Historic Whitby lifeboat to be restored to former glory

The Helen Wycherley saved about 400 lives during its service with the RNLI

An historic lifeboat which had fallen into disrepair is set to be restored and launched again in Whitby.

The Helen Wycherley was built in 1961 and named in honour of a woman who dedicated her life to supporting the RNLI, the boat's new owner said.

Richard Sworder said he hoped to offer tours along the North Yorkshire coast when the restoration was complete.

The craft saved about 400 lives during its service and Mr Sworder said it had "too much history to let it go".

The boat will be launched in Whitby once it is restored, Mr Sworder said

Mr Sworder said he had wanted to own a lifeboat since seeing the vessels launch on their life-saving missions during summer holidays in Cromer in Norfolk as a child.

He said the history of the boat was "quite phenomenal" and explained that Helen Wycherley was a founder member of the Rochdale Ladies' Lifeboat Guild.

In her will she left a legacy of £10,000 to the RNLI, which helped pay for the lifeboat which bears her name.

The craft, which had been out of the water for 14 years, has now fallen into disrepair.

Mr Sworder said he had always wanted to buy a lifeboat

"There's a lot of work that needs to be done, it's more traditional work as well, traditional expertise to actually do the woodwork," Mr Sworder said.

"It's a very, very big task in front of us."

He said he planned to restore the original engines and also install four bedrooms, so the boat could be chartered out to guests.

"It's such an iconic boat here in Whitby," he added.

"It's great to bring the history back to Whitby and tell people what this boat is all about."

Mr Sworder plans to restore the boat's original engines