Exhibition celebrates town's lifeboat heritage

A cork lifejacket is among the items on display in the exhibition

A new exhibition celebrates the "very intrinsic part" a lifeboat station has played in the history of a town in the west of the island.

The display at the Leece Museum in Peel features images of key figures over the years, the lifeboats that have served the station, and stories of rescues carried out.

Tony Quirk of Peel Heritage Trust said the town, which was "known for its fishing industry over the years" was "never short of fishermen and sailors willing to go to sea and rescue the stricken boats".

The exhibition has been designed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the RNLI.

Sir William Hillary was motivated to petition for the creation of the lifesaving organisation, which was founded in 1824, after witnessing several shipwrecks around the Manx coast.

The exhibition features former crew members of the Peel lifeboat

Trust committee member Janice Quilliam, who curated the exhibition, said the RNLI was "a big thing in Peel".

"Living by the sea, lots of us have members of the family in the lifeboats, it's always there and it's in their blood," she said.

She said, as the trust knew the anniversary was approaching, she had spent the past few winters "sorting through the museum's archives" to find the relevant material for the display.

The exhibition will be open daily between 11:00 and 15:00 BST until September.