History
The Rev. R. Redman wrote to the RNLI in London in January 1864, requesting a lifeboat station for Blackpool, with his request endorsed by coastguard officer Capt. L. Barstow, RN. The Inspector of Lifeboats, Capt. J. R. Ward, RN, then visited the town in February of the same year, and fully supported the request. [3]
It was formally agreed to establish a lifeboat station at Blackpool, at a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on 3 March 1864. [4]
At the same meeting, the donation of £250 was acknowledged, received by the Institution on 18 February 1864, for a lifeboat to be stationed at Blackpool. The lifeboat was to be named Robert William, in memory of the late R. W. Hopkins of Preston, Lancashire, the donation being the gift of his Widow and Daughter. It was also reported that the £100 cost of the carriage was gifted by Miss Atherton, of Kersal Cell, Salford. [4]
A 33-foot 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails and (10) oars, was constructed by Forrestt, of Limehouse, London, and transported along with its carriage to Blackpool free of charge, by the London and North Western Railway. The first launch of the lifeboat took place on 20 July 1864, in front of an estimated crowd of 20,000 people. [5]
Rev. Redman was appointed Honorary Secretary, Robert Bickerstaffe (Coxswain), John Swarbrick (Second Coxswain) and Will Parr (Bowman). [3]
A location for a boathouse was found on Lytham Road, just off the promenade, and was built by Forshaw Bros. of Preston, at a cost of £193 14s 7d, offset by a donation of £100 from Sir Benjamin Heywood, Bt. [3] [4]
Blackpool lifeboat Robert William was launched into gale-force conditions on 26 February 1880, when the schooner Bessie Jones of Fleetwood, on passage from Glasgow to Liverpool, was driven onto Salthouse Bank, carrying a cargo of steel railway rails. The lifeboat was shorthanded, and took two hours hard rowing to get to the vessel. After rescuing the four crew, the lifeboat headed for St Annes, at one point ending on her beam ends on a sandbank, but made it safely ashore. Coxswain Robert Bickerstaffe was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal. [6] [7]
The promenade was widened in 1904, and the lifeboat had to be taken half a mile, pulled by hand, before reaching the only slipway. However, it was only in 1930 when a launch and recover tractor was provided to Blackpool, which was of great benefit moving the boat, and launching on soft sand and shallow water. [1]
In 1936, it was decided to send a new motor lifeboat to Blackpool. This boat required a new bigger boat-house, which was constructed alongside Blackpool Central Pier. The Liverpool-class lifeboat Sarah Ann Austin (ON 800) was delivered to the station in June 1937. She was fortunate to arrive at all, as a fire had consumed Groves and Guttridge's boat builders yard, and three other new lifeboats, only 15 hours after she was launched. [3]
Blackpool received the first of its D-class inshore lifeboats in May 1965, with the first services in June of the same year soon proving it to be a valuable new asset.
In 1975, it was decided to withdraw the All-weather lifeboat from Blackpool. A B-class (Atlantic 21) was placed on trial between 1975 and 1979, but at the time, it was felt that the Atlantic 21 didn't fit the requirements at Blackpool, and so instead, a second D-class was placed on service at Blackpool in 1979. However, in 1992, a B-class (Atlantic 75) (B-700) was trialed for 2 weeks and felt to be much better suited to the station. Rotaract 1 (B-718) was placed on station in 1996, with the two D-class boats being retained. [3]
With the need for a larger boathouse, and concrete degradation being found in the 1930s boathouse, a new building was commissioned in 1996, located along the promenade, to house all three boats and launch tractors, with a visitor centre and souvenir shop. It was constructed by F. Parkinson Ltd, and formally handed over to the RNLI in September 1998. [3]
Royal National Lifeboat Institution