After an incredible night at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, we set of down the South East Coast of Scotland towards the Borders. We planned to visit four lifeboat stations today taking us over the border into Northumberland.
North Berwick Lifeboat Station
Our first stop was North Berwick on the far south eastern end of the Forth. A gorgeous little town with a quaint harbour and an amazing rocky coastline. North Berwick has a very distinctive Lifeboat Station and boasts two Lifeboat shops. The one opposite the Station was just opened and we had a lovely chat with Liz. She contacted the Harbour Master and LOM, Ricky to come and meet us. He very kindly showed us in the Boathouse where we were able to see their new D-Class boat called Sunijo (D-891). This boat had only been in service since early July with the naming and dedication ceremony taking place on 6th July. Sunijo replaced Evelyn M (D-758) who had been at North Berwick for 11 busy years.
We had skipped breakfast at the hotel, frankly it was pretty poor unfortunately, but we were so glad we did. Opposite the North Berwick Lifeboat Station was a lovely little café serving a full Scottish Breakfast. Bacon, Sausage, Beans, Black Pudding, Mushrooms, Scrambled Eggs, Potato Scone and of course Haggis, who could resist that? If you are ever in the area, and to be honest its well worth travelling some distance to, make sure you check out the Rocketeer Restaurant, link below:
Dunbar Lifeboat Station
Our next stop on a full stomach was Dunbar. We managed to find some on-street parking and walked down to the tiny harbour with big walls where the Lifeboat Station is situated. The shop was open and some of the crew were outside the station having a relaxing morning. We met Coxwain Gary who very kindly showed us the D-Class, David Lauder (D-844), in the boathouse.
Outside in the harbour carpark was an RNLI Landrover. Gary explained that they use this Landrover as a launch vehicle to get to their other Lifeboat. Because the tiny Dunbar harbour is tidal they are unable to moor an All-Weather Lifeboat (ALB) there. Instead, when they are paged, they meet at the Boathouse jump in the Landrover and head off 6 miles down the A1 to Torness Power Station. Impressively they can be on the boat within 20 minutes of the pagers going off, traffic depending of course.
Gary kindly gave us directions to the mooring location of their ALB, a Trent Class John Neville Taylor (14-35), and we headed over there to grab a photo. It felt a bit strange driving around the perimeter of the Nuclear Power Station but we soon reached the location. The boat was moored some way out and the crew then use a small boarding boat winched into the sea.
Eyemouth Lifeboat Station
Next, we headed further south to Eyemouth. The lifeboat station lies on the harbour which was busy with fishing vessels, pleasure boats and RIB tours. Their Shannon Class, Helen Hastings (13-29) was moored in the harbour. Next to her lay their D-Class, Myway (D-745) but she was covered so couldn’t get a good photo of her. Unfortunately the station was closed but we had managed to arrange to meet a long-term friend of ours, Sandra, who treated us to a cup of tea and a cake in the harbour.
Berwick Upon Tweed Lifeboat Station
Our final planned visit for the day was just over the border at Berwick Upon Tweed. A busy port town with two Lifeboat houses overlooking the Tweed estuary. There was no one around at the station and so we grabbed our photos of both stations and headed off to our overnight accommodation location.
Seahouses Lifeboat Station
We were still quite early in the day and so we took the opportunity to stop at Seahouses Lifeboat Station which was planned for the following morning.
The shop and station were still open and so we popped in. We chatted to the lovely lady in the shop and some customers about our challenge before heading into the boathouse to see their Shannon Class, John & Elizabeth Allan (13-36). They also have a D-Class boat fittingly called Grace Darling (D-828). This is launched using a Landrover. Seahouses was also the station that trialled the new INEOS Grenadier vehicles in a new partnership which will see 20 vehicles enter service.
Our hotel was nearby and we headed back to relax. We had made contact with crew member and lifeboat challenger, Chris Mason. Chris has visited all 238 Lifeboat Stations as Chris’s Quest Lifeboat Station Tour. We had such a lovely evening with him discussing our respective challenges. He gave us some very helpful hints and tips and some very useful contacts for the more inaccessible stations. It was great to meet him and we will be keeping in contact. Take a look at his facebook page (link below) and watch his incredible videos filmed using drones.
Our journey continues down the Northumberland coast so join us in the next blog as we make our way towards Newcastle.
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