Lymington Coastguard - A Brief History

Lym IRT was formed 15 years ago, when a gap in the coast needed plugging.

The then sector manager Mike O Brien made a case to form a new team. Initially there were 5 team members. We were issued with 2 pagers and 2 radios, and some PPE. No CRE and no CRV. There are still 2 of the original members in the team. That's Myself and Simon Quinn (SO). At the time we were fortunate to be next door to the HMCG TC, of which we had full use of facilities. After an Initial intense training period we went on line working in close partnership with Southampton team, we shared the use of their mobile and trained with them.

We soon gained a lot of respect from the MRSC and casualty numbers gradually increased up to our average today of about 120 shouts a year. After about 7 yrs. we moved into Lymington Police station, where we had an office and garage. We were given a Ford Escort estate, and more equipment. Another couple of years we were given southampton CRTs Nissan 4x4, we also made a case for cliff rescue capability. We were made into a stabilise and descent team soon after. A year later we had to move out of the police station. We assisted estates in looking for a new CRE.

4 Years ago we moved into Berthon Boat yard in the heart of the Lymington Sailing area. We have an Office, training room, store, and large garage. As you see below we were honored to have Peter Diamond the then Chief Coastguard to officially open the station. Since we have matured and we pride ourselves in what we do. We do a lot of P.R. including Junior Citizen, of which we have probably done safety talks to over 3000 children over the last few years. We are obviously very active within the CGA.

We have a yearly summer BBQ which has now grown and become a major calender event, raising large sums for the charity. We had a vintage car rally visit the CRE and make a very generous donation. Photos to follow. We are now equipped with the new cliff gear and currently have 3 cliff technicians, and hope to soon have every team member as technicians. Most of the team are all long term team members.

Pictured left to right Norman Smee, James Hoare, Paul Richman, Simon Quinn, Peter Diamond.

Paul Brown Sector Manager.