Qualla: Barrow Lifeboat Station

Barrow Lifeboat Station: Introduction

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ercesuzan, Public domain. Roa Island is not really an island. A causeway built in 1846 ties it to the mainland, and at the end of that causeway sits Barrow Lifeboat Station, looking out over Piel Channel toward Piel Castle on its own actual island a short distance away. The slipway here is three hundred and ninety-three feet six inches long. When the new boathouse and roller-slipway opened in September 1929 it was the longest at any RNLI station. The boats have changed since. The geography has not.

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Image: Ercesuzan | Public domain

Barrow Lifeboat Station: James Ramsden's Letter

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit George Hopkins, CC BY-SA 2.0. On 7 April 1864, the RNLI committee of management considered a letter from Barrow industrialist James Ramsden and Captain L. Barstow, Royal Navy, the inspecting commander of coastguard. The letter proposed a lifeboat for Barrow. Ramsden offered local funding to match the institut...

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Image: George Hopkins | CC BY-SA 2.0

Barrow Lifeboat Station: William Birkitt and the Long Slipway

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Peter McDermott, CC BY-SA 2.0. In 1878 the boat was renamed William Birkitt after a legacy from Mr William Birkitt of Newton in Cartmel. A new boat assigned to the station in 1887, built by Forrestt of Limehouse in London, was given the same name. A new launchway built in 1884 (funded by the Furness Railway) a...

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Image: Peter McDermott | CC BY-SA 2.0

Barrow Lifeboat Station: Medals at Sea

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alexander P Kapp, CC BY-SA 2.0. The station's honours read like a record of who put out into what weather. In 1937 the Finnish government awarded its silver lifesaving medal to Coxswain Eb Charnley and bronze medals to the rest of the Barrow lifeboat crew, for service to a Finnish vessel. In 1943 the RNLI award...

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Image: Alexander P Kapp | CC BY-SA 2.0

Barrow Lifeboat Station: Grace Dixon

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit The wub, CC BY-SA 4.0. The current all-weather boat is Grace Dixon, a Tamar-class lifeboat, identification number 16-08, on station since 2008. She launches down the slipway under power and recovers via the same slipway by being winched stern-first up the rollers. The current inshore boat is Raymond an...

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Image: The wub | CC BY-SA 4.0