Clovelly Lifeboat Station
Description
A Lifeboat Station with a long history stretching back 150 years. Clovelly History
1869 A Silver Medal was awarded to Chief Officer Coastguard George Bumby for bringing 13 people safely ashore in a long boat from the barque Od ne wrecked at Portledge Mouth.
1870 An RNLI station was established and a boathouse was built on the harbour shore.
1882 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain Richard Headon for saving 34 lives during the previous 12 years.
1890 Silver Medals were awarded to Sidney Abbott and Robert Hodge for rescuing two men from a capsized boat.
1892 A boathouse and slipway were built to improve launching into the harbour.
1902 Bowman John Dunn died from the effects of exposure during a lifeboat service on 28 April.
1936 The station’s first motor lifeboat arrived at the station.
1949 Bronze Medals were awarded to Bowman Percy Shackson and Assistant Mechanic William Braund for rescuing two people from a rock under the cliffs at Baggy Point on 30 August 1948. The Maud Smith Award for Courage for Bravest Deed of the Year was also awarded for this service.
1954 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Coxswain George Lamey for rescuing three crew from the ketch Progress. It took ten attempts to rescue the crew, a cat, some new born kittens and a canary.
1962 A collective Framed Letter of Thanks was presented to the Coxswain and crew for a service to the tanker Green Ranger.
1968 A large 70-foot Clyde class lifeboat was placed on service. This was one of only two stations operating this cruising lifeboat, the other being Kirkwall in Scotland.
1971 A Centenary Vellum was awarded to the station.
The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Dr D Mackenzie, the Honorary Medical Adviser, for boarding the motor vessel Embdena in hazardous conditions to attend to a seriously injured man.
1972 Framed Letters of Thanks were presented to Mechanics RG Tanner and PJ Croft for rescuing two men trapped on the cliffs.
1974 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Staff Coxswain Michael Stafford Houchen for saving three crew and the trawler St Pierre.
1979 A special framed certificate was awarded to the Coxswain and crew for display at the station for the services to several yachts in difficulties during the Fastnet Race on 15 August.
1987 Framed Letters of Thanks were presented to the Coxswain and four crew for rescuing four people from the yacht Moon Dragon.
1988 The Clyde class lifeboat was withdrawn from service and the station closed on 15 August.
1990–1997
An independent inshore lifeboat operated from the original boathouse and was managed by the Clovelly Trust.
1998 The RNLI re-opened the station and a B class Atlantic 21 lifeboat was placed on service.
1999 The new Atlantic 75 lifeboat, B-759 Spirit of Clovelly, was placed on service.
Station honours
At Clovelly lifeboat station the following awards have been made:
Framed Letter of Thanks 8
Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum 1
Tell your friends
CONTACT
RECENT FACEBOOK POSTS
facebook.comTractor's eye view of Clovelly Lifeboat Toby Rundle doing a net recovery, which is what the crew use to get back on the trailer when the sea is too rough to go astern (reverse) onto it. The helm has to have good aim and a steady nerve for this type of recovery. #traininginroughweather #trainonesavemany #clovellyrnli #RNLIVolunteers #rnli
Timeline Photos
Mark joined the shore crew at Clovelly RNLI 2 months ago with a view to joining the boat crew. Today was Marks second acquaintance trip on the Toby Rundle. New crew can go afloat on the lifeboat 3 times before having to sign up and complete their training units. We made the most of the weather conditions and took Mark into some rougher sea than he experienced on his first trip; it's important that crew are ready for any weather conditions. Mark really enjoyed this morning and is itching to finish all his shore crew units to then start his boat training. We are very pleased to welcome him to the Clovelly RNLI team! #RNLIVolunteers #trainonesavemany #clovellyrnli #tobyrundle
Timeline Photos
The festivities are continuing here today in Clovelly for the Maritime and Lifeboat weekend. Lots to see and do, come and see us here! @rnli @clovellyvillage
Photos from Clovelly Lifeboat Station's post
A successful outcome to yesterday's launch - the yacht that was aground was successfully refloated having sustained no serious damage, and was towed to a nearby mooring for further inspection. @rnli
Timeline Photos
The 36 lovely swimmers who raised money for the @rnli this morning. Congratulations to all who swam!
Timeline Photos
Clovelly Lifeboat launched to a yacht close to shore at 1.25pm. Unfortunately the yacht was already aground but the lifeboat put out a second anchor and will hopefully be able to refloat the yacht once the tide turns. Remember, if you ever see a boat in trouble, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard. #RNLIVolunteers
Photos from Clovelly Lifeboat Station's post
Today is our sponsored swim from Bucks Mills to Clovelly in aid of the RNLI. First three swimmers back were James Pugsley, Carolyn Devine and Tim Med, all of whom did the one mile course. Of the two milers, first three women back were Freya, Kate and Deb and first three men back were Ray, Nick and Kevin. Every one of the 36 swimmers completed the course! #clovellyrnli #rnliswim
Timeline Photos
Clovelly Lifeboat out on exercise tonight, in beautiful weather once more. Just remember we do this in Winter too! #oncall247 #trainonesavemany
This weekend, why not come along and support the station as part of Clovelly's One Week in Summer.
Photos from Clovelly Lifeboat Station's post
While out on exercise on Tuesday evening, the crew were visited by a few dolphins! It was a beautiful evening for training, but remember that the crew train all year round in all weathers and are on call 24 hours, 365 days a year. #trainonesavemany #RNLIVolunteers Photo credit to Trainee Helm Lee Brett.
Photos from Clovelly Lifeboat Station's post
Our crew are feeling honoured to have received a donation of £100 for the RNLI from the Hartland D-Day commemoration team. We attended the event on Saturday 8 June and have had lots of positive feedback from the public.
Timeline Photos
Congratulations to Colette Jones and Marc Baker for passing their Crew Emergency Procedures course down at the Sea Survival Centre at the RNLI College in Poole. I'll add the video of them learning how to cope with a capsized inshore lifeboat to our stories - it's well worth a watch! These courses are funded for the RNLI by the Lloyd's Register Foundation, and thanks to this funding more than 3,000 RNLI volunteer crew members have received the training. 📷 by Marc Baker
Quiz
