Hoylake Lifeboat Station

Hoylake Lifeboat Station
Hoylake Lifeboat Station
Hoylake, Wirral
General information
TypeRNLI Lifeboat Station
LocationHoylake Lifeboat Station, 55 North Parade, Hoylake, Wirral, Merseyside, CH47 3AL, England
Coordinates53°23′57.0″N 3°10′38.9″W / 53.399167°N 3.177472°W / 53.399167; -3.177472
Opened
  • 1803 Liverpool Dock Trustees
  • 1894 RNLI
Owner Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Website
Hoylake RNLI Lifeboat Station

Hoylake Lifeboat Station is located on the North Parade promenade in the town of Hoylake, on the Wirral Peninsula, in Merseyside.

A lifeboat was first stationed at Hoylake by the Liverpool Dock Trustees in 1803. The station was transferred to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1894.[1]

The station currently operates 13-06 Edmund Hawthorne Micklewood (ON 1313), a Shannon-class All-weather lifeboat, and Hurley Spirit (H-005), a Griffon Type 470TD Hovercraft.[2]

History

On 16 September 1803, the Liverpool Dock Trustees ordered that a lifeboat, purchased from Henry Greathead in 1802, be placed in service at Hoylake, one of 6 lifeboat stations in the area provided by the Dock Trustees. The boat was to be housed in a newly constructed wooden boathouse, under the supervision of the local Tide Surveyor, Mr. Marlowe. The first Master (coxswain) was Thomas Seed, Lower Lighthouse Keeper. Thomas Seed died in 1808, and the Dock Trustees appointed Capt. Joseph Bennett, already an experienced Liverpool pilot, as Master of Hoylake lifeboat, and Keeper of the Lower Lighthouse, on a salary of 40 guineas.[3]

With enormous waves battering the beach, Hoylake's Greathead-class lifeboat was launched on the 29 December 1810, to the aid of the ship Traveller, on passage from Demerara to Liverpool, when she was driven ashore on the Hoyle Bank. Rowing out to the vessel, the lifeboat capsized. Eight crew were lost. A memorial now sits outside Hoylake lifeboat station.[1][4]

Following an wreck of the Athebaska in 1838, when none of the lifeboats from Hoylake, Point of Air or Magazine village were able to effect a rescue, with the loss of all aboard, the Dock Trustees decided to place a No.2 boat at Hoylake in 1840, specially constructed by local boat-builder Thomas Costain to suit the local conditions. So pleased were the crew with the new boat, they requested another one, to replace their No.1 boat, which arrived in 1841.[3]

By 1847, launching of either Hoylake boat was proving difficult at certain times due to silting. So it was decided to create a station on Hilbre Island. A stone built boathouse and slipway were constructed, a caretaker was appointed to live on the island, and in 1848, the Hoylake No.2 boat was transferred to Hilbre Island.[1]

Liverpool Dock Trustees handed over control of all their lifeboat stations to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board in 1858. However, by the 1890s, with an ever increasing work load due to rising levels of port traffic at Liverpool, negotiations took place between the two parties, and on 1 July 1894, all the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board lifeboat stations were handed over to the RNLI. The Hoylake boat was only two-years-old, so after being sent away for some modification work, the boat was returned to Hoylake and was named Coard William Squarey (ON 377).[3]

In 1898, the RNLI gave up their existing wooden boat house and site, to allow Hoylake Council to create an Esplanade. A new site was provided by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, and the council paid £200 towards the construction of a new lifeboat station, which cost £922, and was completed in 1899. The council also constructed a new slipway opposite the new boathouse at no cost to the RNLI.[3]

Hoylake was one of the first stations to trial a launch tractor, receiving a Clayton tractor T1 in 1921. They also got a new lifeboat in 1931. She was the first of the new motor-powered Liverpool-class lifeboats, with a single 35-hp engine, capable of 7.3 knots.[5]

The first of thirteen Fowler Challenger III amphibious tractors was introduced at Hoylake in 1953.[6]

With motor lifeboats at Hoylake and New Brighton, and one due at Rhyl, it was considered that there was enough lifeboat coverage for the area, and it was announced that Hilbre Island station would close in 1938.[1]

Nearly 110 years since the building of Hoylake's 1899 lifeboat station, at a cost of £922, a new station was constructed on the site of Hoylake's old open air baths, located about half a mile to the east of the old station, on the sea-side of North Parade. It followed two years of fundraising, and cost £2 million to construct.[7]

Station honours

The following are awards made at Hoylake[1][8]

