Pwllheli Lifeboat Station is located at Glan Y Don Industrial Estate, in Pwllheli, a town which sits on the south-east coast of the Llà ·n Peninsula, in the historic county of Gwynedd, Wales.
A lifeboat station was first established at Pwllheli by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1891.
The station currently operates 13-39 Smith Brothers (ON 1346), a All-weather lifeboat, on station since 2021, and the smaller Inshore lifeboat, Robert J Wright (D-811), on station since 2017.
It is said that the first lifeboat at Pwllheli was placed in the care of Pwllheli Town Council, following the death of Lifeboat Designer Henry Thomas Richardson in 1878, but there are no service records, and no mention of what became of the boat.
Henry Richardson, and his son Henry Thomas Richardson, were the inventors of a type of lifeboat known as the 'Tubular'. The Tubular lifeboat was effectively a type of catamaran, or raft, with a flat deck mounted between two buoyant tubes. The deck of the boat is said to have been 11 inches above the water. This type of craft found favour at and , but few places otherwise.
When Henry T. Richardson, then of Brynhrfryd, Pwllheli, died on 21 November 1878, he bequeathed to the RNLI, at the death of his wife, the sum of ã10,000, to include the provision of two tubular lifeboats, their ongoing maintenance, and the opening of a lifeboat station in Pwllheli. After communication with the Town Clerk in August 1886, the RNLI agreed to open a lifeboat station at Pwllheli.
A boathouse, designed by RNLI Architect Mr. W. T. Douglas, was constructed by E. Williams on a site owned by the town council at Gimblet Rock, at a cost of ã609-14s-0d. A 14-oared 35-feet 6in long Tubular-class boat was built by Mechan & Co, of Glasgow, costing ã633, and following trials in Liverpool, arrived in Pwllheli in April 1891. It was later named Caroline Richardson (ON 287), after the donor's mother.
It is with some irony, that the Tubular lifeboat designed by the founder of the station, was not liked by the crew. It served just one year at Pwllheli, being launched just once, before it was transferred to . In fact, such was the dislike for this type of boat, that the RNLI went to court to gain permission to reallocate the funds to standard type lifeboats, which was granted.
A replacement for the Tubular lifeboat arrived in November 1892, Margaret Platt of Stalybridge (ON 330), a 38-foot 12-oared Self-righting 'pulling and sailing' lifeboat, one using oars and sails, built by McAlister, and costing ã423. In just 6 years on service, she would be launched 8 times, and rescue 28 people.
Pwllheli received its first motor lifeboat in 1930. The 40 hp lifeboat Maria (ON 560) was placed at Pwllheli, and after successful trials, was soon followed with a permanent boat, the larger William McPherson (ON 620). Due to its size, the boat was moored afloat. With a motor-lifeboat placed at Pwllheli, the flanking stations at and were closed.
For some time, silting at the entrance to Pwllheli harbour prevented the lifeboat getting out at dead-low water. On 3 September 1951, Pwllheli lifeboat was called to the capsized sailing boat Dorothy from Morfa Bychann public school camp, but couldn't launch. By the time Barmouth lifeboat arrived, a School Master and four boys had drowned. Investigations into the accident resulted in the reopening of Criccieth Lifeboat Station in 1953, and the placement of a smaller carriage-based lifeboat at Pwllheli, Katherine and Virgoe Buckland (ON 905), which would be housed in the boathouse. The building had doors at both ends, allowing the boat to be launched, using a new tractor, either into the harbour, or over the beach into the sea.
In 1964, in response to an increasing amount of water-based leisure activity, the RNLI placed 25 small fast Inshore rescue boats (IRB), later known as an Inshore lifeboat (ILB), around the country. These were easily launched with just a few people, ideal to respond quickly to local emergencies. Pwllheli was one of the first stations with an Inshore lifeboat, with the arrival of a (D-16) in 1964.
On a call to a grounded yacht on 20 September 2015, long serving Coxswain Robert Wright collapsed of a suspected heart attack as the lifeboat reached the casualty, and died shortly afterwards. In 2017, the new Inshore lifeboat was named Robert J Wright (D-811), in memory of the former Pwllheli coxswain.
In 2015, the RNLI received the most valuable items ever left to the Institution in a single legacy. In a most extraordinary bequest, the RNLI received two rare Ferrari cars from the estate of the late Richard Colton, businessman. Both were sent to auction:
This donation has already helped fund two lifeboats, 13-28 Richard and Caroline Colton (ON 1335) based at , and 13-51 Richard and Caroline Colton II (ON 1358) at . ã100,000 raised locally to help provide a new boathouse for Pwllheli was boosted massively by the allocation of ã2.8m from the Colton legacy. A new state-of-the-art boathouse was constructed at Glan-Y-Don, completed in 2020, which was opened officially in September 2021 to house their new lifeboat 13-39 Smith Brothers (ON 1346).
In January 2024, following a breakdown in crew relationships, the station was closed, and the lifeboat was removed to RNLI headquarters at Poole, and temporarily placed into the Relief fleet. All volunteer crew were stood down. The station reopened on 3 April 2024 to allow limited operation of the lifeboat, whilst further crew training would continue.
Shannon lifeboat 13-39 Smith Brothers (ON 1346) returned to Pwllheli on 30 June 2024, allowing for a period of intensive crew training to commence on 1 July 2024, before the boat returned to active duty.
The following are awards made at Pwllheli:
In memory of those lost whilst serving Pwllheli lifeboat: