Llandudno Lifeboat Station
| All-Weather Lifeboat | |
|---|---|
| Inshore Lifeboat | |
| Launch Method | SLARS |
| Address | Craig-y-Don, Colwyn Road, Llandudno, LL30 3AA |
| Telephone | 01492 868502 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
In the resort of Llandudno, between the Great and Little Ormes on the Creuddyn peninsula, the station runs a Shannon-class all-weather lifeboat and a D-class from a modern boathouse at Craig-y-Don. A lifeboat has served here since 1861, latterly with a unique distinction: until 2017 it was the last RNLI lifeboat in the country still towed through the streets to launch.
The station was established by the RNLI in 1861 — first named Ormes Head — as a condition of a gift from the Misses Browne of Toxteth Park, in memory of their sister; the first lifeboat was the rowing boat Sister’s Memorial, launched with horses. The first coxswain, Hugh Jones, was a Great Orme copper miner, summoned to a launch when his daughter ran to the mine and banged a stone against the pumping pipes at the head of the shaft.
For over 150 years the lifeboat was towed through the town to the north or west shore, from boathouses near the railway station and, from 1903, in Lloyd Street. Coxswain John Owen won the Bronze Medal in 1919 for rescuing two seafarers from a sailing coaster off Rhôs-on-Sea in a gale.
A new boathouse was completed at Craig-y-Don in 2017, allowing the lifeboat to launch directly into the sea, and a Shannon-class boat arrived to work alongside the D-class. The retired Andy Pearce, which had saved fifty lives, drew hundreds to witness the last town-centre street launch in the UK.
