Tynemouth Lifeboat Station

In the late 1700s, two lifeboats were operated at Tynemouth by the Tyne Lifeboat Institution (TLI), both built by Henry Greathead, to an amalgamated design of both Greathead and William Wouldhave. At the time, the mouth of the River Tyne was particularly treacherous in poor weather, with many ships lost, but many lives saved. Safety would be radically improved in later years, with the construction of the North and South Tyne Piers, with building starting in 1854, finally completed in 1910. The first lifeboat, known as Original, was wrecked in 1830. The Tyne Lifeboat Institution would not have the funds for a replacement until 1833. In 1832, a request for a lifeboat was placed by the Port of…