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Wellington Miscellany Talk 25.11.21

Speaker: Colin Spackman, Wellington Museum

In September 1908 Wellington staged a fund-raising lifeboat day. The Minehead lifeboat came to the town and, after being paraded through the town, was floated on the Basins.

There it gave rides to townsfolk young and old. The photograph, taken by a Wellington photographer A E French, was one of the pictures shown at the recent ‘Wellington Miscellany’ public talk organised by the Wellington Local  History & Museum Society.

The talk took the audience of just over 40 on a, sometimes disjointed, virtual walk around the town looking mainly at odd bits of architecture and street furniture of historic and present day interest.

The lifeboat day picture reminded a member of the audience that his grandfather, born 1900, had enjoyed a ride on the lifeboat; an experience that made such an impression on the eight year old that 70 years later he could recount the trip to his grandson.

The day raised £50 for the lifeboat charity - the equivalent of more than £6,000 in today’s money.