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Burry Port RNLI
Saving lives at sea
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Burry Port Lifeboat Station opened in 1887 after moving twice in the previous 30 years. The station was allocated a 32-foot-long (9.8 m), 10-oar lifeboat named Stanton Meyrick of Pimlico which operated until 1886, when the boathouse was also abandoned due to operational issues in launching and recovering at that site.
The current boathouse was built on the eastern side of Burry Port Harbour in 1887 to replace it, and up until the station closed in 1914 operated three different lifeboats, all named David Barclay of Tottenham, and saved a total of 34 lives.
In 1973, due to an increase in drowning incidents in Carmarthen Bay, the RNLI decided to reopen the station and allocate it a D Class lifeboat. The current D Class lifeboat is the 'Diane Hilary', funded by Mr.David Cole
In 2002 there was a Coast review, in which it was agreed that a hovercraft may be stationed at this station, and also that a B Class Atlantic 75 lifeboat would be stationed here as well, the current vessel being 'Leicester Challenge II' funded by the people of Leicester.
The boathouse is situated on the east side of the main harbour at Burry Port, where the D Class boat is housed, and a nearby annex building houses the B Class '75'.
Our Area and Neighbours
The Boathouse situated in the heart of the Burry Estuary, covering a large area of the Burry Inlet and the Loughor Estuary, along Cefn Sidan Beach at Pembrey, and as far as the western tip on the Gwendraeth Estuary.
Pwll to Llanelli Beach in the eastern sector, and the north side of the Gower Peninsula, including Whitford , Llangennith, Burry Holmes and around the corner along Rhossili Beach to Worm's Head.
Our RNLI neighbours are Horton ILB on the south Gower, Tenby Lifeboat and ILB to the west, and the RNLI Lifeguards who cover Cefn Sidan, Pembrey Beach during the summer months.
We have the Loughor Inshore Rescue Boat based at Loughor to our east, and the St John's IRB at Ferryside to our west.
Notorious 'hotspots' in our patch are:-
* the sandbanks in the Pembrey Old Harbour
*the sandbanks off Llanelli Beach and Machynys
*the rocky outcrop around the Whitford Lighthouse
* the causeway and area around Burry Holmes
The whole area is subjected to the very high tidal surges that feed the estuary, one of the highest tidal rises and falls in the British Isles, and was the main reason why Burry Port RNLI was the third busiest RNLI station in Wales during 2015.
