Bill Gould
Bill belongs to: Cullercoats Community Centre & Cullercoats RNLI
Bill was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. He served in the army in Germany, Sudan and Korea from 1950 to 1955. He came to live in North Shields in 1955, married and moved to Cullercoats in 1957. Bill helps with fundraising for the RNLI and maintains contact with retired RNLI crew.
Bill was interviewed by Carl Greenwood on 1 March 2006. The interview took place at Cullercoats Community Centre and lasted 9 minutes and 55 seconds.
The importance of the RNLI
"Why is it important to me? Well, I’ve been down there when the boat’s been out"
Why is it important to me? Well, I’ve been down there when the boat’s been out, and I’ve seen them come back, tow boats back and they’ve had people who have been hurt, unfortunately people who they haven’t got to in time.
Not long ago, about two years ago they brought a young lad in who to all intents and purposes was dead. But the lifeboat men had pulled him out of the water along Whitley Bay and they worked on him all the way back and the ambulance picked him up and he survived. That’s the sort of thing, you know, it’s there when people need it, it’s there. And it’s voluntary, and nobody’s, if the pager goes, there’s nobody saying, “the weather’s bad, I’m not going,” you know, there’s- it’s just short of a fight to get into the boat.
But years ago we had a big boat, you know. You read about the family history and the things that we’ve got in there, and from the big boat that they used to row, they didn’t retire from the boat, the old men until they couldn’t climb into it. If they couldn’t climb into the boat, they retired. And when they did climb into it, they had to pull oars. But there it is, but it’s dedicated, and it’s in them, it’s not just somebody saying, “oh, I’ll have a try at this,” it’s something that’s there.
Bill has 8 memories in the memorynet:
Bill's memories with a Relationships theme:
Moving to the North EastBill's other memories:
Cullercoats BayThis memory has these themes:
Community | Danger | Skills | Volunteering
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