RNLI Angle lifeboat station launched a successful open day recently, when a steady flow of visitors toured the £1.2m boathouse.

Visitors were able to board the £2.7m state-of-the-art Tamar class all weather lifeboat Mark Mason and inspect, for the first time, the new £41,000 D class inshore lifeboat SuperG II, which was officially named in April.

The Tamar has been in service at Angle since 2009, when she was officially named by HRH Prince Michael of Kent, The Grand Master of the Order of Mark Master Masons.

The lifeboat was funded from a £1.6m donation from the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, and by RNLI supporters in Pembrokeshire and Birmingham, who donated over £400,000.

The inshore lifeboat was funded by The Coward Endowment, a small family trust established by the late Charles Coward in 1965.

The new lifeboat was officially handed over to the RNLI by Charles Coward’s son, Clive, whose grandsons Oli and Tom Pece were the inspiration for the lifeboat’s name SuperG, Super Grandad is their name for grandad Clive.

Visitors to the open day were welcomed by Lifeboat Operations Manager John Allen-Mirehouse and Coxswain Lewis Creese.

Welsh cakes, tea and coffee were served by Pembroke Ladies Lifeboat Guild members Rosie Allen-Mirehouse, Guild President and RNLI Angle deputy launching authority; Daphne Bush, Guild Chairman and press officer, and RNLI Angle Head Launcher David Jones.

Following the open day, visitors later returned to the boathouse to see the all weather lifeboat launched and take part in an exercise with her Y-Boat, which carries a crew of two and was deployed and recovered via the transom door.

Afterwards, the all weather lifeboat called in on neighbouring Angle Bay, to the delight of the crowds lining the shore outside the Old Point House Inn after Angle Regatta that afternoon.