Every two years the RNLI throws open its doors at the Poole Headquarters and Depot to show how it goes about backing the volunteer crews and fundraisers.

This year the event was held on Friday and Saturday the first i and second of Au- * gust and more than 7,000 people came to see the displays and demonstrations.

In a generally unsettled spell of weather the Open Days managed to find a window of warm, gentle dayswith torrential rain shortly after the gates closed!.