Each year, on the Sunday nearest to November 15, Rye Harbour families gather to remember the Mary Stanford lifeboat disaster in 1928, when 17 men from the village lost their lives when their boat capsized in a gale, as they went to rescue a stricken vessel in the Channel. A simple and moving service, conducted by Canon David Frost, was held last Sunday November 20, in the church of the Holy Spirit, when remembrance candles were lighted by family members. A wreath-laying ceremony was then held outside at the memorial. The Last Post was solemnly played and Richard Tollett, operations manager of the Rye Harbour RNLI station, laid the first wreath.
Photos: KT Bruce