A LIFEBOATMAN from Llandudno has been appointed MBE in recognition of his 25 years of service.
Ian Jones, 56, of Belvedere Place, has served with the RNLI station in Llandudno since 1985. He began his time with the service on shore, and served as a crew member before eventually making his way to the position of second coxswain, where he served for five years before being promoted to coxswain.
He retired from this role in 2009 and has now returned to his original position, acting as a driver for the tractor which pulls the lifeboat to the shore.
Mr Jones, known to his crewmates as Dan, said “I feel very honoured - it’s a once in a lifetime achievement, and I feel really privileged. There’s a lot of other ordinary people like myself getting it, and that’s a really good thing.”
He added that he was unaware of who had nominated him.
“I really don’t know who put me forward for the honour. No-one in the RNLI who gets into the honours list ever finds out who put their name forward. But it is nice to have been nominated.”
He also recounted an event during his service where he and the other crew-members saved the life of two men who’d become stranded off the Penmaenbach tunnel.
“That was a good team effort. They’d missed the tide and the wind was coming in at gale force from the north, and it’s not a nice place to be stuck in those conditions. Their yacht was damaged quite badly.
“Without a doubt, that night, if we weren’t there, they’d have ended up in the water. They were very lucky.”