Cemaes Lifeboat Station

Cemaes Lifeboat Station was located in Porth yr Ogof cove, Trwyn yr Wylfa (Wylfa Head), on the west side of Cemaes Bay, near the fishing port village of Cemaes, on the north coast of Anglesey, Wales.

A lifeboat station was first opened here by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1872, when the station at Cemlyn was closed for the first time.

After few launches and no rescues in the preceding 25 years, Cemaes Lifeboat Station was closed in 1932.

History
The Belfast vessel Active was driven ashore at Cemaes Bay by a storm on 7 March 1835. The Rev. James Williams of Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy, founder of the Anglesey Association for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, arrived on scene to find that several attempts to launch a boat to the aid of the vessel had been unsuccessful. At great personal risk, Williams rode his horse into the surf, managing to get a line to the vessel. All five crew were rescued. Rev. Williams was awarded the Gold Medal.

Rev. Williams had founded the first Anglesey lifeboat station in 1928, only a few miles away at Cemlyn, but it was not until 1872 that a lifeboat station would be opened at Cemaes, and only then because of the closure of the Cemlyn station due to difficulties maintaining a crew. A boathouse was constructed at Porth Yr Ogof cove, at a cost of £182, with the Cemlyn lifeboat Sophia being transferred to Cemaes in June 1872.

Sophia was only on station for four years, before being replaced by a new 30 ft self-righting lifeboat named Ashtonian, provided from the legacy of Mr George Higginbottom of Ashton-under-Lyne. On 14 October 1877, she was called to the Sarah, a full-rigged sailing ship on passage from Quebec to Liverpool, now aground on Middle Mouse Rocks. 18 men were rescued from the vessel. The Ashtonian would be launched eight times in the five years on station, and rescue 33 lives.

Three more lifeboats would be placed on service at Cemaes. In 1881, a 32 ft lifeboat, costing £286-15s-0d, also being named Ashtonian. Then followed the 34-foot George Evans (ON 132) in 1887, which had been provided from the legacy of Mrs Evans, the boat named after her late husband, Admiral George Evans, Conservator of the River Mersey. Finally, in 1907, the Charles Henry Ashley (ON 583), a 38 ft non-self-righting Watson-class lifeboat. It was one of five lifeboats provided from the estate of Charles Carr Ashley, late of Menton, France.

A new boathouse with roller-slipway was constructed in 1907 to house the 38 ft Charles Henry Ashley, at a cost of £3,840. It was located just along the beach from the former boathouse at Porth yr Ogof, in the shadow of Ynys Yr Ŵyn.

In 25 years on station, the lifeboat was launched just seven times, with no rescues. Charles Henry Ashley was retired in 1932, and the station was closed.



In operation for 60 years, the Cemaes lifeboat was launched 60 times, and rescued 42 lives.

Today, little evidence of the station buildings remains, although the base of the pilings and the concrete foot of the slipway of the 1907 boathouse are clearly visible.

The Charles Henry Ashley was sold into private ownership in 1932. The boat ultimately fell into neglect, but was saved from being broken up, and relaunched in 2009 after a full restoration by the Cemaes Boat Club.

In 2024, it was announced that the Charles Henry Ashley was being retired from sea-going activity due to deterioration of the hull.

Cemaes lifeboats

 * Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiast Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.