Last Sunday 4 May, Appledore celebrated 200 years of their lifeboat service. The national service was established on 4 March 1824 in The City of London Tavern in Bishopsgate, London, by Sir William Hillary who lived in Douglas in the Isle of Man. At that time there was an average of 1,800 shipwrecks round the coast of Britain. Appledore station founded in 1825 is thought to be among the first.

Appledore has always been associated with the coming and going of vessels.  In Elizabethan times and with the opening up of the colonies, the estuary, and the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford and Appledore, were alive with boats.  There has been fishing from Appledore over the centuries in boats going out to sea over the bar and inshore boats netting salmon. 

There has been a ferry – and there still is over hightide – to Instow with three ferrymen recorded in 1851. Leisure sailing boats also feature in many photographs of Appledore. There were six small boat building yards, in living memory in Irsha Street alone.

The biggest danger to shipping remains Bideford Bar, a sand and gravel underwater bank that stretches treacherously right across the mouth of the estuary ready to sink unsuspecting visitors. What was it like crossing the Bar in a rowed lifeboat? 

A story from 27 June 1905 describes being rowed in the lifeboat over the Bar, there were waves from 8 to 10 feet (2 to 3 metres) high.  The writer felt confident in the lifeboat, which was attributed to the design of the boat and the skill of the crew.  The crew demonstrated the drag anchor which was thrown out to steady the boat against the waves on the return journey. Photographs from the exhibition at the lifeboat station showed the rowed lifeboats and the horses that were trained to tow them out into the waves to launch; a reminder of the sheer effort, alongside personal bravery that was required to provide the service.

The Government Census of 1851 shows us how dependent the village was on the sea. It can be calculated that there were approximately 640 households, of these, 492 were directly involved in seagoing as mariners or in fishing, 5 were customs men, with 100 being involved in shipbuilding and 7 ship owners or merchants. That is 604 of 640 households, dependent on the sea for a living. A lifeboat service was essential.