Drama on the foreshore

All sorts of noise and drama down by the Coastwatch Lookout this morning (31st July). It appears that a lady had fallen off her bike and injured her back or neck. This was right outside the Lookout, where the black and yellow barrier crosses the prom. The barrier was vertical by the time I got there, but it might have been moved by the ambulance crew who were already in attendance.

The Kent Air Ambulance arrived at about 8:30am and landed (parked? settled?) on the promenade just east of the Lookout. An impressively neat piece of parking it was, too - better than a lot of people can manage in their cars.

As it turned out, the injured lady cyclist (Dutch or Belgian?) was whisked away in the road ambulance, and the air ambulance returned to base. It looked like a well-executed rescue: congratulations to all involved, and hopefully a speedy recovery for the injured lady. To find out more about the Kent Air Ambulance, and make a welcome, much-needed and well-deserved donation, just click the logo:

Vandals target Coastwatch

HB Times 7th Oct 2010

Homeless, begging, and saving lives

The Council sold the Coastwatch building for £54,000 - I have no idea where they spent that windfall. The Coastwatch now need to raise £60,000 for a new building. The words "insult" and "injury" spring to mind.

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Plea to save coastwatch's "eyes and ears" service

Lookouts at Herne Bay's only coastwatch tower have set up a fundraising scheme to stop it going under. The Friends of NCI (National Coastwatch Institution) Herne Bay initiative hope to provide financial support to the building on the Esplanade, which faces closure after its lease expires in October 2010*. It would mean the town losing the eyes and ears of 24 trained lookouts who keep a watch on the coast every weekend. The new scheme, costing members £3 a month or £60 for a life-time membership, will support the tower's bid to raise £60,000 for a new building just 200 yards away.

Other fundraisers this month - a collection at Sainsbury's in Westwood Cross and a quiz night in Beltinge - helped add £800 to the cause. Watchkeeper Bob Eslea, 70, said:

“It is essential Herne Bay has a watch station. The coastguard can't spot a child on a dinghy being swept out to sea, or a swimmer in trouble in strong tides. They can't watch over small fishing boats, jet-bikes and yachts without radar reflectors, and they can't see the paragliders who launch from the cliffs off Reculver. There's also a chance they could miss mayday calls made on the wrong radio frequency - calls we may pick up when monitoring the channels.”

Friends of the new scheme will receive a welcome pack and quarterly newsletter about the progress and developments at the watch station. For more details about joining the scheme email ncihernebay@talktalk.net or visit www.baywatch-hernebay.blogspot.com

HB Gazette 27th May 2010

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* The new landlords have generously agreed to extend the lease for another year so the Coastwatch now have until October 2011 to establish themselves in new premises.

Herne Bay coastwatch under threat

These people volunteer to save lives. They now have to buy themselves a new home because Canterbury City Council sold the ground from under them. This riles me.

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They watch the coast to make sure those in peril are quickly saved. But now the Herne Bay National Coastwatch itself is under threat and must find £60,000 by October to stay afloat. The service, which monitors the shore and cliffs between Herne Bay and Reculver, is in jeopardy after their lookout on the Esplanade was sold by the council. Coastal Watch member Bob Eslea said:

"Canterbury City Council decided to sell the lease of the watch station. Our new landlords want to develop the building for their own use so that we will have to vacate in October 2010 when our lease expires. It has not been easy to find alternative premises with good views of the sea, cliffs, promenade and beach. The only possibility we have is to build a new watch station or face closure."

Bob says the organisation, formed in 1994 after two fisherman died in Cornwall because of a lack of coastal lookouts, needs good headquarters because it keeps an eye on events which may go under the radar. Bob said:

"Even with advancing technology the Maritime Coastguard Agency cannot spot the child on a lilo or dinghy being swept out to sea on the tide or a swimmer in trouble. They cannot watch over small fishing boats, jet bikes, yachts and other pleasure craft without radar reflectors; they cannot see the paragliders who launch from the cliffs or notice problems encountered by the public at large. There is a real need for National Coastwatch Institution stations."

Members are asking for money and fundraising ideas to keep the service alive. Member Roger Atkins said:

"It was a bit of a shock when we heard we have to move out of our present premises. We have to raise the money. It is the cheapest option to have our own dedicated watch station. We need to have eyes on the coast and we've had quite a few incidents where we've alerted the emergency services to inflatable boats drifting out to sea. We're considering all sorts of options including chasing big donors and looking at a National Lottery grant."

HB Times 11th Feb 2010