Lifeboatmen records

I was very interested to read Nicola Johnson’s article exploring the world of stokers in your January 2026 issue. My great grandfather, John Thomas Gray, was a stoker on the HMS Indomitable during the

Sixteen-year-old Clifford Harris died on RMS Titanic because he was ‘just’ a member of the crew. He was a bell boy, earning £2 for the voyage, one of the youngest workers on board when the Titanic sai

Andy Turner suffers a debilitating heart condition while sailing his Bowman 46 offshore with his son and a friend

Celebrating 100 years of the BBC Shipping Forecast, Jane Russell takes us on a series of coastal cruises through the forecast sea areas, exploring some of the special places on offer in each of them

Q My ancestor, Charles Hayes, was born on 6 October 1700 in Harrow on the Hill to Charles Hayes and Ann Ewster. He attended University College Cambridge and, described as “one of the Gentlemen of the

Picture the scene: a former NHS chef ‘Clem’ Clements is celebrating his 98th birthday, sitting in his front room surrounded by his medications, an oxygen mask and a discreet tape recorder. He is recal