Amble History
1842 A lifeboat station was established and the lifeboat was kept in a boathouse close to the beach.
1852 The station closed and was transferred to Hauxley.
1939 The station re-opened with a motor lifeboat, kept afloat on moorings in the harbour.
1966 A D class inshore lifeboat (ILB) station was established.
1970 On 29 September 1969 an RAF pinnace capsized off Amble Head with six people on board. The ILB launched and, in a heavy breaking sea, managed to pull two survivors aboard; the all weather lifeboat helped another man. Knocking was heard from inside the craft and, as she could not be righted, she was towed with great difficulty into the harbour. After several attempts, Royal Navy divers cut through the vessel and freed a third man inside. Three bodies were also recovered later from among the rocks.
The following awards were made: Bronze Medals to Coxswain William Henderson and Crew Members James Stewart, Andrew Scott and Robert Stewart; Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellums to Second Coxswain John Connell, Acting Bowman Ronald Falcous, Mechanic Ronald Sabiston, Assistant Mechanic Hugh Matthews and Crew Member Hugh R Matthews; Framed Letters of Thanks to the divers J B Sample and E Bramhan.
The awards to Robert Stewart and Andrew Scott were the first medals for a service carried out in an inshore lifeboat. Robert and Andrew were also awarded the Ralph Glister Award for the most meritorious service of the year carried out by the crew of an inshore lifeboat.
1978 Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellums were awarded to Helmsman Matthew Stuart and Crew Member Ian Matthew for searching for a boy who had been washed off the South Pier. They recovered the boy’s body in dangerous conditions close to the sea wall in August 1977.
1986 A new ILB boathouse was built at Radcliffe Quay and the all weather lifeboat was moored alongside.
1991 The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Second Coxswain Rodney Burge for rescuing four crew from the fishing coble Treasure. Two crew were also rescued from the yacht Fair Beagle in a violent storm on 6 October 1990.
1999 The Mersey class lifeboat, ON-1176 The Four Boys, was placed on service on 22 July. The RNLI’s last Waveney class lifeboat, ON-1004 Margaret Graham, left the station and the service on 24 July. At the helm was Coxswain Rodney Burge who retired on 22 August after 30 years of service.
2000 A new pontoon berth was completed.
2002 A new D class boathouse and crew facilities were completed in December.
2003 Framed Letters of Thanks were presented to Helmsman John Sim and Crew Members Esmond Coulter and Christopher Nisbet for attempting to rescue a man in an area notorious for its extreme sea conditions. The lifeboat capsized during the attempted rescue.
2001 A Framed Letter of Thanks was presented to Coxswain John Connell for assisting the historic sailing drifter Reaper in gale force conditions.
Station honours
At Amble lifeboat station the following awards have been made:
Framed Letter of Thanks 6
Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum 8
Bronze Medal 4
