Colin Trowles bought his own lifeboat - the Sir William Arnold

Unlike brothers Peter and Tony, Colin started life as a rather poorly child and consequently spent a lot of his early years being nurtured and supported by his loving mum.

Joan was keen to try and take his mind off his illness and so encouraged his (from an early age) undoubted passion.

Unlike other boys of his time, Colin wasn’t that interested in football (he supports Norwich!), he didn’t want to know about trains or even aeroplanes – rather, being a lad from a riverside town, he wanted to learn about the stories of brave rescues at sea.

Maldon has, after all, a long tradition of supporting the work of the foremost charitable rescue service at sea – the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

There is evidence of early fundraising here in town on ‘Lifeboat Saturday’ in 1907 and around the same time a collecting box for the RNLI was located at Maldon’s Custom House, on Market Hill, under the watchful eye of the custom’s officer, Thomas Handley Barbrook.

The Maldon branch of the RNLI was founded in 1952 by Jimmy Gozzett (1906-1974), then commodore of Maldon Little Ship Club.

With that special local context, Colin read stories of rescues at sea and, as he started to feel better, he began collecting associated memorabilia.

At weekends and during school holidays, Colin was taken by his parents to the numerous East Coast lifeboat stations – including locally at Mersea (founded 1963), Burnham (1966), Clacton (1878), but also further afield at Cromer, Norfolk (established 1804).

There he learnt about the exploits of Cromer hero coxswain Henry Blogg (1876-1954).

Recognised as the “greatest lifeboatman” of all time, Blogg remains the most decorated member of the RNLI, with three gold and four silver medals, as well as a George Cross and a British Empire Medal to his name.

He was involved in many rescues, including a famous incident on Wednesday, December 13, 1933, when he actually ran his lifeboat (the HF Bailey) right on to the deck of sailing barge Sepoy in order to save the stricken crew.

That same morning he also went out to another barge, Glenway, floundering in a notoriously treacherous stretch of water, two miles off Happisburgh.

Thankfully, Glenway and her crew survived and many years later the barge served as a static museum here at Maldon’s Hythe.

As Colin grew up his passion for all things RNLI and lifeboats was undiminished.

After leaving the Plume, he went on to become a member of the crew at the Hayling Island (Hampshire) station (established 1865) and then served as an RNLI trainer, assessing volunteers at the stations he had originally visited as a child.

His collecting developed into a focused, determined search for more stories, more information and more objects, which culminated in 2019 with him actually buying his own retired lifeboat!

The 52ft Arun class Sir William Arnold was built in 1973 and served all her 24 years working life out of St Peter Port, on the island of Guernsey.

She was involved in 550 rescue missions during that time, which resulted in the award of no fewer than 15 gallantry medals to her crew.

Her most famous “shout” and one that Colin had read about many times, took place during Sunday lunchtime on December 13, 1981.

The Ecuadorian cargo vessel Bonita was on passage from Hamburg to the Congo when she ran into difficulty in the English Channel.

The familiar badge of the RNLI (Image: Stephen Nunn)

She developed a serious list to starboard and the 36 on board (men, women and children) feared for their lives.

The Sir William Arnold slipped her moorings at 1400hrs and headed out to the ship in storm force 10 to 12 winds, driving snow, heavy spray, walls of water, deep troughs and very limited visibility.

Despite both engines temporarily failing, the Sir William Arnold spent more than ten hours at sea and rescued 29 people.

For this incredible service, coxswain Michael J Scales, was awarded the gold medal and each member of his crew the bronze.

In 1997, the Sir William Arnold was sold out of service and replaced by a more modern Severn class lifeboat.

Twenty-two years later, Colin achieved his lifelong ambition and bought her.

Lovingly restored by Colin, her initial mooring was at London’s St Katharine Docks (where she had many visitors, including the Duke of Kent), but he then brought her “home” and she is now a familiar sight at Heybridge Basin.

So when you next visit the Basin, give her a look.

She is not only a testament to the bravery of the crew of St Peter Port, she is also a credit to a Maldon man with a lifetime’s passion for the lifeboats.