At the end of November 2024 we visited Tower Lifeboat Station on the River Thames and recorded our 100th visit of the challenge. At that time it was not possible to access the afloat station due to gangway construction work. Instead we took our evidence photo from the above the station on Waterloo Bridge. During a conversation with former Tower crew member Stephen Wheatley at a chance meeting at Brighton Lifeboat Station, an end-of-challenge tour of the Tower Lifeboat Station

What better way to relax for a couple of days after completing our final challenge visit than a two night break at the superb RNLI College. Opened in 2004, the RNLI College is the national training centre for the RNLI. It provides state of the art facilities for crews to train in all aspects of various roles from Coxswains, Shore Crew, Boat Crew and Lifeguards. In addition to the training facilities it also includes superb hotel rooms a restaurant and bar open to the public.

Two years after our very first visit of this challenge at Teddington Lifeboat Station, we were heading to Poole in Dorset. Arriving in the town early we parked the car and took a stroll along the Quay to the Old Lifeboat Museum. Unfortunately the museum was closed due to renovations on their historic lifeboat, Thomas Kirk Wright. This lifeboat was a Dunkirk Little Ship and was used by the Admiralty to evacuate troops from Dunkirk on 30th May 1940, being the first lifeboat to

And so we reached our last day of visits on this amazing 21 day journey around Ireland. The day was tinged with sadness, not only because we were leaving this beautiful country but also because we would have just one more station to visit to complete this whole challenge. We had a short drive from our accommodation to our fist visit of the day and that was to the ancient town of Wexford at the mouth of the River Slaney. Wexford Lifeboat Station We arrived early, parked in tow

With just six visits remaining on our whole challenge, our penultimate day in Ireland would see us tick off half of those. It was a 30 minute drive from our accommodation down to the town of Wicklow for our first visit. Wicklow Lifeboat Station The lifeboat station is at the head of the east pier of Wicklow harbour and on arrival we popped into the shop which was open earlier than we expected and advertised. However, we discovered that the lovely Jennifer was expecting us and

We stayed in a fantastic small hotel overlooking Howth marina and harbour with views over the Irish Sea and Dublin Bay. We also enjoyed a lovely meal at The Abbey Tavern, a well know pub for Trad Music, unfortunately not on the night we visited though. After an equally delicious breakfast in our hotel we packed the car up and took a short drive over to the Lifeboat Station on the other side of the marina. We were visiting just two stations today, Howth at the north of Dublin

Following a good nights sleep and a hearty Irish breakfast we headed to the fishing village of Clogherhead in County Louth. Clogherhead Lifeboat Station The lifeboat station lies at the north end of Clogher Bay Beach, a vast expanse of sand that seemed popular with swimmers when we arrived. The station looked closed and so we took our evidence photos. However, just as we were considering whether to move on, Launch Authority Jim arrived. Although surprised to see us he welcome

There are some memories of days and individual visits on this challenge that will live with us forever. Today was going to be one of those days. From our fantastic accommodation in Donaghadee we set of down the coast of the Strangford Peninsula with amazing views of Dumfries and Galloway over the Irish sea on one side and the beautiful Strangford Lough on the other. Portaferry Lifeboat Station We arrived at the small village of Portaferry a little early so took a stroll along

We were up early and headed straight to the Giants Causeway. We found a car park that offered free parking for National Trust members so took advantage of that and walked down to the Causeway. With not a soul in sight we enjoyed a good 45 minutes or so at the spectacular natural coastal feature. The sun was low and created some amazing light on the rocks. Back to the B&B we showered, had breakfast and checked out for our drive to the first visit of the day. Larne Lifeboat Sta

We had taken a day off from visits to recuperate and to do a bit of sightseeing. It transpired that we had been given a loose invite to the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre at Malin Head where a regional RNLI familiarisation meeting was taking place. So we made our way to Malin Head and to the station where we were warmly welcomed by some of the crew that we had met previously and by Paul, the Divisional Controller for the Coastguard. We felt like we were gatecrashing a bit

