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Hoylake Lifeboat Station

Coordinates: 53°23′57.0″N 3°10′38.9″W / 53.399167°N 3.177472°W / 53.399167; -3.177472
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Hoylake Lifeboat Station
Hoylake Lifeboat Station
Hoylake Lifeboat Station is located in Merseyside
Hoylake Lifeboat Station
Hoylake, Wirral
General information
TypeRNLI Lifeboat Station
LocationHoylake Lifeboat Station
Address55 North Parade
Town or cityHoylake, Wirral, Merseyside, CH47 3AL
CountryEngland
Coordinates53°23′57.0″N 3°10′38.9″W / 53.399167°N 3.177472°W / 53.399167; -3.177472
Opened1803 / 1894 RNLI
Owner Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Website
Hoylake RNLI Lifeboat Station

Hoylake Lifeboat Station is located on the North Parade promenade in the town of Hoylake, on the Wirral Peninsula, in Merseyside.

A lifeboat was first stationed at Hoylake by the Liverpool Dock Trustees in 1803. The station was transferred to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1894.[1]

The station currently operates a Shannon-class All-weather lifeboat, and a Griffon Type 470TD Hovercraft.[2]

Hovercraft H-005 Hurley Spirit on Hoylake beach

History

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On 16 September 1803, the Liverpool Dock Trustees ordered that a lifeboat, purchased from Henry Greathead in 1802, be placed in service at Hoylake, one of 6 lifeboat stations in the area provided by the Dock Trustees. The boat was to be housed in a newly constructed wooden boathouse, under the supervision of the local Tide Surveyor, Mr. Marlowe. The first Master (coxswain) was Thomas Seed, Lower Lighthouse Keeper. Thomas Seed died in 1808, and the Dock Trustees appointed Capt. Joseph Bennett, already an experienced Liverpool pilot, as Master of Hoylake lifeboat, and Keeper of the Lower Lighthouse, on a salary of 40 guineas.[3]

Following an wreck of the Athebaska in 1838, when none of the boats from Hoylake, Point of Air or Magazine village were able to effect a rescue, with the loss of all aboard, the Dock Trustees decided to place a No.2 boat at Hoylake in 1840, specially constructed by local boatbuilder Thomas Costain to suit the local conditions. So pleased were the crew with the new boat, they requested another one, to replace their No.1 boat, which arrived in 1841.[3]

By 1847, launching of either Hoylake boat was proving difficult at certain times due to silting. So it was decided to create a station on Hilbre Island. A stone built boathouse and slipway were constructed, a caretaker was appointed to live on the island, and in 1848, the Hoylake No.2 boat was transferred to Hilbre Island.[1]

Liverpool Dock Trustees handed over control of all their lifeboat stations to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board in 1858. However, by the 1890s, with an ever increasing work load due to rising levels of port traffic at Liverpool, negotiations took place between the two parties, and on 1 July 1894, all the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board lifeboat stations were handed over to the RNLI. The Hoylake boat was only two years old, so after being sent away for some modification work, the boat was returned to Hoylake and was named Coard William Squarey (ON 377).[3]

In 1898, the RNLI gave up their existing wooden boat house and site, to allow Hoylake Council to create an Esplanade. A new site was provided by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, and the council paid £200 towards the construction of a new lifeboat station, which cost £922, and was completed in 1899. The council also constructed a new slipway opposite the new boathouse at no cost to the RNLI.[3]

Hoylake was one of the first stations to trial a launch tractor, receiving a Clayton tractor T1 in 1921. They also got a new lifeboat in 1931. She was the first of the new motor-powered Liverpool-class lifeboats, with a single 35 h.p. engine, capable of 7.3kts.[2]

With motor lifeboats at Hoylake and New Brighton, and one due at Rhyl, it was considered that there was enough lifeboat coverage for the area, and it was announced that Hilbre Island station would close in 1938.[1]

Nearly 110 years since the building of Hoylake's 1899 lifeboat station, at a cost of £922, a new station was constructed on the site of Hoylake's old open air baths, located about half a mile to the east of the old station, on the sea-side of North Parade. It followed two years of fundraising, and cost £2 million to construct.[4]

Station honours

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The following are awards made at Hoylake[1][5]

George Davies, Coxswain - 1851
Thomas Dodd, Coxswain - 1902
  • Silver Medal awarded by the Dutch Government
George Davies, Coxswain - 1864
Herbert Jones, Coxswain - 1943
Benjamin Stanton Armitage, boatman - 1943
William G. Widdup, late Coxswain, H.M. Coastguard - 1943
Harold Triggs, Coxswain - 1971
Thomas Henry Jones, Coxswain - 1980
  • Medal Service Certificate
Peter Jones, Acting Motor Mechanic - 1980
Alan Tolley, Acting Assistant Mechanic - 1980
Geoffrey Ormrod, crew member - 1980
Gordon Bird, crew member - 1980
  • First Class Certificates of Merit
    awarded by The Imperial Russian Association for Life-saving on Waters
Hoylake Lifeboat Crew - 1902
  • The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
Capt. Joshua Armitage - 1896
John McDermott, Second Coxswain - 1980
David Dodd, crew member - 1980
  • A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
Jeffery Kernigan, Acting Tractor Driver - 1980
Jesse Bird, Acting Assistant Tractor Driver - 1980
David Arthur Dodd, Coxswain - 1998[6]
David Anthony Whiteley, Coxswain - 2016[7]

