Tenby Lifeboat Station

I was watching a “Grand Designs” programme on television a few weeks’ ago, an old repeat I know, but it struck a memory with me as it was the renovation and conversion of the old Tenby Lifeboat Station.

Our family spent most of my childhood holidays in South Wales at Stepaside near Saundersfoot so I knew the area quite well which accounts for my interest in the programme.  We used to meet up each year with another family from The Wirral who we came to know well.  They had three children, about the same ages as me and my brothers.

Whilst I was watching the ambitious conversion, a memory slid into my mind of one holiday when the weather wasn’t brilliant and to find something positive to do, I organised my brothers (and possibly next door’s children – I can’t remember) into collecting stuff from the beach – shells, fossils, flotsam and jetsam etc.  We then set out our bounty on the dining table, with labels, as a museum and charged anyone we could con into paying, probably a couple of pence, to come and look at it.

I seem to remember we raised about 2 shillings & sixpence which we decided to donate to the RNLI at Tenby Lifeboat Station.  My father took us to Tenby and I can remember presenting the money to someone and being shown round the Lifeboat Station. We also received a letter from the RNLI, thanking us for our efforts and donation.

I couldn’t find any photos amongst my parents collection but this website shows what the Lifeboat Station looks like now https://folio.brighton.ac.uk/view/view.php?id=8832