Joining the Dots

Up to last weekend we had a little gap on the south coast that needed joining up between Portsmouth and Lyme Regis and so to Southampton we headed this weekend. An early start got us to Calshot at just after 9:30am.

Calshot Lifeboat Station

Calshot peninsula protrudes into Southampton Water forming the gateway to the Solent. It was calm and peaceful when we arrived on Saturday and there was hardly a soul around. We managed to park close to the Lifeboat Station and wandered over to take the required photo. As we did so, Crew Member Andy arrived and welcomed us in for a cuppa.

We had a lovely long chat with Andy before he showed us around the station. They have two boats. The first was a D Class called David Radcliffe (D-880). Their second boat is kept in a larger boathouse just across the carpark with direct access to the slipway. This house their Atlantic 85, Max Walls (B-860). These two boats cover a huge area of waterways into and past Southampton and up the Rivers Test, Itchen and Hamble. They also venture into the busy shipping lanes of the Solent. Thanks to Andy for an amazing tour and chat.

Lymington Lifeboat Station

Our next stop was Lymington, about 40 minutes drive through the New Forest. On the way we encountered unusual road blocks in the shape of New Forest Ponies. The marina area was busy but we managed to secure a parking spot close to the station. We were greeted by Bob, who was expecting us. He very kindly showed us around the impressive station which has a lovely balcony overlooking the marina. They overlook the busy Lymington River which has everything from small dinghy’s to Isle of Wight car ferries constantly navigating the narrow waterway.

Lymington have an Atlantic 85 called David Bradley (B-882) and a chunky Tractor unit to launch. After a lovely long chat with Bob we had some photos outside the station and visited the ladies in the shop to say hello and grab a pin badge.

After a quick sandwich overlooking the river we headed on to Mudeford.

Mudeford Lifeboat Station

The day was warming up and holiday makers we a plenty along this popular stretch of Dorset Coast between Highcliffe and Christchurch. On arrival at Mudeford it was absolutely packed. There is a very large car park on the Mudeford Quay spit but after 20 minutes of waiting and slowly driving around we abandoned the carpark and found an off street space about 10 minute walk away. Mudeford Quay forms a gateway to Christchurch Harbour and is a popular holiday spot. When we got to the lifeboat station there was no one around and so we grabbed our evidence photo with the bears and peered through the window at the Atlantic 85 inside. Just as we were leaving a member of the crew, Nick, came out the station and welcomed us in. We were shown around the impressive boathouse built in 2003. Their B-Class is called Mudeford Servant (B-806) a very appropriate name. The station was full of historic photos and artifacts. Of particular importance to the station was a small inconspicuous rowing boat suspended above the Atlantic 85. It was in this 11ft boat that Kenneth Derham single handedly rescued 2 people from a fishing boat in heavy seas in March1959, for which he was awarded a Silver Gallantry Medal. Just 4 years later a lifeboat station was built on the Quay.

Swanage Lifeboat Station

Our final planned stop of the day was Swanage and after a 90 minute drive and a chain ferry across from Sandbanks in Poole Harbour we arrived in the busy town of Swanage. We were lucky to get a parking spot just a couple 100 metres from the Lifeboat Station. Luckily it was still open and we headed inside to the viewing gallery. We got chatting to one of the visits officers who gave us a great insight into the station history. RNLI Swanage is unique. It is one of only two stations that launch a Shannon Class via a slipway, the other being Wicklow in Ireland. However, it is the only slipway that has a footpath running through it, allowing for a unique photo opportunity.

The boat looked impressive sitting at the top of the slipway and it was an unusual vantage point to see a Shannon Class. The station is quite new, built in 2016 to house the Shannon but there has been a station here for 150 years. The boat is called George Thomas Lacey (13-13). They also have a D-Class inshore boat called Roy Norgrove (D-884) which lives in an adjacent boathouse and launches via winch.

We were now left with a dilemma, it was approaching 4pm and we had just one more station on the south coast to visit. Even though we had not planned to on this trip, Weymouth was just an hour away and it would have been silly not to tick this one off as we were in the area.

Weymouth Lifeboat Station

Weymouth is a bustling seaside town and on arrival we found a very busy carpark. Arriving into the carpark we had spotted the Severn Class lifeboat moored up on the opposite side of the harbour. Quickly realising that Google Maps had directed us to the wrong side of the water we made a quick detour and eventually found a parking spot on the hill above the station. We  had arrived late and inevitably the station and the shop were closed. We grabbed our evidence photo outside of the historic boathouse, built in 1868, a photo of the Severn Class, Ernest and Mabel (17-32) and headed off for something to eat. On the way back to the car we bumped into a member of the crew who told us where the Inshore D-Class was housed. This inshore boathouse was built in 1996. It turns out that the day was their open day and we had missed it by a couple of hours, frustrating.

Arriving back home just after 10pm we were  satisfied in the knowledge that we had now visited all the stations from Hunstanton in Norfolk around the south east and south coasts to Salcombe in Devon. There are just 4 stations that we need to now visit in the South East and they are Gravesend, Sheerness, Tower on the Thames and Poole.

With 48 stations visited and an incredible £470 raised for the amazing lifesaving work that the RNLI do, we are now entering the phase of longer trips away. Our first will be Edinburgh at the end of August as we take a few days to visit the stations around the Firth of Forth and down the East Coast to the Sunderland area.