The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was established in 1824 and has a long and proud tradition of saving life at sea. Today, the volunteer lifeboat crews of England s north east coast operate high-tech state-of-the-art lifeboats in their work of saving lives at sea in and around the busy Irish Sea shipping lanes and around the important port of Liverpool. The RNLI currently operates eleven lifeboat stations on the north-west coast of England, and a further five on the strategically important Isle of Man. This comprehensive book has details of all the stations, with information about their history, rescues and current lifeboats. It also includes outline histories of the various old stations that have been closed. The region has an interesting and unusual history when it comes to life-saving, as not only was the first organised lifeboat service in the world established and operated in the Mersey by the Liverpool Docks Committee, but the RNLI owes its existence to the famous Sit William Hillary from Douglas in the Isle of Man. These two aspects of the history and development of the lifeboat service form a crucial part of the story of life-saving on England s north-west coast.In addition to the pioneering work of the Liverpool and Douglas life-savers, many dramatic, courageous and daring rescues have been performed by the lifeboat crews from Lancashire, Cumbria and the Isle of Man, and these are brought to life in the historical introduction, which examines the gallantry and selflessness of the volunteer lifeboat men and women who crew the lifeboats in this area. Author Nicholas Leach has amassed a wealth of information about and many outstanding photographs, old and new, of the lifeboats and lifeboat stations, past and present. He has visited every one of the stations to provide a complete and up-to-date record of life-saving in the seas off this historic, picturesque, but often dangerous coastline."