Tenby Inshore lifeboat launched after cow goes over cliff on Caldey Island
Tenby’s RNLI inshore lifeboat was requested to launch at 11.40am on Friday 4th May after a report from the farmer on Caldey Island that a cow had gone over the cliff and he was attempting to retrieve it.
The lifeboat was soon on the water and made best speed to Caldey. Once there, after a brief search, they spotted the farmer in the field above a small cove to the West of Drinkum bay.
After a brief discussion, and as the cove where the cow was situated was inaccessible from land, it was decided to bring the farmer and a member of Caldey Coastguard Team around to the cove to assess the cow and attempt to bring it around to the beach.
Once the necessary manpower (including a member of the lifeboat crew) was ashore at the cove, they managed to get the very weak cow to eat some food, before leading it down to the water. From here, the cow was made fast to the side of the lifeboat and towed the short distance around to the beach at Drinkum where it made it ashore and into the company of a very relieved and thankful farmer and his staff.
The lifeboat then returned to station, rehousing at 1.20pm.
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The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is the charity that saves lives at sea. Our volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 238 lifeboat stations, including four along the River Thames and inland lifeboat stations at Loch Ness, Lough Derg, Enniskillen and Lough Ree. Additionally the RNLI has more than 1,000 lifeguards on over 240 beaches around the UK and operates a specialist flood rescue team, which can respond anywhere across the UK and Ireland when inland flooding puts lives at risk.
The RNLI relies on public donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. As a charity it is separate from, but works alongside, government-controlled and funded coastguard services. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824 our lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved at least 140,000 lives. Volunteers make up 95% of the charity, including 4,600 volunteer lifeboat crew members and 3,000 volunteer shore crew. Additionally, tens of thousands of other dedicated volunteers raise funds and awareness, give safety advice, and help in our museums, shops and offices.
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