Barrow lifeboat rescues two people cut off by the tide
The volunteer crew from Barrow RNLI launched their inshore lifeboat yesterday afternoon (Sunday 17 May 2026) to go to the aid of two people who were cut off by the incoming tide at Foulney Island.
The tasking request for assistance was received from HM Coastguard in Holyhead at 12-02pm. The information given was that two people were stranded on Foulney Island having been cut off by the incoming spring tide and were unable to make their way back to the mainland.
The crew was paged and the inshore lifeboat, Raymond and Dorothy Billingham, was launched at 12-22pm with Jonny Long at the helm along with crew, Nic Johnson and Luke Wilkinson.
The lifeboat made the short passage across to Foulney Island and was at the scene in just a few minutes. The two casualties, who were wet and cold having attempted to wade back ashore, were taken aboard the lifeboat and transferred to the car park area of the Foulney Island causeway where they were handed over into the care of the Furness Coastguard team.
With the casualties safe, the lifeboat returned to the Boathouse at 12-39pm where it was re-housed by the waiting shore crew and made ready for the next launch.
Barrow Lifeboat Press Officer, Chris Clouter, commented ‘Whilst the casualties, who were not local to the area, could have waited on Foulney for several hours for the tide to recede making the causeway accessible again, calling for the lifeboat’s assistance was the right course of action, particularly in the chilly conditions they experienced’.
The weather at the time of the incident was good and the wind was south-westerly, Force 5. The high tide occurred at 12-27pm with a predicted height of 9.6m.
RNLI Media Contacts
For further information, please contact:
Chris Clouter, Volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer for RNLI Barrow, [email protected]
Claire Fitzpatrick-Smith, RNLI Regional Communications Manager for Wales, West of England and Isle of Man, 07977 728 315, [email protected]
Danielle Rush, RNLI Regional Communications Lead for Wales, West of England and Isle of Man, 07786 668829, [email protected]
RNLI Press Office, 01202 336789, [email protected]
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