50 years of saving lives in the bay

To celebrate the momentous occasion, this Saturday, August 20, a 50th birthday and open day will be held for members of the public to meet members of the crew and see the craft and equipment that they use, all of which has been bought using public donations.

Activities and displays at the hovercraft station behind the Midland Hotel between 10am and 4pm include: Bay Radio Roadshow, Macadam Rescue, Virgin Media Show, children’s treasure hunt and games, bouncy castle, face painting, donkey rides, road train, truck-pull competition, HM Coastguard, National CoastwatchInstitution, RNLI Sea Safety, Morecambe Sailing Club; ice cream, candy floss and food stalls.

A hugely successful Home for the Hover appeal run by The Visitor in conjunction with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute’s hundreds of volunteers and supporters raised £330,000 towards the cost of the hovercraft station which houses the Hurley Flyer hovercraft today.

Thousands of Visitor readers and other local people donated amounts large and small, organised charity events to support the appeal and bought the special ‘Home for the Hover’ calendar produced by The Visitor, an idea from former news editor, Ingrid Kent.

Deputy Launching Authority and Lifeboat Press Officer Colin Midwinter said: “This year celebrates 50 years of local Morecambe volunteers, from all walks of life, giving their time and energy in order to serve the community in which they live.

“They do this by dedication to training and being prepared to be on call at all hours of the day and night and in all weathers.

“We are all very proud of what we have contributed and achieved over the last 50 years.”

and intend to ensure there is a firm foundation for next 50 years.”

Potted history of the RNLI Morecambe lifeboat services

The first RNLI station was opened at Morecambe on May 22, 1966, when the institution decided to base one of the new type of fast inshore rescue crafts there.Since then the station has enabled crews to rescue hundreds of people across the bay and the surrounding waters. Inshore Lifeboats (ILB) were rolled out across the fleet and the Morecambe ILB was called upon by the police to carry out a service in the River Lune 1982.In 1985 Morecambe station was one four ILB stations chosen to carry out trials on the new design D class ILB.

The Hovercraft H002 The Hurley Flyer was placed on service on Monday December 23, 2002..

This hovercraft was provided by a generous donation from Mrs Kathleen Hurley MBE.