Volunteer Life Brigade

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Watch House of the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade Tynemouth VLB Watch House.jpg
Watch House of the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade

A Volunteer Life Brigade is a search and rescue organisation which assists HM Coastguard in the United Kingdom in coastal emergencies. Around 40 VLBs were established in the mid-to-late 19th century; today just three remain, continuing to provide shore-based search and rescue support from locations on the coast of north-east England. They are akin to, but predate, the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service (which dates from 1931) and the National Coastwatch Institution (founded 1994).

United Kingdom Country in Europe

The United Kingdom (UK), officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and sometimes referred to as Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world. It is also the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.

National Coastwatch Institution British charity Organisation providing a visual watch of the coastline

The National Coastwatch Institution is a voluntary organisation and registered charity providing a visual watch along the UK's coasts, and is not to be confused with HM Coastguard.

Contents

Origins

South Shields VLB Watch House dates from 1867 South Shields VLB Watch House.jpg
South Shields VLB Watch House dates from 1867

The Volunteer Life Brigades date from a time when Coastguard provision for coastal rescue had been substantially reduced. The first unit, at Tynemouth, was established on 5 December 1864 following a series of shipwrecks on the shoreline in which crewmembers perished watched by spectators ashore who were powerless to help. Over 100 volunteers signed up at the first public meeting. Other units soon followed, often founded in similar circumstances and modelled along the lines of Tynemouth's example.

Tynemouth town and a historic borough in Tyne & Wear, England

Tynemouth is a town and a historic borough in Tyne and Wear, England at the mouth of the River Tyne, being 8.1 miles (13.0 km) east-northeast of Newcastle upon Tyne. Historically part of Northumberland, the modern town of Tynemouth includes North Shields and Cullercoats and had a 2011 population of 67,519. It is administered as part of the borough of North Tyneside, but until 1974 was an independent county borough, including North Shields, in its own right. It had a population of 17,056 in 2001. The population of the Tynemouth ward of North Tyneside was at the 2011 Census 10,472.

From the start the Volunteer Life Brigades worked closely with local Coastguard officers, providing trained and disciplined teams of volunteers to assist in emergency situations; training was overseen by HM Coastguard. The Volunteer Life Brigades were shore-based organisations, trained in ship-to-shore (e.g. Breeches buoy) rescue techniques; they worked in conjunction with those providing a seaborne rescue capability, such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (which had received its Royal Charter a few years earlier) and local Lifeboat Societies (Tynemouth's dated from 1789).

Breeches buoy

A breeches buoy is a crude rope-based rescue device used to extract people from wrecked vessels, or to transfer people from one location to another in situations of danger. The device resembles a round emergency personal flotation device with a leg harness attached. It is similar to a zip line.The breeches buoy was usually deployed from either ship to ship, or ship to shore using a rocket, kite system, or a lyle gun, and allowed single person evacuations. A line is attached to the ship, and the person being rescued is pulled to shore in the breeches buoy which rides the line similar to a zip line.

Royal National Lifeboat Institution Maritime rescue organisation in the UK, Ireland, Channel Island and Isle of Man

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. There are numerous other lifeboat services operating in the same area.

The early success of the VLB arrangement at Tynemouth impressed the Board of Trade, the Government office with responsibility for safety at sea; the Board recommended that similar arrangements be made at every Coastguard station around the country. In some cases the Tynemouth model was followed: independent Volunteer Life Brigades were established, administered by a local committee. In other cases teams of volunteers were established and administered directly by the local Coastguard officers; these bodies were termed Volunteer Life-Saving Companies. [1]

Board of Trade committee of the United Kingdom Privy Council

The Board of Trade is a British government department concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations, but is commonly known as the Board of Trade, and formerly known as the Lords of Trade and Plantations or Lords of Trade, and it has been a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. The Board has gone through several evolutions, beginning with extensive involvement in colonial matters in the 17th Century, to powerful regulatory functions in the Victorian Era, to virtually being dormant in the last third of 20th century. In 2017, it was revitalized as an advisory board headed by the International Trade Secretary who has nominally held the title of President of the Board of Trade, and who at present is the only privy counsellor of the Board, the other members of the present Board filling roles as advisers.

Current activities

Sunderland VLB Watch House above Roker Pier Sunderland VLB Watch House.jpg
Sunderland VLB Watch House above Roker Pier

The three remaining VLBs are all registered charities and both Tynemouth and South Shields are "declared facilities" in relation to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. They are on call to the Coastguard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, each providing a shore-based team of volunteers trained and ready to provide assistance in a range of coastal emergency situations. [2]

Maritime and Coastguard Agency UK executive agency

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is an executive agency of the United Kingdom working to prevent the loss of lives at sea and is responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy. It is also responsible for land based search and rescue helicopter operations from 2015.

Active units

South Shields coastal town at the mouth of the River Tyne, England

South Shields is a coastal town at the mouth of the River Tyne, England, about 3.7 miles (6.0 km) downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne. Historically in County Durham, the town has a population of 75,337, the third largest in Tyneside after Newcastle and Gateshead. It is part of the metropolitan borough of South Tyneside which includes the towns of Jarrow and Hebburn. South Shields is represented in Parliament by Labour MP Emma Lewell-Buck. The demonym of a person from South Shields is either a Geordie or a Sand dancer.

Watch houses

Cullercoats Watch House (built 1875); now houses a community centre and exhibition space. Life Brigade Watch House, Cullercoats - geograph.org.uk - 1635130.jpg
Cullercoats Watch House (built 1875); now houses a community centre and exhibition space.

