A NEW history of Minehead lifeboat station has been published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

There For Those in Peril is the work of journalist Chris Rundle, who spent 20 years as a Minehead crew member, five of them as senior helm, during which time he received a bravery award, and has recently completed a 12-year stint as the RNLI’s local press officer.

The book covers the story of the Quay West station from the event which led to its establishment - the now-famous 1899 overland launch from Porlock Weir of the Lynmouth lifeboat which revealed a gap in rescue cover along the eastern seaboard of Exmoor.

The Minehead station eventually opened two years later when volunteers stepped forward to crew the first oar-powered lifeboat allocated by the RNLI.

A succession of ever more sophisticated boats followed over the years.

But the most significant moment in the station’s story came in the early 1970s when conventional craft were replaced by high-speed inshore boats as the RNLI responded to the increasing numbers of calls to leisure and pleasure craft as more and more amateur sailors took to the water.

The book contains a photographic record of the station’s 120 years of keeping watch over a 33-mile length of coastline from Hinkley Point to Lynmouth, an area where the Bristol Channel’s huge tidal range - the second largest in the world - poses particular challenges.

But, said Chris, he had wanted the book to be far more than just a record of services.

“I have tried to give readers an insight as to how a lifeboat station operates and what becoming a crew member involves, because there is a lot more to the activities of an RNLI station than merely sending boats out to rescue people,” he said.

“I have highlighted the fact that supporting the sea-going crew is a team of enthusiastic fund-raisers and shop staff, all volunteers, all dedicated to raising money for a national sea rescue service which costs around £3 million a week to run.

“At the moment the RNLI is being unfairly being criticised for withdrawing all-weather lifeboats from stations where, thanks to its new, 25-knot fleet, they are no longer required and where the cost of maintaining them cannot be justified.

“But with the majority of rescue operations now being carried out by inshore boats I thought it was important for people to understand that they are crewed by volunteers who are just as dedicated and skilled - and just as ready to face up to the challenges of saving lives at sea.”

There For Those in Peril is published by Amazon, price £10. Copies can also be obtained from the Minehead lifeboat station shop. All royalties will go to the RNLI.

The book has its official launch at the Minehead RNLI station on Saturday (April 20) when a commemorative scroll produced for the RNLI’s 200th anniversary is being brought to Minehead for signing by volunteers.