The Poole lifeboat station was first established in 1865 at Sandbanks and since then it has been relocated to various locations across the Poole area. During this period, Poole lifeboat station was actively involved in rescuing of troops from Dunkirk, as well as providing a lifesaving service for the Poole quay and surrounding areas. This website will provide information on the history of the Poole lifeboat station, including; the stations role in Dunkirk, the changes in the station’s location, technology developments and changes to uniform. This site will also share various primary and secondary sources, as well as sharing oral history interviews from people involved in the Poole RNLI.
RNLI Poole Lifeboat Station
http://www.poolelifeboats.org.uk/
https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/poole-lifeboat-station
RNLI Poole Lifeboat Museum
http://www.poolelifeboats.org.uk/
RNLI College
RNLI All-Weather Lifeboat Centre
Calm Before the Storm Exhibition: The Art of Photographing Lifeboats
https://rnli.org/about-us/our-history/calm-before-the-storm-exhibition
Women of the RNLI
Hidden Depths: Women of the RNLI. Author: Sue Hennessy https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hidden-Depths-Sue-Hennessy/dp/0752454439
Riders of the Storm: The Story of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Author: Ian Cameron. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Riders-Storm-National-Lifeboat-Institution/dp/0752883445
Poole Area
The Lifeboat Service in Poole. Author: Andrew Hawkes
Map of Poole’s lifeboat stations, from 1826 to present.
- In 1826, a lifeboat station was built at nearby Studland to cover Poole Bay – Green.
- The station moved to sandbanks in Poole in 1865. The lifeboat was launched using horses from the stables next door owned by Colonel Waugh, the then-owner of Brownsea island. The crew members were transported by horse-drawn carriages from the Antelope Coaching Inn on the quay – Purple.
- In 1882 the lifeboat station moved to Fisherman’s dock – Red.
- In 1974 the station then moved to Lilliput Marina – Orange.
- In 1989, the lifeboat station moved to its current location at the opposite end of the quay adjacent to the swing bridge – Blue.
History of the RNLI’s Kit
Over time, the RNLI’s kit has developed into the all-weather kit the crew members wear today. This development can be seen through each part of the kit, from the headgear changing from knitted caps to Gecko helmets, to the life-jackets changing from cork life-jackets to the range of jackets the different crews use today.
The Whitby Lifeboat disaster highlighted the need for proper equipment for crew members. The first Cork life-jacket was invented in 1854, and was later worn by crew member Henry Freeman when one of Whitby’s lifeboats capsized whilst on a service. He was the only survivor-as he was the only one wearing one of the new life-jackets.
The RNLI has always strived to provide their crew members with the best kit in order to secure their safety whilst out on rescues. In recent years, senior engineer Allen Stevens has led the development of a new all-weather kit, which is the first time in three decades that the kit has been significantly upgraded. As well as looking as new technological advances, the creation of the kit required looking at past iterations of the kit in order to determine what features were of paramount importance with regards to the crew member’s safety. This kit has been in use at stations across the UK, including at Poole Station, since September 2018. In addition to this, this is the first time that groups full of female crew members were spoken to in order to ensure their voices were heard and met whilst developing the new kit.
development of the latest lifejackets.
“Lifejackets, to me, are the core of the lifesaving kit our crews wear… if the lifejacket doesn’t work you’re going to die”
Training at Poole.
The crew members at Poole Lifeboat station are on call all year-round in case of emergencies in the area, and therefore have to be trained to undertake these rescues in a wide range of conditions, including those in extreme weather. At the start, new crew members undergo 6 months of training, which involves getting to know the crews at the stations on top of a number of units covering the layout of the lifeboats, how to use the equipment safely and roles and responsibilities at the lifeboat station. Crew members will then train at the RNLI College in Poole, where about 1,200 crew members take part in a one or more of the over 40 different courses which are taught there each year.
The crew members working at the Poole Lifeboat station have the advantage of working and living close to the RNLI College, which allows them to have access to a wide range of facilities for their on-going training. Even after completing their initial training for their roles, crew members train weekly in order to ensure competency, so that there are prepared for any situation they may face.