Each Volunteer Life Brigade operates from a Watch House on the seafront; these provide a base for training and other activities, and each houses a small museum. Those at South Shields and Tynemouth are listed buildings, dating from 1867 and 1886 respectively. Alongside the Watch Houses, Cart Houses (also known as Rocket Garages) were built to house rocket equipment (crucial to the brigades' operation in early years) together with a means of transport (usually a hand-cart); today they house up-to-date rescue vehicles and equipment.

Examples of disbanded units

Volunteer Life Brigade

Volunteer Life-Saving Company

Watch House and cottages, Seaton Sluice Watch House Museum and Houses - Seaton Sluice - geograph.org.uk - 646317.jpg
Watch House and cottages, Seaton Sluice

Related Research Articles

Coast guard Maritime security organization of a particular country

A coast guard or coastguard, is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with search and rescue functions and lacking any law enforcement powers. However, a typical coast guard's functions are distinct from typical functions of both the navy and a transportation police.

Search and rescue Search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger

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Her Majestys Coastguard section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Her Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is a section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the UK Maritime Search and Rescue Region. This includes the mobilisation, organisation and tasking of adequate resources to respond to persons either in distress at sea, or to persons at risk of injury or death on the cliffs or shoreline of the United Kingdom. It is also responsible for land based search and rescue helicopter operations from 2015.

Cullercoats a town in Tyne and Wear, United Kindom

Cullercoats is a village and urban area of North East England, with a population 9,407 in 2004. It has now been absorbed into the North Tyneside conurbation, sitting between Tynemouth and Whitley Bay.The population of this North Tyneside ward at the 2011 census was 9,202.

Tynemouth (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Tynemouth is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Alan Campbell, a member of the Labour Party.

United States Life-Saving Service Precursor to the U.S. Coast Guard

The United States Life-Saving Service was a United States government agency that grew out of private and local humanitarian efforts to save the lives of shipwrecked mariners and passengers. It began in 1848 and ultimately merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form the United States Coast Guard in 1915.

Irish Coast Guard state Coast guard in republic of Ireland

The Irish Coast Guard is part of the Department of Transport of the Republic of Ireland. The primary roles of the Coast Guard include maritime safety and search and rescue. The Irish Search and Rescue Region, which includes most of the Republic of Ireland and some parts of Northern Ireland, is the area over which the Coast Guard has responsibility. This area is bordered by the UK Search and Rescue Region.

A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crew and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine. Lifeboats may be rigid, inflatable or rigid-inflatable combination hulled vessels.

SS Hopelyn was a Merchant vessel from Newcastle which became stranded and then wrecked on Scroby Sands of the Norfolk coast on 17 October 1922.

Penarth Lifeboat Station lifeboat station on the South coast of Wales

Penarth Lifeboat Station is located in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and originally opened in 1861.

Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service

Gosport Lifeboat Station is a volunteer-operated independent lifeboat station charity located in the village of Alverstoke on the peninsula of Gosport in the English county of Hampshire. Owned and operated by Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service (GAFIRS), it operates free lifeboat services in the Solent from Portsmouth Harbour to Titchfield Haven, on the approaching shores of Southampton Water. GAFIRS is a charity registered in England and Wales (1159681).

Cardigan Lifeboat Station lifeboat station on the West coast of Wales

Cardigan Lifeboat Station, at Poppit Sands, North Pembrokeshire, near Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales, is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station opened in 1849. The station closed in 1932 but reopened in 1971 as an inshore lifeboat station.

The Tynemouth Volunteer Artillery claims to be the oldest volunteer artillery unit of the British Army. It served coastal, siege and anti-aircraft guns in World War I and World War II, and also served in the infantry role.

Isle of Man Coastguard

The Isle of Man Coastguard also known as the Manx Coastguard is the coastguard service of the Isle of Man Government. It is responsible for the provision of coastguard services throughout the Isle of Man, an independent Crown dependency located in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland. Its main responsibilities are coastal patrol, pollution control, and the provision of shore-based search and rescue services.

Happisburgh Lifeboat Station lifeboat station on the East coast of England in the UK

Happisburgh Lifeboat Station is an RNLI Inshore lifeboat station close to the village of Happisburgh in the English county of Norfolk in the United Kingdom. Since 2003 the station boathouse has been re-located from the village to an area south called Cart Gap. This is because the beach below Happisburgh disappeared due to coastal erosion and the stations slipway and access was washed away. The original boathouse in the village is now used for training. There are currently two inshore lifeboats station at Happisburgh and they are an Atlantic 75-class inshore lifeboat called Friendly Forrester II (B-710) and a D-class inshore lifeboat called Spirit of Berkhamsted (D-607)

Joseph Ray Hodgson Lifesaver

Joseph Ray Hodgson was an Englishman hailed as a hero dozens of times after risking his life to save people from drowning, often during a winter storm in the North Sea. He was nicknamed The Stormy Petrel, after the seabirds, because whenever a gale blew up, he could be seen on Sunderland pier searching the skyline for ships in distress in order that he might help. Hodgson was living and working in Sunderland at the same time as the diver, Harry Watts, who was equally famed for saving lives. Hodgson is commemorated in the album titled Stormy Petrel by Sunderland punk band Leatherface.

Black Middens

The Black Middens is a reef at the mouth of the River Tyne in North East England, noted for the danger it poses to shipping.

Filey Lifeboat Station

Filey Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station located in the town of Filey, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of nine operational RNLI lifeboat stations situated on the Yorkshire Coast.

References

  1. ↑ Tynemouth VLB history
  2. ↑ "Charity Commission website".
  3. ↑ CVLB history
  4. ↑ Local history page
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