Borth lifeboat station

link_to_french_translationBorth lifeboat station

borth_lifeboat_stationBorth inshore lifeboat station was opened in 1966, with a D-class lifeboat, in response to the growth in coastal tourism. The photo, courtesy of the RNLI, shows the station soon after its opening.

Two women who assisted at the lifeboat station in its early years had distinguished themselves during the Second World War. Muriel Kind was a nurse at the Royal Naval Hospital near Plymouth and later on hospital ships. Dorothy Toler was a member of the Women’s Royal Naval Service and worked as a lorry driver.

In 1978 helmsman Ronald Davies received the Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum for his skill and determination when the lifeboat was manoeuvred through a rocky outcrop to rescue two people trapped by the tide near the base of cliffs at Borth.

A brick boathouse was completed in 1987 with improved facilities and a shop. After a difficult rescue of two men who were clinging to a part-submerged rock, the RNLI gave the Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum to Helmsman Ronald Davies and Framed Letters of Thanks to crew members Louis Paul De La Haye and Andrew William Doyle.

In 1998 crew member Richard Jenkins received a Framed Letter of Thanks for his role in the rescue of four people cut off by the tide between Wallog and Clarach. In 2001 helmsman Amos Bewick received a bronze medal for the rescue of the Aberdyfi lifeboat’s helmsman in severe weather.

The current lifeboat, D622 May II, entered service in 2004, funded by a generous gift from Dr May Reed of Buckinghamshire. Today’s combined boathouse and HM Coastguard facility was completed in 2007 at a cost of £250,000.

The MBE honour was awarded to lifeboat operations manager Ronald Davies in 2004 and to Aran Morris, the station’s vice-president, in 2008.

The lifeboat service in the UK is provided not by government but by the RNLI, a charity which relies on donations from the public. Since it was established in 1824, the RNLI is estimated to have saved c.140,000 lives. It employs some crew members but most, 40,000 in total, are volunteers who leave their work, families or beds whenever their lifeboat is needed.

Postcode: SY24 1AA View Location Map

RNLI website

RNLI on HistoryPoints.org

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