Tag: Mary Stanford

Mary Stanford’s Sister Boat

Priscilla MacBean has a new home

Priscilla MacBean – the final chapter. Ion Castro completes the story as the former lifeboat arrives at its final resting place.

After nearly a year of restoration, a magnificent feat of dedication in itself, the 34 ft. former Eastbourne, Kirkcudbright and Maryport lifeboat was moved to its new location, a specially prepared ‘dry dock’ at the bottom of Old London Road at the top of Hastings Old Town on the 86th anniversary of the loss of sister ship Mary Stanford, the Rye Harbour Lifeboat. The event was witnessed by hundreds of enthusiastic onlookers and a list of VIP’s that included Hastings & Rye’s MP, Continue reading Mary Stanford’s Sister Boat

Alice of Riga

The Worst Lifeboat Disaster in the History of the United Kingdom

In the early hours of the morning of 15 November 1928 a chain of events started that was to lead to the worst Lifeboat disaster in the history of the United Kingdom.

The steamship Alice of Riga, a collier carrying a load of bricks, and crewed by 14 Latvian seamen, was making her way through ever roughening seas down the Channel. As she rounded Dungeness Point the weather worsened and huge seas began breaking over her bows. She was slow ship and struggled to keep from being blown off her westward course. Visibility was reducing by the minute and her stern lights may have been extinguished by the breaking waves as her crew struggled to fight her through the storm. Continue reading Alice of Riga

80 Years Since Lifeboat Disaster

Seventeen men battled with backs bent against the furious force of the wind along the straight stretch of beach to the Mary Stanford Lifeboat House between Rye Harbour and Winchelsea Beach. Continue reading 80 Years Since Lifeboat Disaster

Is This The John William Dudley

By Eric Streeton

At a recent post card fair I found the card illustrated above. Written on the back in pencil were the words, “Lifeboat at Rye Sussex”. So my challenge to Rye’s Own readers is to help me positively identify the craft. These are my thoughts on it, but I may well stand to be corrected. Continue reading Is This The John William Dudley

The Caister Family

By Arthur Woodgate

The Caisters of Rye Harbour – What a family. Fishing for a living father Mick Caister, skipper of the RX 30 Akela works his boat out of Rye from the new Simmonds Quay. Continue reading The Caister Family

Lifeboats

Rye Harbour District Branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution

By Anthony Kimber

The Royal National Lifeboat Institute has provided the lifeboat service for some 175 years. It has always been a voluntary service funded entirely by public subscription and collection. Continue reading Lifeboats

Peter Mitchell

Rye Personality of the Twentieth Century

Peter Mitchell _ Was at the Battle of Jutland and the Sinking of the Bismark
Peter Mitchell _ Was at the Battle of Jutland and the Sinking of the Bismark

Percy Lawrence Mitchell – Seaman & Youth Leader

Percy Lawrence Mitchell, known universally in Rye by the young people of the fifties and sixties as Peter Mitchell was another outstanding Rye character who left his mark on this town. Continue reading Peter Mitchell

17 Brave Men

The Story of the Rye Harbour Lifeboat Disaster

The Alice of Riga

In the early hours of the morning of 15 Novem­ber 1928 a chain of events started that was to lead to the worst Lifeboat disaster in the history of the United Kingdom. Continue reading 17 Brave Men