The island of Arranmore lies just off the Donegal coast and accessible by vehicle ferry from the small village of Burtonport. We had a fairly lengthy drive from our fabulous accommodation just outside Donegal town, but it was through stunning countryside. Arriving early at Burtonport we found a lovely café for a cup of tea and a light breakfast. We then headed over to the ferry. We had to board the ferry in reverse, a first for us and a novel experience indeed. We were also t

We based ourselves just outside of Donegal town for the next couple of nights and on the way up from Bundoran we did a little bit of sightseeing in the hills of Gleniff. Visit Ireland social media posts had guided us to some stunning sights so we enjoyed a pleasant evening exploring. After a good night sleep in an amazing self-catering converted outbuilding, we headed inland to our first visit of the day. Enniskillen Lifeboat Station On arrival at the impressive Enniskillen s

We stayed in a lovely hotel overlooking the beautiful Belmullet Sound. We were just a short drive from the lifeboat station at Ballyglass so we headed there for our first visit of a busy day. Ballyglass Lifeboat Station We were greeted at the station by some of the crew who had kindly taken time out of their day to come and meet us. The first thing we noticed was that the lifeboat station had no slipway on which to launch their D-Class lifeboat. Instead, they tow the lifeboat

Leaving Galway we headed west to the Galway Coast and the town of Clifden. Clifden Lifeboat Station This station has two buildings, one just outside the town centre nestled between houses and one further down the beach road where their Atlantic 85 Lifeboat is housed. We stopped briefly at the old station building and took a photo before heading to the Clifden Beach location. The boathouse doors were open and as we arrived they were being closed up and we managed to catch a co

The Aran Islands (Inis Mór, Inis Meáin, and Inis Oírr) are a trio of Irish-speaking islands located in Galway Bay, famous for their rugged limestone landscapes, ancient stone forts and traditional knitwear. They are accessible by seasonal ferries from Galway. The largest of the Islands, Inis Mór, has the Aran Islands Lifeboat Station located in the pretty harbour. It was a glorious sunny morning and we walked from our hotel to the port where we had visited the lifeboat statio

There are four RNLI Lifeboat Stations serving the inland Loughs of Ireland. Today we visited two of them at Lough Derg and Lough Ree. After a lovely breakfast at our B&B we took the short drive to the shores of the beautiful Lough Derg, It is the largest lake, at 27 miles long and 1 mile wide, fed by Irelands longest river, the Shannon. Lough Derg Lifeboat Station At the station we were warmly welcomed by many of the volunteer crew and fundraising team. We had a cup of tea an

After a day of sightseeing it was time to leave Killarney and head to the final station in County Kerry and on to the only station in County Clare Fenit Lifeboat Station The small village of Fenit lies on the estuary of Tralee Bay, sheltered on the southern side by the Slieve Mish Mountain Range. The lifeboat station itself is in the harbour at the end of a pier and is accessible to vehicles. We parked outside the station and were soon welcomed by Launch Authority, Fergus. He

Whilst basing ourselves in Killarney for 3 nights was a good plan for stability, it did result in some long drives to two of the most remote stations on the far south west coast. Heading out early we travelled for about 90 minutes before reaching Casletownbere, the furthest west station in County Cork. Castletownbere Lifeboat Station We arrived in good time and found a café for some tea and breakfast before heading over to the station. The shop was open and we had a good chat

We can’t believe our luck with the weather so far on this trip. We woke to another clear blue sky and took breakfast at the B&B before heading the short drive to the small village of Union Hall. Union Hall Lifeboat Station We were met at the station, located on the fishing pier, by Andrew. He was a local photographer not directly involved in the station but working very closely with them to promote the life saving work they do. Our first observation was that Andrew did not ha

We started the morning with a relaxing visit to Blarney Castle and gardens. Here we climbed the narrow castle steps to the top of the tower to kiss the Blarney Stone. ‘There is a stone there, that whoever kisses, OH! He never misses, to grow eloquent’. The term ‘blarney’, meaning beguiling but misleading talk, gained currency during the 16th century as the MacCarthy of the day attempted to fend off the demands of Queen Elizabeth I. We explored the stunning gardens for a coupl