Plaque unveiled to celebrate Poole Lifeboats 150th year
A Blue Plaque was unveiled today by the Mayor Xena Dion on Wednesday (27 July 2016) to celebrate the Poole Lifeboat’s 150th year.
The Blue Plaque was mounted on the wall of the Antelope Hotel to acknowledge that the Hotel was the initial muster point for the first Lifeboat crews in 1865.
The event and Blue Plaque was organised and supported by the Society of Poole Men.
The Society of Poole Men's President Andrew Hawkes and John Buckby (retired 2nd Cox) both served on the Poole Lifeboats for many years and joined present crew, dressed in kit through the ages.
The Antelope Hotel was the site where it began. From 1865-1882 crews would gather at the hotel to be taken by a horse brake (a fast cart), to their boat which was stationed at what is now the Royal Motor Yacht Club site at North Haven Point, Sandbanks.
The crews used to be alerted by a rocket and then run to muster at the Antelope to start the trip round the harbour. In 1882 a new lifeboat house was constructed at Fisherman’s Dock on the quay, the rest is history.
Volunteer Coxswain Jonathan Clark said;
'On behalf of the crew, I would like to thank the Society of Poole men for organising the Blue Plaque, acknowledging where it all began, a proud link to our heritage'.
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