Honour for Whitby's Pete as RNLI award medal celebrating more than 50 years of service

Pete, 82, first became involved with the RNLI when he helped his father, Eric, set up the Lifeboat museum in 1958.

Pete said: “I was in the army until 1962. When I came out my father was honorary secretary of the RNLI and lifeboat operations manager. I joined him in 1964 and began making models for him.

“I became full-time crew in 1966 and was appointed station mechanic on the Mary Ann Hepworth in 1967. By the time he retired in 1993, Pete had been promoted to coxswain/mechanic and had spent 27 years as crew.

During this time he was awarded various gallantry awards, including a number of Thanks on Vellum and Bronze Medal for Gallantry.

One such award was given for a rescue involving two doctors on the 9th April 1988. Pete said: “The yacht Cymba went out of Whitby when it shouldn’t have done and capsized just outside the harbour entrance.

“It was manned by two doctors. Sadly, one drowned immediately. Both lifeboats went out and we could see the wreck at the back of the East Pier. We managed to get a rope on the other fella, he was still fastened to the boat, and we were able to save him”

Pete, who lives in Ruswarp with his wife, Alison, said: “In total, I did 479 services and when I retired I was awarded MBE. I was credited as having been involved in saving over 135 lives.”

But Pete wasn’t done with the RNLI yet. He had been appointed honorary curator of the museum when his father retired in 1985. It was a role he continued until October 2019. To this day he maintains a position as assistant curator and has made many of the models on display in the museum.

He is a mine of information. Talking to him you discover tales of trawlers saved from going ashore, crashed airplanes and countless rescues. He has scrapbooks which contain clippings from old newspapers and painted on the walls of the museum are lists of many of the services Pete took part in and details of the lives saved.

Pete said: “I’ve had a fantastic life and achieved what I wanted to do. When I joined the army I never dreamt I would be on a lifeboat, let alone a coxswain, because they’re usually fishermen.

“I didn’t have my sights set on a career, but I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s been a privilege to work for the RNLI. It’s a wonderful organisation and it’s a privilege to have been, and still be, part of it.

Jim Rice, regional media manager for the RNLI ,said: “Pete is well known within the RNLI and is a highly respected member of the Whitby community.

Whitby Museum is the number one site for both retail income and visitor numbers of any RNLI asset in the UK and Republic of Ireland. This is really down to what Pete has created over the years.

“He retired as Honorary Curator at the end of 2019 but he is staying on as a volunteer. He is currently working on a new display featuring dioramas of notable rescues over the history of Whitby lifeboat.”

The museum has raised over £5,000,000 for the RNLI since it opened.