Our original plan on the 22nd June was to work our way from Southend to Harwich visiting 6 stations enroute. Silly me messed up the timings. We had some contact with crew at two of the stations and looking at the logistics and journey times, Southend and Burnham on Crouch were not going to be achievable. All was not lost however, Burnham have an open day on the 6th July so it made sense to do that and Southend on that day instead.
On Friday evening I received a call from a friend in Essex who asked if I knew about the tides and access to Mersea Island. I had no idea that the only road on and off the island may be underwater at high tide. There is quite a lot to think about with the planning lark!!
West Mersea Lifeboat Station
We had a good drive up to West Mersea and arrived ahead of our planned meeting time, this allowed us to find a parking space and to take our evidence photo. Soon some of the crew arrived and showed us in the boathouse. We had a good chat and took some photos of their Atlantic 85, Just George (B-879). We heard the story of the naming of the boat. When asked what he would like the boat to be called, the donor simply said “oh I don’t know, just George is fine”, and so Just George was christened.
After tour of the boathouse we were invited upstairs for a cup of tea. We learned about the young crew members, one of which joined the service just before the age limit was raised from 17 to 18 years. It was clear than all generations of volunteers get along really well. After being made to feel so welcome, we decided we should head to our next destination just in case the tide covered the road.
Clacton-on-Sea Lifeboat Station
Our next stop was Clacton-on-Sea where we had arranged to meet one of the crew. The lovely Shop volunteers made us a cup of tea – there is a theme building here – and we met in the boat house. Clacton currently have an Atlantic 85 – David Porter MPS (B-863) and the smaller D-Class Damar’s Pride (D-849). However, they have been awaiting a much larger new Shannon Class which had undergone its sea trials and was due to be delivered replacing the Atlantic 85. But the Shannon and its launch mechanism, called SLARS, will not fit in the boathouse. So there is some head scratching and planning still to do. We also took the opportunity to meet up with my Aunt who lives in Clacton and whom I hadn’t seen for many years. We then moved on to Harwich.
Harwich Lifeboat Station
Unfortunately we arrived too late for the shop to be open at Harwich but we took our evidence photos and of the Severn Class 17-03 Albert Brown, moored outside the station. They do have an Atlantic 85 inside the boathouse but we were unable to see that. After a well deserved Ice-cream we headed back down the coast to Walton and Frinton.
Walton and Frinton Lifeboat Station
Walton and Frinton is a complicated and controversial situation. They used to have a Trent moored at the end of the pier but as the pier was unsafe for pedestrians, the only way they could get to the boat was to launch their D-Class. The decision was made to relieve them of the Trent and to retrain on the D-Class as a rescue boat and not just a launch vessel. Whilst we were taking our photos of the quaint station, one of the crew members stopped as chatted with us for a while and explained the situation they were in. He was quite positive about the future on the D-Class but inevitably they had lost a few volunteer crew with the loss of that All Weather Boat. What is fascinating about the lifeboat station is the plaques with the history of the missions are all hung on the outside so anyone can visit and read the history without the station being open. It was fascinating.
So a long day meeting some amazing people who have made us so welcome. Ready for more tomorrow in Kent.
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