Whilst this is also not a day we really wish to commemorate, it is nevertheless a fundamental part of the St Abbs Lifeboat story.
The day began at 09.02 when the St Abbs Lifeboat pagers sounded in the kitchens and bedrooms of the crew one final time saying “Station is Closed”. The message asked the crew to turn off their pagers for good. The crew gathered on the Station slipway with solemn faces, black tie and formal dress to have their final photograph taken with the Lifeboat. The boat was taken down the slip for the final time and unexpectedly every piece of equipment within the Station was also removed. The building, which thankfully belonged to the Harbour Trust, would remain, but by the end of 8th September 2015 it was literally just an empty shell. Over 50 people lined the harbour walls in silence and 230 red and yellow flowers were scattered into the water as the boat left the harbour to represent the number of lives saved by the Lifeboat in St Abbs since 1911. Alistair Crowe, who joined the crew over 50 years previously, was unable to watch as his beloved Station was closed:
“I had to go round the corner when they lowered the boat. I couldn’t stand to watch that”
Later, the RAF Boulmer Search & Rescue helicopter, itself due to be decommissioned in the following month, hovered at the entrance to the harbour facing the Lifeboat Station and dipped its nose in a mark of symbolic respect.
Ironically, 48 hours before the boat had been taken away, the crew had joined the Eyemouth lifeboats in a search for 2 fishermen who had fallen from the rocks, washed by a large wave in Killiedraught Bay. This was the last lifesaving event in a 104 year relationship with the RNLI for St Abbs Lifeboat.
The boat was gone. The Station was hollow and empty. The community felt angry and grief stricken. But the fight, the determination, the resolve of the community wasn’t extinguished….far from it……
To be continued……on 13th September with “The Meeting”…..
If you were involved in the campaign at the time and have any memories you’d like to share about what you did and what it meant to you, please use the link above to post your thoughts.
If you have any photos you’d like to include in this album we’d love to see them so please email them to [email protected]
