THE NEW MINEHEAD LIFEBOAT STATION

There’s been an RNLI lifeboat at Minehead since 1901 and today two inshore craft - a D class and a fast 8.5-metre rigid inflatable Atlantic class - provide 24-hour cover along 30 miles of the Bristol Channel coast from Hinkley Point to Lynmouth.

The pool of around 20 volunteer sea-going crew - backed by a team of shore helpers - respond to around 40 emergency calls a year in addition to attending up to six afloat training sessions a month.

They face some daunting challenges: the Bristol Channel has the second highest tidal range in the world and west of the station the sea arrives at the foot of England’s highest sea cliffs rising to more than 1,000 feet: a place where the speed and force of the incoming tide can put swimmers, kayakers, small boats and walkers at risk.

The crew are drawn from all walks of life including teachers, engineers, accountants, doctors and opticians. From their pagers alerting them they aim to be at sea and on the way to the casualty within seven or eight minutes.

Women have been part of the Minehead crew for more than a decade. One of the earliest recruits, Karla Thresher, who joined as shore crew, has recently been appointed a full-time Thames Commander with the RNLI, taking the helm of the lifeboat at Gravesend, one of the RNLI’s four Thames stations.

“It was cold and damp. The crew had no changing rooms - the men had to get changed on an open balcony and the women in a cupboard under the eaves - and no proper showers. There was only a small crew room so we had nowhere big enough to hold training sessions.”

The long-awaited development will provide the crew with their first proper changing rooms, space for training sessions, and a galley. But the most important innovation is a separate boat hall for the station’s smaller, D class lifeboat where it will remain permanently attached to its tractor ready for a speedy launch through the harbour.

The Minehead station has recently undergone a £1 million upgrade, partly to knock valuable minutes off launch times, partly to provide the crew with better facilities.

Minehead RNLI chairman Richard Newton said the improvements had been long overdue.

“Basically the crew were operating from a 120-year old building which might have been fit for purpose when it was built but was certainly not adequate for the needs of a modern lifeboat service.

A number of individual, six-figure donations have helped pay for the work on the station which said Mr Newton, would completely transform life for the volunteers.

“And having the D class permanently hitched to its tractor is going to shave minutes off our response times and make launching both our boats a far less complicated affair,” he said. “We have had tremendous local support in raising funds for the project which has shown us yet again how highly the RNLI is regarded within the West Somerset community.”

TACOS: BEEF, CHICKEN, MIXED DONER, LAMB SHISH, CHICKEN TIKKA, CHICKEN NUGGETS, MIXED SHISH. MEAL DEALS AVAILABLE

CROQUE TOASTIES • SALADS • CHIPS • KIDS MEALS • DRINKS

PHONE ORDERS ARE WELCOME

1 HOLLOWAY ST, MINEHEAD, TA24 5NP

The new Minehead station after its upgrade at Quay W, Minehead TA24 5UL.

Final fitting-out of the building is now underway while the hard landscaping outside now features an area of Purbeck stone recycled from the gold awardwinning show garden for the RNLI designed by lifelong lifeboats supporter Chris Beardshaw for last year’s Chelsea Flower Show.

Please visit the station and check out the new shop opening 3rd April!

You can help our vital lifesaving service running by kindly donating to their Just Giving page at: www.justgiving.com/rnli

CAN YOU HELP US?

We need more volunteers for the fundraising group and the lifeboat station visits team! Find out more at: wgalink.com/RNLI-Minehead

Mystic Moonflower

I recently had a conversation with my best mate Blackie about fortune telling and being able to read the future, and what is known as the black arts. Now, I’m not a believer in all that mumbo jumbo but one day last week that feline called ‘Moonflower’ approached me and told me she could read my future, and asked if I would like a reading.

I have to say I declined her offer and she walked off. As she turned away, she said to me, “Tonight you will have to deal with great pain and you will see two dinners” and walked off without any explanation. I ignored her warning until I got home. I was walking over the lawn and my mummy carer was just taking down some washing from the line. As she was going inside and closing the back door I decided to shoot behind her to save me using the cat flap. As I ran in she caught my tail in the door. It really hurt too. Suddenly, Moonflowers words came into my head. No, it’s coincidence I thought.

I licked my wounds and ventured into the kitchen where my dinner was. What’s this about two dinners, I can only see one? That cat is off her head. I ate my dinner and curled up in my basket. About half an hour later my stomach started churning and I threw up over the kitchen floor. Is this what she meant by seeing two dinners, I saw my dinner a second time.

Blackie was transfixed on my story and asked if there was more. I told him there was. She bumped into me the next day and asked me if her predictions had come true. I wasn’t going to satisfy her premonitions but agreed to a reading, just to pacify her request. “Meet me by the lakes tonight at 9’OClock for it’s a full moon”, she requested, “and don’t be late”.

I did what she requested, and I could see her standing at the edge of the lake looking at the moon’s reflection in the water. “Welcome George, for your future lies in the moon’s reflection” she said in a soft voice.

Blackie at this point was busting with curiosity, “What did she say Ginge, what premonitions did she have for you”?

I replied “None mate, I pushed her in the lake, bet she didn’t see that coming.”

The Regal Theatre cannot wait for you to see what we have coming up this April.

April 4th LUNANA (Cert PG) Bhutan’s first ever Oscar-nominated film is about a young man who is neglectful of his duties as a trainee teacher as he dreams of relocating to Australia and becoming a singer.

LEGALLY BLONDE 10th to 15th April. In association with Fusion Young Performers a fabulously fun musical based on the adored movie, Legally Blonde the Musical. With an upbeat score, memorable songs and a stage full of pink, it would be illegal to miss it! Legally Blonde the Musical is an amateur production presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International.

LIVE from the Royal Opera House the Royal Ballet presents CINDERELLA 12th April. Royal Ballet Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella celebrates its 75th anniversary this Season.

VERMEER: THE BLOCKBUSTER EXHIBITION ON SCREEN. 18th April. This new Exhibition on Screen film invites audiences to a private view of the exhibition, accompanied by the director of the Rijksmuseum and the curator of the show. A truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

REGAL THEATRE VARITY SHOW 21st and 22nd April

This theatrical extravaganza will showcase the abundance of local talent with entertainment encompassing drama, music, dance etc from the Barnstormers, Minehead Dramatic Society, the Panto People and the Waterfront Theatre. There will also be some special guest performers.

LIVE broadcast from The Royal Opera House 27th April - THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (filmed in June 2022) Servants Figaro and Susanna are filled with excitement on their wedding day, but there’s a hitch: their employer, the Count Almaviva, has dishonourable intentions of his own towards the bride-to-be.

The Variety Show is the highlight of the MINEHEAD VICTORIAN STEAMPUNK VARIETY SHOW 29th April.