Pwllheli lifeboat station

button-theme-womenlink_to_welsh_translation link_to_french_translationPwllheli lifeboat station

A lifeboat was established at Pwllheli in 1891. The original boathouse had doors at both ends, for launching into the harbour or into the sea via the beach.

pwllheli_lifeboat_launching_trials_ c.1930sIn October 1917 Elizabeth Black of nearby South Beach volunteered for a rescue when the lifeboat was a man short (possibly because so many men were fighting in the First World War). The Welsh press remarked that she played her part like one of the men for many hours during the violent storm. Despite her fitness, she died in November 1919 aged 48.

The boathouse was not used for the lifeboat from 1930 to 1953, while the lifeboat was kept at a harbour mooring. Siltation at the harbour mouth led to a decision to revert to the practice of keeping the boat on land and launching it using a wheeled carriage.

The photos from around the 1930s (courtesy of the RNLI) show launching trials with the lifeboat trailer, and the Pwllheli lifeboat crew in their oilskins, sou’wester hats and Kapok lifejackets.

In 1964 an inshore lifeboat station was established, with a D-class lifeboat. In 1997 a new D-class boat, City of Chester, entered service after fundraising by the City of Chester.

pwllheli_lifeboat_crew_c1930sIn 1990 the tractor house was rebuilt for a new tractor and new Mersey-class lifeboat, with a viewing platform incorporated in the design.

In 2007 a framed letter of thanks was presented to helmsman Andrew Green, and letters of recognition to crew members Stephen Glyn Jones and Carl Summersgill, after the rescue of 50 sailors from 17 dinghies caught in a storm while taking part in a sailing championship.

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: LL53 5AY    View Location Map

RNLI on HistoryPoints.org

RNLI website

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FOOTNOTES: More Pwllheli rescues

1972 - Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to acting coxswain W McGill and crew member Roy Morris after the Abersoch and Pwllheli lifeboats rescued two men by breeches buoy from rocks at Cilan Head. This method employs a pair of large trousers (breeches) suspended from a cable, along which the person in the breeches is pulled to safety.

1994 - Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum to coxswain Robert Wright and a framed letter of thanks to emergency mechanic Clive Moore for rescuing five people from the yacht Pollyann.

2003 - Framed letter of thanks to coxswain Robert Wright when the lifeboat saved the yacht Idle Thoughts from destruction.

2009 - A framed letter of thanks was awarded to helmsman Jono Garton and crew member Jason Warren for saving the lives of two people from a burning boat.