FOR only the third time in her 216-year history, the world’s oldest surviving lifeboat has left the town she served two centuries ago.

The historic Zetland lifeboat, was retired in the 1860s and has been in the care of the people of Redcar on dry land ever since.

Her lengthy retirement has seen the grand old lady leave her Redcar home just three times, however yesterday she was hauled out of the Zetland Lifeboat Museum to be moved a few miles away to AV Dawson’s site on the River Tees to begin essential conservation work.

The last time Zetland left Redcar was in 1963, when she was taken to the International Lifeboat Conference in Edinburgh.