Screen Archive South East is a public sector moving image archive serving the South East of England. The archive's collections of magic lantern slides, films, videos and associated materials capture the many varied aspects of life, work and creativity from the early days of screen history to the present day and serve as a rich and invaluable historical resource.
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Lifeboat Launch
This film look takes us back to endless summer holidays - with messing about on the water, kayaking and a lifeboat's maiden launch
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Overview
This nostalgic film begins with guests staying at Arcadia, kayaking, followed by crowds attending the launch of Selsey's latest lifeboat. The dedication service, witnessed by local dignitaries, comes before Canadian Pacific 2 slides away from the lifeboat station and splashes into the sea. She does a few passes for the crowds before we return to the folks at Arcadia. Once more we see them in kayaks, launches, sailboats as well as a rowing boat with the local harbour master.
The lifeboat featured in this film was called Canadian Pacific and was the second Selsey lifeboat to bear that name. The previous boat of the same name was destroyed by fire in 1937 and her replacement was the lifeboat we see sliding down the slipway, before a large crowd of onlookers, the following year. Canadian Pacific 2 was a Watson 46 Class lifeboat built by Alexander Robertson & Sons, in Sandbanks near Poole. During WW2, she was launched 50 times and rescued many downed RAF pilots. Remaining in service until 1969, Canadian Pacific went on 286 missions and is credited with saving 157 lives throughout her time at Selsey.
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