Arbroath RNLI received a £1,000 cheque in a presentation of special poignancy for one of the town’s best-known cultural figures.
In September, Edwina Barraclough and James Hutcheson drew together an impressive cast for the Follow the Light show staged at Arbroath’s Webster Theatre as part of the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.
The pair, along with Garry Mitchell, decided they would donate to the Arbroath lifeboat the four-figure fee they received for organising and producing the widely acclaimed show.
At Saturday’s handover, Edwina recalled the tragic family connection to the blackest day in the history of the Arbroath lifeboat with the loss of the Robert Lindsay in 1953.
Edwina’s mother lost two cousins, who were brothers and part of the lifeboat crew when it was lost with all hands but one.
It capsized near the harbour on its early-morning return from an abortive mission to help a vessel in distress in October that year. It was within sight of safety.
Horrified onlookers saw the Robert Lindsay swamped by a huge wave and swept along the breakwater before it overturned. Only one crewman survived after managing to grab a rope fired from shore.
Edwina also remembered with pride her great-grandfather David Swankie’s role as second coxswain, who was one of three leading hands to receive a specially-engraved watch in recognition of his heroism in 1905.
”The watches were given by German Kaiser Wilhelm II along with £20 for the crew in recognition of their bravery in saving the crew of the German schooner Gesine when it was wrecked off Westhaven, Elliot,” said Edwina.
”After a very difficult rescue in stormy conditions, the lifeboat crew had given their own clothing to the five German seamen to keep them warm during the journey back to Arbroath.
”The James Stevens herself went on to be wrecked outside the harbour in 1925 when the skiff Dutiful of Arbroath was swamped with the loss of two lives,” Edwina added.
Proceeds from the Follow the Light show are to be presented to local charities in January.
The show included an extensive cast of well-known soloists, choirs, dancers, bands and groups and celebrated Arbroath’s connections to the sea and the light which has stood off its North Sea coast for two centuries.