights and no responsibility for 20 other crew members. Without them I could not have done the job and equally I am sure they will carry on the work with the same enthusiasm under the leadership of the next coxswain.

Dave Kennett, ex-coxswain Yarmouth lifeboat Calling Collectors During a recent tour of the east coast we took the time out to visit nine lifeboat stations that were on our route.

Despite the cold and miserable weather we were welcomed at all the stations in true RNLI tradition.

Sheringham opened its boathouse just for us. Although we thanked each station I would like to pass on my thanks to each and every station in the country, many of which we have visited.

I am also looking for lifeboat models and memorabilia to bring my collection a bit nearer completion and would be interested in any items, no matter how small. I can be contacted at the address below at any time.

If you could possibly publish my request in the magazine I would be most grateful, if not, could you put me in touch with a fellow collector.

Jason Whitbread, 143 Illingworth Road, Goodwood, Leicester LE5 4ET I collect vintage rowing postcards, engravings, drawings and photos of lifeboats. I am particularly looking for scenes of rescues.

I would appreciate hearing from any other RNLI members who might be able to help me with my collection.

Alexander Bridge, PO Box 2732, Kennebunkport, Maine 04046, USA Forthleven Dash With reference to the article entitled 'Dashing home to Porthleven' in the Winter 1994/95 issue.

Some time ago members of the Porthleven Lifeboat Day Committee investigated the possibilities of restoring Porthleven's last lifeboat Dash to its former glory. Having visited the boat in Gweek shipyard, it was decided that the many thousands of pounds it would take to restore the boat would be better spent on the present day service, especially as we had been informed that similar boats were housed in Chatham Docks.

Naturally it was a heart-searching decision, but given the financial consideration of the cost of restoration and the cost of upkeep, it was decided to let that part of Porthleven's history go, as it is well documented in photographs and historical facts remaining in the village.

During 1992 charitable status was applied for under the name of Porthleven 2000, a charity formed solely for the purpose of the regeneration of Porthleven.

The current owner of Dash is Porthleven 2000 which was responsible for her transportation to Porthleven in September 1994, where she remains open to the elements.

I would ask visitors to Porthleven, especially the patrons of our fundraising lifeboat day, provisionally booked for Saturday 5 August 1995, to remember that money donated to the restoration of Dash will go to Porthleven 2000, and not to maintain the lifesaving services of the RNLI.

Michael Carter, honorary treasurer, Porthleven branch Whatever happened to...

I was interested in the letter from Alec Beilby in the Winter issue.

Can any light be shed on the fate of the coxswain and mechanic of the Hythe boat? As I read it there may have been unfair dismissal at best, with more sinister implications at worst. Can anyone shed more light on this? Miles J. Robinson, Ipswich, Suffolk.

Long Standing Links Our family interest in the RNLI all began when, as a young soldier, I waded into the sea from the sands east of Dunkirk and was taken aboard the Ramsgate lifeboat and eventually back to England.

Some few years later my late wife became a keen and active member of the Sutton Coldfield ladies' guild. How strange that towns such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Sutton Coldfield, so distant from the sea, raise such large sums of money for the Institution.

The latest family interest now centres on our eldest son, an engineer, who has purchased a Liverpool class lifeboat named Shirley Jean Adye once based at Caister. This boat is now under temporary cover in his garden in Sutton Coldfield where it is his intention to restore the boat to its original condition and colours.

He has received great encouragement and advice from Caister and from the RNLI drawing office in Poole, but restoration work will take a long time.

As to the future of the boat when all is completed - who knows - it is not suitable for the canals in the Midlands and it will be a long while before the sea reaches Sutton Coldfield! However, rest assured, the boat will be relaunched somewhere, someday.

Ken Baker, Exmouth.

Editor's note: This lifeboat was originally ON 906, W. Ross MacArthur of Glasgow in RNLI ownership and was stationed at St Abbs from 1953 to 1964. She was sold out of service in 1968 and purchased by the Caister Volunteer Rescue Service in 1973.

Readers' letters on all aspects of lifeboats and the lifeboat service are always welcome.

Please mark your letter 'for publication' and address it to: The Editor, The Lifeboat, RNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH151 HZ.Dynamic Return Regarding the 19 RNLI lifeboats which served in Operation Dynamo, the Dunkirk evacuation, your readers may be interested to know that nine of these are currently members of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships.

