ANGLE RNLI’s open day sailed to success on Saturday, August 5, with nearly 300 visitors touring the station and a parade of four lifeboats completing the event in style.

The parade was led by Angle’s £2.7 million Tamar class all-weather lifeboat Mark Mason, followed by the ex-RNLI Watson class lifeboats Richard Vernon and Mary Garforth of Leeds and Pentland, and the ex-RNLI Liverpool class lifeboat The Chieftain.

The Richard Vernon and Mary Garforth of Leeds, which is owned by Bevis Musk, is a former Angle lifeboat built in 1956. She served at the station from 1957 to 1987, when for some years among her volunteer crew members was Danny Richards, who is now second coxswain of the Tamar lifeboat.

Danny has over 43 years’ service with the RNLI, having also served in the Tyne class lifeboat The Lady Rank at Angle from 1987 to 2008 and in various relief lifeboats sent to the station.

For the open day parade Danny joined the Pentland, owned by the Rev Mike Brotherton, retired Royal Navy Chaplain and Deputy Launch Authority at Angle RNLI.

Oldest of the veteran lifeboats was The Chieftain, which was built in 1948 and was stationed at Barmouth from 1949 to 1982.

This year’s open day coincided with Angle Regatta and the Mark Mason led the veteran lifeboats into Angle Bay to the delight of the crowds lining the shore outside the Old Point House inn.

Open day visitors, who were welcomed by Lifeboat Operations Manager Julian Hammond and Coxswain Lewis Creese, met crew members and enjoyed tours of the station and the state-of-the-art Tamar lifeboat.

They also viewed the relief £41,000 D class inshore lifeboat, Northern Light, which is on duty at Angle, while the station’s own inshore lifeboat, SuperG II, undergoes maintenance.

Volunteer crew members Richard ‘Rags’ Davidson and Paul Smart operated a barbecue near the entrance to the station and refreshments were served in the crewroom.

RNLI souvenirs were sold by the station’s treasurer Linda Foulstone, and there were also several activities for children and competitions to ‘Play Your Cards Right’ with volunteer shore crew member Ian Foulstone and ‘Guess the Bear’s Name’ with Sharon Duffield.