Local lifeboat heroes of yesteryear have brought into glorious technicolour to celebrate the RNLI’s 200th anniversary.

As part of the celebrations the charity has brought some of its rich history to life with the release of a stunning collection of colourised images.

One of the images included in the colourised collection is a 1960s photo from St Davids Lifeboat Station.

The station at St Justinians nearby to St Davids was established in 1869 at the request of the local community.

In the picture from St Davids, the colour brings out the vibrant red of the hats traditionally worn by the crew out as they walk up from the boathouse with the stunning Pembrokeshire coastline in the background.

The crew members in the 1960s image are also wearing traditional RNLI Guernseys, (sometimes called a Gansey) a woollen jumper with a simple red ‘RNLI’ embroidered on the front – something today’s lifeboat crews still wear for ceremonial duties.

Western Telegraph: The colourised image of St Davids lifeboat crew has been released as part of the RNLI's 200th

From community events to candid snapshots, the full collection of 11 black and white images has been painstakingly cleaned and colourised, with folds, scratches and dust removed using digital technology, to shine new light on 200 years of saving lives at sea.

The striking images from across the UK and Ireland include courageous lifeboat crews, early fundraising street collections, and iconic scenes of close-knit communities coming together to launch and recover lifeboats.

RNLI heritage and archive research manager Hayley Whiting said: “The carefully coloured images illustrate just a few highlights of the incredible history of lifesaving over the previous two centuries, where over 144,000 lives have been saved to date.

“To see the crew of St Davids lifeboat walking up from the boathouse wearing their traditional red hats, the yellow sou’westers of the children fundraising or the vibrant blue sea off the Isle of Man, the reworked images really do bring a different perspective on some of our archived pictures.

“Each image has been brought to life by our own in-house creative team with hours spent on attention to detail, along with research being undertaken to ensure each one gave a true, lifelike representation.”