Lyme Regis from the Cobb.

So perhaps with a long and unhappy history of shipping disasters around the Lyme coast, it is hardly surprising that the town can claim more life-saving awards than any other harbour along the Dorset and Hampshire coasts. The critical time for life-saving at sea was reached in 1824 and this coincided with the 'Great Gale' of November 1824 when a storm of hurricane force struck the entire English Channel coast. At Lyme Regis the Cobb was severely breached with the result that several vessels sheltering there were destroyed, including the revenue cutter Fox which sank with the loss of four Customs mariners.

Another vessel, the Unity, was carried away by the ferocity of the storm and driven ashore midway between Lyme and Charmouth with all of its crew still on board. From this incident ensued a remarkable rescue. A local resident, Captain C. Bennett RN, organised a small rescue party, which included William Porter, a local pilot, and John Freeman, another local man. Porter was lowered down a cliff face and managed to rescue the master of the Unity; Captain Bennett followed shortly and with great fortitude saved a member of the crew who had fallen from the rigging into the raging sea. Another two members of the crew were so utterly shocked and exhausted that they had to be cut from the rigging and bodily carried safely ashore. For this gallant rescue the captain was awarded a gold medal from the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (which later became the RNLI), only the third time that the Institution's highest award had been made. The other two men were each presented with a silver medal.

Just months or so later Captain R. Spencer, the Commander of the Coastguards at Lyme, adapted an old rowing boat into an experimental lifeboat by fitting airtight cases under the thwarts with some also lashed to the gunnels. Captain Spencer carried out the trials personally as apparently no local pilot or fisherman was prepared to trust such a makeshift craft! Some modifications were suggested for this boat, such as the use of further air-bags and cork sheets laid along the gunnels to increase the vessel's buoyancy. Although there is no evidence it is possible that this home-made lifeboat served the port for a number of years, probably manned solely by Coastguard boatmen.

In December 1836 a small schooner William and Mary was wrecked near Lyme and a Coastguard cutter (perhaps the lifeboat?) under the command of John Keough went out to assist the crew. Keough managed to rescue four out of the five-man crew and brought them back safely. He then returned in a rather foolhardy attempt to rescue some of the schooner's stores but tragically he drowned. Keough was posthumously awarded the Institution's silver medal - the fourth such award in twelve years.

The next tragic incident came on Boxing Day 1852, when the barque Heroine was caught in a severe storm whilst crossing Lyme Bay. The master tried to make for the Cobb but his vessel struck rocks not far from the entrance. The Heroine was bound for Port Philip (later Melbourne) in Australia with a small party of emigrants on board. The ship's long boat and a smaller boat were finally launched with 45 passengers and crew crowded into the two boats. The commander of a revenue cutter Frances, which happened to be in port at the time, launched one of his boats in a laudable attempt to help guide the other two boats into the harbour. Unfortunately as the Customs' boat was returning, the heavy seas at the entrance to the harbour capsized it and four of the five-man crew were drowned. The survivors of the Heroine were more fortunate, all were landed safely at Lyme. A fund was set up in the town for the widows and orphans of the four men to which the Institution subscribed £20 as well as giving the sole survivor - William Buckle - a silver medal.

Undoubtedly the Heroine disaster helped to accelerate the provision of a lifeboat for Lyme. In the previous October the Lyme Coastguard had petitioned for a lifeboat and had waited patiently until the following June before receiving a reply from the Institution merely enquiring what had happened to the 'Spencer lifeboat'? An answer was quickly returned that 'It had capsized when tried, almost drowning one man so it had not been used and the stores sold off a number of years past'. Now if the Institution had acted with some alacrity then perhaps the deaths of the four men in December might have been avoided. As it was the provision of a lifeboat was granted only on condition that the town was prepared to fund two-thirds of its cost. This was readily agreed and the first lifeboat - a 27 ft Peake self-righter - arrived in September 1853. Unlike most other ports this lifeboat was to be manned by Coastguardmen - eight of them in all - and was not named.

It was not long before the boat was brought into action. In the following January it went out into Lyme Bay to assist a French brigantine Jeune Rose which was flying a distress flag. The Coastguardmen managed to board the vessel and offer assistance but as they were preparing to tow the vessel back to port it suddenly partially rolled over causing the lifeboat to capsize, trapping three men in an air-pocket under the vessel. Unfortunately, before the craft could be righted one man had drowned. Then two years later, in August, the lifeboat was being skippered by another Coastguardman - William Callaway - and on this occasion he and his crew were responsible for saving the lives of two men who they plucked from the sea; this was a deed that gained Callaway a silver medal for 'his complete disregard for his personal safety'.

The same citation could equally have applied to the next silver medal that was presented in August 1864, except for one important difference - this time the recipient was a young lady who was 'sojourning at Lyme Regis'. One afternoon Miss Alice de Geyt was rowing in the sheltered waters of the Cobb accompanied by a lady friend when their attention was drawn to a great deal of shouting and commotion near the entrance to the harbour. Apparently two young boys had fallen into the sea and were in imminent danger of drowning. Miss de Geyt immediately turned her boat towards the entrance of the harbour despite the very heavy seas there. With great skill she managed to manoeuvre the small boat until she and her companion could haul the two frightened and exhausted boys on board.

Some spectators on the Cobb wall who had watched the daring rescue said they were certain that on several occasions the little rowing boat was in very real danger of being swamped. Their eye-witness accounts of the brave rescue were no doubt contributory to Miss de Geyt being awarded the RNLI's silver medal for her 'outstanding courage and bravery'. Although this rescue was not in the same mould as Grace Darling's immortal deeds in 1838, it was only the second time that a woman had been honoured by the Institution - a true heroine!

Gold, silver and bronze medals with Vellum Thanks of the RNLI.
(RNLI)

The last medal to be won by a Lyme person came less than three years later. During a particularly severe January storm in 1867 Lieutenant W.H. Elton, RN, who commanded the Coastguards at Lyme, went out into the Bay accompanied by five Coastguard boatmen. On this day Lyme's lifeboat William Woodcock was unable to be launched. Elton and his small crew were instrumental in saving three lives from several little local vessels that were in difficulties. Lieutenant Elton's brave rescue was acknowledged with a silver medal.

One gold and six silver medals in the space of just over 40 years was no mean achievement and quite an amazing record unequalled by any port along the coast. The Lyme Regis lifeboat service gave remarkable service until 1932 when the lifeboat was removed. Thirty-five years later the Service returned to this ancient port with the provision of an Inshore Rescue boat. Nowadays the situation has greatly changed with more and more people using the sea for leisure purposes. At the time of writing the port has an 'Atlantic 21' - named Independent Forester Benevolence. This is the RNLI's latest inshore lifeboat in service, capable of 30 knots with an operational radius of 45 miles. This sophisticated craft is manned by three highly-trained and skilled men - a far, far cry from the 'Spencer DIY lifeboat' of yesteryear.

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