Grimsby Joins the Dots

In April we travelled down the east coast of England with the intention of visiting all the stations from Cullercoats down to Skegness. Unfortunately along the way we were unable to visit Humber  Lifeboat Station due to the restriction withing the Port of Grimsby – Security said No!!

Humber Lifeboat Station

Following further arrangements with Coxwain Sean “Chezzy” Cheston, we made the special journey up to Grimsby to finally meet the crew and complete visit number 182. After an overnight stay in Newark on the Friday night we completed the journey on Saturday morning arriving at the station at 10am. Access was much easier this time as we did not have to pass through a security gate due to diversions.

The Port of Grimsby lies on the southern shore of the mighty Humber Estuary with sea trade from the area dating back to the 1700s. The port has three main dock systems. The earliest, developed in the 1790s is Alexandra Dock primarily used for Coal and Timber in the 1800s. The Royal Dock, developed in the 1840s with the arrival of the railway. It was developed on land reclaimed from the estuary. The dock's trade has included a wide variety of goods including coal, timber and general merchandise. The third is the Fish Docks comprising three individual docks becoming one of the largest fishing docks in Britain. Alas the fishing industry collapsed in the 1970s due to outside factors. The port is now a major car importation location, as well as an offshore wind farm servicing hub, and handles other cargos including timber, minerals, metals and dry bulks. The skyline of Grimsby is dominated by the 61 metre high water tower located on the central pier between two locks in Royal Dock. It was designed to provide hydraulic power, from a 140,000 litre reservoir at the top of the tower, to operate the lock machinery.

At  the lifeboat station in Royal Dock we were met by several of the crew, some of whom are full time. Coxwain Chezzy introduced us to Mark, Jamie, Steve, Cole, Paul and Ben and we enjoyed a lovely cup of tea and a good bit of banter and laughter as they told us about the crew arrangement at the station.

Opened in 1810 on Spurn Point on the north side of the Estuary, Humber Lifeboat Station was operated by Hull Trinity House until 1911 when the RNLI took over management of the station. Due to the remoteness of the station, its restricted access and the dangerous waters around this part of the east coast, the crew were on-site full time and were, at one time, the only full-time paid RNLI All-weather lifeboat crew in the UK. Crew and their families lived on the spit until 2023 when, due to issues with the infrastructure of the station, coastal erosion and access difficulties, the station was located to Grimsby Docks. The full-time crew still operate a 6 day on, 6 day off shift pattern but, due to its new location it is moving to a volunteer based station.

Station crew have been highly decorated. During the stations 200 year plus history, 33 RNLI gallantry medals have been awarded to the crews, including 3 gold, 13 silver and 17 bronze. Of these, Robert Cross, Coxswain for 31 years until 1943, won two gold, three silver and two bronze, as well as the George Medal

Intensive training is taking place with the team supported by the full-time experienced crew who travel from far and wide to work their shift patterns. It is bitter-sweet for both full-time and volunteer crew members as they transition, but it is clear that the camaraderie and bond is tight and they are all committed to the transition.

Following a tour of the impressive station facilities and a look at the memorabilia from the old Spurn Point Station, Chezzy and the team took us over to the accommodation “portacabin” where they have bedrooms and washing facilities. We then donned yellow wellies, hi-vis and lifejackets to head down to the boat moored in the shadow of the water tower in Royal Dock.

Severn Class, 17-05 is one of the oldest in the fleet, built in 1996 and on station in 1997. Aptly names Pride of the Humber, the crew told us that they will shortly be taking her to Poole for a refit.

After several photos with the crew and of the stations, we returned to the warmth of the crew room for more tea and Jaffa Cakes. What an incredible visit we had. Lovely conversation and some good laughter with frank and honest discussions and stories. We were so pleased we were able to get back to meet this amazing team. After our farewells we headed the short distance to Cleethorpes for a revisit.

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Cleethorpes Lifeboat Station

During our April visits on the east coast, we stopped at Cleethorpes Lifeboat Station but were unable to see anyone. We did however visit the tiny shop, 100 metres or so along the promenade, to pick up a pin badge. We also took our evidence photos of their existing station and the new one across the road that was incomplete at that time. Cleethorpes Lifeboat Station was therefore registered as visit number 132.

As we were making the special trip to visit Humber we took the opportunity to make arrangements to visit the new station which opened in August. A huge thank you to Launch Authority Ian for arranging for some of the crew members to meet us. We were welcomed into the fantastic new building and enjoyed a cup of tea whilst chatting with Ian, Anna, Phil, Alan R, Ally M and Joe B. They were clearly very pleased with their impressive new surroundings. They enjoyed a stunning view across the Humber Estuary to Spurn Point.

A lifeboat was first stationed at Cleethorpes by the RNLI in 1868, operating for just 14 years, before the lifeboat was relocated to Grimsby. The station returned to the promenade in 1987. Construction of the new station building commenced in 2022 but construction was delayed due to collapse of the main contractor. It was finally complete in May 2025 and officially opened in August.

Cleethorpes would become the sixth station to receive one of the Blue Peter lifeboats, which were funded by the appeals held by TV programme Blue Peter. Following the 'Pieces of Eight' appeal,  Blue Peter VI (D-454) arrive on station in 1994.

We were shown around the station and down to the boathouse where we saw their two new inshore lifeboats. The D-Class, D-889 is called James and Deanna Adams and joined the station in 2024. Just after opening the new station building they took ownership of a new Atlantic 85, B-942 called Loving You. Unfortunately they are not able to launch the Atlantic 85 as training and assessment has not been completed yet.

Following several photos with the crew together with the lifeboats and at the front and back of the station, we headed to the shop where we met two lovely volunteers who we chatted to for a while about our challenge. Thank you to all the crew members that took time out of their day to come and meet us. After saying our goodbyes we headed back south.

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We now take a break over the winter and restart our remaining 56 visits in February, March and May finishing our journey in Poole at the end of May.