// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
How a teacake tycoon helped to save a village's lifeboat station
The launch of the new boat 10 years ago was a cause for celebration in St Abbs
A decade ago there was a day of celebration in the little Borders coastal village of St Abbs that they will never forget.
The RNLI closed its lifeboat station in 2015 - bringing a 104-year association to an end - saying there was no clear need for it with one nearby in Eyemouth.
The community rallied round to raise the money needed to bring a boat back and found a surprise ally in the shape of the teacake tycoon Sir Boyd Tunnock.
Just a year later, the Thomas Tunnock lifeboat, named in honour of the businessman's late brother and grandfather, was launched to great acclaim.
The story of the lifeboat station at St Abbs started with tragedy.
In October 1907 the cargo vessel Alfred Erlandsen struck nearby rocks and the villagers who gathered at the clifftop could only listen to their cries for help.
Accounts vary on how many perished; some say 17 including the captain's wife. The only survivor was his great Dane dog Karo which managed to swim ashore.
One of those who witnessed the shipwreck was women's rights campaigner and philanthropist Jane Hay who wrote to the Edinburgh Evening News:" I write to say that personally I shall never rest content till we have a lifeboat and rocket apparatus of our own in St Abbs."
Four years later, in August 1911, the RNLI established one there - the Helen Smitton - with the dog Karo, which had been involved in fundraising, said to have been among the guests who watched the boat arrive.