Memorial for Penlee Lifeboat disaster 40th anniversary

The memorial was commissioned to mark 40 years since the disaster, which was in December last year

A granite memorial has been unveiled to commemorate the Penlee Lifeboat disaster, in which 16 people lost their lives at sea off west Cornwall.

Families gathered for a special ceremony to honour loved ones lost in the incident in 1981.

The eight crew of the Solomon Browne died trying to rescue the eight on board cargo ship Union Star in hurricane-force winds.

A helicopter fly-past also took place in memory of the tragedy.

Neil Brockman lost his father and many friends in the incident and said "a piece of him died that night".

He told the BBC after Saturday's ceremony: "I don't think I'll ever have closure to be honest with you... This is honouring their memory and this will be here for a long long time, well after I'm gone, and that's what I want - I want the memories to go on forever".

The memorial sits on Tregiffian Cliff, directly above the site of the disaster, on National Trust-owned land, near Tater Du lighthouse and can be reached via the South West Coast Path.

It was designed by sculptor David Paton and commissioned to mark the 40th anniversary of the disaster, in December 2021 .