George Davies, Coxswain – 1851
Thomas Dodd, Coxswain – 1902
  • Silver Medal awarded by the Government of the Netherlands
George Davies, Coxswain – 1864
Herbert Jones, Coxswain – 1943
Benjamin Stanton Armitage, boatman – 1943
William G. Widdup, late Coxswain, H.M. Coastguard – 1943
Harold Triggs, Coxswain – 1971
Thomas Henry Jones, Coxswain – 1980
  • Medal Service Certificate
Peter Jones, Acting Motor Mechanic – 1980
Alan Tolley, Acting Assistant Mechanic – 1980
Geoffrey Ormrod, crew member – 1980
Gordon Bird, crew member – 1980
    • First Class Certificate of Merit
    • awarded by The Imperial Russian Association for Life-saving on Waters
Each of the Hoylake Lifeboat Crew – 1902
  • The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
Capt. Joshua Armitage – 1896
John McDermott, Second Coxswain – 1980
David Dodd, crew member – 1980
  • A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
Jeffery Kernigan, Acting Tractor Driver – 1980
Jesse Bird, Acting Assistant Tractor Driver – 1980
David Arthur Dodd, Coxswain – 1998QBH[9]
David Anthony Whiteley, Coxswain – 2016NYH[10]

Roll of honour

In memory of those lost whilst serving Hoylake lifeboat.[3]

  • Lost when the Greathead-class lifeboat capsized, on service to the ship Traveller, 29 December 1810.[4]
Henry Bird (40)
Henry Bird (18)
John Bird (43)
John Bird (16)
Joseph Hughes (38)
Richard Hughes (36)
Thomas Hughes (16)
Nicholas Seed (27)
  • Died following a blow to the head with the winch handle, whilst recovering the lifeboat Admiral Briggs (ON 383), following service to the fishing boat Sarah Ann, 6 September 1899.
Edward Lilley, shore crew (30)
  • Drowned after being washed overboard from the Hannah Fawsett Bennett (ON 555), whilst on service to the sloop Swift of Runcorn, 15 November 1906
John Isaac Roberts, crewman (23)

Hoylake and Hilbre lifeboats

Liverpool Dock Trustee lifeboats

Hoylake

Name Built On station[3] Class Comments
Unnamed 1802 1803−c.1818 Greathead
Unnamed 1826 1826−1840 30-foot Non-self-righting [Note 1]
With no specific records, it has been assumed that this boat was identical to the boat supplied to Point of Air at the same time.
Unnamed 1840 1840−1862 30-foot Non-self-righting [Note 2]
Unnamed 1862 1862−1892 34-foot Whale-boat [Note 3]
Unnamed 1892 1892−1894 34-foot Liverpool (P&S) [Note 4]
Transferred to RNLI in 1894, modified, returned to station named Coard William Squarey (ON 377)

Hoylake No.2

Name Built On station[3] Class Comments
Unnamed 1839 1840−1848 30-foot Non-self-righting [Note 5]
Moved to Hilbre Island, 1848.

Hilbre Island

Name Built On station[3] Class Comments
Unnamed 1839 1848−1864 30-foot Non-self-righting (P&S) Previously Hoylake No.2
Unnamed 1864
  • 1864−1890
  • 1891−1895
 33-foot 6in Non-self-righting (P&S) [Note 6]
On loan to Point of Air, 8 Aug 1890 − 20 November 1891.

RNLI lifeboats

Hilbre Island

ON[a] Name Built On station[11] Class Comments
383 Admiral Briggs 1895 1895−1914 35-foot Liverpool (P&S) [Note 7]
413 Reserve No. 9A 1898 1914−1924 35-foot Liverpool (P&S) [Note 8]
Previously James Stevens No.2 at Campbeltown.
461 Chapman 1901 1924−1938 35-foot Liverpool (P&S) [Note 9]
Previously at Groomsport.
Station Closed, 1938

Hoylake (P&S) lifeboats

ON[a] Name Built On station[12] Class Comments
377 Coard William Squarey 1892 1894−1906 34-foot Liverpool (P&S)
555 Hannah Fawsett Bennett 1906 1906−1931 38-foot Liverpool (P&S) [Note 10]

Hoylake Motor lifeboats

ON[a] Op.No.[b] Name Built On station[12] Class Comments
750 − Oldham 1931 1931−1952 Liverpool
894 − Oldham IV 1952 1952−1970 Liverpool
862 − Thomas Corbett 1948 1970−1974 Liverpool
1000 37-29 Mary Gabriel 1973 1974−1990 Rother [13]
1163 12-005 Lady of Hilbre 1990 1990−2014 Mersey
1313 13-06 Edmund Hawthorne Micklewood 2014 2014− Shannon [14]

