Poole lifeboat volunteers step back in time
January 19th is Poole Lifeboat Stations birthday, since 1865 we have been saving lives at sea, Poole was the first RNLI station established in Dorset.
To celebrate the lifeboat birthday on Saturday January 20th, 'Poole's lifeboat family' are stepping forward to commemorate their proud heritage,launching their RNLI bicentenary year, volunteers from Poole Lifeboat will be re-enacting the first launches ‘as it would have been’ some 159 years ago, crew will muster and ‘echo’ the original route stopping off at the Old Lifeboat Station at fisherman’s dock, Lilliput Sailing Club (which was home from home for the crew, when it was stationed at Salterns), onto Salterns then down to Royal Motors Yacht Club, where close by the first lifeboat station was established all those years ago.
Back in the early days ‘the call’ would go out with a rocket signalling that the lifeboat was urgently needed. The volunteer crew would muster outside the Antelope Hotel and be taken by horse and brake (fast cart) down to North Haven. On Saturday (January 20) some of our volunteers will be ‘kitted out’ in heritage kit - added barnacles and brine (are optional) plus a bit more horsepower, we will be guided by an Atlantic lifeboat on a trailer, pulled by a Land Rover.
Founded in 1865, Poole's first lifeboat station was at North Haven Point. The first recorded launch was on February 11, 1866, to a brigantine grounded on Christchurch bar in a blizzard, sadly it had a tragic ending. The Poole lifeboat was taken overland by road and heathland to Christchurch arriving some 12 hours later, all the crew were found drowned and frozen to death, except one boy who had been tied to the mast.
In the first 100 years the lifeboat launched on average 10 times a year. Last year the Poole volunteers launched 149 times.
In 1882 the lifeboat station moved to Fisherman's Dock on Poole Quay; the building is built with Brownsea Island bricks and is now the Old lifeboat Museum.
On January 12, 1939, the first motorised lifeboat, Thomas Kirk Wright, arrived on station, the following year she was deployed on 'Operation Dynamo' leaving Poole Quay with other local fishing boats, pleasure boats and Dutch barges. Our heroic lifeboat was fired at and hit by German machine guns whilst rescuing troops from the shallows off the Dunkirk beaches. We are very proud that our brave ‘Dunkirk little ship’ returned home and now safely resides in the old lifeboat station on Poole Quay, where the only excitement she experiences are the ‘spring Tides’.
In 1974 the station moved to the then Poole Harbour Yacht Club at Salterns Marina until 1989 when it relocated to its present home on the quay by Poole lifting Bridge. Pagers have now taken the place of rockets and maroons and the lifeboats, aim to launch within six to eight minutes.
Poole Lifeboat volunteer Anne-Marie Clark said.
This walk is a bit on fun for us but it’s also understanding the history of our station and the RNLI, So, if you are about in Poole, we will be departing the station at about 9.30am, to muster at the Antelope and following the footsteps of the lifeboat crews that answered the call before us, we will feel their presence, whilst wearing the heritage kit, it's about honouring our past while embracing our future’.
Anne-Marie added.
We are launching our bicentenary year and inviting people to get on-board with the celebrations ahead, we have lots planned, please keep an eye on our socials, with an exciting event ‘Float to Live’ festival day on March 9th, and a specially commissioned event ‘The Shout’ performed by the Wareham Whalers at the RNLI College March 15th. It’s going to be an amazing year’.
A Blue Plaque, organised by the Society of Poole was placed on the wall of the Antelope Hotel celebrating the Lifeboat stations 150th birthday and acknowledging that the Hotel was the initial muster point for the first RNLI crews in 1865, and the RNLI’s close association with Poole.
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.