After a comfortable stay and a lovely breakfast at Home Farm Cottage in the little village of Buxton, we headed off to Hunstanton. However, before we left we got chatting to a lovely couple over breakfast. We explained what we are doing and they very kindly donated £20 to our funds for the RNLI. If you are in the area take a look at this for a comfy nights stay.
Hunstanton Lifeboat Station
We had made contact with the Lifeboat Press Officer at Hunstanton prior to our trip and he had informed us that the boats would be on exercise in the morning. We arrived slightly later than we had planned but actually that worked out better for us as we were privileged to see the boat recovery. It was already a hot and busy morning at 10am when we arrived on the beachfront. We were immediately greeted by Chris the DLPO who welcomed us into the station. It was a hive of activity with visits officers, Launch Authorities and many others actively monitoring the training exercise. Hunstanton have two vessels, an Atlantic 85 and one of only a handful of Hovercraft in the fleet. Due to the wind conditions the Hovercraft was not used on exercise but the Atlantic 85 had been out for a good hour when we arrived. We will get to see a Hovercraft in action during our travels, i'm sure.
Hunstanton covers the huge expanse of The Wash and, in partnership with Skegness and the other north Norfolk stations, are able to cover a huge area of the North Sea coastline. We had a long chat with the staff and they explained the exercise and everything involved in the communication and coordination with other stations and the coastguard. It was a fascinating insight. We were able to watch the Atlantic 85 being recovered, our first. It was a slightly unusual one though. They were recovering using a net and a forward loading. This meant the boat would drive (if that’s the right word for a boat) into the launch vehicle and be stopped by a large net. It was amazing to see. When back at the boathouse the boat was jacked up on a turntable, spun round and loaded back on the launch vehicle ready for relaunching. Amazing to watch. This was followed by a clean down and we were invited down for some photos and a look around the boat including the Hovercraft. The Atlantic 85 was called Spirit of West Norfolk (B-848) and the hovercraft in the boathouse was a relief vessel called Samburgh (H-007). Their assigned hovercraft was Hunstanton Flyer (H-003) and was away for repairs.
An absolutely amazing 2 hours spent with everyone at Hunstanton, thank you so much to you all.
Wells Lifeboat Station
Our next stop was Wells Lifeboat Station. Again the town was packed and it took us a while to find somewhere to park. I know the brother of the Coxwain at Wells but he was busy having just recovered the Shannon Class boat and was helping to clean it down when we arrived. The station is a new building completed in 2022 to house the new Shannon class lifeboat, replacing the station's previous all-weather lifeboat and historic boathouse. We popped in and looked around the upper gallery. The boathouse is huge and you get a real sense of scale when the boat is out of station. We watched the Shannon, named Duke of Edinburgh (13-46), as it sat on the slipway mounted on the SLARS vehicle - another acronym! It means Shannon Launch & Recovery System and its a feat of amazing engineering. We were met by a crew member who we chatted to for a little while but it was all a bit busy so we let them get on with their work. Wells also have a small D Class inshore boat called Peter Willcox (D-797).
Sheringham Lifeboat Station
Our penultimate stop for the weekend was Sheringham. Located on the promenade we watched the RNLI lifeguards patrolling the busy beach before taking some photos of the Atlantic 85 snug in its boathouse. This one is called the Oddfellows (B-818).
Cromer Lifeboat Station
Our final station for this weekend. Cromer was very busy being a popular seaside town, Parking was some way from the station but we took a steady stroll to the end of the pier where they house their Tamar Class called Lester (16-07). Its so impressive seeing a large All Weather Boat like the Tamar housed in boathouse at the top of a slipway. They were just closing up but we did meet the visitors officer briefly and had a chat. We headed back to shore and spent some time chatting with a volunteer at the old boathouse where they keep the D Class, Mr Eric Sharpe (D-868). We took the required photos and were even allowed to take some of the bears in the tractor and on the boat.
After our visit we popped next door to the shop and took a look around the Henry Blogg Museum. This impressive museum celebrates the life of the most decorated lifeboatman in RNLI history. Henry Blogg served for 53 years on Cromer’s lifeboats and saved an incredible 873 lives. He was awarded numerous medals including the George Cross for general war service and the British Empire Medal. The museum houses many artifacts from Henry’s time in the RNLI but centrepiece is the H.F. Bailey, the lifeboat he was Coxwain on during the War. The boat was at Cromer between 1935 and 1945. She is made from Honduras Mahogany, Teak and English Oak. An amazing vessel.
Thank you to the volunteers who guided us round and chatted with us about the future of the museum.
Our weekend was done and it was time for the 3 hour drive back south. A truly amazing weekend. We hope you enjoy the selection of photos in his blog but, remember, more photos can be seen in our galleries. Thank you to all the crew, shop volunteers, Press Officers and everyone who made us so welcome at each station.
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