VIDEO: The Priscilla MacBean

An historic lifeboat, restored over the past year by a team of enthusiasts in Hastings, has moved to its permanent new resting place.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Nov 2014, 12:33 BST
The Priscilla MacBean being pulled to its final resting place at the bottom of Old London Road, Hastings. 15/11/14. Deeday White and Tush Hamilton (THESE ARE VIDEO STILLS) SUS-141116-120358001The Priscilla MacBean being pulled to its final resting place at the bottom of Old London Road, Hastings. 15/11/14. Deeday White and Tush Hamilton (THESE ARE VIDEO STILLS) SUS-141116-120358001
The Priscilla MacBean being pulled to its final resting place at the bottom of Old London Road, Hastings. 15/11/14. Deeday White and Tush Hamilton (THESE ARE VIDEO STILLS) SUS-141116-120358001

The Priscilla MacBean was bought by Old Town resident Deeday White and Tush Hamilton after being found rotting in a field near Eastbourne, and restored on Hastings beach by the pair and an army of volunteers over the past year.

It was Eastbourne’s first ever motor lifeboat in the 1920s, and was sister boat to the Mary Stanford, the Rye lifeboat which was tragically lost with all hands on November 15, 1928. Seventeen crew members died.

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Exactly 86 years on to the day, the restored Priscilla MacBean was today (Saturday) hauled from the Stade Open Space, near Hastings lifeboat station, to its new final resting place, a specially prepared site on Hastings Borough Council land at the entrance to Old Town.

The Priscilla MacBean being pulled to its final resting place at the bottom of Old London Road, Hastings. 15/11/14. Deeday White and Tush Hamilton (THESE ARE VIDEO STILLS) SUS-141116-120358001The Priscilla MacBean being pulled to its final resting place at the bottom of Old London Road, Hastings. 15/11/14. Deeday White and Tush Hamilton (THESE ARE VIDEO STILLS) SUS-141116-120358001
The Priscilla MacBean being pulled to its final resting place at the bottom of Old London Road, Hastings. 15/11/14. Deeday White and Tush Hamilton (THESE ARE VIDEO STILLS) SUS-141116-120358001

Members of lifeboat crews from Hastings, Eastbourne and Rye attended the event.

At 9am the story of the Priscilla MacBean and the Mary Stanford was told, followed by a blessing of the boat and a short service of remembrance in respect of the Mary Stanford.

The Priscilla MacBean was the first beach-landed lifeboat designed for motor and sail and oars. In 1928 the vessel was moved to Kirkcudbright in Scotland to cover the area of the Solway Firth.

A few years later she was moved to Maryport in Cumbria before ending its RNLI service in 1934.

Video by Justin Lycett. Full story and photos in this week’s paper.

Related topics:HastingsRNLIOld TownRye