Lifeboat collection box is saved from scrapheap
AN RNLI collection box depicted in a famous Victorian painting of Penzance Promenade is to be returned to its original use after being saved from the scrapyard.
The blue RNLI box can be seen in the painting The Rain It Raineth Every Day, by Norman Garstin, which shows the promenade between Newlyn and Penzance on a windswept and rainy day.
It was painted in 1889 and Garstin, a leading figure of the Newlyn School, submitted it to the Royal Academy for inclusion in that year’s exhibition but, sadly, the jury rejected it.
The painting is now on show at Penlee House. In it, you can see the Queens Hotel and, further to the right, you can just make out St Mary’s Church, which lies behind a row of terraced houses. On the far right, close to the railings, you can see a pale blue RNLI collecting box with its then customary fan-shaped topper.
It is this blue box, which was engraved with an RNLI plaque, that was used to collect money for the life-saving institution, which was already 50 years old when the painting was completed.
The National Institution for the Preservation of Lives and Property from Shipwreck was founded as a charity on March 4, 1824. The name was changed to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution – or RNLI – in 1854.
In November 2018, thanks to lifeboat enthusiast Martin Whittaker, the cast-iron RNLI collecting box, in a poor state of repair, arrived at Penlee Lifeboat Station, having recently been purchased from David Lays Auction House in Penzance by the RNLI Heritage Team.
Now the box has been restored to its former glory after appearing on the BBC restoration show The Repair Shop.
Elaine Bawden, a spokeswoman for Penlee Lifeboat, said: “Our visit to The Repair Shop was a very special moment for Martin and I. We were both thrilled to see the enthusiasm shown by presenters Jay and Dom – they were just as excited as we were to be embarking on this exciting restoration project.
“I felt really confident leaving our collection box in their capable hands. I hoped that Dom would be able to restore the RNLI collection to its former glory, just as it’s seen in early photographs, and to solve the mystery of what, if anything, may be inside and bring it back to life so it can be reinstated it at Penlee Lifeboat Station, collecting money from passers-by, as it did many decades ago.
“It is very important to me to keep our amazing RNLI history alive.”