Aberystwyth Lifeboat Station
| Inshore Lifeboats | |
|---|---|
| Launch Method | Carriage |
| Address | South Marine Terrace, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 1JY |
| Telephone | 01970 612478 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
In the university and resort town of Aberystwyth on Cardigan Bay, the station runs a fast Atlantic 85 and a small Arancia-class inshore lifeboat from South Marine Terrace. A lifeboat has served the town since 1843, and in 1963 Aberystwyth became the first RNLI station in the country to be equipped with an inshore lifeboat.
The maritime trade of nineteenth-century Aberystwyth made a lifeboat essential. A six-oared boat was bought by public subscription in 1843 and placed under the harbourmaster. After local people risked their lives to save the crew of the wrecked schooner Aquila, a branch of the RNLI was formed, and the town’s first RNLI lifeboat, the Evelyn Wood, entered service in 1861.
The work was hard and sometimes fatal: crew member John James died from exhaustion in 1877 after a long service to a schooner, and in 1880 the lifeboat capsized, without loss of life, returning from a service. A new lifeboat house was built in 1875, and the slipway rebuilt after storm damage.
In 1963 Aberystwyth was chosen as the RNLI’s first inshore-lifeboat station, a milestone in the spread of fast inshore boats. A new boathouse came in 1993 for an Atlantic rigid inflatable, and the station now runs an Atlantic 85, launched by submersible tractor, with a small Arancia-class boat for close-in work. The crew answer the casualties of the bay’s beaches, harbour and fast tides.
