The new RNLI lifeboat in Morecambe. Photo by Chris J CoatesThe new RNLI lifeboat in Morecambe. Photo by Chris J Coates
The new RNLI lifeboat in Morecambe. Photo by Chris J Coates

The Bay actor makes return to Morecambe as new RNLI lifeboat is officially launched

An actor from ITV drama The Bay was among the guests as Morecambe RNLI launched their new inshore lifeboat.

The D-855 'Brenda Raworth' lifeboat was dedicated and launched on Sunday lunchtime.

The lifeboat was a generous bequest from the Raworth family and replaces the ‘Margaret Mary Timpany’ which served the crews well over the last 12 years.

Actor Daniel Ryan, who is one of the leading characters in ITV' s The Bay - which was largley filmed in and around Morecambe - was among those who attended the ceremony to speak.

Daniel said he was delighted to be back in Morecambe as the lifeboat had helped in scenes of The Bay due to there being a number of nautical-related deaths in the show.

Lancaster's Batala Band gave the launch of the lifeboat a rousing send-off.

Morecambe Lifeboat operations manager Steve Wilson and management group chairman Martyn Browitt would like to thank all who supported and attended the naming of the new lifeboat.

They also thanked the local groups who supported them on the day, The Batala Group, the Mizzen Singers and The Morecambe Bay Chowder Company, as well as Daniel Ryan for handing over the new lifeboat in to the hands of the RNLI.

Final thanks go to the fundraising crew in their shops and those who manage the collection boxes, along with the operational crew who respond day and night to any incidents across the Bay, and last but not least the unsung heroes: the families of the operational crew who are woken every time the pager goes off, are left midway through meals and at home thinking of their partners, fathers, sons, daughters, mothers, children as they launch to go out on service.

Morecambe RNLI was established in 1966 and was the first station to have a hovercraft stationed on the coast. All of the Morecambe crew are volunteers and the service is funded entrirely by charitable donations and legacies.

Photos by Chris J Coates.