103-year-old Violet enjoys trip down memory lane at Caister Lifeboat station
A visit to Caister Lifeboat was a heartwarming trip down memory lane for 103-year-old Violet Webb, a resident at St Mary's Care Home, in Crostwick, near Norwich.
Violet and her late husband Stewart retired to the village near Great Yarmouth in 1988, having spent many happy family holidays at Caister Holiday Park. The couple were firm friends of the lifeboat crew and avid fundraisers for the independent station.
Her wish to return to the station was made possible by St Mary's activities coordinator Lauren Nield-Keeley, who arranged the special day out.
Violet enjoyed a cup of tea in the lifeboat's café and relived her memories in a chat with current joint coxswain Owen Nutt. She also paid a moving visit to the memorial to her friend and past coxswain Roland "Benny" Read, who was tragically killed in a maroon accident in 1991.
A highlight of the trip was being pictured next to the station's newest lifeboat, the Annette Thurlow, launched last year. An abiding memory for Violet is being photographed with her husband on board a predecessor lifeboat in 1986 – four decades on, she now has a companion picture to treasure.
Lauren said: "When I first met Violet I had come to St Mary's from working in Caister, and when I got to know her I learnt that she had moved to Caister with her husband later in life. We spent many afternoons discussing the village and she shared her memories of living there and how they enjoyed friendships with the crew and supporting Caister Lifeboat.
"I told her how they had just been fundraising and had a new boat delivered, and how they were upgrading their café to make it accessible and to have a viewing station for the boat and the beautiful coastline. She said it sounded wonderful."
The friendship had already been rekindled earlier in the year. On Violet's 103rd birthday in January, the home got in touch with the lifeboat station and the crew sent her lovely messages.
Violet, a mother of three, served in the Land Army during the Second World War, working the fields for farms around Northampton – she has always loved the countryside. It was during this time that she met her future husband Stewart. They married in 1949 and settled in the village of Great Houghton, in Northamptonshire.
Family holidays at Caister Holiday Park led the couple to make the village their home when they retired in 1988. Violet recalls they used to drink at the Never Turn Back pub and were good friends and supporters of the Caister Lifeboat crew.
The couple moved back to Hackleton, Northamptonshire, in 2011 to be close to family. Stewart sadly died shortly after the move, and in 2019 Violet decided to return to Norfolk with her son Bill and his wife Aileen. She lived in North Walsham during the Covid pandemic and moved into St Mary's Care Home in April 2022.
