HOPE AND CONFIDENCE

The Stories You See On-Screen

Extract from Launch! - THE BEN BARVAS (1964)

In September 2017 curator/filmmaker Shona Thomson of A Kind of Seeing was researching her archive film tour Made by the Sea. This was her first contact with the RNLI Heritage Team: to request permission to screen THE BEN BARVAS, the 1964 dramatised documentary filmed at Longhope.

From there, a conversation started that led to Launch! being developed with the RNLI generously opening up their large archive of films and images to Shona.

“As I watched more and more footage both older and newer, it became clear that the story of Launch! would be about the incredibly important work of saving lives in often unpredictable seas but also about the people on the land who support the crews. It really does take a community to launch a lifeboat. ”

Shona Thomson
Director and Editor of Launch!

Locations in the Film

It might only be a brief glimpse, but Launch! features images of RNLI crews past and present at:

Aberdeen
Aith, Shetland
Anstruther
Arbroath
Barra
Broughty Ferry
Buckie
Dunbar
Eyemouth
Fraserburgh
Helensburgh

Invergordon
Kessock
Kinghorn
Kyle of Lochalsh
Largs
Lerwick
Loch Ness
Longhope, Orkney
Macduff
Montrose
North Berwick

Portpatrick
Portree
St. Andrews
South Queensferry
Stonehaven
Stornoway
Stranraer
Tobermory
Troon
Whitehills, Moray

Map credit: RNLI

Archive Sources

With a commitment to showing and celebrating RNLI crews across Scotland both then and now, Shona dug deeper in her research for films and images. The collections below are where all the images and films that you see in Launch! were sourced. We’ll be adding more about some of the stories to be found in the film. Feel free to share your own by contacting us.

Click on the photos below to explore more in each collection: