A Harrington poet has paid tribute to Workington's Sir John Fisher lifeboat, which will be going out of service this year.

The boat, which was launched in 1992, will be replaced by a new Shannon class boat.

Colin Armstrong, 72, of Rose Hill, has donated the poem Let's Raise A Glass to the lifeboat crew and copies have been hung at the lifeboat station and Harrington Sailing Club.

Colin, who is a member of Mungrisdale Writers and vice-chairman of the Lakeland Dialect Society, said: "It's a tribute to the retiring lifeboat and also to the volunteers.

"It's not widely known some of the risks they take, going out in all weathers. People don't realise how rough this sea can be."

Colin's friend Ros White painted the picture of the Sir John Fisher and his poem currently hangs next to it in Workington.

The oil painting will be auctioned to raise money for the new boat, via online auction site eBay.

Colin said his grandfather and his great-grandfather were fishermen and he used to own a small trawler too.

He added: "There's always been a family connection with the sea and I've lived right by the sea all my life.
"I was an electrician and used to do all the repairs for the lifeboat station and most crew are my friends."

The Times & Star , Whitehaven News and RNLI Lifeboat Appeal, backed by Sellafield Ltd, is raising money towards the cost of the Dorothy May White, which will become the coast’s all-weather lifeboat.

The £2.1m lifeboat has already been built and tested at sea from the RNLI’s headquarters in Poole.

It is due to arrive in Workington next month, and officially launched in June.