RNLI 200 exhibition at Weston Library

About

Discover the history of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in Weston-super-Mare and help celebrate the charity's 200th anniversary during a free exhibition throughout May.

People can pop along to Weston Library in the Town Hall, Walliscote Grove Road, between Wednesday 1 May and Friday 31 May to visit the exhibition as part of Local and Community History Month.

Large-scale images selected from the Local Studies Archive and local history books will be on display to tell the story of the RNLI in Weston, including its long relationship with Birnbeck Pier.

The RNLI is the charity which saves lives at sea. The RNLI Weston-super-Mare currently operates from a temporary station on the plaza next to Marine Lake. The lower walkway around the lake provides the launch route for the RNLI at low tide.

Once Birnbeck Pier is restored, the RNLI plans to reinstate its lifeboat station on Birnbeck Island. A lifeboat station in Weston-super-Mare, at this point in the Bristol Channel, is a key lifesaving asset. Since 2000, the volunteer crew at Weston have launched 1,064 times, aided 572 people and saved the lives of 85 people.

This exhibition belongs to a series of community engagement events that form part of the Birnbeck Pier and Island restoration project. This is being funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.