A memorial to the past and a beacon of hope for the future.

(From Lloyds List)

Byline: A visit to the Longhope Lifeboat Museum on the Orkney island of Hoy is also a personal odyssey for Sandra Speares

VISITORS to Orkney extol the virtues of its whisky or condemn the turbulence of its weather. But few are aware that a unique museum commemorating the lifeboat service is to found on the island of Hoy.

Longhope Lifeboat Museum is unique in the sense that it is housed in the shed at Brims from which its largest exhibit, the 45ft 6in Watson class lifeboat Thomas McCunn, was launched down a slipway to the assistance of ships in distress.

The boat is the last of the petrol engine lifeboats designed by Watson himself.

Equally important, the museum serves as a reminder of the heroism of the crews that have served on the Longhope station in 10 boats from 1874 onwards, not least the crew of the TGB which replaced Thomas McCunn at Longhope all of whom were lost on March 17, 1969, while going to the assistance of the Greek-owned, Liberian-flagged Irene operated by San Paraskevi Shipping Company.

Those who died included coxswain Dan Kirkpatrick and his two sons Ray and Jack, mechanic Robert Johnston and his two sons Robert and Jimmy, assistant mechanic Jimmy Swanson and Eric McFadyen.