A New Life Boat Station for Porth Dinllaen

Peter was out and about near Porth Dinllaen yesterday, and noticed the work being done to build a new Lifeboat Station.

As you can see from the pictures, it's quite an ambitious engineering project. The structure that looks like a mini oil-rig, is a temporary jetty installed to allow them to offload building materials, as there is no road access to the site.

A mini-digger being winched over the site.

It's good to see that the council is making a big effort to keep the Wales Coast Path open even during the construction. They have put up this elaborate staircase to allow walkers to continue to reach the end of the headland.

The plans for the finished building show quite an attractive structure, designed to blend into the environment. The new boathouse will be clad in timber over a masonry base and be roofed in copper which will turn green as it weathers, and blend in with its grassy surroundings. Peter also learned a little of the station's interesting history from one of its information boards:

"The RNLI has operated from the site since 1864, and the previous boathouse and slipway were built in 1888 at a cost of £1200. The first lifeboat was 36ft long and powered by 12 oars, it arrived by sea from Caernarfon having been delivered free of charge by rail from London by the London & North Western Railway Company.

The station was born out of an act of extreme bravery in 1863 by Robert Rees who, assisted by 4 other local men, saved 28 lives. It has a proud history with many lives saved, and people assisted over its 150 year history - nearly 100 in the last 5 years alone. Associated acts of bravery have been recognised with a number of gallantry medals, including a Silver Medal awarded to Second Coxswain William Dop for his intrpid seamanship in the rescue of three people from the yacht Waterbell on the night of 8/9 August 1951."