Hovercraft

Op.No.[b] Name Built On station[15] Class Comments
H-005 Hurley Spirit 2005 2016− Hovercraft

Launch and recovery tractors

Op.No.[b] Reg. No. Type On station[17] Comments
T1 TC 648 Clayton 1921
T3 MA 6793 Clayton 1921–1928
T23 PP 7515 FWD Co. 1928–1929
T24 UW 2641 FWD Co. 1929–1949
T45 KGJ 58 Case LA 1949–1953
T56 MYR 426 Fowler Challenger III 1953–1960
T67 YLD 792 Fowler Challenger III 1960–1969
T61 PLA 561 Fowler Challenger III 1969–1975
T63 PFX 163 Fowler Challenger III 1975–1978
T68 YUV 742 Fowler Challenger III 1978–1982
T56 MYR 426 Fowler Challenger III 1982–1983
T91 UAW 558Y Talus MB-H Crawler 1983–1986
T94 B567 FAW Talus MB-H Crawler 1986–1997
T92 A462 AUX Talus MB-H Crawler 1997–2007
T99 C82 NUX Talus MB-H Crawler 2007–2014
SC-T06 HF14 HLK SLARS (Supacat) 2014– Named Roland Hough
  1. ^ a b c ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
  2. ^ a b c Op.No. is the RNLI's Operational Number carried on the hull or vehicle.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ 30-foot x 9-foot 3in (12-oared) non-self-righting lifeboat.
  2. ^ 30-foot x 9-foot 3in (12-oared) non-self-righting lifeboat, built by Thomas Costain of Liverpool, costing £180.
  3. ^ 34-foot (12-oared) non-self-righting Whale-boat lifeboat, built by Lamb and White, of Cowes.
  4. ^ 34-foot 3in x 9-foot 9in (12-oared) non-self-righting lifeboat, built by Charles Howson & Co. of Liverpool, costing £280.
  5. ^ 30-foot x 9-foot 3in (12-oared) non-self-righting lifeboat, built by Thomas Costain, costing £180.
  6. ^ 33-foot 6in x 9-foot 6in (12-oared) non-self-righting lifeboat, built by Thomas Costain of Liverpool.
  7. ^ 35-foot x 10-foot (12-oared) Liverpool-class non-self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, the gift of Maj-Gen. W. L. Briggs CB, built by Rutherford & Co of Birkenhead, costing £453.
  8. ^ 35-foot x 10-foot (12-oared) Liverpool-class non-self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Mr J. Stevens of Birmingham, built by Reynolds of Lowestoft, costing £538.
  9. ^ 35-foot x 10-foot (12-oared) Liverpool-class non-self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Mrs M. A. Chapman of West Brompton, built by Thames Ironworks of Blackwall, London, costing £922.
  10. ^ 38-foot x 10-foot (12-oared) non-self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacies of Mrs L. H. F. Bennett and Mr C. H. Lear, of West Kirby, built by Thames Ironworks of Blackwall, London,, costing £1,160.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Hoylake's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  2. ^ Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2025). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2025. Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. p. 130.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Morris, Jeff (January 2003). Hoylake and West Kirby Lifeboats 1803–2003 (4th ed.). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 1–46.
  4. ^ a b "Remembering the Hoylake Lifeboatmen". Howard Williams. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
  5. ^ Leonard & Denton 2025, p. 103.
  6. ^ "A New Life-boat Tractor". The Meccano Magazine. XXXIX (4): 173–4. April 1954.
  7. ^ "New lifeboat station opens doors". BBC. 1 November 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  8. ^ Cox, Barry (1998). Lifeboat Gallantry. Spink & Son Ltd. ISBN 0907605893.
  9. ^ "Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire". The Gazette. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  10. ^ "British Empire Medal (Civil Division)". The Gazette. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  11. ^ Leonard & Denton 2025, pp. 30–34.
  12. ^ a b Leonard & Denton 2025, pp. 30–71.
  13. ^ "MARY GABRIEL". National Historic Ships. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Generous legacy from former Wren to fund Hoylake's new RNLI lifeboat". Wirral Globe. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  15. ^ Leonard & Denton 2025, p. 101.
  16. ^ "20 years of saving lives: Hoylake RNLI mark the anniversary of the hovercraft". RNLI. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
  17. ^ Leonard & Denton 2025, pp. 103–106, 113.
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