Restored boat ends row challenge

The group has been raising funds for charity since 1999

Charity group members have rowed a restored 99-year-old lifeboat 60 miles along the North East coast to raise funds for the RNLI.

The Ales Angles group completed the four-day challenge to row The William Riley from South Shields to Whitby on Sunday afternoon.

They were joined by RNLI crew members from Tynemouth, Sunderland, Hartlepool and Staithes and Runswick.

The boat was restored by the Whitby Historic Trust.

It served in Whitby until 1931 and played a major role in the SS Rohilla rescue in October 1914, when she had to be hauled overland and lowered 200ft down a cliff to be launched.

Of the 229 people on board the stricken hospital ship, 145 were saved.

The Ales Angles group are all regulars in the Blue Bell pub in York and have been raising funds for charity since 1999.