I came across this plaque on the latest stage of my bus journeys "Around the Edge of England" at Robin Hood's Bay on the coast of the North Riding of Yorkshire. Two hundred men and 18 horses dragged a lifeboat six miles over roads rising over 500ft through 7ft snowdrifts at an average speed of 3mph! (I could only just about manage that without the lifeboat - or the snow!)
And if you've ever seen the steep road that leads down from the cliff top to the sea at Robin Hood's Bay (a picture here on my Around the Edge Blog) you'd be even more impressed.
I wonder how long it would take them today just to get permission to try!
1 comment:
It is somewhat chastening isn't it.
They could not only find 200 men in Whitby fit and able to turn out at a moments notice, they also found 18 horses suitable for pulling, together with the tackle and knowledge to join them all together. They also had men from Robins Hood Bay clearing the road in the other direction.
They managed to co-ordinate all that without a phone, static or mobile, and with any 'runner' also being hampered by the drifted snow.
Although the possibility may have been talked about (they had the wheeled carriage for the boat) this wasn't a pre-planned event; it was just a case of, Wake Up; Go NOW.
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