Filey Lifeboat Station


Filey Lifeboat Station is located at Coble Landing on Forshore Road in Filey, a seaside town approximately north-east of York, sitting between Scarborough and Bridlington on the east coast of North Yorkshire, England. It is one of eight operational RNLI lifeboat stations situated on the Yorkshire Coast.
A lifeboat station was established at Filey by local committee in 1804. Management of the station was transferred to the Royal National Institute for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck in 1852, which became the Royal National Lifeboat Institution two years later.
The station operates the Inshore lifeboat, Marjorie Shepherd and the smaller Inshore lifeboat, The Rotarian, both on station since 2021.
WWW Official Site

History

References show that a 'North Country' lifeboat, one with its design based on the lifeboat, was first provided for Filey in 1804. It was operated by the Filey Lifeboat Committee, and funded from a combination of public subscription, with a donation of £50 from Lloyd's of London, insurance agents with a vested interest in preventing loss by shipwreck. However, no other records of manufacture have been found, nor of any service carried out.
In 1824, a new lifeboat for Filey was funded by the newly established Royal National Institute for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck. A 12-oared North Country lifeboat, built by Skelton of Scarborough, was placed on service. A stone-built boathouse was constructed at the foot of Carr Gate Hill.
At a meeting of the RNIPLS committee of management held on 9 December 1852, it was agreed to accept Filey Lifeboat Station as part of the Institution, and that Rear-Admiral Mitford was requested to form a local committee. A later meeting in February 1853 appropriated £54-9s-6d to bring the lifeboat, carriage, boathouse and roadway to a suitable level of repair.
The RNLI Silver Medal was awarded to boatman John Ruddock on 3 February 1859, in recognition of his long and gallant services, given to the Filey lifeboat, and other boats.
In the late spring of 1860, a hurricane hit Filey and destroyed all the boats and nets of the local fishermen. As the damaged items belonged mostly to the men who manned the lifeboat, an appeal was made in The Times to aid in the support of the fishermen's loss of livelihood. One of the letters written to the paper was by a local resident doctor who noted that the Filey Lifeboat had saved more lives at sea than any other station belonging to the RNLI in England.
A new self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' lifeboat, one with sails and oars, was sent to Filey in November 1863, transported free of charge by the Great Northern and North Eastern railway companies. The cost of the lifeboat was defrayed by the gift of £250 from Mr R. W. and Mrs Hollon, lord mayor and lady of York. The donation was made at the suggestion of Mrs Hollon, to recognise their previous safe delivery from peril at sea.
At 12:00 on 26 November 1863, a large procession set out from Filey railway station, to accompany the new boat to the lifeboat station, where the lifeboat was named Hollon, and then launched on demonstration to the assembled crowd.
Some 20 years later, on hearing of the decision to replace the Filey lifeboat, Mr and Mrs R. W. Hollon made a further donation of £650, funding the lifeboat for a second time. Attending the inauguration ceremony on 13 September 1884, Richard Welch Hollon named the lifeboat Hollon the Second.
In 1889, the lifeboat house, which had been extended in 1872, at a cost of £200, was sold for £15. A new boathouse was constructed near the foot of Sand Hill Lane, on the site of the present boathouse.
By 1907, Filey was again due for a replacement lifeboat. In the 23 years on station, Hollon the Second had been launched 37 times, but recorded no lives saved. This time, the cost of the lifeboat would be defrayed by the legacy of the late R. W. Hollon, and at a ceremony on 4 May 1907, the new lifeboat was named Hollon the Third. In the following thirty years, Hollon the Third would come to be launched 110 times, and save the lives of 121 people.
Responding to an increasing amount of water-based leisure activity, the RNLI began trials of small fast Inshore lifeboats in 1963, placed at various locations around the country. These were easily launched with just a few people, ideal to respond quickly to local emergencies, and quickly proved to be very successful. More boats were deployed, and in 1966, the Inshore lifeboat was placed at Filey.
A new boathouse was constructed in 1991, on the same site as the 1889 lifeboat house, so that it could accommodate both the new All weather lifeboat, 12–13 Keep Fit Association, and the Inshore lifeboat.
It was announced in 2013, that with both, to the north, and, to the south, each due to receive a 25 knot All-weather lifeboat, a Inshore lifeboat would replace the All-weather lifeboat at Filey.
Even though the flanking stations received their new boats in 2016 and 2017, it would be a further four years, before the 17 knot Mersey-class All-weather boat was replaced with the fast response 35 knot Inshore lifeboat, in 2021.

Notable incidents

  • 24 September 1935
  • 23 June 1974
  • 15 June 1998

Station honours

The following are awards made at Filey

Roll of honour

In memory of those lost whilst serving Filey lifeboat.