Coxswain - Seaham, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 54° 50.280 W 001° 19.615
30U E 607450 N 6078047
This life size metal sculpture is of a coxswain, but is also dedicated to all members of the Seaham lifeboat.
Waymark Code: WM19RP8
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/06/2024
Views: 0
A coxswain is the helmsman and skipper of a lifeboat. The sculpture shows him at the helm of the boat steering into whatever danger approaches.
It is made of Corten Steel and he is dressed in storm gear with a sou'wester and oilskins. battling with the wheel of the boat on a sloping deck.
He is also wearing an early version of a lifejacket made of cork. Such lifejackets were invented in 1854 by a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) inspector Captain Ward.
link.
The sculpture stands at Seaham harbour in front of the marina. It has a plaque about the sculpture and the Seaham Lifeboat.
The Coxswain
Commissioned by the Durham Heritage Group
an erected on the 27th November 2006
this memorial commemorates the courage and
dedication to duty of all past members of the
Seaham lifeboat station, five of whom who made the
ultimate sacrifice on the 17th November 1962
Seaham Lifeboat Station
Opened Sept 1st 1870 - Closed Feb 24th 1979
137 launches 289 lives saved
"With courage nothing is impossible"
Kindly funded by Seaham's Durham County Councillors,
The East Durham Heritage Group & County Durham Community Foundation
The Coxswain is a creation by Ray Lonsdale
There is also a plaque with a local dialect poem on it.
"The Coxswains Cry"
There's a white hoss comin'
with many friends
an' a' think they'll tak' us down
Grab a had me lad's and watch y'sel's
for the sea will have us now.
Ray Lansdale
The 'white hoss' or 'white horse' refers to the white crests of large waves as the wave collapses.