Newbiggin RNLI Special Welcome to the ‘Old Sailors’
A group of ‘Old Sailors’ visited the station to present a cheque as they celebrated a bon voyage by Newbiggin RNLI 50 years ago
It was during 1975 that three young sailors left Alnmouth in a small boat bound for an epic voyage to the United States of America many miles away. One of the sailors, John Hall, kept a diary with an entry on the first day recording ‘we watched, with some growing alarm, a lifeboat rapidly bearing down on us from Coquet Island. They were only coming to give us a wave however, not to rescue us. The lifeboat was the ‘Mary Joicey', from Newbiggin, that was out on training that day in 1975.’
When they reached the Caribbean later in 1975, they founded the River Aln Boat Club (RABC) which is 50 years old this year. The RABC has turned John’s diary into a book and recently hosted a 50th anniversary party to celebrate this story however John never forgot the meeting at sea with the lifeboat and asked that the funds raised should go to the Newbiggin RNLI.
In June 2025 the two surviving sailors visited Newbiggin Maritime Centre (NMC) where the restored RNLB Mary Joicey providing a time to reflect on the last time they met all those years ago out on the North Sea.
The visitors then made their way to RNLI Newbiggin, to see the oldest operational lifeboat boathouse in the UK, where they were entertained by the volunteers before presenting the RNLI with a cheque for £1,421.48. This rounded off a great day out for John whose 86th birthday it was.
Ron Henderson, Lifeboat Operations Manager at Newbiggin said ‘we really appreciate these sailors visiting us to commemorate such a special anniversary. Their visit was made even more rememberable as they were able to see the old lifeboat Mary Joicey as well as meeting some of our volunteer team here on a training evening and see our current lifeboat.’
Notes to editors
Newbiggin RNLI is based at Sandridge, Newbiggin by the Sea, Northumberland. The station was established in 1851 and currently operates an Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat
Richard Wake Burdon.
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For more information, please telephone Richard Martin, RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer Newbiggin on 07980 010544 or [email protected], Clare Hopps, RNLI Regional Communications Manager, North and East on 07824 518641 or [email protected] or contact the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789.
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The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,700 lives.
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