North Yorkshire

After our visit to Hartlepool on Good Friday we crossed the River Tees and pitched up at our B&B in Redcar. We awoke to a stunning sea view and sunrise on Saturday and prepared for our day of visits to 3 lifeboat stations and 2 museums. The sunrise lulled us into a false sense of warmth. It turned out to be a bright day but bitterly cold wind.

Redcar Lifeboat Station

We were a little early arriving at the station which was just a 10 minute walk from the B&B. We took our evidence photo and sheltered  from the wind in a little shelter before heading back to the station. Here we were met by Ben, Jamie and Press Officer, Andy who welcomed us into the crew room for a nice warming cup of tea and a hobnob. We had a lovely chat with the 3 guys and a good bit of banter, it was clear that they all get on like a close knit family. 

The lifeboat station is an impressive building situated across the Esplanade from the slipway. A slightly unusual design, with the main doors being on the corner, it was built in 1973. Redcar is one of the oldest in the country having been founded in 1802. It is also home to the world’s oldest surviving lifeboat, Zetland.

Ben and Jamie gave us a tour of the station and their two inshore lifeboats. They have an Atlantic 85, Leicester Challenge III (B-858) and a D-Class, Eileen May Loach-Thomas (D-786) entering service at the station in 2012 and 2015 respectively. The station also has 1 of only 3 remaining Mark I Talus Tractor units to launch their Atlantic 85.

After a few photos with Andy we said our goodbyes and headed a few hundred metres up the road to the Zetland Museum.

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Zetland Lifeboat Museum

Before entering the museum we were met by a former work colleague from a few years back and it was so nice to see her and her husband, thank you Louise for your generous donation and it was so lovely to see you again.

The Zetland is the oldest surviving lifeboat in the world and is listed within the National Historic Ship Register as part of the Nations Historic Fleet and was built in 1802 by Henry Greathead at his South Shields boatyard.  She saw 78 years of service and saved over 500 documented lives from the treacherous Redcar coast.

She takes centre stage in the museum where she has been housed since 1907. The museum has extensive displays of local maritime history. The Zetland herself is an impressive boat, over  9 metres long and requiring a crew of 13. When you look into the boat it is hard to imagine the punishing conditions that these brave souls endured.

In October 1880, a schooner, Luna, struck Redcar pier and broke in half. The Zetland made her final heroic launch and successfully rescued Luna’s seven sailors. The crew was awarded £100 from the RNLI for their heroic actions.

We chatted with the museum volunteers and unfortunately didn’t have much time to look around but we will be back. We headed back to the B&B to collect the car and made our way to our next stop.

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Staithes & Runswick Lifeboat Station

The very narrow, steep streets of Staithes do not lend themselves to an SUV and so we parked at the top of the hill and took the short walk into the village and the stunning harbour.

We were met at the Station by Lifeboat Operations Manager, Shaun who welcomed us into the crew room for a cup of tea and a lovely chat overlooking the incredible scenery of Staithes Harbour.

The boathouse was just two doors down from the station and houses their Atlantic 85, Sheila and Dennis Tongue III (B-897), a name that was familiar with us having seen the 2nd boat at Looe just a couple of weeks earlier. Sheila and Dennis Tongue were a couple who lived in Exmouth, Devon, and generously provided funding for four new RNLI lifeboats. The other  two lifeboats are stationed at Loch Ness, where we shall visit in May, and Sligo Bay in Ireland.

At the boathouse we met crew members Jordan and Luke.  The boathouse was originally built in 1875 and is now a grade II listed building. There was also a station at nearby Runswick but this closed in 1978 with Staithes taking the name in recognition of the service provided by the Runswick Station. The current boathouse was modernised and extended to provide improved crew facilities and to accommodate the longer Atlantic 85.

Following a fantastic tour we popped back to the shop to get our pin badge and then headed back up the steep hill to the car.

A beautiful location and well worth a visit.

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Whitby Lifeboat Station and Museum

The famous harbour town of Whitby certainly ticks the boxes for scenery. A bustling little harbour, sandy beach, gothic abbey overlooking the town and the location of many famous individuals and stories. However, all of this amazing history draws a crowd and no matter what time of year you visit it will be busy. On the way over from Staithes the roads into Whitby were all glowing red on Google Maps and so we made the decision to make use of the Park & Ride. We had time as this was the last visit of the day but we were keen to get to the Museum to have enough time to look around before heading to the station.

The museum is located on the West shore and it took a bit of jostling to get through the crowds. We were met outside of the museum by Neil who warmly welcomed us into the shop where we chatted to the lovely volunteers about our journey. Neil showed us into the museum and their centre piece, Robert and Ellen Robson, the last pulling lifeboat in RNLI service until 1957. She is housed in her original boathouse built in 1895. There has been a lifeboat present in the town since 1802 with the RNLI taking over the station in 1861.

Whitby Lifeboat was involved in one of the most famous rescues in RNLI history. In October 1914, the passenger steamer, Rohilla, ran aground on Saltwick Nab, a reef just a mile east of Whitby. She was called up at the onset of the First World War and converted to hospital ship. It was during a daring journey from South Queensferry near Edinburgh enroute to Dunkirk to evacuate wounded soldiers that she ran aground breaking her back in the fierce conditions. Six lifeboats were involved in the rescue which lasted over three days. In all, 146 of the 229 on board including the Captain and all the nurses were rescued as well as Kezia Roberts who was also a Titanic survivor.

Neil walked with us over to the current lifeboat station located on the East side of the town. Here we met Nick and Nicola from the volunteer visits team and we enjoyed a nice cup of tea and a good bit of banter as we enjoyed the sunshine and the boats.

This station was built in 2007 and houses their D-Class inshore lifeboat, Warter Priory (D-810). Moored alongside the pier is their Shannon Class, Lois-Ivan (13-49) which arrived on station in 2023. This is one of the RNLI’s “Launch a Memory” Lifeboats containing the names of thousands of donors within the RNLI 13-49 decals on the bows.

After a lovely chat and an amazing visit we said our goodbyes to Neil, Nick and Nicola and battled our way back to the bus stop and onwards to the carpark. Thank you Neil for your amazing welcome and generosity and thankyou Nick and Nicola for a great tour of the boathouse and a good laugh.

After  an exhausting day we headed to a beautiful secluded B&B called The Grainary near Scarborough for good food and a good rest in preparation for Easter Sunday’s visits.