Former Tenby Lifeboat mechanic Charles Crockford visited Buckingham Palace last Thursday in order to receive his MBE from Prince Charles, having been honoured for his services to marine safety in the Queen's New Year Honours list.

Mr. Crockford retired in June of last year having given 32 years of committed service to the RNLI in Tenby, 28 of which were spent as the full-time mechanic after taking over from Jim Bewley in the early 1970s.

Mr. Crockford has taken part in hundreds of launches in past years and has twice been honoured for daring rescues at sea. In 1983 and 1989 he received two RNLI awards for his part in rescue missions.

At the age of 55, the Caldey boatman had to retire from active service. However, he still plays his part in the RNLI institution as deputy launching authority.

On receiving his MBE from Prince Charles, Mr. Crockford was pleased to find the Prince very interested in developments of the Tenby lifeboat service over past years and in finding out whether all the oil was gone following the Sea Empress disaster in 1996.

Mr. Crockford was accompanied to the Palace by his wife Lynne, and children Zoe, Ben, Kim and Katie.