New feature

Well folks, after a year of planning, Swanage got another brief attraction at North Beach car park,

Yes a boating lake........

Thankfully CRO's Thompson, Simmons, Station Officer and Deputy Station Officer found the plug and the water went down as quick as it came up.

I won't miss this

Went down to the station today.....that's the current one not to the new one.

It was like a freezer down there, I didn't take my coat off.

Today's tasks

1) Update paperwork (you can see the folder on the bench, as that's where the heater is)
2) Make coffee
3) Empty bins
4) Phone Council to grit road as it was like a staking ring outside the door.
5) Another coffee, as it was cold
6) Sector Manager turned up, returning life jackets
7) Abandon station, too cold
8) Visit New building and measure up for new bits......it was warmer up there with out the doors!

I remember why we need to move now.

Building

Thanks to the deputy blog for yesterday's entry, sadly deputy blog is now in hiding as both the SO & DSO are looking for him!

On to more serious matters....the building, only a few days to go and lots of paper work arriving. Today's was a plan the lorries have to take to minimise the noise to local residents.....they have to think of everything!

Its a go..............

Today's meeting at the Town Hall, saw people from the MCA, Swanage Town Council, Parsons Brinckerhoff (project consultants) and Farnrise (Construction Company) sit down and discuss the project.

The building work for the new station will start on the 8th September and hopefully be finished by 8th December (subject to contracts and the legal bits)

This is excellent news for the team, and special thanks need to go to all the project team who have been working on this for 4 years!

Further Station Update

Tomorrow, we shall be attending a rather important meeting .....log on tomorrow to discover what its all about.

Yellow lines - The result

Well the big day did arrive and I really expected the worse.

But what a result, thanks to the Town Hall, we now have a little area to park without the worry of a parking ticket.

Thanks also to Dave Turnbull for taking the picture whilst I was at work.

Yellow lines part 2

O dear, I've just been down the station and Peveril Point Road has grown yellow no waiting cones including six outside the station.

If we are late tomorrow for a call out ,bear with us we are trying to find somewhere to park!

Yellow lines

On Monday the men with the yellow line machine will be turning up in Peveril Point Road to mark out the new parking bays and restrict parking in the road.

Now I'm no expert on road markings but it appears the lines might run right outside the building which will mean we can no longer park along side the building!

Update to follow on Monday!

The Building

The latest on when work is now due to start is....August!

Regular readers of the blog will note that from April the start date has slipped each month, well lets keep fingers crossed.

06.06.2008

64 years ago today the view from Peveril Point for the duty Coastguard would have been very different. The Coastguard then under war conditions had a slightly different role, the following is taken from the MCA's main web site.

The Coastguard Service Act (1925) still allowed the Admiralty control of the Coastguard in time of national need. In the 1930s the departments worked together to prepare the Coastguard as a War Watching Organisation.

When war came 4,500 Auxiliary Coastguards were recruited on National Service to strengthen stations coast wide. Intelligence and signalling were again key tasks. In May 1940, fearing invasion, the Admiralty assumed control and armed the Coastguard. Life saving was hampered by beach defences but in 1940 the LSA Brigades met one of their greatest challenges. The destroyer's 'Ashanti' and 'Fame' ran aground on the rocky Durham coast. Life Saving Apparatus carried the local firemen aboard the burning 'Fame', ferried ammunition in danger of exploding ashore, and overnight landed 104 men from the two ships.

In the south Coastguards gained a new rescue task. Lookouts used cross-bearings to direct the air/sea rescue service launches searching for airmen who had ditched in the Channel.

D-Day brought safety from invasion and a reduction in the Auxiliary Coastguard numbers. In 1945 the service was placed under the Ministry of War Transport, eventually returning to the Marine Division of the Board of Trade in 1959.

By 06.00, 64 years ago, the duty watch keepers and the shore battery crews at Peveril would have already witnessed a massive flotilla of ships leave Poole and head for the shores of Normandy, no doubt this continued for several days if not weeks.

Many of those men who were either local or trained for many months in the Purbecks never returned.

Less we forget.

Visitors

We were very honoured this afternoon to open the station to a group of Bulgarian Coastguards

Despite the language barriers (thankfully they brought an interpreter) we explained what happens and our role in the Search and Rescue world.

Of course the trip around the station didn't take long, but we did explain that there is a new building on the way at some point!

Road Block!

Someone’s gone and dug up the High Street!



Now it’s not a massive problem given there is another route to the Coastguard Station or CRE (Coastguard Rescue Equipment) as we call it, but currently this is adding about 2 minutes to our journey. If the emergency is on the north side of town we have to retrace our journey adding a further 2 minutes to our response times.

Still the work is necessary and only due to continue for another week or so.

The Office

The hub of the station is the desk, this is where the station log lives and details of all incidents and actions of the team are recorded. As with all Government Agencies the flow of paperwork is steady and at the end of the month there are several "returns" to complete. Now the trailer has returned inside the building, this does limit the space, good thing I'm slim!

The Galley

Every Ship has a galley......The Coastguard has a long history based on naval traditions, whilst the building is called a "station" not a ship we do have a galley and yes it could be considered a throw back to Nelson's time. Nelson didn't have a fridge and kettle, but I expect there was a little more room to prepare that all important refreshment for the crew , in fact its easier to sit inside the vehicle to drink your tea! As ever we are grateful to both the Lifeboat house and Police station for that welcome area to rest should the need arise.

The Tardis

With the vehicle removed, it give us access to our lockers and allows room to change into our protective clothing. Behind the trailer is our working desk where all the admin is done, from the picture it does look a little cluttered and what does not help at the moment is the arrival of all our new rope rescue equipment. This new equipment is a huge step for the Coastguard and brings in the latest equipment currently on the market, over the next few months we will be practising with the new bits but will have to use the old equipment for rescues (the two sets are not compatible), once happy with the operation of the new equipment and a final examination we shall move on to the new and remove all the old......more room again!