Bude Lifeboat Station
| Inshore Lifeboat | |
|---|---|
| Launch Method | Carriage |
| Address | Summerleaze Beach, Bude, Cornwall, EX23 8HN |
| Telephone | 01288 359734 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
On the surf-pounded north coast of Cornwall, Bude runs a single D-class inshore lifeboat from Summerleaze Beach, covering a rocky, exposed shore where rough Atlantic surf has caused many call-outs. A lifeboat has been associated with the town since 1837; after the all-weather station closed in 1923, an inshore lifeboat returned in 1966.
Following two shipwrecks in 1836, King William IV was petitioned to provide a lifeboat for Bude, and a station was established in 1837, the boathouse located at various points around the estuary of the River Neet and at the canal lock that opens to the sea. The RNLI took over in 1851. A Silver Medal was awarded to W. H. Tregidgo for rescuing two men from a shipwreck in 1853.
With changes in coastal shipping the all-weather lifeboat station closed in 1923, its building later becoming holiday apartments.
As the RNLI placed inshore lifeboats around Cornwall, one came to Bude in May 1966, kept near the South Pier and launched across the beach. After trials at a new site, a station was opened at Summerleaze Beach in 2002, and Bude was later re-designated an all-year-round station. The D-class — with a rescue water craft provided in winter — answers the surf beaches and rocky coast around the town, where bathers, surfers and bodyboarders are regularly caught by powerful waves and rip currents.
