The newest Tenby lifeboat…
During our recent stay in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, we went to visit the lifeboat station. In fact we came across it by chance, as we had been walking up Castle Hill to the museum and just carried on walking, around the next corner, and then the next, and there the lifeboat station was, approached from the far side as viewed in this next picture…
Castle Hill, Tenby, with lifeboat stations, old and new, to the left…
British lifeboats are run by the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution). It is a surprise, really, that such a vital life-saving service is run by a charity!
The current Tenby lifeboat station…
The big new lifeboat station, opened in 2005/6, was built to house the first of a new breed of big lifeboats that arrived in March 2006. But it’s still a tight fit…
The lifeboat waits at the top of its slipway…
It’s a tight fit for all the life-saving kit stowed inside the lifeboat, too…
This is a far cry from the lifeboats of the past. The Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society established a lifeboat station in Tenby in 1852, but two years later it was taken over by the RNLI and in 1862 the first RNLI boathouse was built on the harbour beach.
Looking down at the beach from Castle Hill – the stone building on the right is a Victorian lifeboat house, although probably not the very first, as this is Castle Beach, around the corner from the harbour
At that time the lifeboatmen went out in open boats to rescue those in peril on the sea. One of my childhood heroines (thanks to Arthur Mee’s Children’s Encyclopedia) was Grace Darling, a Northumbrian lighthouse keeper’s daughter who saved many lives from the foundering of the Forfarshire when she was in her early 20s – in an open wooden boat.
A painting of Grace Darling by Thomas Brooks – click on the image to go to the Grace Darling website
In 1904/5 a new boathouse and roller slipway were built on the north side of Castle Hill in Tenby but it didn’t have its first motorised lifeboat until 1923.
The Edwardian lifeboat station in Tenby…
Blue plaque on the old lifeboat station…
What a place to live, eh? Although I suspect it is only a holiday home…
Thanks to dedicated coast watcher Sarah for pointing out this little video of the architecture of the converted building, as featured on Grand Designs!
This building was the lifeboat station for many years, with the lifeboats steadily becoming bigger and more sophisticated.
In 1986 the Tyne class lifeboat RFA Sir Galahad began its service in Tenby. It was named after a ship destroyed in the Falklands War in 1982. Many members of the Welsh Guards died in the attack, which is why it has significance here in Wales.
Then in 2006 the current Tamar class lifeboat, the RNLB Haydn Miller, began its service at Tenby. But who was Haydn Miller? I looked it up. Surprisingly (as Haydn is quite a common name in Wales) he was not a local man. Mr Miller was a farmer in Kettering, Northamptonshire, and when he died at the age of 87 he left £3m to the RNLI. No one seems to know why he chose the RNLI, but it was a huge bequest and £2.5m of it went on this lifeboat bearing his name.
The Haydn Miller in action – shown on a timeline poster in the new lifeboat station…
The lifeboat station also has a gift shop, essential for fund-raising. You can also buy from the RNLI online shop.
The stern of the RNLB Haydn Miller…
Since 1972 Tenby has also had a smaller inshore lifeboat and a separate building, to the north of the harbour beach, opened in 1976 to house it. The current D-Class inflatable vessel, which arrived in 2010, has three crew and is used for rescues close to shore – essential in a busy holiday resort like Tenby.
The latest vessel is called the ILB Georgina Taylor. Mrs Taylor left £10,000 in her will towards the building cost and had also funded two previous inshore lifeboats at Tenby in memory of her husband – the Stanley Taylor in 1993 and the Georgina Stanley Taylor in 2001.
A last look at the old and new Tenby lifeboat stations side by side…
More about Tenby RNLI here.
The Squirrelbasket 
Fantastic building for the Lifeboat men, they must be very proud. And why not. Where would we be without these brave people helping to save lives.
Great post Pat.
Indeed. I’m just a tiny bit disappointed that I missed a launch of the vessel as part of a special occasion on the previous day. Bet it makes a splash!
Best wishes 🙂
The new life boat station looks amazing although as you say it looks a tight fit. The old lifeboat station is like so many around the country, I was intrigued that it had been turned into a home and have just seen that it was featured in Grand Designs on Channel 4.There is a short you tube video showing the inside plan.
Sarah x
Oh wow, I missed that. But here is the link to the little video for anyone who is interested. I’m amazed how much they fitted in to the place when they converted it!
I will add that to my post, too.
Thanks again 🙂
Fabulous post Pat (is that two this week?) 😛
Well, I think it probably still averages out at one a week!
But I have just two more from Pembrokeshire to go and then I’m back to racking my brain for ideas again…
All the best 🙂
That Edwardian lifeboat station looks an extraordinary looking building. What a place for a holiday home, but then I guess it’s probably peaceful and isolated. Must be quite something to be in there on a winter’s stormy day.
Yes. Probably doesn’t rock as much as a holiday caravan, though!
Did you see this video that Sarah pointed out in her comment? Grand Designs – Tenby lifeboat Station…
Best wishes 🙂
No I hadn’t but have now. Very interesting!
Imagine living in that old Edwardian lifeboat station – can’t imagine what it is like in winter living at the end of the pier with the sea crashing around you in a force 10 gale. Interesting post as always Pat.