For those In peril on the sea (From Western Telegraph)

For those In peril on the sea

Tenby has had a lifeboat for over 150 years. The first craft was bought by the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Benevolent Society and sent to the town in 1852. It was 28ft long and 7ft wide, powered by ten oars and cost £125! A boathouse was built for it in the corner of the harbour known as Penniless Cove.

The second boathouse was built on Castle Beach for a new lifeboat, RNLB Florence, in 1862. Three more boats came here during the following 42 years and in 1905 the present boathouse was finished. The first motor lifeboat to serve at Tenby arrived in 1923, replacing oar and sail power with an engine capable of 8.6knots!

The present lifeboat, RNLBRFA Sir Galahad, has been stationed in Tenby since 1986 and performed many rescues, but is now due to be replaced.

The town will be the proud recipient of the very first Tamar Class all-weather lifeboat, the most sophisticated rescue boat anywhere in the world. It will have a range of 240 nautical miles and reach a speed of 25 knots.

The cost of £2 million has been met by the generosity of Mr Haydn Miller, after whom she will be named.

This magnificent craft will be housed in the brand new boathouse, built on the site of the old Royal Victoria Pier, which should be finished by the end of this month. The new lifeboat station has been designed around the specifications of the new lifeboat, and trials will take place in March down the new slipway, with a 1:5 gradient, which will take the lifeboat into deeper water and replace the existing slip - the longest in the country at 365' from doors to water.

Tenby is justifiably proud of its RNLI heritage, there have been many, many spectacular and daring rescues by lifeboatmen down the ages, and many lives have been saved thanks to the bravery of those volunteers who crew the lifeboat. One of the most noteworthy was the rescue of the entire crew of the St Govan's light vessel, seven miles off St Govan's Head in hurricane force winds. The light vessel has since been replaced by an unmanned light buoy.

The most recent recipient of a RNLI award for valour is present coxswain Alan Thomas, who received the Silver Medal in 1989. This was for his actions in saving two people from a fishing boat in Rhosilli Bay, off Gower.

Alan comes from a long line of Tenby lifeboatmen - his great grandfather and father were also coxswains of the lifeboat, and Bob James, the present Tenby lifeboat press officer serves alongside his three sons.

There have also been lifeboatmen from the Lewis, Thomas and Crockford families for generations, and many other families have connections with the lifeboat stretching back across the years.

There are 32 crew members, all of whom have to live within the town or its outskirts, but only seven go to sea at any one time, the coxswain, assistant cox and mechanic, together with, generally, the first four other crewmen to make it to the station after the alarm is raised.

The station was the second busiest in Wales last year and the crew have already put to sea several times over the winter.

In January 2004 an appeal for £20,000 towards the cost of the new Tenby boathouse was launched in the county. Since then £15,000 has been raised towards the total. This amount has been generated in a wide variety different ways, by groups and individuals; some in Pembrokeshire and some from further afield.

Many people have given tea parties and coffee mornings, including the Mayor of Tenby and St. Teilo's School, and staff at the Western Telegraph offices kicked off the Tea for Ten-by initiative, raising cash for the fund.

An enterprising group of teenagers staged a pop concert, pubs have placed gallon bottles on their counters to collect loose change and Lifeboat branches and guilds have organised special events.

Sponsorship of swims, white water rafting and a run in the London Marathon have added to the funds. Babysitting, a western night organised by Texaco (Pembroke), sales of craft items, a Narberth Food Club dinner and Templeton School's Harvest Festival collection increased the total still further. Supporters from other areas, who have past connections with, or love of, Tenby have sent generous donations.

All contributions, large and small, have been gratefully received and the appeal has been so successful that only £5,000 remains to be found. It is hoped that everyone locally will rally round to help raise this cash, so that, when the new lifeboat station begins its service, supporters can be justly proud of the part they played in helping this to be achieved.