Shooting estate on target to give RNLI three new inshore lifeboats
THEY REALLY pushed the boat out.
That was the verdict of Whitby coxswain Mike Russell on Warter Priory, the 12,000-acre shooting estate in the heart of the Yorkshire Wolds, which raised £162,000 for three inshore lifeboats in a three-day fundraising effort last year.
Two of the brand new, bright orange D-class boats were named on Saturday in a ceremony at the boathouse in Whitby in front of 150 guests.
Warter Priory was taken over by Malcolm Healey, the former owner of Hygena Kitchens, and one of the country’s wealthiest men, in the late 1990s. The massive East Yorkshire estate, with some 50 drives, is now run by son Will Healey.
The original aim was to raise enough funds to buy Whitby RNLI a new inshore lifeboat. But the target was smashed on the first day and enough money for two more was raised during the event, which included a clay shoot, auction and the annual Bush Beaters Ball.
The new inshore Whitby lifeboat was named Warter Priory by the Duchess of Kent, in recognition of their staggering fundraising efforts, while Dorothy Brighton named the second boat Eric Howland, after Will Healey’s grandfather, who was a fisherman and served in the Royal Navy.
It will join the RNLI’s relief fleet and will serve around the coast of the UK and Ireland.
The third lifeboat will be named at a later date and will go into service probably at Seahouses, in 2018.
A crucial piece of lifesaving equipment, the boats, which are the smallest in the RNLI fleet, are used for rescuing people cut off by the tide or in difficulties in surf, as they can be taken into rocky areas and even beached.
Coxswain of Whitby RNLI Mike Russell, who has known Warter’s headkeeper Frank Croft for 30 years, is a pickerup on shoots on the estate with his Labrador and cocker spaniel dogs.
“Four years ago they raised £30,000 for new life jackets for the station, which means they have raised nearly £200,000, which is a lot of money. I know it’s a pun but they really pushed the boat out.
“We’re hoping to tag our website so every time it goes out to sea and performs a rescue it will be tagged to Warter Priory’s site,” he said, adding being part of the RNLI was like being in a family.