The new independent St Abbs lifeboat, the Thomas Tunnock, is here!

The boat is a 900W Rigid Inflatable Boat and was built by Marine Specialised Technology Ltd In Liverpool. She arrived in the evening of 28th July and immediately took to the water for a trial run and to see she fitted into the cradle that had been built for her (which she did!).

She takes a crew of 4 and is 9 metres long, 3.05 metres wide and has a top speed of 40 kts. More testing and training will follow and the Coastguard will be notified when she is ready to start work officially. A launch date is set for 17th September when Boyd Tunnock (whose great donation helped make this possible) will christen her.  Follow their website for more information stabbslifeboat.

We have just taken delivery of a new magnetic map for visitors to show us where they have come from. We can already see lots of countries marked!

We also now have an interactive I pad at our telescope which will tell you about what you might see through the telescope. It has sound affects too!

Our touchscreens have been updated too so why not come in and hear some new voices, try out the telescope I pad and show us where you have come from on the new map!

This year we have some very interesting biological specimens of marine life for you to view (courtesy of Napier University). There are a variety of species including jellyfish, crustaceans, worms, molluscs and fish and a mystery skeleton!

The Wool Festival on 2nd April 2016 was again very successful. There was a huge variety of stalls and here in the Visitor Centre we had the spinners, various knitters and lots of wool and knitted articles for sale. We also had for the first time a kiltmaker and it was very interesting to hear how that is done.

We have now opened our doors for the 2016 season. This year we have some new exhibits and some new stock in the shop so it’s well worth a visit! Let’s hope for a great summer!

Sadly the RNLI shut the St Abbs Lifeboat station on 8th September 2015 despite a strong campaign to reverse the closure. The crew members, committee and the community felt there was still a great need for a life-saving presence in St Abbs so they decided to set up an independent lifeboat station. Fundraising for £500,000 (£250,000 for a new boat and £250,000 for running costs) began in earnest immediately and was well supported. In November 2015 the campaign received an unexpected and lottery-sized donation from Boyd Tunnock (of Tunnocks teacakes and caramel wafer fame). This has allowed for the purchase of a new boat which should arrive in July. Fundraising continues as there are still running costs to raise but it has been an incredible journey so far.

If you are interested in helping out in any way or making a donation please go to their website stabbslifeboat.

The 5th September 2015 was the 101st anniversary of the sinking of HMS Pathfinder.  It was the first British warship to be torpedoed by a German Uboat in WW1.  Only 18 survived out of 270.  We put our exhibition back up to commemorate the event.

Here are a few of the feedback forms from 2015.  Lovely artwork and comments!

Our gift shop in the Centre is very popular and this year we have a new range for visitors.  We are supporting local crafters and selling jewellry, a variety of fabric gifts and little creels, all handmade in Berwickshire. We also have Bright Seed Textiles cards and prints which show wonderful textile pictures of local landscapes made from felted Harris tweed.   We are still the only stockists in Scotland  of  the ‘Gone Crabbing’ range which includes quirky seaside themed  tea towels, soaps, magnets, cards and badges. And of course we have a great selection of postcards, cards and books as well as other gifts and toys!

 

 

 

In 2014 we researched the family tree of one of the long-standing St Abbs families, the Hoods.
Peter ‘Scotty’ Hood kindly  gave us permission to trace his family and we had a small exhibition of our findings.  The Hoods have been fishermen in the village for seven generations.