We also have in our membership two ex-RNLI lifeboats which were sold out of service prior to 1940 but which were 'taken up' by the Navy and also served at Dunkirk.

Of these eleven former lifeboats, six are planning to join their sister ships of the Association, including the London fire boat Massey Shaw in returning to Dunkirk at the end of May this year to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the evacuation.

Margaret Cormack, honorary secretary ADLS, Uxbridge, Middx.

Two into Nineteen With regard to the letter from Mr Beilby in the Winter edition, in which he intimates that in a letter from Jeff Morris in the Autumn edition, Jeff had assumed that 19 RNLI lifeboats, plus RNLI crews went to Dunkirk, I suggest that Mr Beilby reads Jeff's letter once again. At no point was reference made to RNLI crews! He writes only of RNLI lifeboats! Jeff Morris is a much respected archivist and researcher, also being the author of countless publications on lifeboat history, and any experienced 'lifeboat enthusiast' has long been aware that the only two lifeboats which took part in the Dunkirk evacuation carried their own RNLI crews.

Denis J. Morgan, Milton Keynes.Older than You Think! May I correct the statement made by the Editor in his article 'Strait Talking' that Littlestone is a relative newcomer to the ranks of the lifeboat stations in the Straits of Dover. A lifeboat was originally placed at Littlestone in 1861 and a boathouse erected in 1871.

Between 1861 and 1928 a total of 131 lives were saved by Littlestone lifeboats and three crew members received Silver medals for gallantry, tragically four crew members lost their lives on service.

It was decided in 1928 that sufficient cover was provided by the flank stations at Hythe and Dungeness and the Littlestone station was closed.

It is interesting to note that the second coxswain was paid a weekly pension of 10 old pence by the Institution until his death in 1939.

I have many photographic prints of Littlestone lifeboats during the first quarter of this century, including one of my great uncle leading a team of horses pulling the boat on its carriage.

In spite of the gap in service between 1928 and 1966 I feel that Littlestone's record from 1861 should not be overlooked and qualifies it to be regarded as much a veteran as the other stations mentioned.

E.N. Smith, honorary treasurer, Littlestone lifeboat station Editor's Note: Our apologies for depriving Littlestone of so much of its history. The date given in the article, 1966, was the year of re-establishment with an inshore lifeboat.Under Tow Further to the interesting letters in recent issues I thought readers might be interested to see the enclosed photograph taken on 1 June 1940 from HMS Thrifty a minesweeper in which I was serving en route for Dunkirk, towing three RNLI lifeboats - Southend, Walmer and Hythe.

With regard to the coxswain of the Hythe lifeboat, I understood at the time that his objection to sailing was that whatever the boat contributed to the evacuation, if she were lost it would leave a gap in the service impossible to replace at that time. In a desperate situation this was perhaps not appreciated.

It was ironical that the Hythe lifeboat was stranded and lost, but a great mercy that all the rest returned safely.

Philip Jull MBE VRD, Solihull, West Midlands.Island Find Making a detour from the normal route south from Scotland in order to make a pilgrimage to Bamburgh and the Grace Darling Museum, my wife and I also decided to visit the National Trust property of Lindisfarne Castle on nearby Holy Island.

Whilst walking on one of the beaches we observed an old building which, although now being used by a local farmer to store hay, gave the impression of having been a boathouse.

Further examination revealed two plaques, rather the worse for the passage of time and possibly vandalised, but quite clear all the same, one on each side of the large doorway.

One plaque depicted what was obviously a lifeboat and on a scroll embedded in beautifully carved oak leaves the letters 'R.N.L.B.F. the other depicts a crown and on a similar scroll the date '1884'.

I was so impressed with this 'find' that I photographed the building and the plaques. I would also be very interested to hear from anyone who can supply any information as to the history of this old lifeboat station.

David Herriott, Solihull, West Midlands.

Editor's note: According to the late Grahame Fan, archivist of the Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society, the boathouse was built in 1884 to house the island's lifeboat and was in use until a new boathouse and slipway were built for a motor lifeboat in 1924. The station at Lindisfarne was finally closed in 1968. There are further remains of a lifeboat station at the west end of the island where concrete piles are the only remnants of the No. 2 lifeboat house, built in 1908 and closed in 1934..