Sidmouth Lifeboat Station | |
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General information | |
Type | Lifeboat station |
Location | Sidmouth |
Address | The Esplanade, Sidmouth, Devon, EX10 8BE |
Country | United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 50°40′43″N 3°14′10″W / 50.6785°N 3.2360°W |
Owner | Sidmouth Lifeboat |
Website | |
www |
Sidmouth Lifeboat is a charity that provides lifeboat and lifeguard services in Sidmouth in Devon, England. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) previously operated a lifeboat at Sidmouth between 1869 and 1912. The charity's independent service dates from 1968 and since 2019 its principal lifeboat has been an Arctic 24 boat named Peter & Barbara Truesdale.
The RNLI had established stations at Lyme Regis in 1853 and at Exmouth in 1858.[1] The station at Sidmouth was opened in 1869 to cover the coast between the two earlier stations. A boathouse was built at the end of Ham Lane which housed two lifeboats at different times:[2]
At Sidmouth | ON | Name | Class |
---|---|---|---|
– | Rimington | 1860–1885 | Peake |
40 | William and Frances | 1885–1912 | Self-righter[3] |
The Sidmouth RNLI lifeboat saved 38 lives but by 1912 it was seldom called out and so the station was closed. The boathouse was later demolished but a stone carved with the initials 'RNLBI' was saved and is now over a doorway of the building that stands on the site.[2]
Students at a local secondary school set up a beach lifesaving organisation in 1968 and a rigid inflatable lifeboat was purchased in 1972. The organisation was accredited with the Coastguard as a rescue facility in 1982. A new boathouse was built on The Esplanade when it obtained a new lifeboat in 1991.[2] The lifeboat covers Lyme Bay between Budleigh Salterton and Axmouth.[4]
Name | At Sidmouth | Class | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
1972–1981 | Atlantic 16 | [2] | |
Spirit of Sidmouth | 1981–1998 | Humber | [2] |
Sidmouth Herald | 1998–2004 | Atlantic 21 | Purchased from the RNLI, Operational Number B-577.[2] |
Pride of Sidmouth | 2004–2019 | Arctic 24 | [2] |
Peter & Barbara Truesdale | 2019– | Acrtic 24 | [5] |
The Arctic 24 lifeboats are 7.66 m (25.1 ft) long and can carry 4 crew with 8 survivors. Sidmouth Lifeboat also operates a 4.2 m (14 ft) MilproAvon Sea Rider boat which is known as Speedy Sid.[5]