Ryde Inshore Rescue Service is located at Appley Lane, in the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight.[1][2]
A double drowning incident at the end of Ryde Pier in 1956 prompted the reformation of a rescue organisation to serve the town.
Ryde Inshore Rescue is an independent lifeboat station within the United Kingdom. It is not part of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and does not receive funding from the RNLI or the Government. The station is on call to the H.M. Coastguard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.[1]
The service operates two Inshore lifeboats from its station at Appley Lane, Ryde Rescue 1, an 8m Ribcraft with twin 200hp Yamaha engines, and a smaller 4.8m Ribcraft named Ryde Rescue 2, with a single 60hp Evinrude Etec engine.[1]
In October 2024,[update] Ryde Inshore Rescue was stripped of its declared asset status by HM Coastguard, meaning that they would not be tasked to assist in a rescue if someone were to call 999.[3]
History
The first lifeboat service in the town started in 1858 and was run on a voluntary basis. On 8 May 1869 the town's rescue volunteers service was supplied with a new lifeboat called the Captain Hans Busk (ON 376). A boathouse and slipway was constructed on the west side of Ryde Pier in 1870. [4]
In 1894, management of the station was handed over to the RNLI. The station was in operation until 1923. The station was closed after a motor lifeboat was stationed at nearby Bembridge Lifeboat Station.[5]
For further history of the RNLI station, please see
A lifeguard club, also known as Ryde Lifeguard Corps, was formed in the 1940s, but had been disbanded by 1951. The new Ryde Life Guard Corps was initially formed as a beach voluntary lifeguard unit in 1956, following a double drowning fatality at the end of Ryde Pier. Help was received from both Shanklin and Sandown Life Guard Corps, to gain volunteers, and commence training, in order
to meet the requirements to be recognised by the Royal Life Saving Society. Training was undertaken at Warner’s Holiday Camp at Puckpool, in an unheated open pool. Initial operating equipment consisted of a Reel and line, a Rocket Line, and a 9-foot rowing boat, loaned by the Borough of Ryde.[6]
By 1969, efforts were hampered when vandals destroyed the rowing boat, but a new boat was found with a 40hp engine, which became the start of Search and Rescue operations. Vandals would strike again in 1978, destroying the boat house by arson. Help from the local council resulted in the construction of a new HQ and rescue centre at Appley Lane. The role of the club would gradually change to be an Inshore Rescue Lifeboat service.[6]
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