A day with the Poole coastguard
Ready for anything
As the only full time coastguard in this sector, Pip has to deal with anything that crops up.
Later, as we drive out to Studland Bay he tells me about the unexploded bombs and bullets that are often found on the popular strip of beach:
“During World War II the Americans used it as a practice area for the D Day landings. So quite often little Johnny’s making sandcastles and digging holes, and then suddenly finds things that are metal.
“The amount of time we have the army bomb disposal teams down to clear ordinance; we’ve had two very large ones that we’ve found since Christmas, two 100 pounders, which have made a very big bang.”
But Studland also has other problems.
A public beach, one area is reserved for nudists and although Pip stresses that the majority of people are simply come to enjoy the sunshine, there are an exceptional few who visit the area for more sinister reasons:
“Families bring their children, and there’re paedophiles who come down and look for this sort of thing. So we have quite a lot of problems and people will see a coastguard vehicle and complain to us and we have to contact the police.”
