News

The Teignmouth Lookout was a hive of activity during the afternoon of 11th July when the NCI 30th anniversary flag was handed-on to us by Torquay NCI.

The event was comprehensively covered by Jo Bowery, a journalist at the Mid Devon Advertiser group of newspapers. 

You can read the details and watch a video of the flag arriving at the beach in Jo's article. Click on the link below. 

Recordbreaker delivers anniversary flag to Teignmouth NCI | middevonadvertiser.co.uk 

Volunteers at NCI Teignmouth have been flying the flag for coastal safety by taking part in a 2,000-plus miles station-to-station relay as part of the National Coastwatch charity’s 30th anniversary celebrations.
The special anniversary flag is travelling anti-clockwise to each of the charity’s 60 coastal watch stations during the summer. It started in Fleetwood, Lancashire and will end its journey in September at the most northerly station on the east coast in Filey, North Yorkshire.
Sirius Insight, a leading technology company using AI (artificial intelligence) to transform safety and security at sea, is sponsoring the national flag relay.

At each station, the volunteer watchkeepers who help save lives around the coast have been coming up with innovative ways to pass the flag on to the waiting crews at their neighbouring station. The 5ft x 3ft flag is electronically tagged and relayed using many different types of transport including boats and ferries, tractor and trailer, horse and cart, classic cars and by walking and running. Follow the flag by using link below:

National Coastwatch Institution 30th Anniversary Flag (garmin.com)
(Use password NCI30 if prompted)

At Teignmouth, volunteers will receive the flag on Thursday 11th July from watchkeepers at NCI Torbay which travelled by firstly out of Torquay harbour on the DSA Sailing boat, transferred to the Torbay Raptor Boat. They set off from their station at Daddyhole Plain on the 8 mile journey to Teignmouth beach.

Deputy Station manager for NCI Teignmouth, James Campbell, said: Teignmouth NCI is proud to be the "Eyes Along the Coast" for our stretch of coastline
This 30th anniversary flag relay links us all together; Teignmouth playing its part in this national asset.

The flag will be relayed from NCI Teignmouth by Sara, our Social Secretary and her husband, Ian Barker, our Lookout Officer and Watch Keeper, to Starcross on their e-bikes. At Starcross they will take the flag on the ferry to Exmouth where it will be handed over to NCI Exmouth for the next leg of its journey.
Stephen Hand, NCI Chair said:
“This year’s 30th anniversary is the ideal opportunity to put each station on the map and encourage even more people to join in and support us.

“The relay is about having some fun as well as helping to shine a spotlight on our lifesaving work as a part of the UK’s maritime search and rescue community. It’s a privilege to be part of this organisation and to be able to say a huge thank to you to all our supporters and our 2,700 wonderful, highly trained volunteers.”

To support NCI: National Coastwatch needs your support to continue its life saving work - JustGiving

https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/go-nationalcoastwatch

To support NCI Teignmouth : Teignmouth NCI - Donate (Teignmouth NCI - Donate (teignmouth-nci.org.uk)

National Coastwatch volunteer watchkeepers help to keep people safe and save lives at sea by maintaining a daily visual and radio watch of the coast, looking out for anyone in potential danger. They report any coastal safety-related incidents to HM Coastguard so that expert help can be sent, including the Coastguard Rescue Teams and helicopters, the RNLI, independent lifeboats and all emergency services.

When the flag relay has been completed, the flag will be taken to Trinity House in London where it will be received by NCI’s Royal Patron, HRH The Princess Royal. It will be installed in Trinity House for the duration of the NCI’s 30th anniversary year. Trinity House is a charity dedicated to safeguarding shipping and seafarers, providing education, support and welfare to the seafaring community.

With the summer seasports season fast approaching the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has issued a reminder that it is illegal to use flares that are expired or damaged; and that they must be disposed of safely.

The responsibility of disposing of unused flares can prove to be a little tricky since carriage and storage regulations changed. For information on how to dispose of flares safely, please visit: RYA guidance

Your nearest flare disposal centre can be found using the Environmental Facilities Map: The RYA GreenBlue Environmental map

Pippa Unwin is a Coastguard officer and along with her trusty companion Bonnie is walking the whole of the South West Coast Path (SWCP) to raise funds for National Coast Watch and 3 Air Ambulances.

Despite the dismal, wet weather they received a warm welcome at NCI Teignmouth on Saturday 16th March, with homemade cake and hot coffee, not forgetting some lovely doggie treats for Bonnie! 

After spending some time chatting and photos with our Watch Keepers it was time for them to be on their way again.  Pippa was helped to lift her huge, very heavy back pack - Bonnie has her own little ‘panniers’ in which she carries her food - and with Pippa’s SWCP Passport duly stamped they were on their way to Starcross for the night. 

We thank her for supporting National Coast Watch and wish her luck on the rest of her endeavour.

Click here for Pippa's Just Giving’ page

Pippa Unwin, a member of the Bigbury Coastguard team, is walking the South West Coast Path to raise money for the National Coastwatch Institution and the Devon, Cornwall and Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulances.
Pippa is accompanied by Bonnie, her faithful Collie X.
Pippa and Bonnie will be calling-in to as many Coastguard stations and Coastwatch lookouts as possible. Teignmouth NCI is stocking up on teabags and Bonio biscuits!
Watch this space for further details of Pippa and Bonnie's visit to Teignmouth NCI.

Please consider donating to Pippa's JustGiving page at the link below.

Pippa Unwin is fundraising for National Coastwatch Institution (justgiving.com)

On Sunday 3rd March 2024 Teignmouth lifeboat, The Two Annes, joined a flotilla including Exmouth, Torbay, Dartmouth and Salcombe lifeboats as part of the celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the founding of the RNLI.

In glorious spring sunshine the six lifeboats (both Torbay’s all-weather and inshore boats) met off Berry Head and then motored in procession to Brixham harbour for an historic 'Blessing of the Fleet’. The special ceremony was conducted by the Fishermen’s Mission Area Officer for Devon, Helen Lovell-Smith.

Teignmouth NCI salutes and sends congratulations to all RNLI staff and volunteers in South Devon and across the UK and Ireland.

Intrepid walkers following the South West Coast Path (SWCP) are able to apply for a passport which enables them to keep a record of their progress around the coastline of South West England.  The passport can be stamped at a series of Stamping Points along their journey. We are delighted to report that the Teignmouth NCI Lookout is a designated Passport stop-off point on the South Devon section. Walkers will be able to get their Passports stamped by calling-in to the Lookout during watch hours.

We are looking forward to welcoming many new visitors to the Lookout who otherwise might have passed us by.

Apply for a SWCP Passport here:

Visitors to our Lookout will know that we have a very limited view beyond the pier. In order to partially address this issue we have a cctv camera mounted on a pole outside the Lookout which enables us to see the main boat channel along the Shaldon shore.

After eight years of service and having been battered by the weather the old camera finally gave up the fight. In November the broken camera was replaced by one from Redvision. The new camera was installed by Raw Fire & Security  who gave us a very favourable deal.

Local firm Birdbusters provided the "cherry picker".

We are very grateful to both companies for their help.