Hoylake and Hilbre lifeboats

[edit]

Liverpool Dock Trustee lifeboats

[edit]

Hoylake

[edit]
Name In service[3] Class Comments
Unnamed 1803−1925 Greathead
Unnamed 1826−1841 30-foot Non-self-righting [Note 1]
Unnamed
(Hoylake No.2)
1840−1848 30-foot Non-self-righting (P&S) [Note 2]
Moved to Hilbre Island, 1848
Unnamed 1841−1862 30-foot Non-self-righting (P&S) [Note 3]
Unnamed 1862−1892 34-foot Non-self-righting (P&S) [Note 4]
Unnamed 1892−1894 34-foot Non-self-righting (P&S) [Note 5]
[Note 6]

Hilbre Island

[edit]
Name In service[3] Class Comments
Unnamed
(Hoylake No.2)
1848−1864 30-foot Non-self-righting (P&S) [Note 7]
Unnamed 1864−1890
1891−1895
33-foot 6in Non-self-righting (P&S) [Note 8]
[Note 9]

RNLI lifeboats

[edit]

Hilbre Island

[edit]
ON[a] Name In service[2] Class Comments
383 Admiral Briggs 1895−1914 Liverpool P&S [Note 10]
413 James Stevens No.2 1914−1924 Liverpool P&S
461 Chapman 1924−1938 Liverpool P&S
Station Closed, 1938

Hoylake

[edit]
ON[a] Op.No.[b] Name In service[2] Class Comments
377 Unnamed,
Coard William Squarey
1894−1906 34-foot Non-self-righting (P&S) [Note 11]
[Note 12]
555 Hannah Fawsett Bennett 1906−1931 Liverpool P&S
750 Oldham 1931−1952 Liverpool
894 Oldham IV 1952−1970 Liverpool
862 Thomas Corbett 1970−1974 Liverpool
1000 37-29 Mary Gabriel 1974−1990 Rother [8]
1163 12-005 Lady of Hilbre 1990−2014 Mersey
1313 13-06 Edmund Hawthorne Micklewood 2014− Shannon [9]
H-005 Hurley Spirit 2016− Hovercraft [10]

Launch and recovery tractors

[edit]
Op.No.[b] Reg. No. Type In service[2] Comments
T1 TC 648 Clayton 1921
T3 MA 6793 Clayton 1921–1928
T23 PP 7515 FWD Co. 1928–1929
T24 UW 2641 FWD Co. 1929–1949
T45 KGJ 58 Case LA 1949–1953
T56 MYR 426 Fowler Challenger III 1953–1960
T67 YLD 792 Fowler Challenger III 1960–1969
T61 PLA 561 Fowler Challenger III 1969–1975
T63 PFX 163 Fowler Challenger III 1975–1978
T68 YUV 742 Fowler Challenger III 1978–1982
T56 MYR 426 Fowler Challenger III 1982–1983
T91 UAW 558Y Talus MB-H Crawler 1983–1986
T94 B567 FAW Talus MB-H Crawler 1986–1997
T92 A462 AUX Talus MB-H Crawler 1997–2007
T99 C82 NUX Talus MB-H Crawler 2007–2014
SC-T06
Roland Hough
HF14 HLK SLARS (Supacat) 2014–
  1. ^ a b ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
  2. ^ a b Op.No. is the RNLI's Operational Number carried on the hull or vehicle.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ It is assumed that this boat is identical to the 30-foot 10-oared boat supplied to Point of Air at the same time
  2. ^ 30-foot 10-oared non-self-righting boat, built by local boat-builder Thomas Costain
  3. ^ 30-foot 10-oared non-self-righting boat, built by local boat-builder Thomas Costain
  4. ^ 34-foot 12-Oared non-self-righting boat, built by Lamb and White, of Cowes
  5. ^ 34-foot 3in, 12-oared, built by Chas. Howson & Co. of Liverpool
  6. ^ Transferred to RNLI in 1894, modified, returned to station and named Coard William Squarey (ON 377)
  7. ^ 30-foot 10-oared non-self-righting boat, built by local boat-builder Thomas Costain
  8. ^ 33-foot 6in, 12-oared, built by Thomas Costain
  9. ^ On loan to Point of Air, 8 Aug 1890 − 20 November 1891
  10. ^ Built by Rutherford & Co, Birkenhead
  11. ^ 34-foot 3in, 12-oared, built by Chas. Howson & Co. of Liverpool
  12. ^ Transferred to RNLI in 1894, modified, returned to station, and named Coard William Squarey (ON 377)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Hoylake's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2024). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2024. Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 4–132.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Morris, Jeff (January 2003). Hoylake and West Kirby Lifeboats 1803–2003 (4th ed.). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 1–46.
  4. ^ "New lifeboat station opens doors". BBC. 1 November 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  5. ^ Cox, Barry (1998). Lifeboat Gallantry. Spink & Son Ltd. ISBN 0907605893.
  6. ^ "Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire". The Gazette. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  7. ^ "British Empire Medal (Civil Division)". The Gazette. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  8. ^ "MARY GABRIEL". National Historic Ships. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Generous legacy from former Wren to fund Hoylake's new RNLI lifeboat". Wirral Globe. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  10. ^ "20 years of saving lives: Hoylake RNLI mark the anniversary of the hovercraft". RNLI. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
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