North Wales – Day 3, Mid Wales

From our base on the North Coast of Wales, our first visit took us almost 2 hours south to the beautiful Cardigan Bay. Lying at the estuary of Afon Mawddach and the southern side of Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) is the seaside town of Barmouth.

Barmouth Lifeboat Station

Arriving at around 9:30 we parked right next door to the lifeboat station which overlooks a vast sandy beach. We took our evidence photo with the bears and heard a call from an upstairs window. Coxwain Pete let us in and gave us a good tour of the impressive station which was opened in 2004. There has been a lifeboat at Barmouth since 1828, making it one of the oldest in Wales.

The station normally houses their Shannon Class, Ella Larsen (13-30) but at the time of our visit, a relief Shannon, John Metters (13-26) was in service. There is also a D-Class, Craig Steadman (D-814).

We had a good chat with Pete and crew member Alex over a cup of tea. We saw a model of their 1949 Liverpool Class, The Chieftain, which is now restored and available to visit in Whitstable, Kent. Also in the boathouse, we were shown a unique pair of Canons called Keith and Alan. After the opening of the station in 2004 tragedy struck in April when coxwain Keith Allday and helm Alan Massey went out in a boat in poor weather to lay moorings (they were Barmouth's harbour master and assistant harbour master). Their boat capsized and their bodies were found later. These two Canons are dedicated in memory of the boatmen.

This was a fascinating visit, full of history and we are grateful to both crew members for taking the time to show us around and also for a generous donation.

Aberdovey Lifeboat Station

Due to the Estuary we had to travel back inland and out again to get to our next stop. Along the way we found a very quaint bridge. Penmaenpool toll bridge is a single track wooden bridge built in 1879 to replace a ferry crossing. It didn’t shave too much time off our journey and cost £1 to cross but it was nice to see and fun to drive across.

Aberdovey Lifeboat Station lies on the sandy shores of the River Dyfi estuary in the village of Aberdyfi. So sandy that, when we arrived, a team of volunteers were busy clearing the slipway outside the station. We were welcomed by Neil and Will who showed us around their boathouse which housed an Atlantic 85, Hugh Miles (B-896) together with a huge Talus M3 launch vehicle, ideal for the sandy shores.

This was another historic location, establishing its first lifeboat station in 1837. Although the station closed in 1931, it reopened in 1963 with one of the UK’s first inshore lifeboats. The current boathouse was built in 2016.

Borth Lifeboat Station

Just over 4 miles down the coast is Borth, however, it is a 25 mile drive taking around 45 minutes as again we head inland to cross the River Dyfi at Machynlleth.

At Borth Lifeboat Station we were met by several crew members and volunteers who happily showed us around their boathouse opened in 2007 and established in 1966. It houses a D-Class, Annie Lizzie (D-893), one of the newest in the fleet and just 1 month into service.

After good chat and a photo with the crew we headed on to our final visit of the day.

Aberystwyth Lifeboat Station

Aberystwyth is a large University town with a long sweeping promenade. The Lifeboat Station lies at the end of the Prom near the Harbour entrance. We were a little early arriving so we popped along to a mobile coffee shop called The Hut. The owners were very interested in what we were doing and after a lovely cup of tea and cake they took some photos and posted our visit on social media. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Back at the station and after a short but heavy downpour, we were met by several crew members who were very happy to show us around their boat and have a good discussion with us. Aberystwyth have a B-Class, Florence and Earnest Bowles (B-937). Another new boat arriving on service in 2023. They also have an unusual Arancia Class (A-78) called Wren.

Arancia, meaning Orange in Italian, are small inshore rescue boats, typically used by Lifeguards. They are small and manoeuvrable ideal for close to shore rescues. There are just 5 lifeboat stations that have the A-Class.