Recording of an oral history interview by an unidentified interviewer with Harry Libby, at his home in Mumbles, when he was in his 70s. This is a look back into the history of Mumbles, its lifeboat, with reference to the 1884 lifeboat disaster and the poem by Clement Scott. Originally on reel-to-reel tape, later transferred to cassette, then digitised in MP3 format.

Track 1. [00:00:01] Personal Details: Harry Libby, interview 1970s. [00:00:16] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1903 disaster. [00:00:30] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1883 disaster. [00:00:44] Mumbles Lifeboat: Family spirit. [00:01:22] Mumbles Lifeboat: Clement Scott poem, "The Women of Mumbles Head", inaccuracy. [00:02:56] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1903 disaster; Tommy Rogers, Cox'n. [00:03:45] Mumbles Lifeboat: Next of kin announcements. [00:05:09] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1947 disaster awareness, notifications. [00:06:25] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1947 disaster body identifications. [00:07:00] Mumbles Lifeboat: Always more volunteers than places. [00:07:16] Mumbles Lifeboat: Volunteers: 15/- per day, 30/- per night; "Second Crew" got a fifth of these rates. [00:07:44] Mumbles Lifeboat: "Business acumen" of crews. [00:08:29] RNLI lifeboat: Poor wages of cox'ns. [00:09:09] RNLI lifeboat: 2 full-timers on a boat (Cox'n & mechanic). [00:09:57] Mumbles Lifeboat: Lifeboat crew personnel. [00:10:32] Mumbles Lifeboat: Dangers of service, accidents. [00:11:32] Mumbles Lifeboat: Lifeboat personnel, many killed in service - Gammon, Morgan. [00:12:24] Mumbles Lifeboat: Sam Gammon, cox'n. [00:12:40] Mumbles Lifeboat: Will Davies, cox'n, abilities and person. [00:13:14] Mumbles Lifeboat: Will Davies jnr, cox'n. [00:13:26] Mumbles Lifeboat: Courtney Davies, aka Barney, work at Langland. [00:14:05] Mumbles Lifeboat: Roly Llewelyn. [00:14:50] Language: Mumbles dialect. [00:16:06] Fishermen: Richie Gammon, Charlie Rodgers. [00:16:20] Mumbles Railway: Track extensions. [00:16:36] Army: Mumbles Head Fort manned by army. [00:18:30] Language: Mumbles Dialect, Bracelet Bay origins. [00:20:43] Mumbles Lifeboat: Old lifeboat station: Southend, opposite Canopic. [00:21:11] Mumbles Lifeboat: Lifeboat house, c 1870, slipway across railway. [00:21:32] Mumbles Lifeboat: Lifeboat, equipment - "a real death trap", accidents. [00:22:11] Motor Boats: Dai Davies, pioneer of local motorboating. [00:22:31] Mumbles Lifeboat: Launch and landing techniques, controlled by winchman (12 men, double winch). [00:23:25] Mumbles Lifeboat: Attendance at Brynmill Fair, in lake. [00:23:55] Mumbles Lifeboat: VE Day, children's trips. [00:24:27] Religion: Archdeacon W.D.G. Wilkinson, vicar. [00:25:16] Mumbles Lifeboat: "Boarding boat" - oars, mizzen sail. [00:25:46] Mumbles Lifeboat: CHARLIE MEDLAND, first standard design sail boat, William Davies cox'n. [00:26:05] Mumbles Lifeboat: EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES first motor lifeboat. [00:26:11] Mumbles Lifeboat: 7 or 8 in all, at time of interview, 1970s: 3 lost. [00:27:33] Yachts: Yachts of rich, summer cruises, regattas. [00:28:20] Yachts: Local pilots needed, fishermen. [00:28:41] Mumbles Lifeboat: Volunteers no longer fishermen and oyster dredgers - industries have disappeared. [00:29:05] Mumbles Lifeboat: Volunteers now amateur yachtsmen. [00:29:42] Mumbles Lifeboat: 8 volunteers in crew, c 15-20 in all, Mumbles area. [00:30:14] Mumbles Lifeboat: Volunteer training. [00:31:41] Personal Details: Norman Whitlock(NW), aged 61, recording c 1962, by Thomas Ace, 2nd cox'n/bowman. [00:32:12] Mumbles Lifeboat: CHARLIE MEDLAND boat. [00:32:29] Mumbles Lifeboat: NW first rescue: 1938, ROGER ROBERT, French 3 masted coal barque, near lighthouse. [00:33:36] Mumbles Lifeboat: Rescues in 1930s and 1940s. [00:33:36] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1941 SS CORNISH ROSE rescue, Bronze Medals for William Gammon and mechanic. [00:33:43] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1940 SS ELDON PARK. [00:34:15] Mumbles Lifeboat: SS CORNISH ROSE: first rescue led by William Gammon. [00:34:38] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1944 HMCS CHEBOQUE. [00:36:12] Mumbles Lifeboat: Bowman duties. [00:36:26] Mumbles Lifeboat: Wartime personnel. [00:38:19] Port Eynon Lifeboat: 1916 disaster. [00:39:38] Mumbles