Penarth Lifeboat Station


Penarth Lifeboat Station is located on the Esplanade in Penarth, a town and seaside resort on the north coast of the Bristol Channel, approximately south of Cardiff, in the county of Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
A lifeboat was first stationed at Penarth by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1861. The station was closed in 1905, with services transferred to other local stations until 1980, when the station reopened on Penarth seafront with an Inshore lifeboat.
The station currently operates an Inshore lifeboat, Maureen Lilian, on station since 2010, and a Inshore lifeboat, Spirit of Penarth II, on station since 2018.
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History

The Bristol Channel has always been a hazardous stretch of water because of the extreme tidal range. There are very strong currents or rips close inshore, with speeds that exceed 7 knots, for several hours at each tide. The rise and fall of the tides at Penarth are the second highest recorded anywhere in the world.
At a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on Thursday, 6 September 1860, a letter of 13 August was read, from James B. Bryan, Chief Officer of H.M. Coastguard Penarth, requesting that a lifeboat be placed at Penarth, which would receive good county support. Another letter, of 7 August 1860, had been received from Mr George Gay, an architect and builder, of Cotham Park, Bristol, who wished to present the Institution with £180 for the purchase of a lifeboat, and £20 as a donation. It was agreed that a lifeboat would be provided to Penarth, with the gift appropriated to the station.
A 30-foot self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' lifeboat, one with sails and oars, was sent to Penarth in January 1861, and named George Gay after the donor.
The lifeboat was housed in a shed, built near to where Penarth Yacht Club now stands, at the southern end of Penarth beach, and controlled by staff located at the Coastguard cottages and Trinity House lookout tower on Tower Hill near Marine Parade.
The manually powered or "pulling boats" were 30 feet in length and were powered by 12 oars. They had cork in their hull and shaped air-cases fore and aft. The boats were self-righting and their double-ended designs could operate a rudder from either end, so there was no need to turn.
The Penarth lifeboat was renamed Baroness Windsor in 1865, remaining so named until the lifeboat was found to be completely rotten in 1868, and replaced. The new boat, a 32-foot self-righting lifeboat, was again named George Gay.
In 1883, when the Yacht Club and the raised concrete esplanade were constructed along Penarth seafront, an All-weather lifeboat was relocated to a yard and temporary slipway near the Taff Vale Railway Marine Hotel on the Dock Beach, where it remained until 1905.
The Penarth lifeboat was withdrawn from service in 1905 and all services transferred to the new Barry Dock Lifeboat Station, and the station at. The lifeboat on station at the time of closure, Joseph Denman, was transferred to. Penarth would have no lifeboat service for the next 75 years, until a new station opened in 1980.

1980s onwards

With the regular daily hovercraft service between Penarth to Weston-super-Mare, coupled with an increase in leisure boating generated by a new water skiing club, it was decided in 1980 to re-establish lifeboat services at Penarth, with the provision of an inflatable Inshore lifeboat. The new boat was located at the original site next to Penarth Yacht Club, housed in an unused storehouse and launched down the yacht club’s jetty.
The current boathouse was built in 1995 to house a lifeboat. Also provided were a Talus MB-4H amphibious tractor, a workshop, an RNLI souvenir shop, a fuel store and improved crew facilities. The following year a lifeboat arrived, for a temporary duty at the station. That boat was replaced four months later by the Spirit of Penarth and the Severn Rescuer. The D-class lifeboat is launched using a TC45 tractor and carriage.
In 2010 Spirit of Penarth was withdrawn from service, and replaced with the Maureen Lilian.

Station honours

The following are awards made at Penarth

Roll of honour

In memory of those lost whilst serving Penarth lifeboat.