After a lovely meal with Chris from Chris’s Quest and a good night sleep through storm Lillian we awoke to blue skies and light winds. Having visited Seahouses Lifeboat Station the previous afternoon, our first stop of the day was Craster.
Craster Lifeboat Station
What a beautiful little village centred around a small harbour and Dunstanburgh Castle. Parking is outside of the village to avoid tourist traffic disturbing the tranquillity but it is a very short walk to the harbour. We had made contact on Facebook with the LPO at Craster, Andy. He had arrived just before us and showed us into the boathouse where we were joined by crew member Ollie, also a Paramedic, and Launch Authority, Jenny. Tea’s all round and Jenny provided some amazing chocolate brownies. We sat and chatted for ages. Andy has a very interesting history with the RNLI and sailing and has sailed around the World competing in races in various countries. He is also a very talented photographer. He joined the RNLI after the tragic sudden loss of his young daughter and the RNLI has given him great solace during hard times. It was so lovely to hear his stories.
After a tour of the boat house and their D-Class, SKPR James Ballard RNVR DSC (D-839), Andy took charge of our Bears and did a photoshoot with them around the Station, Boat and Harbour. Such a lovely visit and thank you for making us so welcome and the amazing Chocolate Brownies.
Amble Lifeboat Station
Our next visit was to Amble. When we arrived at the station, the shop was open and we got the Bears out for our evidence photo. The Amble Lifeboat was moored in the harbour and we could just about see the top of it as the tide was out. They have a Shannon Class, Elizabeth & Leonard (13-16) and a D-Class, Alf and Dora Whiting (D-867). As we were taking the photo, a familiar voice from behind us came from the amazing Mark Scott (aka Sea Womble). We had met Mark on the south coast at Bracklesham Bay as he swam from Dover to Portsmouth. He too is raising money for the RNLI by swimming to as many lifeboat stations as he can in 200 days. It was so lovely to meet up with him again and this time with his lovely father, Bob. We took some photos with the volunteers together with Sea Womble and then headed for a Café. We chatted for ages and made arrangements to meet up with him again when we are in North Wales in October. It is so nice to be able to support his heroic efforts, after all you have to be slightly nuts to swim in the North Sea at the end of August. You can follow his progress on his Facebook page:
Newbiggin Lifeboat Station
Our penultimate stop on this trip was Newbiggin. Unfortunately we were a little late arriving for anyone to meet us so we took our required photos. Newbiggin is the oldest operational Lifeboat Station in the UK, established in 1851. We then got chatting to a passer by called Susie who had travelled down from the Moray Firth area of Scotland. She was interested in what we were doing and we gave her one of our postcards. She even shot a short video interview with us to post on Facebook.
Blyth Lifeboat Station
Our final stop was Blyth. Unfortunately the shop and station were closed so we grabbed our photo and prepared ourselves for the long drive back down the A1 to home.
This was the longest trip we had done so far in our challenge and was such an enjoyable one. It also marks a milestone for us as we have now visited ¼ of the 238 stations. We are also so grateful to all those that have donated and helped us raise £10 per station visited so far. All this in just 3 months, we are really proud of getting this far and look forward to the longer trips and visits.
We have a long way to go but so far the experience has been inspirational, emotional at times, but also extremely educational. We are getting such a great insight into the work of this amazing charity. Please do continue to follow our journey and support us along the way, if you are able to donate a small amount then you can do so at JustGiving and all monies go directly to the RNLI. All of our links can be found here - https://linktr.ee/238rnlichallenge
To donate directly click here:
We are having a little break in September due to other commitments, but we will be attending a couple of local Open Days. In October we visit North Wales where we will spend a week visiting 19 stations.
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