59. Antique Roadshow: Harry Bott

There are 238 RNLI lifeboat stations, and Harry Bott set out to visit all of them on a 96-year-old Sunbeam motorcycle

Like all the best adventures, it started with a treasure map. This map just happened to be printed on a tea towel. The map – pinpointing all 238 RNLI lifeboat stations – led fundraiser Harry Bott to a granite barn in Cornwall. Inside, rested his great-grandfather’s 1926 Sunbeam Model 1 motorcycle – untouched for 67 years, and almost half as old as the RNLI itself.

Harry, with help from his father, set about restoring the Sunbeam before embarking on an 8,000-mile trip around the coastlines of Britain and Ireland, visiting every RNLI lifeboat station along the way. As the donations poured in, his original fundraising target would be left in pieces. But would the Sunbeam be left in pieces too?    

200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI   

Interview by Adventurous Audio 

Soundtrack composed and performed by Jon Nicholls   

The RNLI is a charity celebrating 200 years of saving lives at sea - find out more at RNLI.org/200