THE R.N.L.I. “FISH” at Robin Hood's Bay

Sitting on the tide washed slipway at Robin Hood's Bay since 1886 is a 17 stone cast iron Codfish, which has been collecting pennies and pounds all these years for the RNLI Lifeboat Charity. It is believed to be one of the oldest lifeboat collecting boxes in the world, and is also the smallest listed structure in the UK!

“The  Fish” was presented by Captain Isaac Mills, a 36 year old Master
Mariner, and local shipowner, only five years after the famous “Visiter”
rescue, and four years after the village's new lifeboat station had opened, a time when there was tremendous loss of life due to shipwreck along the Yorkshire coast.

The old fishermen would tell children to “Put a penny in itsmouth and it’ll flick its tail !”. When the inevitable happened and it didn’t flick its tail, the reply was always “Weh try again, maybe's it was t’quick f’ya”

The popular photograph shows “The  Fish” in the early 1900`s with Will Storm, a former lifeboat coxwain, and a young Gladys Dixon. Since then, generations of children visiting Robin Hood's Bay have been photographed “Feeding the Fish”.  

During 2020 we haven't been able to do our usual fundraising for the RNLI but the Yorkshire lifeboats have been busier than ever this year and we want to continue raising funds for the volunteer crews who help save lives at sea.  Can you donate to our Just Giving page and help to virtually fill the fish?!  Every little bit is appreciated.  Thank you.

Thank you for visiting my JustGiving page. RNLI lifeboats in Yorkshire and the North East protect hundreds of communities through our 24-hour search and rescue service. They rely on the safest, most reliable lifeboats and modern stations to launch from. Your donation to this page will help support the running of lifeboat stations in Yorkshire and the North East.