 New Lifeboat Station
and New Lifeboat
planned for The Lizard
The start of a new era – the decks are cleared for our new Lifeboat Station
 
Building work has begun to give The Lizard its new lifeboat station, ready for the arrival of its Tamar-class all-weather lifeboat in 2011.
The present lifeboat station was built in 1961 at a cost of £90,000 and has provided shelter for the Tyne class lifeboat, David Robinson, for the last 20 years. It has already been removed and a new boathouse will soon be rising in its place.
Phillip Burgess, RNLI Coxswain at The Lizard, says he and his volunteer crew are delighted:
‘It shows the RNLI’s commitment to providing safety cover around The Lizard for many years to come. Over 149 years lifeboats have launched on 581 emergency call outs from various stations around The Lizard, and saved 1,140 lives. We cover England’s most southerly point and one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. More than 400 ships a day move up and down the channel and past Lizard Point and it’s important that we maintain key lifeboat stations along this stretch of coastline.’
March - April
Things are coming on at The Lizard RNLI Lifeboat Station
The station seems to have suddenly appeared from nowhere. After several months of a flat concrete base, which admittedly has been a hive of activity, but a flat concrete slab all the same, suddenly out of nowhere has appeared a boathouse. The wooden frame seemed to take just a few days to erect and then a few days later, it had been clad in 3 inch thick tongue and groove timber.
There have been a couple of technical hitches along the way, nothing too serious, but time consuming. It was found that the cliff face to the south of the station was too close to the new extended base and had to be knocked away to make room for the new building. The base is almost double the width of the old base.
It was also noticed that the cliff face on both sides of the station was unstable as a small landslide had occurred. A team of contractors had to be employed to secure wire netting all round, from top to bottom, to ensure no loose rock could be dislodged and cause any damage to the station. This didn’t stop work continuing on the base and as a result the station build is still on course for completion in October.
 
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February 2011
 Kilcobben Cove is a hive of activity where two huge concrete deliveries are bringing to an end the construction of the extension slabs to each side of the main foundation. This will form the ground floor of the new boathouse.
Mike Lord, RNLI Station Chairman at The Lizard, says excitement is mounting: ‘It’s fair to say that once the frame starts to go up the area will begin to look less like a construction site and more like a boathouse. This is extremely encouraging to those of us who are working to raise funds for the new lifeboat and for those who have already been generous in their support for our appeal. We have been delighted with the response to our appeal so far and are closing in on our target thanks to the generosity of so many. Now for one big push to finish the job in time for our new lifeboat to arrive, and then it really will be time to celebrate!”
The photograph:
- The overall scene at Kilcobben Cove showing the new slabs to each side of the main foundation and the new slipway reaching out into the sea.
 
Aerial Photo's by: Andrew Fletcher (Sky High Photographs)
 ‘A classic illustration of why it’s important to have a lifeboat station here was the incident involving the MSC Napoli. We launched to her in atrocious conditions and were at sea for nearly 7 hours in gale force winds and rough seas. We headed for the vessel and her crew who had taken to a ship’s lifeboat, and would have had to rescue them if a helicopter crew from RNAS Culdrose had not been available.’
The new building is costing the RNLI around £6 million, which will be met from the many generous donations made to the charity. This is a huge figure but it will prove value for money. In the past, the size of a lifeboat station was taken into account when designing new lifeboats, but today the lifeboat and its life saving role are paramount. Therefore, as in the case of the new Tamar, the lifeboat role has come first.
A local appeal is well under way to raise funds towards the £2.7 million needed to buy the new Tamar class lifeboat, which has now been allocated to the lifeboat station by the RNLI Trustees.
Adam Littlejohn, RNLI Shoreworks Divisional Manager for the south, says the project presents a major civil engineering and building challenge:
‘The nature of the exposed Cornish coastline means we will have to build a station that will stand in the sea, and be at the mercy of the elements. We have no choice but to build at Kilcobben Cove where the lifeboat is provided just enough shelter to be able to launch in almost all conditions.’
‘Much of the work will have to be done from seaward using a large jack-up barge but we have gleaned valuable experience from several recent similar projects, including Padstow that will now benefit The Lizard.’
 
 
101 years ago this year (17 March) The Lizard lifeboat was one of four lifeboats to race to the assistance of passengers onboard the SS Suevic, a White Star liner that hit rocks off The Lizard Point. Four rowing lifeboats safely rescued 456 people and the incident remains the RNLI’s biggest ever rescue.
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Adam Littlejohn, RNLI Shoreworks Divisional Manager for the south, says the project will present a major civil engineering and building challenge:
