Llandudno lifeboat station celebrates RNLI’s 200th anniversary.

On the day the charity turns 200, the RNLI is revealing its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved an incredible 146,277 lives during its two centuries of lifesaving.

Llandudno RNLI lifeboat station was founded in 1861 and in that time its crews have launched the lifeboats 1964 times and saved 587 lives.

The station established by the Institution in 1861 as a condition of a gift from the Misses Browne of Toxteth Park, Liverpool, in memory of their sister who died in 1860. The three sisters had been regular visitors to the town for many years.

Both the first and second lifeboats to be stationed at Llandudno were named Sisters Memorial and kept in a boathouse adjacent to the railway station. From 1961 to 1899, horses were employed to pull the boat on its carriage to the shoreline to be launched. From 1899, men pulled the lifeboat carriage through the streets.

In 1904 a new boathouse in Lloyd Street in the centre of the town was built to accommodate the station’s fourth lifeboat Theodore Price. It was so located in order that the lifeboat could be launched from the station’s north or west shores depending on weather conditions and location of casualties. In 1919, the Theodore Price, powered by sails and oars, rescued two merchant seafarers from a sailing coaster off Rhôs-on-Sea in gale force conditions. Coxswain John Owen was awarded the RNLI’s bronze medal for gallantry for this service. The medal is on display at the lifeboat station.

The station received its first motorised lifeboat, Thomas and Annie Wade Richards in 1933. This lifeboat participated in the huge but sadly unsuccessful effort to rescue ninety-nine men trapped aboard the sunken submarine HMS Thetis in 1939. The boat had failed to surface during diving trials.

The Lloyd Street boathouse, extended and adapted over the years to accommodate larger lifeboats and an inshore D Class lifeboat together with their launch and recovery equipment remained in use until November 2017 when the lifeboat Andy Pearce, which had rescued 50 lives, was retired. Station personnel were overwhelmed by the hundreds of people who came to witness the last launch of a lifeboat located in the centre of a town anywhere in the UK and ROI.

2017 was a landmark year for the station when a new boathouse was completed in the Craig-y-Don area of the town at the eastern end of Llandudno’s promenade. One of the RNLI’s latest ‘Shannon’ class lifeboats named William F Yates was allocated to the station to operate alongside the station’s existing D Class lifeboat Dr Barbara Saunderson. Both boats were the result of generous legacies. The Shannon class lifeboat, together with its sophisticated tractor and carriage was suitable for launching from the beach at Craig-y-Don even in rough weather.

Since moving to Craig-y-Don in 2017, the station’s lifeboats have launched on service 194 times, aided 202 people and saved twelve lives. They have also launched on exercise 443 times.

The Shannon class is the RNLI’s first modern all-weather lifeboat to be powered by water jets rather than propellers and capable of achieving a speed of 25 knots. The Shannon class lifeboat is a highly manoeuvrable and technologically advanced craft requiring equally highly trained and skilled personnel to operate it. Training and maintaining competency to operate the station’s lifeboats and their launching equipment requires a high level of commitment by its volunteers and significant planning and organisation by the station’s Operations and Training Management Team.

A Service of Thanksgiving to mark 200 years of the RNLI will take place at Westminster Abbey in London on 4 March. It will be attended by representatives from RNLI lifesaving communities around the UK and Ireland, including Luke Heritage and Keith Charlton from Llandudno RNLI lifeboat station.

Mike Knowles Chairperson from Llandudno RNLI lifeboat station says:

‘All the volunteers at Llandudno Lifeboat Station are proud to be part of the RNLI as it marks this significant milestone. For operational crew this means weekly training sessions and responding to their pagers 24/7 if a lifeboat is required; for fundraisers, shop volunteers, water safety advisors and visitor stewards, it means committing time to learn about the RNLI and the station, to raise money, to educate young people, to share safety messages, to give talks and to show people around the station. All commit to the RNLI’s core values – to be selfless, dependable, trustworthy and courageous.’

‘As well as marking the RNLI’s birthday throughout the year, all volunteers at the station look forward to inspiring the next generation to take the RNLI forward to its next one hundred years and to saving many more lives at sea.’

Founded in a London tavern on 4 March 1824 following an appeal from Sir William Hillary, who lived on the Isle of Man and witnessed many shipwrecks, the RNLI has continued saving lives at sea throughout the tests of its history, including tragic disasters, funding challenges and two World Wars.

Two centuries have seen vast developments in the lifeboats and kit used by the charity’s lifesavers – from the early oar-powered vessels to today’s technology-packed boats, which are now built in-house by the charity; and from the rudimentary cork lifejackets of the 1850s to the full protective kit each crew member is now issued with.

The RNLI’s lifesaving reach and remit has also developed over the course of 200 years. Today, it operates 238 lifeboat stations around the UK and Ireland, including four on the River Thames, and has seasonal lifeguards on over 240 lifeguarded beaches around the UK. It designs and builds its own lifeboats and runs domestic and international water safety programmes.

While much has changed in 200 years, two things have remained the same – the charity’s dependence on volunteers, who give their time and commitment to save others, and the voluntary contributions from the public which have funded the service for the past two centuries.

RNLI Chief Executive, Mark Dowie, says:

‘It has been an honour and a privilege to be at the helm of the RNLI for the past five years, and to see the charity reach its bicentenary. For a charity to have survived 200 years based on the time and commitment of volunteers, and the sheer generosity of the public donating to fund it, is truly remarkable. It is through the courage and dedication of its incredible people that the RNLI has survived the tests of time, including tragic losses, funding challenges, two World Wars and, more recently, a global pandemic.

‘Today, we mark the bicentenary of the RNLI. We remember the achievements and commitment of all those who have been part of the RNLI family over the past two centuries; we celebrate the world-class lifesaving service we provide today, based on our 200 years of learning, expertise and innovation, and we hope to inspire future generations of lifesavers and supporters who will take the RNLI into its next century and beyond.

‘I am immensely grateful to everyone who is involved with the charity – our volunteers, supporters and staff. This is our watch, and it is our role to keep our charity safe and secure so it can continue to save lives into the future, as we strive in our vision to save everyone.’

Throughout its bicentenary year, the charity is running events and activities to remember its important history and celebrate the modern lifesaving service it is today, while hoping to inspire generations of future lifesavers and supporters.

For further information about the RNLI’s 200^th anniversary, visit RNLI.org/200.

Notes to Editors

· Statistics from RNLI Operational Data from 4 March 1824 to 31 December 2023 inclusive. A life saved shows how many of the people helped by the RNLI would have lost their life had the RNLI not been there.

· Click here to access the RNLI 200^th anniversary media pack, which contains a selection of RNLI archive images from key points in the charity’s history, an RNLI history timeline, and a film of ‘200 years in 200 seconds’ – all of which can be downloaded.

Media contacts

For more information, please contact Jonathan Coe, Llandudno Lifeboat Press Officer on 07910 861193 or the RNLI press office on 01202 336789 / [email protected].

RNLI online

For more information, please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the RNLI News Centre.

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 over 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and, in a normal year, 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 more than 146,000 lives.

RNLI at 200

On 4 March 2024, the RNLI celebrates 200 years of saving lives at sea – thanks to volunteers giving their time to save others, all funded by voluntary public donations. Throughout its 200^th anniversary year, the charity is running events and activities to commemorate its history, celebrate the lifesaving service it provides today, and inspire generations of future lifesavers and supporters. For more information visit RNLI.org/200.

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.