The RNLI believes that constant training and assessment is necessary so that crew members will be prepared for rescues in all conditions. The RNLI has the largest sea-survival pool in the UK, where crew members can train in realistic conditions in a controlled environment-ranging from exercises including capsize training to extreme weather conditions created by wave machines, fire hoses, and decreased lighting.
“It’s not like you do it once and you’re greened, you have to keep doing it, keep practising, and then you’re assessed on it… it’s a lot of training!”
Ever since the RNLI was founded, training has been instrumental in the organisation’s success in rescuing over 140,000 lives. However, it is clear that with the advancement of technology over the last couple of centuries that the impact of this training has benefited the crew members tenfold, as the facilities available today allow them to take part in intricate training sessions which prepare them for any conditions they may face without putting them at risk. The crew members at Poole Lifeboat Station are just a few of many who have benefitted from this training across the country, which in turn has affected many more lives nationwide.
RNLI Lifeboats at Poole
After various dramatic rescues near Poole Harbour, it was decided that some form of life saving at sea was required. The Royal National Instruction for Preservation of life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) was tasked to provide a lifeboat in the area to serve Poole Bay and Poole Harbour.
In May, 1826, the first lifeboat was provided by the RNIPLS. This was stationed on the beach at Studland, where it could be crewed by local fishermen. It has been recorded that the fishermen disliked the boat and used their own boats during emergencies. The RNIPLS was reformed in 1854 as the Royal National lifeboat institution (RNLI) and they took over the task of providing a lifeboat in the area.
Over the years, Poole Lifeboat Station has been served by early pulling (rowing) and sailing lifeboats, to motor lifeboats and today’s modern craft. During the years 1865 to 1882, the lifeboat station was based in Sandbanks, before being relocated to Fisherman’s Dock on Poole Quay, served by pulling and sailing lifeboats: Boy’s Own No 2, City Masonic Club and Harmar.
In 1864, the RNLI promised that if the cost of a new lifeboat could be raised locally, they would provide another lifeboat in Poole. Approximately £40 was collected. The new lifeboat was named Manley Wood after its benefactor, a Devon clergyman. The boat was later renamed the Joseph and Mary.
The Manley Wood arrived in poole in 1865 and served until 1879, every time she launched, coach and horses would take the crew from Antelope Hotel in the High Street to the station. This hotel was their meeting point. The Manley Wood launched 10 times between 1865 and 1879 and saved 62 lives.
Originally, pulling and sailing lifeboats were launched by horses pulling them into the sea on a carriage. Unlike today, the boats had no navigational aids. Instead, they relied on the crews’ local knowledge and seamanship.
In 1938 the final launch of Harmar took place, this represented the end of the sailing era at Poole. However, only a year later the first motor lifeboat, the Thomas Kirk Wright, arrived.
The Thomas Kirk Wright served for 23 years before being replaced by the Liverpool class Bassett-Green. This was the first lifeboat at the station to have a radio. Many more relief Liverpool class lifeboats served Poole until 1974, until the arrival of the new Waveney class lifeboat Augustine Cortauld.
In 1964 inshore lifeboats were established at Poole. Several classes of inshore lifeboats have served at the station since. Today, Poole is served by B class Atlantic 85 lifeboat Sgt Bob Martin (Civil Service No. 50) and a smaller D class lifeboat Gladys Maud Burton.
On the 23rd of June 2018, a joint celebration took place with the naming ceremony of the D class lifeboat and the opening of the new floating boathouse.
Poole RNLI buildings.
RNLI College
The RNLI College in Poole is the place where all lifeboat crew members and lifeguards from across the United Kingdom and Ireland go to train. Before the college was built, the RNLI had to hire training space and put crew members up in hotel rooms and bed and breakfast accommodation around Poole and the Isle of Wight. It was costly and the volunteers needed and deserved better- but funding a purpose-built training centre was no small ask.
The college was opened in 2004 by The Queen, the charity’s Patron. It has classrooms, function rooms, 60bedrooms, a restaurant, a bar and a waterfront suite that accommodates to 200 people.
The main building is linked via a 24m bridge to the Sea Survival Centre, which houses a 25m wavetable in which lifeboat crew learns survival, capsize and casualty recovery techniques and lifeguards train for peak fitness. Lightening sound effects combine with waves to recreate the challenging environments the crews often face when saving lives at sea.
