Lives Saved Since 1851= 584
+ 3Dogs

Launches since 1851 = 501

Weather for April 2003
Overcast, showers and a strong south west wind were the characteristics of 1st April, 2003. There were however many sunny days but only warm when the wind was off the land. Sadly there were many days with the wind off the sea bringing cooler conditions. Over the month it only rained on a couple of occasions these being on the 14th, 21st and early on the 28th and 29th. Apart from that it was a very dry month.

Exercises.
Exercises were held on the 10th (station boat return trials), 13th and 27th.

Services.
There were three service calls during the month with details as follows;

Saturday August 5th. 2003:
'At about 11.30 hours information was received that a 16 foot cabin boat with three persons on board had broken down off Creswell. The relief Atlantic 75 lifeboat was launched and proceeded to the area. Shortly afterwards the casualty, a boat called 'Findus' was located and towed to the safety of the shore. The lifeboat then returned to station.

Tuesday April 8th. 2003:
At about 17.15 hours information was received that persons were cut off by the rising tide on the Spittal Carr rocks at the south end of Newbiggin Bay. The pagers were activated and with the crew on station the lifeboat was made ready. The group could be seen from the station but at that time they were being escorted off the rocks by Police. With the group out of danger all were stood down and the incident closed.

Wednesday April 16th 2003:
Information was received that a family had been cut off by the tide at Creswell and were unable to reach the shore. It was an unseasonably warm day on the first day of the Easter School Holidays and the group had taken advantage of the conditions for a day out. They had not realised however the quickness of the tide to cut their route to safety off. The pagers were activated and maroons fired with Newbiggin lifeboat underway north to Creswell. The family of two adults, two children and a dog were quickly found and transferred on board the lifeboat. Shortly afterwards the lifeboat cleared the rocks and took them all safely to the shore to the cheers of the gathered onlookers. Perhaps we should have had a collecting box on the boat?

Relief Lifeboat B754
On 10th April, 2003 the station Atlantic 75 class lifeboat 'CSMA 75th Anniversary' was brought by road from the Inshore Lifeboat Centre at Cowes to Newbiggin. She arrived after a long travel at 19.00 hours being transferred onto the launching carriage for sea trials and launched after that. With everything in order the relief lifeboat B754 was transferred onto the road trailer ready for a journey back to Cowes the following day.

St.George's Day 2003 On 22nd April, 2003:
The Flag of St. George was flown at the lifeboat station to commemorate this special day. On the local radio Newbiggin Lifeboat Station received coverage on its taking part in this special day.

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The First 150 Years - The Book.
Newbiggin Lifeboat History Book Launched. After some nine years of research the comprehensive story of Newbiggin Lifeboat over the last 150 years is launched.
Priced at £6 the book is available from the lifeboat station with postal orders costing an extra £1.50 for post and packing.(Post orders to RICHARD MARTIN, 3 WINDSOR GARDENS, NEWBIGGIN-BY-THE-SEA, NORTHUMBERLAND,NE64 6UN) Richard J Martin April 30th, 2001.
For more details contact Richard Martin
0191 2192553

Community Beach Clean
Sunday 13th April, 2003:
The following article was posted in the local press; 'Through your newspaper I would like to thank the community volunteers who turned out onto Newbiggin beach on Sunday for a community beach clean up. The initial concept for this community initiative followed discussions I had last year with Alf Dower when the beach condition was less than acceptable. On Sunday last we had volunteers tidying up from Newbiggin Lifeboat Station, Newbiggin Sailing Club, Residents of the Newbiggin and Bedlington Communities and local Councilors. After over two hours and a lot of toil a skip was filled with the collected beach debris which Wansbeck District Council will remove. Once again thank you for helping improve our environment both for the residents of Newbiggin and the visitors to this great asset of our village'.


Awards Evening Saturday 26th April, 2003

Newbiggin Lifeboat Station recently held an awards evening to recognise the dedication and efforts of local lifeboat volunteers. The evening was held at Newbiggin Golf Club where volunteers and their families gathered for this special occasion. The awards were presented by the RNLI North Division Deputy Divisional Inspector (Training) Robin Warrington and RNLI Area Fund Raising Organiser Steven Charlton. The proceedings were opened with the presentation of the RNLI Silver Badge to Vera Smith, Vice President of the Newbiggin Ladies Lifeboat Guild. Vera has been instrumental in organising the Newbiggin Lifeboat Annual Golf Day over many years where thousands of pounds have been raised. She is currently working on the next Golf Day which takes place on 16th May, 2003. The next award went to Tim Martin, Deputy Launching Authority at Newbiggin who has given over 44 years of voluntary service to the RNLI at Newbiggin. As one of the longest serving volunteers at Newbiggin Tim continues to provide support in the day to day running of the station. Tim was presented with a painting of Newbiggin Bay together with an RNLI Certificate of Service.

The next award went to Dr. Peter Sanderson, Honorary Medical Advisor at Newbiggin. He was presented with a painting of Newbiggin bay and also a RNLI Statuette. Dr. Sanderson continues to provide a valuable role in carrying out medical support to the station. Two of the lifeboat services carried out over the last twelve months by Newbiggin Lifeboat were recognised for award by the RNLI Letter of Thanks. The first letter went to Geoffrey Leslie who was in charge of the lifeboat on 3rd August, 2002 to rescue a swimmer in difficulties at Druridge Bay. The swimmer was recovered by the lifeboat from the surf and was transferred by Air Ambulance to hospital. The second recognised service was to Jimmie Dawson who was in charge of the lifeboat on 8th October, 2002 following a report of a person in the surf at Newbiggin. After a prolonged service in extreme conditions nothing was found but Jimmie and his crew Jeffery Brown and Rodney Slaughter were awarded a Letter of Thanks. Finally volunteers at Newbiggin Lifeboat Station who have given over 5 years of service were each awarded Her Majesty the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal. The silver medal was accompanied by a letter of thanks to the volunteers from the RNLI Chief Executive'.

Forthcoming Events;
The following events are planned for the summer; Sunday 25th May, 2003 - Open Day
Sunday 13th July, 2003 - Open Air Service
Sunday 20th July, 2003 - Lifeboat Day 2003
Sunday 3rd August, 2003 - Town Fair
Sunday 24th August, 2003 - Town Pageant


RJM Richard Martin - 30/04/2003.

Newbiggin by the Sea RNLI Video
We are pleased to annouce the issue of a exclusive
VHS video about Newbiggin RNLI station featuring high-lights of the 150th Anniversary Celebrations with the Duke of Northumberland in attendance.

To receive a copy contact Stan Green at-
Newbiggin@rnli.org.uk

Newbiggin by the Sea R.N.L.I. Website
Special thanks should go to Richard Martin, Stan Green and former Newbiggin Branch Chairman John Robinson, for providing much of the material used in the lifeboat website.
If anyone has any additional material or stories that they think would be of interest and would like to contribute to the site please contact:-

Paul Hooper tel.01670 521289
e-mail- drumhoops@btinternet.com

Or contact can be made via:-
www.newbigginbythesea.co.uk
Newbiggin@rnli.org.uk