Porthcawl Lifeboat Station
| Inshore Lifeboats | |
|---|---|
| Launch Method | Carriage |
| Address | The Esplanade, Porthcawl, Bridgend, CF36 3YR |
| Telephone | 01656 783299 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
On the Glamorgan coast at the mouth of the Bristol Channel, Porthcawl runs a fast Atlantic 85 and a D-class from the Esplanade, covering a coast of treacherous reefs and powerful tides around Sker Point. An RNLI station was first established here in 1860; after closing in 1902 it reopened as an inshore station in 1965.
The Glamorganshire coast around Porthcawl has long been notorious for shipwreck. In just four years between 1856 and 1860, no fewer than nine RNLI Silver Medals were awarded for rescues in the Porthcawl area — deeds that helped prompt the establishment of a station. Following a recommendation from the RNLI District Inspector, a lifeboat station was established at Porthcawl in 1860.
The station served the growing trade of Porthcawl Dock, but when the dock closed in 1902 the lifeboat station closed with it, the area covered by neighbouring stations for the next six decades.
As the RNLI placed inshore lifeboats around the coast, Porthcawl reopened as an inshore station in 1965 with a D-class. It now runs an Atlantic 85 alongside the D-class, working a busy and dangerous coast where surf, fast tides and the reefs off Sker Point regularly catch out swimmers, surfers, anglers and small craft. The waters here were the scene of the 1947 Samtampa disaster off Sker Point, in which the neighbouring Mumbles lifeboat and her crew were lost.
