Naming ceremony held for Hoylake lifeboat and launch system
A naming ceremony for a new £2m lifeboat and £1.2m launch and recovery system has taken place on Merseyside.
The Edmund Hawthorn Micklewood lifeboat and Roland Hough system were dedicated in a short service at Hoylake.
The boat was named at the request of a woman who bequeathed the RNLI the funds for it, while the system's title honours a local lifeboat supporter.
Lifeboat operations manager John Curry said the RNLI was "so grateful for these legacies".
Devon-born Paulette Micklewood left money for the lifeboat in her will when she died in 2006 with the proviso that it was named after her grandfather.
A representative for her said she would have been "delighted" with the new 18-tonne lifeboat.
Mr Hough also bequeathed funds to the RNLI to help fund equipment.
His money was put towards the cost of the system, which allows the boat to moved over the sandbanks in front of the Hoylake station and allows launches and recoveries to happen more quickly.
The ceremony was led by Hoylake lifeboat chaplain the Reverend Paul Rossiter.