Hoylake Lifeboat Station Explained

Hoylake Lifeboat Station
Map Type:Merseyside
Pushpin Relief:1
Location:Hoylake Lifeboat Station
Address:55 North Parade
Location City:Hoylake, Wirral, Merseyside, CH47 3AL
Location Country:England
Coordinates:53.3992°N -3.1775°W
Building Type:RNLI Lifeboat Station
Opened Date:1803 / 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 All-weather lifeboat, and a Griffon Type 470TD Hovercraft.[2]

History

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 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

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

George Davies, Coxswain - 1851

Thomas Dodd, Coxswain - 1902

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

Peter Jones, Acting Motor Mechanic - 1980

Alan Tolley, Acting Assistant Mechanic - 1980

Geoffrey Ormrod, crew member - 1980

Gordon Bird, crew member - 1980

Hoylake Lifeboat Crew - 1902

Capt. Joshua Armitage - 1896

John McDermott, Second Coxswain - 1980

David Dodd, crew member - 1980

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

Liverpool Dock Trustee lifeboats

Hoylake

NameIn serviceClassComments
1826−184130-foot Non-self-righting[8]

1840−184830-foot Non-self-righting (P&S)[9]
1841−186230-foot Non-self-righting (P&S)[10]
1862−189234-foot Non-self-righting (P&S)[11]
1892−189434-foot Non-self-righting (P&S)[12]
[13]

Hilbre Island

NameIn serviceClassComments

30-foot Non-self-righting (P&S)[14]
1864−1890
1891−1895
33-foot 6in Non-self-righting (P&S)[15]
[16]

RNLI lifeboats

Hilbre Island

ONNameIn serviceClassComments
383Admiral BriggsLiverpool P&S[17]
413James Stevens No.21914−1924Liverpool P&S
461Chapman1924−1938Liverpool P&S

Station Closed, 1938

Hoylake

ONOp.No.NameIn serviceClassComments
377,
Coard William Squarey
34-foot Non-self-righting (P&S)[18]
[19]
555Hannah Fawsett Bennett1906−1931Liverpool P&S
750Oldham1931−1952
894Oldham IV1952−1970
862Thomas Corbett1970−1974
100037-29Mary Gabriel1974−1990[20]
1163Lady of Hilbre1990−2014
131313-06Edmund Hawthorne Micklewood2014−[21]
Hurley Spirit 2016−Hovercraft[22]

Launch and recovery tractors

Op.No.Reg. No.TypeIn serviceComments
T1TC 648Clayton1921
T3MA 6793Clayton
T23PP 7515FWD Co.1928–1929
T24UW 2641FWD Co.1929–1949
T45KGJ 58Case LA1949–1953
T56MYR 426Fowler Challenger III1953–1960
T67YLD 792Fowler Challenger III1960–1969
T61PLA 561Fowler Challenger III1969–1975
T63PFX 163Fowler Challenger III1975–1978
T68YUV 742Fowler Challenger III1978–1982
T56MYR 426Fowler Challenger III1982–1983
T91UAW 558YTalus MB-H Crawler1983–1986
T94B567 FAWTalus MB-H Crawler1986–1997
T92A462 AUXTalus MB-H Crawler1997–2007
T99C82 NUXTalus MB-H Crawler2007–2014

Roland Hough
SLARS (Supacat)2014–

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hoylake's station history . RNLI . 7 March 2024.
  2. Book: Leonard . Richie . Denton . Tony . Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2024. 2024 . Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society . 4–132.
  3. Book: Morris . Jeff . Hoylake and West Kirby Lifeboats 1803–2003 . January 2003 . Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society . 1–46 . 4th.
  4. News: New lifeboat station opens doors . 7 March 2024 . BBC . 1 November 2008.
  5. Book: Cox . Barry . Lifeboat Gallantry . 1998 . Spink & Son Ltd . 0907605893.
  6. Web site: Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire . The Gazette . 7 March 2024.
  7. Web site: British Empire Medal (Civil Division) . The Gazette . 7 March 2024.
  8. It is assumed that this boat is identical to the 30-foot 10-oared boat supplied to Point of Air at the same time
  9. 30-foot 10-oared non-self-righting boat, built by local boat-builder Thomas Costain
  10. 30-foot 10-oared non-self-righting boat, built by local boat-builder Thomas Costain
  11. 34-foot 12-Oared non-self-righting boat, built by Lamb and White, of Cowes
  12. 34-foot 3in, 12-oared, built by Chas. Howson & Co. of Liverpool
  13. Transferred to RNLI in 1894, modified, returned to station and named Coard William Squarey (ON 377)
  14. 30-foot 10-oared non-self-righting boat, built by local boat-builder Thomas Costain
  15. 33-foot 6in, 12-oared, built by Thomas Costain
  16. On loan to Point of Air, 8 Aug 1890 − 20 November 1891
  17. Built by Rutherford & Co, Birkenhead
  18. 34-foot 3in, 12-oared, built by Chas. Howson & Co. of Liverpool
  19. Transferred to RNLI in 1894, modified, returned to station, and named Coard William Squarey (ON 377)
  20. Web site: MARY GABRIEL . National Historic Ships . 7 March 2024.
  21. News: Generous legacy from former Wren to fund Hoylake's new RNLI lifeboat . 7 March 2024 . Wirral Globe . 28 February 2014.
  22. Web site: 20 years of saving lives: Hoylake RNLI mark the anniversary of the hovercraft . RNLI . 28 November 2022.