This video shows the sea survival course at the RNLI College.
RNLI All-Weather Lifeboat Centre
Opened in 2015, the RNLI All-Weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole is the place where new Lifeboats are built. It also has the facilities to maintain and repair the existing fleet of Lifeboats. The building is set across approximately 7000 square metres and will allow up to six Shannon-class all-weather lifeboats to be built each year.
This video shows the construction and information of the All-Weather Lifeboat Centre.
The RNLI Memorial Sculpture in Poole.
RNLI Headquarters
Before the College opened in 2004, the RNLI had been operating out of Poole since 1974, when they first moved there after closing their London office. They set up a headquarters which had its offices, boatyard and warehousing all on one site. When the chemical company, ‘The British Drug Houses’, closed their factory next to the headquarters, the land was made available for redevelopment. The RNLI acquired it, and this was where the Lifeboat College was built and eventually opened in 2004.
Women’s experience of Poole RNLI.
Women’s roles in the RNLI have altered enormously over the years. To begin with, their role was more passive than active: supporting the menfolk. Women have played a major role in fundraising, some devoted almost their whole lives to it. However, today, women play a more hands-on role within the RNLI. There are women administrators, press officers, medical advisers and instructors – also, of course, women crew members.
Currently there are three females on the crew at Poole, Rachael Bentley, Suzie Jupp and Kitty Preston.
As part of the crew, these women have been involved hundreds of incidents, or ‘shouts’ as they are known.
You can listen here to Kitty recalling her first ever ‘shout.’
Kitty was also involved in one the largest rescues undertaken involving the RNLI when a kayaker went missing and lost their life during a race. The rescue attempt took place over 2 days and made national headlines when the crews from Poole, Swanage, Yarmouth, Bembridge and Mudeford, alongside the coastguard helicopters were called into action. You can listen here to Kitty recalling the incident and her experiences.
Footage of the Poole crew working in horrendous conditions during the rescue attempt of the missing kayaker.
https://rnli.org/video-player/61342C06-E318-https://rnli.org/video-player/61342C06-E318-4765-B6B549FA2FB5A92C 4765-B6B549FA2FB5A92C
“It was a very patriarchal organisation…I got told off for typing a letter as we had a typing pool for that-a group of ladies sitting at typewriters”
Poole Lifeboat station during Dunkirk.
Thomas Kirk Wright was built by Grooves and Guttridge in 1938 and was the first motor lifeboat stationed at Poole, provided by TH Kirk Wright of Bournemouth. The RNLI deployed 19 lifeboats to assist in the evacuation of troops at Dunkirk in 1940. Included in the 19 lifeboats was the Thomas Kirk Wright which is one of Poole’s most historic lifeboats. Taken from Poole to Ramsgate, the Admiralty used her to evacuate Allied troops. She was the first lifeboat to reach the beaches in France on the 30th of May 1940.
Thomas Kirk Wright was a state of the art lifeboat for her time. The shallow draft of this lifeboat class made her ideal for rescuing off the beaches.
In 1940, the Thomas Kirk Wright took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk and was crewed by the Navy. Making three trips over four days, the Thomas Kirk Wright carried many troops from the beaches to the harbour and rescued survivors from blown-up trawlers. On the third and final trip on the 3rd of June, the boat became seriously damaged after she came under fire from German troops, while ferrying French soldiers from the harbour, nevertheless she was one of the first lifeboats to return from the operation. The Thomas Kirk Wright was served by her strong construction and later repaired at Poole.
While on service at Poole, Thomas Kirk Wright launched 68 times, saving 15 lives. She is one of three surviving Surf class lifeboats. Today, Thomas Kirk Wright can be seen at the Old Lifeboat museum at Fisherman’s Dock on Poole Quay and has not been back in the water since 1976.
Our Project
We are undergraduate students, studying at Bournemouth University. As part of our unit, Community Histories, we have been conducting local historical research into the history of the RNLI and those involved in this service. Our project is looking at people’s memories and experiences of working for the RNLI in Poole and the surrounding areas, in order to emphasise the personal connection many people have with this lifesaving charity.
We understand the importance of this charity and the many lives that have been saved due to the help of the volunteers who risk their lives while saving others.
Experiences of Poole RNLI. 