Local history

It's hard to believe, looking at her now, that the Lady Cable was one of the 'heroines' of the Dunkirk evacuations.

Of three vessels which left Torquay for Dunkirk in 1940, the Lady Cable was the only one to make it across the Channel.

Skippered by a civilian, Captain 'Sophy' Gooding, the little ship transferred 550 troops from the beaches onto the larger ships.

She then returned to Kent with another 80 troops - well over her capacity.

Capt Gooding was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for his gallantry during the trip.

The bow of the boat

After the war, the Lady Cable went back to her 'day job' as a passenger pleasure craft, but then fell into disrepair.

Now though, her future is looking a bit brighter. Her last owners, Irene and John Bolus, donated the Lady Cable to the Torquay-based Turning Point Heritage Trust.

The 40ft wooden boat is currently stored at Baltic Wharf in Totnes and has just been fitted with a new keel. The renovation is being carried out by expert boat restorer Babby Cann.

The trust has submitted a new lottery fund bid for the complete restoration of the Lady Cable, which it hopes will be used on an educational World War II trail along the South Devon coast.

The trail would include the D-Day slipways at Torquay harbour, the beach at Goodrington where arms were loaded for D-Day, and Slapton Sands where the ill-fated D-Day rehearsal, Operation Tiger, took place.

The Lady Cable took 630 men off the beaches

The trail would return to Torquay by road, to take in land-based areas with World War II links.

Trust chairman David Tyrrell-Collins said: "In total, the renovation and the trail would cost around £139,000.

"Simply to get the Lady Cable afloat would cost about £70,000. She will be brought back to how she was at the time of Dunkirk, but with navigational aids.

"We are looking for alternative funding as well as the lottery bid."

A superstructure was built onto the Lady Cable after the war, but she is being restored as an open boat and will be moored in Torquay inner harbour.

This is the latest project by the trust, which joined the campaign to save the D-Day slipways at Torquay harbour and erected a national memorial dedicated to the Home Guard at Corbyn Head in the resort.

David, who served in the RAF, said: "All our history is slowly disappearing. It's important to preserve what we have."

If the lottery bid is successful, the trust hopes the Lady Cable may be back on the water in time for the summer of 2009.