Lifeboat: Age limits - crew over 18. [00:41:14] Folk Music: Folk song, about a Derby butcher: from this point onwards recording is overlaid with this. [00:47:55] Mari Llywd: Horse's head folk song, old Mumbles tradition. [00:49:55] Personal Details: Derek Scott(DS), cox'n 1955-87, interview c 1960-61, by Ron Clarke. [00:51:32] Derek Scott: Army, N Italy, until c3 months after 1947 disaster. [00:52:04] Mumbles Lifeboat: Casual crewman - all start like this, then "retained" - 5/- per quarter, rising to max £7/10/0d for 2nd cox'n & 2nd mechanic. [00:52:55] Mumbles Lifeboat: DS c7 years as volunteer. [00:53:15] Derek Scott: Family background (Suffolk?), no lifeboat background. [00:53:51] Mumbles Lifeboat: DS on varied nature of rescues. [00:55:20] Mari Llywd: Repeat of earlier folk song, etc, until end of tape. #Track 2. [00:00:33] Personal Details: Harry Libby(HL) Mumbles Historical Association, 1962 interview. [00:01:01] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1903 disaster, 1883 disaster. [00:03:04] Mumbles Lifeboat: Reading of Clement Scott's "The Women of Mumbles Head!", by Ian Sheffield. [00:08:11] Mumbles Lifeboat: Comments on accuracy of Clement Scott's poem. [00:08:51] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1903 disaster, memories - Tommy Rogers, cox'n. [00:09:42] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1903 disaster: how news was broken, Coastguard informed churches. [00:10:52] Mumbles Lifeboat: HL's father: winchman, 2nd crew. [00:11:07] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1947 disaster, how news broke. [00:12:22] Mumbles Lifeboat: 1947 disaster: body identification. [00:12:56] Mumbles Lifeboat: Manning: always plentiful volunteers. [00:13:13] Mumbles Lifeboat: Pay rates: 15/- per day, 30/- per night; 2nd crew 1/5 of this. [00:14:29] Mumbles Lifeboat: Cox'n pay: poor (1962). [00:15:03] Mumbles Lifeboat: Only cox'n & mechanic full-time; rest volunteers. [00:15:50] Mumbles Lifeboat: Will Davies, trips in CHARLIE MEDLAND. [00:17:31] Mumbles Lifeboat: Characters - Jenkins brothers, survived 1883, George silver skull plate. [00:17:50] Mumbles Lifeboat: James Gammon, David John Morgan (k 1903). [00:18:16] Mumbles Lifeboat: Sam Gammon, cox'n. [00:18:35] Mumbles Lifeboat: William Davies, cox'n, character & abilities. [00:19:05] Mumbles Lifeboat: William Edwin Davies (son of William Davies), cox'n. [00:19:20] Mumbles Lifeboat: Courtney Davies (son of William Davies), known as Barney, at Langland. [00:19:59] Mumbles Lifeboat: Roly Llewelyn. [00:20:55] Language: Mumbles dialect. [00:22:03] Fishermen: Richie Gammon, Charlie Rogers. [00:22:14] Mumbles Railway: Extent. [00:22:31] Army: Mumbles Head Fort manned by army, sea access. [00:24:25] Adverts: Advert break until 27m 07s. [00:27:35] Language: Mumbles Dialect, Bracelet Bay term origins. [00:29:50] Mumbles Lifeboat: Old lifeboat station: Southend, opposite Canopic. [00:30:12] Mumbles Lifeboat: Lifeboat house, c 1870, slipway across railway. [00:30:42] Mumbles Lifeboat: Lifeboat, equipment - "a real death trap", accidents. [00:31:25] Motor Boats: Dai Davies, pioneer of local motorboating. [00:31:39] Mumbles Lifeboat: Launch and landing techniques, controlled by winchman (12 men, double winch). [00:32:27] Mumbles Lifeboat: Attendance at Brynmill Fair, in lake. [00:32:56] Mumbles Lifeboat: VE Day, children's trips. [00:33:27] Religion: Archdeacon W.D.G. Wilkinson, vicar. [00:34:17] Mumbles Lifeboat: "Boarding boat" - oars, mizzen sail. [00:34:46] Mumbles Lifeboat: CHARLIE MEDLAND, first standard design sail boat, William Davies cox'n. [00:3509] Mumbles Lifeboat: EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES first motor lifeboat. [00:35:12] Mumbles Lifeboat: 7 or 8 in all, at time of interview, 1970s: 3 lost. [00:36:37] Yachts: Yachts of rich, summer cruises, regattas. [00:37:06] Yachts: Local pilots needed, fishermen. [00:37:43] Mumbles Lifeboat: Volunteers no longer fishermen and oyster dredgers - industries have disappeared. [00:38:09] Mumbles Lifeboat: Volunteers now amateur yachtsmen. [00:38:47] Mumbles Lifeboat: 8 volunteers in crew, c 15-20 in all, Mumbles area. [00:39:18] Mumbles Lifeboat: Volunteer training. [00:41:55] Music: Andrew Mackay, "Mumbles Lifeboat Horses". [00:46:04] Adverts: Advert break until 47m 20s. [00:47:20] Music: Andrew Mackay, sea shanty. [00:51:53] Music: Andrew Mackay, "Young Billy Young"